The Corona Virus, Social Distancing And The Church

Palm Sunday Year A 2020

Father Dale Matson

            An Oriental curse is to say, “May you live in interesting times”. I think we could consider these interesting times.

            Spring has arrived and our Golden State of California is green. Unfortunately, the rain will soon end and there is an anticipatory sadness that this season will give way to a golden hue in a matter of weeks. Palm Sunday has that same anticipatory sadness as our California Spring. In our Gospel lesson today, we hear the following which I will summarize.

Jesus arrives in Jerusalem to adoration and great fanfare.  We are always hopeful yet we know the outcome, don’t we? Then we begin the passion narrative. We say to ourselves, “How can this be? How could things have gone so tragically wrong so quickly”? From his triumphant entry we now see Jesus in Gethsemane nearly dead from sorrow and literally sweating blood. He went to his closest friends Peter, James and John three times asking for their prayers and companionship yet they remained asleep. He was so alone there. Have you been there too? Are you there now? I believe this is an extreme example of what we term today in the age of the Corona Virus, “Social Distancing”. Jesus knew the outcome…that he would die soon. He had no one to comfort him, yet he yielded to the will of His Father.

Many of our coping mechanisms and distractions have been taken away like Churches, parks, theaters, fitness centers etc. Lots of safe outdoor places have been closed. City parks, county parks, state parks and even the national parks are closed. We are under a form of "house arrest" and physically isolated from our own families. I am glad for the internet that offers a more balanced view of our situation and a means of keeping our church family together. We are live-streaming our services. People are rethinking bricks and mortar institutions. I think the pagans are more bothered by this than Christians based on the comments I have read on First Things. I can’t believe the hate filled comments I have read. Faith is a healing balm. I am seeing less quarreling between Protestants and Catholics however as we ban together.

The First Things Blog had an article this week titled, “CHURCH AS A NON-ESSENTIAL SERVICE”. I will read the following from that article. “Judging by the response of many religious leaders, church is a non-essential service. We are capable of taking prudent measures to keep our supermarkets open, but not our sanctuaries. Coronavirus has shown what we value. In Pennsylvania, beer distributors are deemed essential. In San Francisco and New York, cannabis dispensaries are [considered to be essential]. The rules vary by jurisdiction, but they all aim at one overriding goal: the preservation of physical health.”  https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2020/03/church-as-a-non-essential-service

Only time will tell if the current measures taken to combat the virus are draconian or not. As a 75-year-old, I am optimistic and not fearful but I have lived through much worse. We are having to endure both the problem and the solutions to the problem. At this point I am concerned that the solutions may create bigger unseen problems than the disease. I am mourning my missing freedoms. We are losing our freedom by degrees daily. But I am fortunate to have Sharon with me. What about the elderly who have no one else? What about the loss of human contact. Is a phone call a form of virtual hug? I’ll bet you are keeping in touch with relatives by phone more than before.

 And yet we find the very climax in our narrative in these words, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but thou wilt.”  He made his decision to do His Father’s will. It cost him his earthly life as a ransom for our sins.

From this point on, things became increasingly worse with his friend Peter denying three times he even knew him.  And we say to ourselves, “How can this be?” There is a betrayal by Judas, followed by an arrest and false accusations by the religious leaders. There is a mock trial followed by severe and humiliating beatings and a murderer Barabbas is set free instead of an innocent and perfect man. The crowd yells, “Crucify him” and we say to ourselves, “How can this be? Where are all the people who would defend him? Why aren’t they yelling, “Free Jesus”. He is even forced to carry his own cross on which he will be crucified. His garments are taken from him and he is left in his nakedness, to hang on the cross in front of his friends and mother. After his death he is taken down and placed in another man’s tomb. The Old Testament prophet Isiah predicted this. “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”

Paul wrote his letters to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians and Philippians while under this house arrest in Rome.  These letters were written around the latter part of A.D. 60 to 61.  Paul was under house arrest and imprisoned at the time. You could say that Paul was suffering from enforced social isolation. His letters have been called his imprisonment or captivity letters. It is no accident that Paul was imprisoned in Rome for God had told him, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” (Acts 23:11b). Christ was destined for the cross on Calvary and Paul was destined to witness and die in Rome.

We know that Paul would have preferred to go to these churches in person but think about the letters he wrote that had wide circulation. Think about how being imprisoned forced him to do what we would call today a “Work Around”. He used the technology of the day to communicate the Gospel and that technology had a widespread effect. We read his letters today. God intended them for us too!

Now think about our technology today in the era of “social distancing”. We are able to reach the world in an instant via video streaming. The “Work Around” we use today can and will be used in the future as the church finds new ways to spread the Gospel. The transition to a virtual church was easier for us than some who had to give up their church temporarily. We had no church to give up.

Now let us examine the first portion of our Epistle lesson from Philippians.

⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ⁹

And this is the lesson of Lent for us that we have the mind of Christ.  And what is that mind? It is the mind of Obedience, Humility and Self Denial. We must be obedient to our Father in Heaven. If He gives us His Gifts then we must step out in faith and obedience to use them for the good of his body the Church. We too must be obedient to the point of our own death. This is the death of selfishness and self centeredness.  We are called to serve others.  We must be humble. When we think or do something, is it for our glory or God’s glory? Can we do the good work unseen? Can we give that gift anonymously?  Sometimes it is only a matter of keeping a criticism about someone else to ourselves isn’t it?  It is hard to resist that shopping trip or that Easter candy since both make us feel so much better at the time. We’ll just save the remorse for tomorrow. One of Sharon’s favorite annual events is the Easter egg hunt on our front lawn for the children and grandchildren. We have had to cancel that and the dinner that follows it this year for the first time.

And where is the hope we hold so closely to our hearts in this season of Lent?  It is coming, my brothers and sisters. It is coming. We hold out our hope as Jesus enters the gates of Jerusalem yet we know tragedy and unspeakable injustice await the Lamb of God.  We know this is not the time. This is not the place. He has been humbled, humiliated, crucified and placed in a tomb and WE WITH HIM. 

Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

  And what we have is the New Testament witness of God and Jesus Christ as God, that every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is our Salvation and there is no other. We look with hope through the eyes of faith, having been crucified and buried with him, that we too will follow him up from his lowly borrowed grave to the heights of Heaven.

Prayer

Lord forgive the very way we live our lives. Especially our hard hearted and self-centered focus. Please hear our prayers for others. We pray for the ill, the dying, those who lost jobs and those who face the social isolation alone. Thank You for our friends, spouses, children and grandchildren. Please give us a sense of peace about all of these things beyond our control. In the end You are in control. Help us to focus on You. I pray for those who rule over us that they would have good council and make wise decisions that would make a positive difference in our lives. Help us to learn our lessons from this. May the Lord bless and keep you all. Amen