COVID-19 UPDATE & DAILY DEVOTIONAL – March 13, 2020

A Note from Pastor Jay

“PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR”

Living by faith and in faithful response to COVID-19

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus the Christ.

As our government health organizations, communities, schools and other organizations begin to take measurable steps to try and keep everyone physically safe and healthy as we face another outbreak of disease, this time being Coronavirus (COVID-19), I wanted to take time to talk with you about how St. Mark Lutheran Church is also working to ensure no only the physical health and safety of all who come to our campus, but also care for your spiritual health and well-being.  God’s Word says in 2 Corinthians 4, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

I am certainly going to share with you our plans regarding all activities here at St. Mark and how we are keeping everyone safe, but first, I wanted to take a few minutes and talk with you about your spiritual safety and health during this time.

Jesus says in in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.”  As people who have been born again by the Holy Spirit in the waters of baptism and who have been made new, spiritual creations in Christ, it is especially important that while we take prudent and necessary measures to ensure our physical health and wellbeing, we also keep our spiritual health and our faith in Jesus and in God’s perfect love at the forefront of our minds.

When times of fear and uncertainty come upon us, as people of faith and as those who are born of the Spirit, we know that these are also times when the Lord has promised to bring us closer to Himself and deepen our trust in Him.   Scripture tells us in 1 John 4 that God’s perfect love casts our fear.  In 1 Peter 5 it says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

How much does God care for us?  How deep is His love for us?  We only need to look to the cross to see the unsearchable depths and the power of God’s love.  We see the love of God that provided the only cure for the disease we all are born with and that has a 100% mortality rate.  The disease of sin.  Though He was without sin, Christ became sin for us, and His perfect blood poured out and His perfect life sacrificed was the only cure.  Through His resurrection from the dead, Christ has made that cure available to all.  For all who put their faith and hope and trust in Him who defeated death, we do not die.  Yes, because of sin, one way or another our bodies will die, but our soul lives in Christ and we will be physically raised again on the last Day.  As Jesus said to Mary and Martha just before raising Lazarus from the tomb (after Lazarus had been dead for four days), “I am the resurrection and the life, Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,  and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” – John 11:25-26

Our fears and anxieties over any disease come ultimately from our fear of death.  But death has been defeated in Christ’s resurrection.  We can know God loves and cares for us, and trust Him above all else, because He has healed us eternally in Christ.  This means that in the face of any threat and in any fear, we have a hope that is eternally more powerful and sure.

God has given us His Word to read, to know, and to trust, and it is through that Word of God that He casts out fear and fills us with hope.  Hear that Word of God now, trust and believe Him when His Word says in Romans 8, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Amen.

HOW WE ARE RESPONDING TO COVID-19 RESPONSIBLY AND FAITHFULLY

Now a few words concerning our ministry at St. Mark and how we are being good stewards of our health and wellness, while continuing the work of the church.

Though, as I am sure you have heard, many public schools and events have decided to suspend activities, all worship services and church activities on the campus here at St. Mark will continue as normal.  This includes all of our worship services, Bible Studies, and our Preschool and Childcare services.  My confidence to remain fully engaged in our ministry here together comes from the diligent and careful actions we are taking and have been engaged in to ensure our facilities and environment at St. Mark is clean, sanitary, and as safe as we can reasonably make it.

I have significantly increased both the scope and frequency of our janitorial services, and our operational staff here at St. Mark is doubling their efforts to maintain as sterile of an environment as we can make.  If you visit our Facebook page, you will see a message from myself and our Childcare Center Director, Julie Kyriss, listing in detail all that we are doing in this regard.

In addition to all of our operational efforts, I will also be making temporary changes to some of our traditions and customary practices at Sunday morning worship.

• During service we will refrain from shaking hands while greeting one another. Feel free to substitute a handshake with any number of creative (and appropriate) gestures; fist bumps, elbow bumps, head bumps, bowing, waving…you get the idea.
• Before and after service, I will still be there to greet you and see you off, but will not be offering you my hand to shake. If you offer me yours, I will gladly shake it assuming you have been respectful to offer a clean hand, as I will to you.
• For our time of offering, the offering plates will be placed on the altar railing, and I will invite you up to bring your offerings to the Lord yourself and then return to your seat.
• For communion, we will continue to distribute the wine as we normally do; allowing you to take a cup from the tray on your own. Regarding the distribution of the bread, I will be the only one distributing bread to reduce the number of hands being exposed, and will be washing my hands thoroughly before service and applying hand sanitizer adequately prior to handling and distributing the wafers.

As much as we are doing as a church to respond appropriately to COVID-19, your participation in healthy practices is just as critical to ensure the work of the church continues, especially during this time.  Please do the following:

• Stay current on all information about COVID-19 using reliable sources. Not only can you go directly to the CDC website (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html, and the website for the World Health Organization https://www.who.int/, but the website for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is also being updated regularly with a lot of useful information.  lcms.org.
• Visit these sites and learn if you are at elevated risk for Coronavirus, and take the recommended preventative measures.
• If you have any symptoms of illness such as a cough, fever, runny nose, or soar throat, please do not come to service or any church function until your symptoms have been gone for at least 48 hours or you have seen a doctor and been told it is safe for you to go to church.
• We stream all of our services and are already sharing all communications in a wide variety of formats online, via email, social media and our mobile app. You can very easily stay up to date and participate with us in worship and ministry if you determine it would be best for you not to be physically present.

If you have any questions or additional concerns, please feel free to reach out to me directly.  ejay@stmarkomaha.org.

Finally, and most importantly, remember that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today, and has already taken care of all of your tomorrows, even into eternity.  Amen.