Many of you have had questions over the last two weeks about the “Corona virus” (COVID-19) and what, if anything, our congregation may do about it. I am not writing today on behalf of the Session, though this letter is being sent with their knowledge and blessing. We have not made any formal decisions about what the WHO has named a pandemic and our President has declared a national emergency, but we are discussing what, if any, changes will be made, especially in relation to our observance of the Lord’s Supper. But today I am simply sharing a few thoughts as your pastor in the hopes of assuaging the fears which are being exaggerated and exacerbated by coverage of the virus in the media and online.
I am not a doctor or an infectious disease expert. I am a pastor. I hear the same reports from the media that you do: that there are (only) 10 confirmed cases of the virus in Arizona so far, but there certainly will be more; that this virus is not life-threatening or dangerous to the (vast) majority of people who contract it, but that it has a higher risk of mortality for the elderly and immuno-compromised individuals than the regular flu; that the best way to prevent interpersonal contamination is not to hoard medical masks, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper, but simply to wash your hands frequently, cover your mouth when you cough, don’t touch your face, and avoid large gatherings in confined spaces; that it is already too late to contain the virus since it has spread too far, but the recommendations of health officials aim to “flatten the curve” of new cases so as not to overwhelm critical care facilities. What we are being told is that COVID-19 is more serious than the common cold or a seasonal flu, and it is less serious than Bubonic plague, less contagious than measles, and less devastating in the largest percentage of sufferers than polio.
Health officials have recommended people stay home as much as possible. Universities and colleges are telling students not to return to campus or the classroom and transitioning the rest of the semester online. Some school systems are cancelling classes. Sporting events are being cancelled, postponed, or played in front of empty arenas. And synagogues, churches, and the Mormon organization are cancelling religious services and telling parishioners to stay home. Even among Reformed churches we hear congregations are cancelling gatherings or abstaining from the Lord’s Supper.
So what does ROPC plan to do? As I said at the beginning, I am not speaking for the Session. I am only one voice within the governing body of our congregation, but my recommendation to our ruling elders and to all of you is: do not fear, but trust the Sovereign God who made and sustains us. What does Scripture say to us in such a season?
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.
Open the gates,
That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.
(Isaiah 26:1-4)
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:4-8)
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
We have talked many times about living with reverent abandon. This is not to be confused with reckless abandon. We are not to be foolish and irresponsible as the people of God. But we are not to live in fear, and that is exactly what many people in our community, country, and around the world are doing right now. I hope we do not cancel worship services or the Lord’s Supper. I do not see the need to do so. We can still take reasonable precautions and limit our exposure in other ways. But the saints need more opportunities to worship, pray, and be encouraged by their brethren in a time of crisis and fear, not less.
If you are sick, please stay at home. COVID-19 is not the only illness that can be shared in a religious assembly, and we do not want your germs or to share ours with you. If you are coughing, please cover your mouth. Consider fist-bumping your brethren when you greet them on the Lord’s Day instead of shaking hands. It is what all the cool kids do anyway. If you are severely immuno-compromised, please be careful and consider limiting your exposure to others for a while, even if it means you decide to stay at home for a few Sundays. If you are sick or unable to attend, both Calvin OPC (Phoenix) and Redeemer OPC (Atlanta) livestream their services every Lord’s Day.
But everyone of us needs to remember certain truths. The God who made us wrote every day of our lives in a book before the first day began, and our times are in His hand (Psa. 139:16; 31:15). Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s, and because Jesus died and rose again, the redeemed are delivered from the fear of death (Rom. 14:8; Heb. 2:15). God calls us to walk by faith, not by sight (which is limited and easily misinformed), and certainly not by fear (2Cor. 5:7). Will some of us die from COVID-19? Statistically that seems unlikely, but it is certainly possible. Far more of us will die from heart attacks, cancer, stroke, or in a car crash at a time we did not anticipate. But is fixation and anxiety on the hour and nature of our death helpful to our sanctification and service to God? Hardly. “Teach us to number our days,” not so that we may be gripped by fear or despair, but so “that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psa. 90:12).
I will leave you with a quote from C. S. Lewis which has been circulating and is eminently suitable to our present crisis. Matt Smethurst shared it on the Gospel Coalition site a couple of days ago, and I have seen it shared in other places. You will easily recognize the applicability of Lewis’s observations to our present circumstances.
In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”
In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.
This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.— “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) in Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays
Your servant in the kingdom, peace, and joy of our Lord,
Pastor Joel
