The numbers from 1918 are staggering with 500,000–675,000 deaths estimated in the U.S. and 50–100 million deaths worldwide. Like our experience with COVID-19, at the beginning of the 1918 pandemic antiviral medications and effective vaccines were not widely available, so they did what we are doing by using nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to decrease disease transmission. They closed schools, band public gatherings, and asked for voluntary quarantine of infected households.
Like the difference today between New York and Minneapolis / St. Paul, the intensity of the 1918 pandemic varied widely among U.S. cities. How cities and states responded varied too.
In mid-October 1918, the city of Minneapolis and some in state government took action. Among the various NPIs adopted by local governments, the Minneapolis Department of Health closed churches, schools, theaters, dance halls, and all other meeting places for the duration of the epidemic. Most were reopened by the end of the calendar year.
Will we follow a similar timeline to our ancestors? Who knows? What is similar is the result of all the closings. Like them, we have time.
Of course, we have not gained any more hours than the 24 we had previously. What most of us do have now is more time available to us. We now possess the time we used to need to commute to work and school. We now have the time we used to need to get ready to go to the office or classroom (Admit it, you don’t spend anywhere near the time pampering for work or school from home like you used to do).
We no longer must give up all the time dedicated to our kids’ stuff that dominated the family schedule (pastoral note: you’ve figured this out, right? You’ve experienced in these two weeks the amazing freedom of not having your kid involved in everything imaginable, and you like it, right? And when this is all over, you’re not going back to that lifestyle of kids’ activities dominating your family, right?).
So, you’ve got this available time. It’s a gift to you from God, and what’s your intention for its use? There has to be something better than watching the Star Wars saga in chronological order.
Paul wrote, “Pay careful attention, then, to how you live—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). A simple understanding is our use of time is not neutral, and use of time can be sinful if not invested for good. We are to make the most of our time while God gives it to us, and he has given to us more than what we had just a few weeks ago.
Statements about time to make to yourself during the coronavirus pandemic. Say to yourself…
You have time to read your Bible. “If I just had more time” has been our rationale for many things over the course of our Christian lives including the reading of our Bibles. You have discretionary time you didn’t have to read what God says to the church and to the world. Read a gospel in one or two sittings. Read the book of Leviticus and then immediately read the book of Hebrews. Read Psalm 119 without putting down your Bible. You have time, so read.
You have time to learn to pray. The late R.C. Sproul taught the reason Christians don’t pray as they should is because they don’t know how to pray. He believed the disciples’ question to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray,” is the question for all followers of Jesus. Most of us want to have a more meaningful prayer experience. You now have the time to develop your prayer life. At present, we aren’t lacking for occasions to express to God our thanks, to direct to God our adoration for who he is, and to make our requests known to him. And when it comes to learning to pray, the best way to learn is by doing. You have time, so pray.
You have time to connect with people. Granted, the connection with people outside our homes will only be digital, or if you’re old school, handwritten or a voice call, but you have the time to connect. Without exaggeration, some sons and daughters may look back in later years on the events of these weeks and months as one of the best times they remember with dad or mom. This is the time for connection that leads to evangelism. This is the time for connection that leads to the spiritual growth of your children. You have time, so connect.
Questions about time to ask yourself during the coronavirus pandemic. Ask yourself…
What do I want to see happen in my life before the restraints of COVID-19 end? You’ve wanted to be different if only you had the time. Hopefully this all ends before any one of us could become fluent in a new language or exceptional at an instrument, but there is time to make changes in your life. In his grace, God has given to us time to make changes or to begin practice that leads to change. We don’t have to stay what we are because we don’t have the time we wish we had. Now is the time to live in grace to become what you are not yet. You have time, so change.
How can I better myself so that what I bring back to the gathered church makes the church better? We Christians feel deeply the limitations on gathering together. We’ve imagined what it will be like when the worship leader declares, “Let’s sing” or our pastor says, “Turn in your Bibles.” Just writing those words brings goosebumps. Paul wrote that equipped saints build the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). When the church comes together again, in what way will you be better equipped to make the church stronger, healthier, more like Christ than when the church parted? We can’t come back together the same as when we left. What a monumental waste of time that would be. You have time to better yourself for the good of the church, so make it happen.
Is our timeline like 1918? We all hope not. We hope there is some return to what used to be, but there should not be a return to life as we left it. We’ve been given time, Christians, to do and become what we were not before.
For God’s glory and for the church, make the most of the time.
As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.
Mike VerWay
Pastor for Preaching & Vision