From David Brooks at the New York Times:
”The superficial way to change minds and behavior doesn’t seem to work, to bridge either racial, partisan or class lines. Real change seems to involve putting bodies from different groups in the same room, on the same team and in the same neighborhood.”
That's why we are here (Jer. 29:4-7). What does that mean for our church during the time of coronavirus? It's not a simple question to answer- most of us exist along a continuum between EVERYBODY CALM DOWN and PANIC! I'd like to offer a couple thoughts, as well as deal with some practical matters as it will affect our community.
1) What will we do?
A. We will obey all government instructions and restrictions about meetings, if such a thing occurs.
B. Until that time, we will continue to meet for worship and a meal, with appropriate hygienic considerations for the meal and communion as the situation calls for. Those preparations have already been made.
C. I have contacted the Chatham Emergency Managament Authority (CEMA), volunteering our congregation to help in case we are needed in the Edgemere, Ardsley, or Parkside area. I will be in touch about what that may mean for us when I hear back from them.
2) How should we feel?
At the beginning of the Second War World, CS Lewis gave an address to young scholars who were attending university at the beginning of a world- and epoch-defining event. He argues that the war (or in our case, the pandemic) is not an abnormal event; instead, it is an event which pulls us closer to the truly normal which we are prone to forget. The speech is worth quoting at length (simply substitute "war" for pandemic):
"The war creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure the search would never have begun. We are mistaken when we compare war with "normal life". Life has never been normal."
Because of this, Lewis argues that we should fight our own tendencies to excitement (thinking about pandemic when we should be thinking about our daily lives), frustration (anger that we will not be able to finish what we have started because of our lives being disrupted- this is what it means to live in a community!), and fear ("The Christians of the past thought it was a great blessing to be aware of your mortality... That is one of the pandemics great blessings. I am inclined to think they were right."). Read the whole thing if you want.
3) What examples shape our imagination?
We must both live as people who are confident in the promises of God, and willing to love our neighbors in costly ways. There are numerous examples in church history of Christians who, motivated by faith in God and love towards neighbor, served and sacrificed for their community in various ways. Here are examples from the early church and its response to Roman plagues, and here is the personal story of Martin Luther during the Black Death. Here is the example of some Christians from the modern Ebola outbreak. Let their examples inspire and give you confidence, even as we recognize that the impact of coronavirus will be much smaller than these examples.
4) What is our spiritual response?
Here is a prayer from the 8th century which many Christians have found helpful to pray in times of sickness:
Almighty God,
you know that we are surrounded by many great dangers,
and because of our human frailty
we cannot withstand them.
Give us health of mind and body
so that we who suffer under sin
may overcome and win the victory in you;
Give us courage to be a healing people
in our place and time.
Through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions, needs for help, or suggestions. See you Sunday!
We don’t want to be a church full of our neighbors… we want to be a church full of people who love their neighbors. That is a big difference. Sermon on Jeremiah 29: Love God. Love Neighbor. Love City. below!