Why It Was Right to Cancel Public Church Gatherings

Okay.

Okay.

It's hard to believe that we are in the ninth consecutive week

of not meeting together in this building for worship.

But Lord willing, we will be together next Sunday, May the 24th.

We're going to have three services.

Hopefully you already know that, that 8 o'clock at 9.30 and 11 a.m.

Now, since we will be practicing social distancing,

things will look a little different.

But I think once we get together, everything will just feel right

because we're back together as God's people,

worshiping Him, praising Him, studying His Word together.

It's going to be a great day.

I think it'll be a real special day as we come back together

after all this time apart.

Now, as churches begin to regather,

expect to hear and see things that are critical

of the fact that we have not been meeting,

that we've closed our doors in response to this COVID-19 pandemic.

Some will criticize Christian leaders

for not taking a stand against the government.

Some are going to say all this is, is Christians have compromised.

They've caved in to government overreach.

In fact, some are already saying that.

Well, I have refrained from addressing this issue

throughout our time of being away.

It's been my goal, my prayer, to bring messages from God's Word

that comfort, that encourage, that give hope during this time.

But today, our final time together online,

away from publicly gathering together for worship.

Today, I want us to look at three biblically-based reasons

for why it was right for us to do what we've done

and not be together as a way to combat the coronavirus.

First, we have demonstrated love by stopping our large group gatherings.

We have demonstrated love by not meeting together.

Let me explain how that is.

Most of you are familiar with the way Jesus responded to the question,

what is the greatest commandment?

It's recorded in Mark chapter 12 and in Matthew chapter 22.

Mark 12 · chapter mention Matthew 22 · chapter mention

Look with me in Matthew 22 as we read this, beginning in verse 36.

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?

And he said to him,

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your mind.

This is the great and first commandment.

And a second is like it.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.

And note that Jesus was only asked one question.

What's the greatest commandment in the law?

Well, Jesus answered that question, but he continued.

He did not stop.

And he went on to say,

And a second is like it.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus made it very clear.

Our love for God cannot be separated from our love for people.

If we love God, we must love people who have been created in his image.

Now, Jesus further explained our responsibility to love our neighbor in Luke chapter 10 in the story of the Good Samaritan.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Many of you are familiar with that story.

Well, Jesus told it in response to the question,

Who is my neighbor?

The story of the Good Samaritan is Jesus' answer to that question.

Here's the answer.

Whoever God places in your path that has a need that you can meet,

Well, that's your neighbor.

That's who you are to love as yourself.

Now, to love our neighbor as ourselves, let's just think about it practically.

That means we seek the welfare.

We seek the good of whoever God places in our lives to the best of our ability.

Now, we can apply that in a lot of ways.

It needs to be first applied at home.

People we live with.

Some of you know what it means to apply it with the people you work with,

maybe the people in your neighborhood,

or occasionally a stranger God brings into your life that you need to love as that good Samaritan did.

But right now, let's apply the principle of love your neighbor as yourself to the coronavirus pandemic.

Health care experts have found that one of the most effective ways for stopping the spread of this virus

is to practice social distancing.

That's why the CDC issued around mid-March a directive that called for the cancellation of any gathering over 50 people.

And they said to do that for the next eight weeks.

Well, you know that it wasn't long before they lowered that to 10 people.

And in South Carolina, we have been told that we are to limit public gatherings to no more than three,

or three are even prohibited.

Now, the CDC's advisory resulted in the cancellation of virtually every large event,

every large group gathering in our country,

including all sports events.

Now, think about that.

That was huge in this country.

And then it was followed by schools, restaurants, businesses.

Churches were either ordered or advised to close for the same reason.

All these other businesses, large group gatherings, sports, were shut down

to stop the spread of the coronavirus and save lives.

Loving our neighbor as ourselves,

it means that we seek the welfare of the people around us.

For the past two months,

we have shown love by not meeting together

to avoid exposing anyone to the coronavirus

or spreading it.

