March 17, 2020
Dear Hinson Baptist Church,
I missed being with you Sunday. And as we look ahead to the coming Sunday, new public safety requirements mean that I won’t see even the few that could gather last week. We are living through a crisis that, while not unprecedented, is unknown to living memory. There’s no “playbook” to fall back on, no reservoir of “best practices” when the church cannot gather. But though our lives are being turned upside down, personally and corporately, and things are changing sometimes by the hour, we are not dismayed. Perhaps more than ever before, all of us can relate to the apostle Paul when he assured the church in Corinth:
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that Jesus’ life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.” (2 Cor. 4:8-11)
Death’s terror has been broken because we’ve already died in Christ and been raised to a life that can never be taken away. Our call now is to live so that Jesus’ life in us is displayed for all to see. How can we do that, cut off and isolated as we are from each other? I want to offer some encouragement, as well as let you know of a few plans going forward.
Remember God. This is what Hosea accused the Israelites of failing to do, and it left them harried and vulnerable to trusting in worthless idols. (Hos. 4:6) The psalmist points us in a better direction. “When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Ps 56:3-4) A virus is but a mortal thing. The most it can do is kill the body, but our God has promised to keep us, body and soul, eternally. But we are forgetful. Read God’s word as much as you read the news. Remind yourself that hope is found in the God who raised Jesus from the dead and promises to raise us with him.
Trust the promises he’s made, not the ones he hasn’t. God has not promised to keep any of us from suffering, or even untimely death. Instead, he’s promised to be with us through suffering. Jesus said, “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mat. 28:20). Always means in everything – in illness, in national emergencies and pandemics, in layoffs and recession, in isolation and quarantine. He is our Good Shepherd through whatever may lay ahead (Is. 40:11).
Remember who you are. You are part of this local body of Christ, and that’s just as true while we are scattered as it is when we can gather. And because that is our identity, the apostle Paul encourages us: “Speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head – Christ. From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.” (Eph 4:15-16) You’ve often heard me say, “It takes the whole church to do the work of the church.” The work of the church is to build itself up in love. We may not be able to gather right now, but we can still speak the truth in love to one another. We can “comfort the discouraged and help the weak;” we can “rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in everything.” (1 Th. 5:14, 16-18)
While we are scattered, the elders and staff will be doing all we can to stay in touch. We will continue to livestream both services and are working on other ways for us to gather “virtually” as a whole and in small groups. We will be communicating more regularly through email and the church website. The staff are keeping regular office hours (though not all of us will be in the office) and are still available to meet through phone or video appointments. Please reach out; let us know how you are doing and what needs you have.
But it’s going to take all of us to get all of us through this trying time. If there was ever a moment to start praying systematically through the directory, now is the time. Keep meeting with each other “virtually.” Reach out especially to members who might be more vulnerable to COVID-19, and so less able to get out. Offer to pick up groceries or prescriptions. Rediscover the lost art of writing notes and letters. Take initiative with newer or less connected members. Be alert to the needs of working parents who are now also homeschooling, to single members working from home cut off from social connections, and to older members or those with underlying health conditions who may feel singled out and excluded. Loving one another and our neighbor means keeping a safe distance from each other, but it does not mean we no longer engage and serve one another. We simply need to be attentive and creative.
So many plans, both personal and corporate, have been upended by this pandemic and the measures needed to save lives. But none of God’s plans have been affected. In the mystery of his providence and wisdom, these days are exactly his plan for us, so “that Jesus’ life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.”
With you in Christ,
Your pastor,
Michael