Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
Fear is gripping
our world.
Fear.
COVID-19, the
latest coronavirus.
We don’t know yet
whether our fears are justified or overblown.
We simply do not know.
The fact is that
we are vulnerable to certain illnesses, and the most vulnerable, elderly, children,
and those with compromised immune systems are most at risk.
Part of what is
going on is this is a new thing. And we
fear it because it’s new, and we don’t know much about it yet. And perhaps our immune systems have little
defense against it.
According to NBC
news “the death toll in the U.S. from the coronavirus outbreak rose to 17 on
Friday, with more than 330 cases confirmed across the country. Johns Hopkins
University announced that more than 100,000 people have been infected
worldwide.”
And as you are
aware, western Washington is one of the epicenters of the outbreak. Particularly Life Care of Kirkland nursing
home.
But, stop, for a second.
Reality check.
The Center for
Disease Control estimates that during the 2019/2020 flu season there have been 34
to 49 million cases of the flu in the United States, and that there have been
20,000 to 52,000 flu related deaths. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm
So what that
means is that approximately 10% of our population has had the flu this last
year, and that of that, 1 in a thousand died.
The mortality
rate for the corona virus appears to be higher than the flu, though we do not
know for sure because the symptoms are so similar to the flu that without
proper testing, it’s hard to determine if someone had the flu or the corona
virus.
The point is that
out of a population of 326 million people in the United States about 36,000
have died of the flu this last year or so, or one in 10,000. Or to look at it locally, one or two people
have likely died from the flu in Otis Orchards and Liberty Lake, and they were
likely in a nursing home. And so far,
out of that 326 million people 1 in 20 million people have died from the corona
virus.
In contrast,
about a million people die of heart attacks each year, accounting for about 1/3
of all fatalities. Or one in 326.
I have two
reactions to these numbers.
The first is “Calm
down.” Chill out.
At this point
your chances of dying from the corona virus or flu are about the same as dying
from a motor vehicle accident. Yet you
all drove to church.
The second is that
we can all be a bit smarter and more diligent.
When we drive, we
wear seat belts. We don’t drive when
intoxicated (or shouldn’t). We stop at
stop signs and obey the speed limits, more or less. Our children are in car seats. And so the list goes.
Well, the same
sort of precautions are appropriate regarding infectious diseases like the
corona virus and/or the flu.
Wash your hands.
Stay home when
sick.
(On that one, one
of the most absurd criticisms I ever received as a pastor was when one lady chastised
me because she’d been sick with the flu for two weeks and I hadn’t visited
her. First of all she didn’t tell me she
was sick, but second of all, it’s not a good idea to visit contagious people.)
There are other
things we can do.
Cough into your
elbow.
Cover your mouth
and nose when sneezing.
Actually wash
your hands. I’m purposely mentioning
that a second time. I saw something the
other day that said we should wash our hands as diligently as we would if we
had just cut up a jalapeño pepper and are now going to take out our
contacts.
And take
precautions when serving the public, as we do during communion here, and as
much as possible use ‘best practices’.
Those most
vulnerable should avoid large crowds in confined spaces.
Oh, and did I
mention that people should wash their hands.
The point is that
the risks are low regarding dying from the corona virus or the flu, but don’t
be dumb.
Just as you put
on a seat belt when you get in the car, wash your hands.
The life you save
may be your own, or someone you love.
This point was
brought home to me when I remembered that my son has what is called an IGA
deficiency. IGA stands for immunoglobulin-A,
our body’s first line of defense against most bacteria and viruses. He is more likely to get a cold, or the flu,
or other because this immunoglobulin A is not present at a high enough level in
his nose and mouth. So he is at higher
risk.
Now, let’s talk
about fear.
And faith.
Death is the most
primal fear we have. I don’t want to
die, at least not prematurely. And so I
am afraid of certain situations.
One example of
that occurred the first Christmas Eve I was with you. We had services at 7 pm, and it snowed and
was nasty outside. The roads were slick.
As we drove home
with our family I became acutely aware that many of the people on the road late
that night had probably been drinking.
It was then that I decided that we’d have our Christmas Eve services
earlier.
It’s all about
fear, and avoiding risks.
We fear death.
But our lives are
in God’s hands.
That’s the faith
part.
God loves
us. God cares for us. And our lives are in his hands.
So each year we
go through an influenza season, yet the immune system which God gave us is
usually sufficient to either prevent us from getting sick, or help us to get
well if we do.
Yes, one in ten
thousand will die from the flu this year, but 999 will live.
And secondly God
gave us instincts and brains to avoid risks.
It’s up to us to trust these and act accordingly.
Have faith and
live faithfully.
Trust in God and
live trustworthy lives.
That said, we
will all die one day.
And regardless
how much we fear death, and how cautious we are, it will come.
Yet even then our
lives are in the hands of a loving God.
“For God so loved
the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may
not perish but may have eternal life.”
Time and time
again the scripture invites us to a life free from fear. “Fear not” is a phrase that repeats itself in
many bible passages.
From Luke 12:32:
"Do not be
afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom.”
Faith, not fear.
The thing is we
shouldn’t let our fear of death prevent us from living life.
Again, we need
not fear death, for our lives are in God’s hands, but neither should we court
it through our own stupidity.
For me as a
pastor this gets very concrete and personal.
I don’t want you to die, and especially don’t want my actions or lack
thereof to be the cause of your dying, yet one day you will and should the responsibility
for doing your funeral fall to me I will preach on the resurrection and eternal
life that is ours because of the love of Christ.
We are to live,
confident and trusting in the loving God who has given us life, and yet seeking
to be wise ourselves in doing those things that will lead to a long and healthy
life.
So back to the
issue that is dominating the news and wreaking havoc with the stock
market. (That’s one of the things I’m
most afraid of, quite frankly.)
The COVID-19 virus.
Don’t be overcome
with fear, but live responsibly as you can so as not to cause harm to
yourselves and others.
The challenge for
our lives is to find the balancing point between trusting in God and acting
responsibly.
I had a
conversation online with my ELCA colleagues on Friday, expressing my concern
regarding communion practices in the face of the risk of flu and the corona
virus.
One pastor,
convinced that there is no risk associated with the common cup, said: “I guess
it boils down to whether or not you believe in the real presence of Christ in
the Eucharist...And whether or not you believe there is healing, life and
wholeness there.”
I was a bit upset
with that answer.
Yes I believe
Jesus is present in the sacrament and, as Luther says, bringing life and
salvation to us through it.
But that doesn’t
protect us from the transmission of infectious diseases through careless
administration of the bread and wine.
To put it
bluntly, I know where my hands have been, and believe me, Body and Blood of
Christ or not, you want me to wash first.
Have faith in the
God who loves you.
But act
responsibly so as not to harm yourselves or others.
That’s the bottom
line.
Amen
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