The Family of God in A Time of Isolation

The expression, ‘our world changed… forever(?)’ is something of a cliché. It is often spoken in times such as we are going through at the beginning of the 2020s with this global viral pandemic. The very fact that I began this sentence with ‘in times such as we are going through’ admits we are not the first to go through such. A number have already compared our circumstances with a previous similar time - the viral pandemic that affected the world 102 years ago, known variously as ‘swine flu’ or ‘the Spanish flu,’ even though there was nothing uniquely Spanish about it. Some have said it began in a military camp in Kansa, in the USA, and was brought to Europe and the rest of the world when these young men went to join the war effort against the Nazis. 

I have titled the beginning of this piece ‘The family of God.’ To use that expression for all who believe in God is much more inclusive than to say ‘The Church in a time of isolation.’ The latter also carries different connotations than ‘family.’ So, how is being a believer in God, in my case, a Christian, different now.

Let’s bring it down to the generally recognized smallest unit of this great family – the local congregation, or small ‘c’ church. Congregational gathering is not possible if we want to be responsible citizens and do our part to try and limit the spread of this deadly virus. We cannot even meet socially. However, we are blessed to have means of communication that can help keep us bound together that our ancestors never had when they suffered from similar plagues. The telephone we have had for some time. Now, we are not even bound to a wall outlet. We can use our cellphones anywhere. And, we have the internet. This allows for a great deal of creativity in how we attempt to stay connected.

Let me get to the point and share my own experience at this time. Have I learned anything from it? Has it made me feel different about any aspect of our faith life as a congregation? 

I listened to our pastor give us a message on-line, as opposed to in a service of worship in our church building. He also took the effort to prepare some comforting devotionals for us to listen to in this time of crisis, with the hope that for those whose sleep is disturbed by such, the message he sought to convey could help them get that needed rest with the assurance that his is still there for us, but more importantly, as we really do know, but need reminding of, is that the loving Lord who unites us by his Spirit has not left us. It was reassuring to hear the strong voice of our pastor speak to us in this way. Truly a shepherd speaking to his flock.

Our Worship Pastor and others have shared devotional thoughts and reflections as well. Thus, we ‘hear’ from one another, even though not in person. We are reminded that we are all still here, even if (mostly) esconced in our own homes. This was especially helped by an initiative where members of our congregation – individuals and families – joined in a video montage from over 30 homes where they all smiled and waved greetings to all those viewing. To my embarrassment, when I decided to join this, I was too late, but or dear Worship Pastor plunked my mug shot from my video into the next edition of the email newsletter as a photo.

Today, being Good Friday, we had a first total worship service led on-line. Knowing others are watching and listening around our metropolitan area, and possibly beyond, does help us feel united still. The service included communion. Even there, knowing the symbolic nature of it, the meaning is not lost. We know others are sharing the bread and cup, even if not exactly at the same time clockwise, but the same time in the service, whenever it is watched, if people do the communion as suggested. We will have different types of bread. I had a piece of paska – a traditional ‘Easter’ bread from my ancestors. We might even have different types of drink. When the former pastor of our church led his current congregation in communion already on a previous Sunday, he acknowledged he and his wife were drinking pear juice. Indeed, as my wife and I discussed, does it have to be grape juice or wine? Did God send his Son to Israel because they had grapes there, the wine of which could be used by Jesus when he instituted the Lord’s Supper? Of course not.  If Jesus had come to earth in Germany, the cup might have been a stein containing beer. In Russia, it might have been a glass of vodka. Here in North America, it could be apple juice. Am I being sacrilegious? I don’t think so. 

But that is not the point. The objective of this short essay was to discuss our times and how we are keeping connected. Our Creator has blessed his people, made in his image, with some of his creative spirit, and we are all being blessed by our use of this. May our God continue to give us hope and comfort through such means as we make our way through this pandemic time.