Lions! And Tigers! And Bears! And Covid-19! Oh My!
It’s both interesting and to a great degree frustrating to see how people are reacting to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Not my choice of word, but it’s been officially applied.)
Consider: (US data for Covid-19 taken from CDC as of March 21, 2020)
The death rate for the annual flu is reportedly 0.14% of those infected. The death rate for Covid-19 is reportedly (official CDC estimate) 3.4%, but figures from South Korea where testing has been much more widespread than elsewhere suggests the death rate of infected people is about 0.6%. The death rate for Covid-19 is, in either case, significantly higher than for the annual flu, but the number of people infected annually by the flu in the USA far exceeds that of those infected by Covid-19. The over 15,000 cases in the US so far is by no means a small number of people, but it pales compared to the 15,000,000 to 45,000,000 cases of influenza in the US annually.
I don’t want to dismiss concern over Covid-19 as being totally unwarranted. It is both more infectious and more deadly that the annual flu; there is as yet no confirmed treatment or vaccine; and we’re early in its development and final figures could prove to be worse than current statistics show. It does seem, however, that the general reaction to Covid-19 – the mass closing of businesses and schools, the disruption of our economy, the restrictions on movement and public assembly – does not correspond to the statistical comparison between Covid-19 and influenza. 15,000 infections vs. up to 45,000,000? 201 deaths so far vs. up to 65,000 annually? It’s possible that the social and economic reaction to Covid-19 will prove much more damaging than the medical problems it will bring.
I think we need to keep things in perspective. Taking precautions against the spread of Covid-19 is wise, espcially at this early stage of its development. Be reasonable; but don’t be swept up in the fear and panic being stirred up by the media at almost every turn.
But there’s more to include in our field of view than a comparison of Covid-19 with influenza. There’s another “infection” around, about which we would do well to be concerned. Covid-19 will infect some, but not all. Some of the people infected with Covid-19 will die from it, but not all. If you get Covid-19 and it doesn’t kill you, it will be uncomfortable for a while, but you’ll get over it. The same is true for any of the other diseases referred to above. But this other “infection” never goes away, it infects 100% of us, and is 100% fatal. This other “infection” is sin. And we’ve all already been infected.
Consider what Covid-19 can do to a person. Headache, cough, fever, death. Consider what Covid-19 can do to a family, a community. Social and economic disruption for a time, financial difficulty, loss of job, loss of family members and friends, perhaps permanently.
Now consider what sin can do. What happens to a family when someone is unfaithful to a spouse? Is that just a temporary blip on the line of life? What happens to a woman and her baby when she chooses abortion for the sake of convenience? What happens to a person who abuses drugs or alcohol to the point of becoming adicted? What happens when a person tells malicious lies about someone? Make no mistake. Every sin, no matter how insignificant we might want to think it is, causes problems – problems for ourselves, for those around us, for society as a whole. Ultimately in every case sin results in death. And it doesn’t stop there.
If Covid-19 is the immediate cause for death, once a person dies its effect is over, done for, finished. It can do no more. But the effects of sin do not stop when a person dies, for sin affects not only our bodies, but also our souls. There’s more to reality than what we can see with our eyes while living on the earth. That reality extends beyond what we currently understand as space and time into eternity. Sin affects our relationship with God, our Creator. It separates us from God and earns his eternal wrath and punishment. Being eternally separated from God, the only source of good, peace, comfort, and joy means being eternally plagued with 100% bad, turmoil, pain, and sorrow.
This is what sin does. It’s really more than a mere infection. It permeates our being, body and soul. We don’t get it; we’re born with it. And there’s no cure, no escape.
Except…
Jesus the Christ. Jesus, the Word, the second person of the mystery of the divine Trinity, the Son of God come to earth to be also the Son of Man – God in our form, place, and reality, to do for us as our official and effective Substitute to live to our credit the holy life God’s law requires of mankind and to die the death we deserve under the just punishment of God’s law – to be forsaken by God in our place. By living perfectly and by dying the punishment for sin, he fully satisfied both the law’s demand for holiness and its demand for punishing every sin. And he didn’t stop there. He also rose in victory over death to impart new life to our souls, sending us his Spirit by Word and Sacrament, moving us thereby to receive eternal life and salvation through faith in the message of what he has done. Through faith in Christ our souls have already died with Christ on Calvary and now live by his power with a life so strong that it will reach into our graves and one day even raise our dead bodies back to life, to live with him totally free from sin and all its terrible consequences.
One of the amazing things about what Christ has done for us, is that the results aren’t limited to what comes after death. Even though in this life we are still infected, we have the cure. No longer do we need to be afraid of sin and what it can do to us. No longer do we need to fear the terrible swift justice of the sword of God’s law. No longer do we need to be afraid of God.
Rather we can look to God as our wonderful loving father. We can see ourselves as part of his family and joint heirs with Christ of the glories of God in his heavenly realm.
Covid-19, influenza, all the hardships of life in this world, the suffering and struggle that fills earthly living, death. None of these are easy. None of these are joyful. But for those who are in Christ, the magnitude of these negatives doesn’t come close to the magnitude of the postives God has in store for us. Consider Romans 8:11-19, one of the portions of Scripture associated with the 5th Sunday in Lent (March 29, this year):
And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you. So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it. For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live. Indeed, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself joins our spirit in thestifying that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, we are also heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. In fact, creation is wating with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed.
Friends and readers, keep things in perspective. See the whole picture. Most of all, see Christ and keep seeing and studying in him so that you continue to keep everything in perspective and keep his glorious life forever.