(Written as overhead the Thunderbirds salute the frontline workers)
“‘All things are lawful’, but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are lawful’, but not all things build up. Do not seek your own advantage, but that of others.” – 1 Corinthians 10:23-24
Three thousand California churches have announced that they will hold in-person worship services on Pentecost Sunday. Many reasons for defying the stay-at-home orders are being given. Most of them boil down to “you can’t tell us what to do!” Some organizations are bringing lawsuits against governing authorities, stating that such orders can’t apply to churches because of constitutional rights to freedom of religion and freedom to freely associate and freedom to peaceably assemble.
I get it. I have a knee-jerk reaction to being told that I can’t do what I want to do. I get angry when I see a leader order us to stay at home and wear masks if we venture out (especially when they do this without a mask and from a place other than their home!) I want to stomp my feet, and swear, and shout “you aren’t the boss of me!” Then I want to break the rules to prove that I can. But then my adult self (and sometimes my beloved) reminds me that I am no longer an adolescent, and that I have nothing to prove.
We will not be opening the church for in-person worship on Pentecost Sunday. That’s not just because medical experts, government officials, and the Bishop tell us not to. This isn’t a decision based on fear. We are making this decision because to open would violate our principles. Wesley’s three simple rules for the Methodist societies are:
1. Do no harm.
2. Do good.
3. Stay in love with God.
We are guided by the principle that if we love the members of the congregation, we want you to be well! We do not want to bring you harm! There are all sorts of things we can do to encourage you to be good and to nurture your relationship with the Lord that don’t require us to do potential harm.
As an amateur Constitutional scholar and a professional citizen, I think an argument could be made that the church is outside the control of the government on this matter. In that sense, we could utilize the cry of the teenager and of the new Christians in Corinth: “All things are lawful for me!”
“Great, right, true, folks,” St. Paul might reply, “In Christ you are set free from the requirements of the law.” (He would have meant the Torah, the Hebrew law.) “But so what? You are free to do what? To do harm? Use your freedom to build up! Let your freedom be of benefit to others!”
Of course Paul isn’t talking about lock-down orders. He is talking about food and drink. In 1 Corinthians 6 he uses the same formulation to talk about sex! This idea applies to all of life.
Instead of being reactive and feeling controlled, be proactive and make a difference for the better.
I suggest that this isn’t just for pastors. This is for all of us. Choosing to do what is right because it is good (rather than grudgingly oblige outside forces) will lead us to health. In this case it will help maintain physical well-being, but I am convinced that this attitude will strengthen our emotional and spiritual well-being as well!
Gracious God, in Christ you have set us free. Help us to use that freedom for the good of others. Help us subject ourselves to the wisdom of science and the counsel of leaders. Help us to know that you set before us a choice. Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us that we might Choose health; choose life; choose love; and choose that which builds up! Give us courage, hope, and peace. Through Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.
I am tired of reacting to the latest orders, and living in hope of returning to normal. I am tired of being told what I can’t do. So I choose to live differently. To see this as the new normal and to celebrate what I can do.
To that end I announce to you that Pentecost, the birthday of the church, will be our re-birth day. For the past year we have been remodeling our worship space. We have taken the opportunity of having a new pastor to answer the Bishop’s call to envision a new church. We have stated “I see a new Community!”
Now we will put that new community in to place. We will redesign worship and all of our activities from the ground up. Instead of saying “we can’t” we will say “this we can do!” Instead of waiting for a time when we can be together in person, we will start acting now, and add the in-person parts to the mix whenever that may happen.
God is doing a new thing! Do we not perceive it?
Pastor George