‘The water that I will give will become in
you a spring of water gushing up to eternal life’. (John 5.14b)
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‘Quarantine.
Contagion. Social isolation,’.
We’re
hearing those words all the time at the moment.
For
some people they are reassuring words because something is being done in the
face of a threat and something we don’t understand. For others they are a gross
overreaction to something that is no worse – surely? they would say - than the
‘flu.
Each
person will have their own take on that, and for many people there is either a
resigned sense that these things have to happen or a sense that as long as
things are in proportion then we should do what it takes.
Here
at the Minster we are being careful to minimise any risks especially to those
people who have underlying health issues or are very frail.
But
what is really important is that, unless absolutely forbidden at some point in
the future, the church will remain open for prayer, and divine worship will be offered.
And
that is not simply a pragmatic decision.
If
we are open to God and to our neighbour then we want our church to be open to
both. In times of adversity an open church is a sign of the presence,
commitment and hope of God reflected in the life of those who follow in the way
of Christ.
What
we keep open are the wellsprings of God’s love, warmth and hospitality:
contagion does not isolate us from the One who loves us.
***
Yet,
Christians will feel uncomfortable about words like quarantine, contagion and social
isolation, not on medical grounds but on theological grounds because they
threaten key gospel values. Let me be clear that I am not criticising wise
advice about how to respond to the Coronavirus, but rather what underlies our
spiritual disposition and response to it.
In
the face of quarantine, contagion and social isolation the way of Jesus tells
us:
1.
do not fear;
2.
do not neglect to meet together;
3.
do not exclude anyone.
Do not fear.
Of course we need to be wise in our actions and behaviours, but if we operate
out of our fears, whether in the face of this virus or in any aspect of our
lives, then we turn in on ourselves and we whither spiritually.
So
in the face of adversity let us root our assurance in God and consider and plan
how we respond from a place of confidence not fear.
To
that end a pastoral plan is in place so that those who are isolated or lonely
can be contacted. And that can be done by anyone. If you are staying inside why
not ring others; they will benefit from that, and so will you. Let’s be really
intentional in supporting one another. Might it even be that this virus can
bring us closer together as a church, albeit initially over the phone?!
Do not neglect to meet
together The letter to the Hebrews says, ‘do not
neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another,
and all the more as you see the Day approaching’ (Hebrews 10.25).
A
reason we find words like quarantine, contagion and social isolation uncomfortable
is because we are social animals. We need to be together. Christians are never
Christian alone. Fellowship is rooted in being one in the body of Christ.
This
current time of the virus should make us cherish all the more the value of
being together as God’s holy people in worship. It’s when we’re unable to come
together that we realise the benefits of doing so.
That’s
our challenge over the coming weeks if people are quarantined, that they don’t
feel cut off from fellowship and encouragement. So as and when you ring people
pray for them. It may feel odd, but you can pray over the phone with them.
Do not exclude anyone. The
priority of inclusion is very much more than a secular imperative: it is rooted
in the Gospel imperative that goes deep into the heart of Jesus’ ministry which
we see exercised in this morning’s gospel reading (John 4.5-42).
The
words quarantine, contagion and social isolation could be applied to the woman
Jesus encounters at the well. She is a foreigner, an outsider, of dodgy
religious credentials: as the text reminds us, Jews do not share things in
common with Samaritans (v. 9b). And she has dubious morals and a complex
personal life (vv.18).
All
the evidence points to this woman being in a form of quarantine and certainly
socially isolated.
She
is at the well at noon. In a country like Palestine people don’t go to wells in
the middle of the day, you do that first thing in the cool of the day.
And
you don’t go alone, unless you somehow transgress norms and what is acceptable.
And as a Samaritan woman who is unmarried yet living with a man she certainly
falls in that category.
And
her behaviour is viewed in that time as potentially contagious itself, and to
be avoided.
Yet
Jesus talks to her, sits down with her, drinks with her and offers her living
water.
And
the disciples see this as astonishing.
The
woman’s encounter with Jesus - the one who saw deep into her heart and her life
- has drawn her out of her quarantine, shown her, and society, that she is not
immorally contagious and she is socially re-integrated.
***
So
be prudent and follow the advice, but also remember that on a deeper level you
are not quarantined from God; the shortcomings of your life are redeemed by
drinking the living water of Jesus Christ and in that you find yourself in
healthy relationship with others.
And
likewise the gospel reminds us never to quarantine, write off or socially
isolate those we find unpalatable, uncomfortable, odd or not like us.
This
is Christian mission today too. Through this encounter Jesus demonstrates both
the unrestricted, flowing compassion of God and
from God’s wellspring she tells others to drink of the living water and they
drink such that they can say, ‘this is truly the saviour of the world (v.42b)
‘The water that I will give will become in
you a spring of water gushing up to eternal life’. (John 5.14b)
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