COVID 19, the Hornet, and the Call to Risk

                At the midweek service of our church, I began the night by asking our members about how the coronavirus was affecting them.  I was excited to see how buoyant their spirits were.  No one expressed worry over their 401k accounts or their health.  No one really got engaged until we began to talk about the call of Christians to protect the vulnerable.  As I listed some of the ones in our community who might be at risk,  I began to get volunteers. Members wanted to run errands for these shut-ins, to help wherever we could.   We were displaying the heart of Christ.  This pandemic might well make us stronger as believers.

               There are those who will lament the loss of control.  They will be anxious about the unknown and about man’s inability to answer the illness immediately.  It turns out that most of our lives are out of our control, but we know the one who cares for us and brings peace in the midst of a storm.

               There are also those who will be anxious about the economic fallout and the loss of future economic security.  But, we know that it is God who gives us the power to get wealth, and that David observes that he has never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread.

               This will also be a good corrective for those who have a desperate dependence on government.  Their first thought is to blame one political party or another for lack of leadership, lack of funding, lack of compassion.  When the other party is in power, everything will be ok.  The problem, of course, is not the political party in power.  The problem is that government itself is not omnipotent.  They cannot provide instant security, protection, and answers to all issues.  Only God can anchor our souls like that.

               Some will put too much confidence in government.  Others will put too much confidence in science.  Science has given us amazing advances in healthcare but, like government, they are not omnipotent.  Where we put our trust in the midst of a storm displays our God.

               Fear has a way of making us desperate.  It can feed our hypochondria, our paranoia.  What if this is not a time for binge-watching the news and wringing our hands or retreating into our shells until the danger has passed.  What if this is a time to lean in, to meet others at their point of need?  What if our fear can be replaced by a God-centered confidence.

               Every community has those who are vulnerable to illnesses like COVID 19:  The elderly, the cancer patient, the patient recovering from surgery or one with a persistent infection, the newborn and the mother.  Immune responses are low and that vulnerable member of our community can be filled with fear.  Christians, by their presence, can help to allay that fear.  We are called to risk in order to display the compassion of Christ.  May God awaken his army to move against the fear with the love of Christ.