AN UNEXPECTED AND UNWANTED ANNIVERSARY
The month of March marks one year since our country has
been wrestling with Covid-19 and its effects, including “Social
Distancing” and lockdowns. The wider world had begun to be aware
of Covid by about late January, if I recall, but at that time it was a
problem elsewhere. By February, concerns about the disease
spreading to other areas were beginning to arise, and by early
March, panic was beginning to build in the United States. By early
March, some states like New York and California were entering into
lockdowns. By mid-March, Illinois had done the same. The effects of
these decisions over the last year have been dramatic, or perhaps
drastic would be a better word. That is why I write that we are
facing an unexpected and unwanted anniversary.
I say that this is an unexpected anniversary because when
our governor in Illinois began to impose a lockdown in March of
2020, the strong indication was that the restrictions would last for
two weeks in order to “flatten the curve” and then things would
open up again. When Zion suspended services in mid-March last
year, the intention was that we would be welcoming everyone back
to worship in-person by no later than Easter of 2020, which was on
April 12. In fact, we were having discussions in mid-March about
possibly needing to add extra opportunities to worship and receive
the Lord’s Supper on Easter because of the flood of members of Zion
who would be so eager to get back into church in person after being
kept away for two to three weeks of a lockdown for Covid.
Well, we all know how that “two weeks to flatten the curve” that was so frequently mentioned by
our governor and state leaders turned out. Two weeks turned into two months, and most of the effects
still linger now going on one year later. The government imposed its will with an iron fist, and that
heavy-handed approach has continued far longer than initially stated. (There’s a shock…political leaders
saying one thing and doing another, or seizing a form of power and not being quick to relinquish that
power? How surprising.) So, with government control still dictating where we can go and when, and
what we need to wear when we are doing it, we face an unexpected anniversary. “Two weeks to flatten
the curve” has become a one-year anniversary with no stated end in sight.
This is, of course, an UNWANTED anniversary as well as an unexpected anniversary. The lockdowns imposed by our government have done untold damage in a wide range of areas that will not be
fully understood or assessed for years. The economic damage, of course, has been severe. However, I am
more concerned about the psychological, interpersonal, social, and spiritual damage that this year of prolonged fear has created in our society. It is easier to see “closed” signs in store windows and recognize the
economic damage done by the past year of restrictive government policies than it is to see people weeping alone in their homes because they have had no human contact for months. It is more difficult to determine the cost of extreme loneliness in people, perhaps in nursing homes and care centers, who have
not been allowed to visit with their family members and loved ones for a year. And, how do you assess
the damage done to all of us when—in contrast to God’s good plan that we love one another, depend on
one another, and live together as extensions of His presence with us—we have been taught for the last
year to fear each other and view everyone around us with suspicion that they might be the cause of our
future sickness or death? God placed us in community as a blessing, not a curse. In Genesis 2:18 we
read, “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit
for him.’” Loneliness is not good, God has made us for fellowship and community. The past year of fear
has reversed much of God’s good and gracious plan. The we can only begin to assess the extreme damage
this has done.
This is not to make light of the seriousness of the plague in our midst. In our own congregation,
we have bid an earthly farewell to two dear brothers who have died of Covid or with Covid, and we have
had several others who have been hospitalized with extremely serious and long-lasting effects from the
plague. By all means, we need to exercise great care that we protect the health of those around us. I am
not urging recklessness or a disregard of the seriousness of this plague at all. What I am saying is that
we need to look at “health” a bit more fully than just the temperature of our bodies and the oxygen level
in our blood. The past year of lockdowns has done extreme damage to our emotional, interpersonal, and
spiritual health. That is why this March brings us to an unwanted anniversary.
Of course, the effects of the past year on the Church have been obvious. A few worship attendance comparisons will demonstrate this. Here are worship attendance numbers from one year ago: Feb.
23, 2020—177; March 1, 2020—191; March 15, 2020—71; March 22, 2020—8, and everyone else online
only. Now, here are combined Saturday-Sunday attendance numbers from the last few weeks: Feb. 6-7,
2021—68; Feb. 13-14, 2021—66; Feb. 20-21, 2021—92. Yes, a good number more than that are watching
the services on Facebook Live every week, and that has been a blessing the past year. However, there is
no substitute for being in God’s house, with God’s people, joining together in worship. We trust that as
God calls and gathers His people, God blesses His people. This is not a guarantee that nobody will get
sick by going to church (although to the best of my knowledge, there have been absolutely ZERO cases of
Covid transmission in worship at Zion over the past year) since Christians are not immune to the problems of the world. We do need to be sensible and safe. But also be aware of the saying, “The more you
miss church, the less you miss church.”
We NEED to be together. That is the way that God has designed us. Remember God’s admonition
in Hebrews 10:24-25, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting
to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see
the Day drawing near.” We need each other, and we need not to fear each other. We need to be together
in God’s house. God calls and gathers His people. We look forward to seeing you.
In Christ,
Pastor Clayton
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