Close church at Easter?

Is the closing of our church services a religious liberty issue?  Well, no. 

Let’s parse this situation.  First, coronavirus is not a respecter of persons.  In the same way that the rain falls on both the just and unjust, this disease has impacted over 180 countries with more than 46, 000 deaths.  Men, women, children have died.  The preponderance, yes, are older people with health issues.  They are not more likely to contract the disease.  They, make that we, are more likely to succumb to the disease. 

The governing bodies that are mandating the closure of church are not respecters of persons either.  March Madness was closed down; the NBA was cancelled...and baseball is not happening.  Concerts and theater are not happening.  You can’t go to the movie; you can’t visit many parks.  No, this is not a religious liberty issue.  It is a social necessity issue. 

The biblical mandate is that we should be obedient to the governing authority.  13 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor[a] as the supreme authority 14 or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. 15 For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16 Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. (1 Pt. 2: 13-16) 

This is even more important for the church to not only be obedient to the governing authority but to demonstrate redemptive leadership.  This leadership is imminently practical for local congregations.  In 1948, an American writer named Shirley Jackson published a bombshell story in which a village participated in an annual ritual where the community selected by lottery which one person among them would be stoned to death.  Gathering in light of the virulence of the coronavirus is the modern version.  Yet, our lottery has the chance to kill more than one and to concentrate its force on the seniors.  Imagine a church business meeting where we vote who we’ll kill.  Continuing our gatherings in the current environment may not be quite that forceful, but it is the lottery!  What level of risk should we run towards one another? 

But, the risk goes beyond the risk to ourselves.  If we, by gathering, carry the virus into our homes and our essential businesses, we cease to be salt and light and turn ourselves into instruments of destruction.  That is opposite to our mandate. 

We need to remember our mission among the world.  We are to : 5 Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person. Colossians 4:5-6 (CSB)  Our answer to those who are outside needs to be consistent of our care for them, spiritually, but also physically.  

The greatest enemy of mankind is not a new mutation of coronavirus.  The greatest enemy of mankind is sin and its corollary, death.  That enemy has been stripped of its power.  We are entering into the annual celebration of that great defeat.  Palm Sunday ushered in that final week of Christ’s earthly life ending in the sacrificial victory of the Cross.  Jesus stepped out into the white-hot radiation of mankind’s sin and death.   He obliterated it by the power of His holiness and death and then at the prophesied time took life back up again.  Holy Week coincides with the beginning of the American apex of COVID-19. We have never had a better time to witness to His reality and resurrection than now: not by our normal public celebrations of Resurrection but by private prayer and worship coupled with statements of faith mindful of this dangerous day.  

All will end well

We shouldn't exist as a nation.  The odds were too great; the circumstances too difficult. And, then they got worse.

It is 1775. 

The economy is wrecked.  Supply of goods and services from Britain has been compromised; normal commerce is no more.  Fortunes have been decimated.

The Continental Army is slowing dwindling due to desertion.  The British are in the process of bringing stronger military leaders and more troops.  Then, a smallpox epidemic already present hits the Northeast with intensity.  For those who contract the disease, one third will die.  Those that survive will have experienced fever, exhaustion and open sores that affect the skin, the mouth and throat for weeks.  They may make full recovery, but many will go blind or enter into dementia.

In the midst of all of this, there is a dynamo at work, bringing order to the chaos.  His name is George Washington.  Losing Washington would be crippling beyond recovery.  Isn't it interesting, that at least in terms of small pox, Washington was in no danger?  Years before, a young George had accompanied his older brother Lawrence to Barbados in an attempt to heal Lawrence's tuberculosis.  While there, he contracted small pox and suffered with the effects for a month, the pock marks on his face a testimony to his survival.

Circumstances are dire in most every way.  What grounds Washington so that he is not overwhelmed at the immensity of the challenge?  He describes it this way: "I flatter myself that a superintending Providence is ordering everything for the best, and that, in due time, all will end well." 

Unprecedented

The word "unprecedented" means to have no point of reference in the past, something that has never happened before.  We use it all the time, but we generally exaggerate.  We could identify something in the past that is exactly like what we have referred to as "unprecedented".

The current life situation for the world IS unprecedented.  Not from a health perspective.  There have been epidemics and pandemics galore.  What is unprecedented is our response to this health crisis and what may happen as a result.  The economy, for the most part, is shut down.  The markets continue to churn; the banks continue to operate; but, the mechanisms for production have been thoroughly compromised.

I am not an economist nor the son of an economist.  Still, I think I can declare this: economists have no idea what is going to happen; governments have no idea what is going to happen; the media has no idea what is going to happen.  The future is unclear.

As a result, we live in a time where fear can breed.  In the face of fear, Christians bring some things to the table that others cannot.  First, we bring courage.  We know that whatever happens we have a Father that is intimately aware of us and of our need.   That knowledge gives us the security to move into each day of a coronavirus impacted world. Secondly, we bring hope.  Not the hope of the world where hope is generally a psychological ploy to believe even though you don't believe.  The hope of Christianity is a living hope.  He inspires in us confident expectation, not resigned "hope though there is no hope".  Third, we bring good news.  We can bring to an uncertain world the news that there is One who "sees all things the end from the beginning" and will not leave us nor forsake us.  That He has proved his devotion to us by giving himself into death, reclaiming life and living again.

We can deliver this message best from a position of confident expectation.  Be blessed; stay safe.