Too Fast or Too Slow? But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son…”
(Galatians 4:4) Wednesday, Fifth Week of Easter Father of our freedom and salvation, hear the prayers of those redeemed by your Sons’ suffering. Through you may we have life; with you may we have eternal joy. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen Dear friends, There are some in our country who want everything to reopen yesterday. Others would like everything to remain closed until there are more assurances of safety put into place. How will it all pan out? I don’t know about you, but personally I am torn between the two options. Our economy is hurting. People are out of work. Businesses are limping, and many are in danger of going out of business permanently. For their sake, I hope we reopen soon. On the other hand, this virus is nasty. If we open too soon, and we have another outbreak and it spreads more quickly in a short amount of time, the fallout from that could be even more devastating than the first outbreak. More people could die. More people could wind up in the hospital or on a ventilator. More front-line workers would be putting their lives on the line to stave off the ravages of COVID-19. We need to pray for wisdom for our leaders, and pray for a willingness for the rest of us to abide by our leaders decisions. These are perilous times. According to the John Hopkins COVID-19 tracker this morning, so far 294,879 people have died in the world from this global pandemic. But lest we think we are the center of the universe, it is important for us to realize that such perils have come and gone throughout history. Plagues and pestilences, World Wars and natural disasters, earthquakes and Great Depressions, have come and gone. In the grand scheme of things, COVID-19 will most likely not be nearly as destructive as others. Consider the following: - Roughly 85 million people died in World War II which lasted for 6 years.
- Around 20 million or so died under Stalin’s purges in Russia
- 50 million died in the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918
- About 38 million died in the Three Kingdom wars of China in the first century.
- The Plague of Justinian decimated Constantinople and killed an estimated 30-50 million across Europe, N. Africa, Asia, and Arabia
- 800 years later the Plague returned and killed roughly 200 million in 4 years
I don’t want to be a downer, but just want to keep perspective. In our media-saturated world, COVID-19 is portrayed as if it were the first stage of the end of the world. It isn’t. I’m also reminded of an even greater and more staggering statistic: - The number of people who have died because of their own sinfulness…ALL of them;100%!–which is roughly 108 billion people who have ever lived on planet earth.
That is that statistic that hits home for me most of all. The greatest disease that we humans are facing doesn’t come from a virus or a bacteria or a World War, it comes from our own corrupt nature which has eternal consequences. The good news is that God did something about this in the fullness of time. Some people think God acted too slowly. Others think he acted too soon. The Bible declares that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son.” In other words, exactly at the right moment in history, God enacted his plan of healing. The cure for sin is here. It is Jesus alone. Only he is able to remove the one thing that causes the worst and most devastating destruction that humanity has ever seen, and he did it! He gave his life to give us the cure. The antidote has some wonderful side effects: life lasts forever; death cannot hold us; full healing is experienced; and we are given the freedom to live in peace, joy, and love. The best side effect: A beautiful reunion with our Loving Creator God, the source of every good, and when our time comes, we will be in paradise with God in the most wonderful, spectacular, and blessed existence without end. Don’t wait until your life ebbs away before you receive his vaccine. Change your mind, believe in Jesus, and be baptized in his name for the forgiveness of your sins! In the joy of our Living Lord,
Pastor Langdon Reinke P.S. Hope you and your family are healthy and safe. We are in this together. We have help available if there are needs. Please let us know. | 
