Christmas Eve 2020...Sermon Post - Acts 7:1-19...COVID thoughts

 

Well, 2020 Christmas Eve was not what I expected.  Because of increased cases in our small community, it touched some who attended our church which put in motion our prepared ahead of time plan to "rest" a Sunday from in-person services and rely again on our online capabilities.  It just happened to occur over Christmas and therefore the Christmas Eve service had the attendance of 3 in-person but video views of over 700.  In-person, without COVID concerns, the sanctuary can probably hold 250+.  Which do I prefer?  It is the 250+ because you can see them engaging in the service and experiencing the wonder of God's love of sending His one and only Son to us.  You have instant contact and can experience in person the greetings of "Merry Christmas" with each other and share that moment on Christmas Eve among the lights and decorations of Christmas.  COVID has definitely reduced the impact of physical contact with each other.

These next thoughts are mine and mine alone when thinking about the waters we have waded through and also the many churches across our nation.  I completely understand that others might come to different conclusions.  Elders, trustees, and pastors have wrestled over executive orders, constitutional matters, and Biblical mandates.  At times they have been in conflict with each other.  I will say that the church I am now serving, in my opinion, has done a great job negotiating these three.  The executive orders and guidance of the CDC recommendations have helped us to put into place common sense practices when we gather together; the Constitution has been pushed at times by these executive orders and court battles have presided to re-establish the rights of the citizens of this country; and the Biblical mandates have weighed on the hearts of the Christians in regards to gatherings, showing of God's love tangibly and practically, and helping us to keep our faith guiding us instead of the fear fueled by a world that doesn't know God.  Like I said, elders, trustees, and pastors all over this country have lost some sleep over this crisis.  I know that I have.

Decisions can be tough at times.  It is good to have a grid to work through to help make the decision.  In this situation we have the Bible, the United States Constitution, and the State's executive orders.  I think this is the proper order for the Christian.  What does the Bible say?  This has to have the greatest weight for the Christian no matter where he or she lives.  Next, what does the United States Constitution say?  This is the governing authority of our land.  It is not based on any one individual.  It is the document that all of our leadership pledges to uphold and defend.  Unlike the Bible, it can be changed but it involves a very detailed process of the will of the people.  Finally, what do the State's executive orders and officials say?  Their contribution is very important because it brings in present information very pertinent to the issue at hand.  It is guided by human leadership, usually smaller in number, and realistically this is the place where corruption, exaggeration, and misinformation or only giving selective information can happen.  A seizing of power and position can emerge to make it seem that their word is more important than the Constitution and the Word of God.

Has this happened?  I do believe so in certain situations.  It has created a culture of fear and a protection of oneself.  It is masked as protecting others but the deep concern is that "you" would not be the cause of someone else getting the virus.  It is not about "them" rather it is about "you."  On the church level, I fear we have went into "cocoon mode" to protect ourselves and our reputation in the eyes of the world and have set aside the opportunities to truly protect others with the outward witness of Christ.  This may not have looked like what we have always done it but in my opinion, we could have been more aggressive and creative in our outreach even in a pandemic.  Again, my opinion and speaking at myself when I type these words.

I keep coming back to the paralytic man lowered before Jesus and the first words out of Jesus' mouth were, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you" (Luke 5:20b, NASB).  Jesus was first concerned about the spiritual condition of this man before addressing his physical condition.  The man was actually all set for life and life eternal with his spiritual condition addressed even without the physical condition attended to.  If Jesus had just the addressed the physical condition, the man would still have been lacking spiritually. 

Has not wanting someone to become physically sick and yes even die physically become more important than not wanting someone to continue in spiritual sickness and yes even continue in the spiritual death without hearing of the opportunity to be born again?

I fear we have elevated the physical condition over the spiritual condition to the point that we have come to "whisper" about it rather than proclaiming it from the rooftops.  When we are guided by fear this is what happens.  We come to a "whisper" about our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  When we are guided by faith, the message stays strong while we address the physical needs of our world.  The fear has been overwhelming and coming at us from every angle.  Will we, as people of the faith, recognize this uptick in fear and combat it with more fuel coming from God's word?  Otherwise, we will make decisions again that are really more about us than about God and them.

This is a two video post concluding with the sermon from Sunday.  We dive into the speech or sermon of Stephen in front of the Sanhedrin that Jesus stood before some 50 days prior.  One of the challenges of the message was to use God's very words to defend ourselves when pressure and persecution comes.  Do we lean on God's words and illustrations from the Word of God to explain our stand of faith?  Are we increasing in our knowledge of this most important book in our lives?  If not, then when pressure and persecution comes we will give a much inferior answer.

Pastor Adam