COVID-19 has
changed so much about our world in a very short period of time. One of
the calls of the church is to be a light in the world, to encourage, to love,
to care for, and to be the light of Jesus in the darkest hour for all people,
especially those who are in need.
So many
people in the church forget Jesus' words in Luke 5:31, where Jesus states
"And Jesus answered them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician,
but those who are sick.'" This is not just metaphorical about
someone's spiritual state when taken in the light of the whole of scripture
(though repentance is the specific topic of the verse), though many are tempted
to take it that way. A tremendous about of both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)
and the New Testament stress the importance of the church loving and providing
care to everyone.
During these
difficult times, the Church needs to pull itself together, repent of the evil
that has plagued so much of the current church (racism, sexism, nationalism,
creating false binaries, treatment of the LGBTQ community, and any
community that is "other") and again be the shining light that
recognizes Genesis 1:27- that every person is an image bearer of God, and it is
not our role to treat some as "in" and some as "out" in any
sense.
This photo was taken at Awaken Community church in St. Paul, and the idea is that though the church (and so many houses of worship) are empty now when they would be full, that the spirit of those who are in those churches (speaking for my own faith tradition) is still present - and this is also a reminder that we (again speaking to my own faith) should be out of the building helping in any way that we can. In our current world of social distancing that looks different than it has before, but that just means that we have to be more creative about it - and that's valuable.
This photo was taken at Awaken Community church in St. Paul, and the idea is that though the church (and so many houses of worship) are empty now when they would be full, that the spirit of those who are in those churches (speaking for my own faith tradition) is still present - and this is also a reminder that we (again speaking to my own faith) should be out of the building helping in any way that we can. In our current world of social distancing that looks different than it has before, but that just means that we have to be more creative about it - and that's valuable.
James 2:14-17 states rather clearly, "What good is it, my [fellow believers], if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that? So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead."
