Covid, Corona, Delta, Omicron - and who knows what's next? This tiny, sub-microscopic virus has kind-of been everyone's life, or looming ominously over, or lurking in the background of everyone's life, for about two years now. Isn't it strange that something so ridiculously tiny can have such a tremendous negative effect on the lives of everyone on this planet?
Don't believe me? Just ask Novak Djokovic, the number 1 ranked tennis player in the world. Instead of beginning the defense of his title in The Australian Open this week, he is back home in Serbia after being deported from Australia for the "crime" of not being vaccinated.
"But", you say "what about the medical exemption that he had received before entering Australia?" Apparently, that didn't matter. He is out of the Tournament, and out of Australia, and may not be allowed back in Australia for three years, because, according to the Australian Immigration Minister, his presence "may be counterproductive to efforts at vaccination by others in Australia."
So, let me get this straight. The Number 1 Tennis player in the world has been kicked out of one of the four Major Tennis Tournaments of the year, and deported from the country, not because he might infect others with Covid, but because he might be a bad example to others who do not want to be vaccinated.
Okaaaaay.
Of course, nobody reading this is going to be deported from a Grand Slam Tennis Tournament in Australia, or anywhere else, because of a vaccination issue. But Covid is still lurking and still causing problems for regular people. And, it doesn't even seem to matter that steps have been taken, and even mandated, to "flatten the curve" and/or to "shut down the virus". If anything, it seems that the virus is even more prevalent now than it has ever been.
Despite being vaccinated, after a brief encounter of my own with Covid last week, I am so thankful that my friend, Andy, was able, on short notice, to preach for my church this past Sunday - in front of only a little more than half of our congregation. Yes, it was a small crowd, but actually larger than was expected based on our estimates of Covid-related absences.
What is next? It's hard to say. However, through two years and counting of a world that has been rocked by a tiny virus, the good news is that Covid cannot "shut down" The Church. It might make The Church look different. It might change the way things are done. It might even force us to re-examine some of the things we have long held to be "important". Instead of large assemblies in big buildings, The Church might find itself being expressed "where two or three are gathered in the Name of Jesus" - Matthew 18:20. But The Church will continue. The Lord will not allow His Bride to disappear.
And frankly, it is comforting to me to know that the future of The Church is not really up to me. If it was, I might be putting together a plan right now to consolidate, to retreat, to set up defenses, to become entrenched like the armies of "The Great War" [which is what people called World War I before we realized that these things would have to be numbered].
In fact, as those of you who know me already know, I kind of think along such lines anyway. Let's put up a fence around The Church to protect us. Let's stay inside our fort, I mean our church building, and wait for The Lord to come. That's the safe thing, right?
Maybe. But that is not what we've been called to do. Our orders are not to be safe. Our orders are not to "stay", but to "GO".
So, let's go, Church!
Ambrose Ramsey | Shepherd and Pastor
