It's Not The End Of The World…

So I'm writing this presuming you've heard of the coronavirus, aka COVID-19. Here is a link to a reference from John's Hopkins with an interesting chart showing the spread of the virus through the world. My wife linked to a different collection of information earlier today. There is all kinds of stuff online about it, with all kinds of suggestions for us to do, ranging from advice to PANIC to NO BIG DEAL. As a family we are going to self-quarantine, meaning that as much as possible we will be staying home for a while. For the most part our family is low-risk for a more serious episode, should it land in our home. Our intent is to both reduce our own exposure and reduce the possibility of us being exposed and then passing the virus along to others.

Personally I'm glad I'm no longer working in health care, because my guess is that infection control awareness and procedures are sky-high right now. That is both right and good, as well as something I don't miss having to deal with anymore. As a pastor, coronavirus does present a few opportunities for reflection.

Without having to wrestle with all the science behind it, and I do have an undergraduate science degree, my basic understanding is that it is a new virus in the world, which will likely affect many people as it passes through the first time. As of the time I write this since January 20th over 121,000 have been reported ill, over 66,000 have recovered, and 4,373 have died. Today the World Health Orgaanization declared a pandemic.

That the onset and spread of this coronavirus in the world is of serious concern is, I believe, beyond question. It has affected many people, some people and families tragically so. And it will likely continue to spread for a while before it abates. 

It is not the end of the world…

It is not the end of the world, but if it was, then Christians, of all people should live with a heightened awareness of what, ultimately, is at stake.

I'm a pastor, rooted in the Reformed tradition of Christianity, and I continue to whole-heartedly affirm the teachings of our confessional standards that I gave assent to at my ordination: The Heidelberg Catechism, The Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort.

When I preach on Sunday, no matter what particular biblical text I have open on the pulpit, I try to bring out both the truth of God's law and the mercy of God's grace. The Bible is particularly clear that without receiving God's grace in life, one will die under God's judgment. There is no middle ground between an eternal destiny of indescribable beauty and one of unimaginable horror.

So the outbreak of the coronavirus is an occasion to be reminded of the brevity of human life, even one of a hundred years, when compared with eternity. The window we are all living in now is the only one we have in which to make the decision that shapes our eternity. It is the only one in which to turn in faith to the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of our sin. I'm presuming that most of my regular readers are believers in Jesus. If you are not, please contact me separately and I would be glad to talk more about this with you.

As a Christian the outbreak of the coronavirus is an invitation to live with awareness that I frequently interact with people who are unsaved. In those interactions am I mindful of opportunities to share the good news of Jesus with them? Am I praying over those interactions before they even take place? Am I praying that God would be softening their hearts so that they would be ready to receive his mercy?

You've probably read a bazillion words about the coronavirus by now, and you'll likely read several bazillion more before this all comes to a conclusion. So I'll close with the first question-and-answer of the Heidelberg Catechism, which our congregation used as it's affirmation of faith as we worshipped last Sunday:

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.