Gee, it feels like all we get about this virus is bad news! Last night someone shared a story on Facebook about how singing is as effective at spreading the virus as coughing, and that churches in Germany are contemplating reopening without choirs and without congregational singing! Oh, and laughing is just as bad! So I started thinking about how we could possibly do church without vocal music, and how I could preach without makingpeople laugh! (I mean, sometimes I even intend to cause laughter).
We keep looking for persons to blame. Or at least people upon whom we can direct our frustration and anger. I have decided to be angry at the virus. It is almost as though this virus is the work of the devil, out to get the church. Think about it: all the things Christians love to do, all the things we do well, all the ways we make a difference in the world, seem to be in the crosshairs of this virus.
We bring loving embraces and healing touches. Nope, gotta stay six feet apart!
We gather in groups to share our burdens (“Wherever two or three are gathered…”). Not in person!
We visit the lonely, imprisoned, and ill. Not right now!
We turn strangers into friends with a smile. Can’t see it behind a mask.
We shout to the Lord!
We sing songs of praise!
We laugh and cry with each other.
It does seem devilish, doesn’t it? And what should we as believers do? We who are Easter people, confident that God has already given us the victory over death and the powers of evil? We laugh. We laugh in the face of the devil.
Going against the wise directives of health professionals and leaders isn’t going to change anything.
But showing the forces of darkness that they won’t prevail will change things.
And I have seen you laugh in the face of this virus:
When you learn how to communicate and share love and healing in new ways!
When you help others to learn these ways.
When you call a friend and pray together.
When you share of your bounty so that strangers can eat.
When you bring your own bread and juice to communion, and allow the power of the Holy Spirit to turn you into the body of Christ, redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
When you make space for your neighbor at the grocery store.
When you drive by someone’s home and honk your horn in celebration of their birth.
When you stay home as much as possible.
When you wash your hands and wear your mask.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:37-39
So may it be. Amen.
Pastor George