Now, everybody I know has at least in some way

tried to avoid exposing themselves to this virus.

I know I have, and I'm sure you have as well.

Why have we done that?

Well, in light of the second commandment,

it's because we love ourselves.

We take care of ourselves.

And that's not being selfish or sinful.

It's really just being human, isn't it?

The reason Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself

is because we naturally love ourselves

and take care of ourselves.

If I go outside and cross the street,

I'm going to stop and look to make sure no cars are coming.

I'm going to take care of myself

and not step out in front of a car.

You do the same thing.

You know, every year there is a rise

in the number of flu cases around.

Sometimes it's a large number of people

coming down with the flu.

Every year I take note of that.

I try to avoid being around people who have the flu

because I don't want to catch it.

And I know most of you do the same thing.

All normal people do things like that.

It's a part of our God-given sense of self-preservation

or self-love.

Just as we try to avoid exposing ourselves

to anything that would harm us,

including the coronavirus,

love should compel us to do the same thing for others.

Just as we love ourselves,

we look out for ourselves.

So we should love others and look out for them.

This is the reason why so many churches

all across this country have voluntarily

stopped meeting together publicly

once it became known

that it was best to avoid large public gatherings.

Once it became known,

that's one of the best ways to stop

the spread of this terrible virus.

Now, we here at Pickens First Baptist,

we voluntarily chose to stop meeting

the week of March the 15th

when the governor closed our schools.

My thinking was,

children, that age group,

is the least likely group

to have complications from the coronavirus

that are serious and life-threatening.

Now, if DHEC says it's time to close schools

because of the coronavirus,

that said to me,

it's time for us to stop gathering as a church.

I also realized the last Sunday that we met,

on March the 15th,

as I was just looking around during the services,

we had a lot of individuals sitting here

who are in the CDC's at-risk group

for developing life-threatening complications

from this coronavirus.

I realized, I thought about it that morning

as we were going through the service,

that if we had an outbreak of this

among our church family,

we very well could see some of our members die from it.

And then that Monday,

schools were canceled.

I knew we must stop meeting.

And every other leader in our church

was in agreement.

The first and most important reason

why we've stopped meeting together

in our large group gatherings on Sundays

is because we love our neighbor as ourselves.

It's been the right thing to do,

the loving thing to do.

That's not the only reason.

Look at this.

We have done our duty

by stopping our large group gatherings.

We have a God-given responsibility

to obey government authority

unless that authority requires us

to sin against God.

You know the passage from Romans chapter 13

Romans 13 · chapter mention

that stresses this.

Look with me if you would.

Romans chapter 13.

Romans 13 · chapter mention

The entire section is verses 1 through 7.

Let's just read verses 1 through 4 right now.

Paul writes,

Let every person be subject

to the governing authorities.

For there is no authority except from God,

and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Therefore, whoever resists the authorities

resists what God has appointed,

and those who resist will incur judgment.

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct,

but to bad.

Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?

Then do what is good,

and you will receive his approval.

For he is God's servant for your good.

Now think about when Paul wrote that,

what his government leaders were like.

Paul wrote that living under the pagan Roman government.

The emperor at that time was the brutal Nero.

So obviously,

Paul is not commending

that government

or that emperor.

His point though

is that God uses all kinds of government,

all kinds of government leaders,

even evil ones,

to accomplish his purpose.

Now I want to be real honest.

I am like most Americans today

in that I don't really trust our government.

I'm not very trusting at all

when it comes to thinking about

our government right now.

I agree wholeheartedly

with my favorite president,

Ronald Reagan,

when he said,

the most terrifying words

in the English language are,

I'm from the government,

and I'm here to help.

But the Bible is clear.

God calls us

to obey governmental authority

whether we trust it or not.

The exception,

and this is obvious,

the exception is that,

is when that authority

tries to force us

to disobey God

or sin against God.

