Easter: Christ and the coronavirus

(Paul Wicking)

Last Easter at Nagoya Union Church, there was music, singing, good food, friendship and so much joy in the Risen Christ. Today, if you go to our church building, the lights will be off and the room will be silent.

Anyone watching from the outside might be tricked into thinking that Easter has been cancelled and the threat of sickness and death has killed our celebrations for this year. But nothing could be further from the truth. As Lady wrote in her email last week, “Easter has not been cancelled!”

In fact, we have more reason now than ever to jump and sing and praise the Lord with all the breath in our lungs.

Why? Because the writer of Hebrews tells us this:

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

All over the world, we can see people who are held in slavery by their fear of death. Two women punching each other over toilet rolls in an Australian supermarket. A doctor and a nurse, on route to treat a coronavirus patient, being attacked in India. And people in the US, Canada, England, Japan and everywhere getting stressed, anxious and panicked because of their fear of sickness and death.

When you don’t know Christ, that is very reasonable and understandable. When this earthly life is the only life you have, you get very afraid of losing it.

But this Easter, the people at Nagoya Union Church are singing and celebrating in our own homes, because we know that this earthly life is not our only life. Jesus Christ was killed, but he rose again. And because he lives, we live. We celebrate together, separated by distance but united in our love for God.

We want this virus to end, we all hope we don’t catch it, we’re praying for all those people who do have it. But we are not afraid of it. There is no fear of death for us. Our Lord and Savior hung on a cross and bled and died to give us life. He is more than able to protect us and look after us now.

Happy Easter everyone.