Four years ago, the Covid-19 pandemic encroached upon our lives like a summer squall on the Sea of Galilee.  It seems like yesterday that our lives were rudely disrupted by this pandemic, altering the very fabric of our society and challenging our faith in unprecedented ways.  It’s been enough time for a presidential term or to earn a college degree, yet we still feel the sting of the pandemic. Wouldn’t it be nice to go back to the way it was before the pandemic? 

In March 2020, we had just entered the Lenten season.  On March 4^th, our church hosted the first of several community Lenten services with our fellow Bon Air churches.  I recall how we had placed extra hand sanitizer  around the church.  There was a bit of awkwardness when we shook hands with our fellow worshipers.  But no mention of wearing masks at this point; CDCP was not yet a household name.  We had a nice worship service and luncheon.  (Who knew that it would be the final one – for we have yet to resume them.) 

At HRBC, Sunday, March 8, 2020, was our last “normal” in-person Sunday schedule until September 2021.  But even then, things were far from normal.  It was mid-2022 before we could feel that the pandemic was more behind us than out in front.  And to this day, we still feel the ripple effect of Covid-19.  Things just aren’t like they were.  

For example, in 2019, our combined Sunday worship attendance averaged 314  with Bible study (Sunday School) attendance of 237.  In 2023, worship attendance averaged 188 with Bible study at 111.  This computes to a 40% drop in worship attendance with a 54% drop in Bible study (2022 was only slightly higher).  Our stewardship/giving has also felt the impact of this change.  As of this writing our giving to the current budget is $115,222 lower than the same point in the previous year’s budget.  We certainly cannot attribute all of this to the pandemic.  But it has certainly had an influence.   

Honestly, there are times that my mind wanders back to pre-covid days.  If we could just turn back the clock!  This reminds me of the time when Israel was in the wilderness.  They longed to return to Egypt.  Even though God’s people were enslaved, oppressed, beaten and forced to make bricks with no straw, they longed to return because the food was better.  Exodus 16:2-3 is one example of such “spiritual amnesia” . . .  

²In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. ³The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” 

For similar passages, see Exodus 17:3; Numbers 14:2, 16:11, 41.  They echo this inclination to yearn for the familiar comforts of the past, even amidst current and future uncertainty.   

At the end of the day, the Israelites could not go back.  Neither can we.  It is impossible to turn back the hands of time.  We cannot reverse the effects of the pandemic. What can we do?    

Though we may be fewer in number and our circumstances vastly different, we must resist the temptation to dwell on what once was.  Instead, we must trust in the God who provides, Jehovah Jireh, and fix our gaze upon the future that lies ahead.  Perhaps this is the message in Hebrews 12:1-3 — 

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ²fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

For it is in embracing the present and looking forward with hope and faith that we honor the journey we have traveled and the lessons we have learned.  The choice is ours.  I’m up for it!  Are you? 

In Christ’s service,