That happened to the early church leaders

and they show us

how we should respond

when that happens.

In Acts chapter 5,

Acts 5 · chapter mention

it says this,

but Peter and the apostles answered,

we must obey God

rather than men.

Now,

our government

and healthcare leaders

have overall

acted responsibly

as God's servants

for your good

during this pandemic.

They have tried

to stop

its spread

by not allowing

any large group gatherings

nationwide.

Churches

and Christians

have not been

singled out.

We,

as individual Christians,

as a church,

we have not been targeted

because of who we are

or what we believe.

Think about it.

Christians

have not been forbidden

from practicing

their faith.

President Trump

has issued

at least

two

national days

of prayer,

you might say.

Governor

McMaster

has begun

most of his

updates,

his news conferences

with a chaplain

leading in prayer

and many times

ending his prayer

in Jesus' name.

That's something

to be thankful for.

Churches

have not been forbidden

to preach the gospel.

To the contrary,

churches have been

encouraged

by government leaders,

government

McMaster,

President Trump

and others.

We have been

encouraged

to preach

and teach,

have your worship

services online.

WIFF.

They posted

on their website

for several weeks

a long list

of churches

and their websites

where people

could go

and watch

a worship service

on Sunday

or any other day.

That was commendable

of WIFF.

WIFF.

Think about this.

Local

church

Bible teaching,

local church

preaching

has been more

widely available

through the internet

during this crisis

than ever before.

That's something

that we need

to just

thank God for

and thank

the government

leaders that we have

who have done this.

Now,

I am well aware

that there are

liberal Democrat

governors and mayors

around this country

that have done

their best

to prevent

churches

from doing

what they lawfully

should have done

like having

drive-in services.

The liberal

Democrat

governor of Illinois

right now

is not allowing

churches

to reopen

unless they

limit the size

of their crowd

to 50

or less.

I'm sure

there are

other mayors

and leaders

doing something

similar

right now.

But so far,

let's be honest,

so far,

these actions

have been

the exception,

not the rule.

And President Trump's

Justice Department,

under the leadership

of Attorney General Barr,

they have come

to the defense

of these churches.

They have stepped

up and said,

this is not right,

this is not going

to be allowed.

They have defended

our First Amendment

rights

to freely exercise

our faith.

Those are leaders

that we need

to commend,

we need to call

attention to,

we need to support,

we need to pray for

and thank God for.

We must always

be on guard

against government

overreach.

We must always

be on guard

against the government

intrusion led by

today's liberal

and socialist

Democrats

in Congress

and liberal

activist

judges.

Always,

we've got to guard

against this.

But in dealing

with this

pandemic,

we as a church,

along with

thousands of churches

across the country,

we have done

our duty

by complying

with our government's

right call

to stop

all large group

gatherings

for a time

to try to stop

the spread

of this deadly

virus.

Now that states

are beginning

to ease

restrictions

and allow

larger groups

to meet,

businesses

to open,

it's right

for churches

to be among

the first

to resume.

But churches,

we must be

responsible.

We must do

this as safely

and as wisely

as we can.

Now we have

a plan here

at Pickens

for how we're

going to resume.

A lot of the

details have been

explained in a letter

that went out

to the church

this week

from Gil Stewart

and me.

There's information

in this week

and last week's

newsletter.

I want to encourage

you to read

this information.

Be prepared

to come

next Sunday.

Let's do church

together

in a safe way,

in an orderly way,

but in a good way

that helps us

worship the Lord.

Now there's

a third reason

that I want

to quickly

point out

that explains

why we haven't

met for public

worship for nine

weeks.

Look at this.

We have shown

wisdom by stopping

our large group

gatherings.

You know,

some people

refer to the

book of Proverbs

as a manual

on wisdom

and it certainly

is.

Among the things

that it emphasizes

about wisdom,

it emphasizes the

importance of

listening to people

who are wise

and knowledgeable.

