Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to a special-edition series of the Kingdom Perspective.

What should we do in the face of the coronavirus?

Consider this. In 1527 as the plague hit Wittenberg, the German pastor and professor Martin Luther offered some advice to a fellow pastor. Of course, he wrote without knowledge of modern science and medicine. Nonetheless, take careful note of his courageous faith tempered with practical wisdom. Luther writes:

…by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison…. I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then, I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed, in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death, as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me, and I have done what he has expected of me; and so, I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely…. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.” (Martin Luther to Johann Hess, pastor at Breslau)

Luther strikes the right balance. True faith in Jesus always mingles prudence with courage. It always seeks to find the intersection between the wisdom of science and the wisdom of religion. God is a god of faith, but never the god of foolishness.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.