Doug Lyon
Senior Pastor
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
~Ecclesiastes 1:9
Even though COVID-19 is a new experience for us, there have been earlier pandemics. The CDC reports, “The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919. In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States.”
Additionally, there have been many epidemics throughout the history of the church. There was an outbreak of plague in Martin Luther’s city of Wittenberg, Germany. When asked his advice in dealing with the situation, Luther wrote: “I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, He will surely find me, and I have done what He has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely.”
That was good advice in 1527, and it is good advice five centuries later—pray for God’s protection, sanitize your house, take medication, practice social distancing, and help your neighbor.