For an example,

look at this

from Proverbs 23.

Apply your heart

to instruction

and your ear

to words of

knowledge.

You know,

there's a lot

that scientists

and healthcare

professionals do

not know

about the

coronavirus.

But there are

things they do

know and we

need to listen

to them about

those things.

They know that

the coronavirus

is highly

contagious

and that it

is potentially

fatal to anyone

but especially

senior adults

and people

with underlying

health problems.

They know

that avoiding

large group

gatherings

and practicing

social distancing

is an effective

way to deal

with it,

to prevent

it spread.

therefore,

I have no

doubt

that we have

acted wisely

in not having

public services

over these past

few weeks,

not having

large group

gatherings

along with

everyone else

in our country.

It's not what

we wanted to do

but it was a

wise thing

to do.

You know,

we have joined

with other

churches

voluntarily

throughout our

country

to comply

with our

government

and health

care leaders

directives

in order to

try to protect

lives,

in order to

try to save

lives.

We've done that

for the benefit

of our church

family and those

we come in

contact with

outside this

building.

But more

than that,

we have sought

to fulfill

our God-given

responsibility

to love our

neighbor as

ourself,

to fulfill

our Christian

duty of

obeying proper

governmental

authority

and we have

acted wisely

to the best

of our ability.

Now,

the coronavirus

is still a

serious threat

but we can't

stop living

life

because it's

present.

Some liberals

and socialists

appear not to

even care about

destroying our

economy and

our nation.

But wise

leaders do

care and

they are

leading us

to start

rebuilding

and reopening

and for

churches to

regather.

Wise leaders

are telling us

we've got to

be very,

very careful.

We've got to

do this

slowly.

We've got to

do this in

steps.

We've got to

protect lives

as we

reopen the

country.

We're going

to do our

best as we

regather next

Sunday morning

to be as

careful and as

safe as we

possibly can.

But I want to

make this clear.

we cannot

provide a

germ-free

environment.

It will not

be a germ-free

building when

you come on

Sunday.

Therefore,

if you are in

the at-risk

group for

developing

serious

complications

from the

coronavirus,

I want to

encourage you to

prayerfully and

carefully evaluate

whether or not

you should come

back to church

right now.

I think you

ought to be

very careful

about going

out in public

and just going

about your life

as you used to

right now.

Know this for

sure.

You will not be

sinning against

God if you wait

a while longer

to come back to

church.

You will not be

doing anything

wrong or cowardly

if you don't just

get out and about

and pretend that

all is well.

But for all who

are planning to

come, please

practice social

distancing and

follow directions

next Sunday.

We're trying to

make our building

as safe as

possible for

all of us.

But once we

get here next

Sunday, once we

get here and

get focused

together, let's

forget about the

coronavirus, the

pandemic and all

this.

Let's worship the

Lord wholeheartedly

together as the

Pickens First

Baptist family.

I'm looking

forward to it.

I'm looking

forward to seeing

you.

I hope if it's

wise for you to

get out, I hope

to see you next

Sunday morning,

either at 8,

9, 30 or 11 as

we join together

to worship and

praise our great

God.

Let's pray together

now.

Father,

Father, we pray

that as we come

together next

Sunday morning,

that you will help

us to truly

enjoy being in your

presence, being with

one another, and

being the people of

God at worship.

Lord, we pray that

you will keep us

safe.

We pray, Father,

that you will

enable us to act

wisely and

responsibly.

We pray that for

all churches.

And Lord, we pray

that throughout our

country, as more and

more businesses

open, that you'll

keep us safe.

We pray, Father,

that we will not

see a big jump in

the number of

coronavirus cases.

Lord, bring it to

an end, we pray.

And help us to

restart our country.

Help us to reopen

businesses.

And help us,

Father, to

regather as your

people.

And help us,

Father, to live as

your people.

Loving you,

loving others,

in the best

possible way.

And it's in Jesus'

name we pray.

Amen.