I keep thinking about our New Testament lesson this past Sunday from Romans 8. Paul is talking about the promise of redemption not just for us, but for all creation. He speaks of creation being set free from its bondage as it is “groaning in travail” awaiting its glorious redemption as a mother “groans” in labor pains awaiting the glorious birth of a child.
Ancient man didn’t have a scientific world-view, but he did understand the precarious state of the created order. The ancient world-view was a three-tiered universe with a heavenly ocean above us and another underground ocean beneath us. Looking at the beautiful blue sky, our ancient ancestors thought they were gazing at the bottom of the heavenly ocean. What was holding it in place? The grace of God.
When God sent rain to the earth, he simply opened a “window” in heaven and the rain came pouring down. But creation would suffer when God did not open the windows of heaven. Drought and famine were common in the ancient world. Then, there was disease.
Creation suffers from famine, drought, pollution, waste, viruses and diseases. Viruses are a part of life, something we live with every day. Our bodies have built up defenses against most viruses. But the Coronavirus is new, our bodies don’t have any built-in defenses to stop it. Here is one of the best analogies I have heard to explain the virus. It’s from Dr. Dan Pastula from the University of Colorado Medical School.
So, the virus isn’t more powerful, per se, than other viruses. But when it enters the human body, we have no pre-existing defenses since our bodies don’t immediately recognize it as a dangerous intruder. Imagine an old, walled medieval town. If this virus were a disguised attacker arriving at the town’s protective walls, but open gates, the guards would not immediately know to be suspicious. With this coronavirus, it’s as if the guardians of our cells have kept the gates open and let the coronavirus in without immediately recognizing its danger.
Then the virus starts to spread.
“It gets in and hijacks the human cell’s machinery. Instead of the cell doing what it’s supposed to do, the virus overrides the cell’s normal programming and turns it into a machine to make more of the virus. It goes and goes and goes until the immune system stops it,” Pastula said.
I am sure that all of God’s creation is “groaning with travail” to be set free from this Coronavirus bondage. The promise in Romans 8 is that it will happen! There are so many unanswered questions right now, but Paul reminds us that “hope that is seen is not hope.” We hope for what we do not see and--this is important--we must wait for it with patience. (Romans 8: 25). We can wait with patience because we know, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (vs. 31)
As much as we don’t know, there is something very simple that we do know. We know how to stop the spread of this disease. All we have to do is Wear a mask, Wait six feet away from others, and Wash hands frequently. You may have seen Tom Hanks interviewed on TV yesterday. He and his wife were both ill with the virus. He urged everyone to do their part, saying that it’s very simple.
"Wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands. That alone means you are contributing to the betterment of your house, your work, your town, your society as a whole and it's such a small thing," Hanks said.
And I would add, it also means we are following the command of Jesus to love our neighbor.
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