Or, The Collision of Faith and “Forced” VaccinationsSelected Scriptures August 22, 2021 Lord’s Day Worship Sean Higgins

Introduction

Lord willing, I will begin preaching through the book of Romans when we get to September. That leaves a couple Sundays of sermons before then, and that gives me a shot to address some other things.

In God’s providence we are still being confronted with COVID panic, or we are being confronted again, or we are being confronted somehow with heretofore unprecedented measures. We have been told to stay home, we’ve been told to mask up, we have been told to vax up, and now we’re supposed to re-mask up. We’ve been told if we stayed home for 15 days we could get back to normal. We were told that if we wore masks we could get back to (a new) normal. We were told that if we got vaccinated we wouldn’t have to wear masks. We were told that if a certain percentage of the population got vaccinated we could be done with all restrictions. And now, many of you are being threatened that if you don’t get vaccinated you can’t keep your job, and it’s being teased that if you don’t get vaccinated you won’t be able to travel or shop in stores or eat in restaurants. Just this past week in Washington state, government employees were given an ultimatum for vaccinations, as well as health-care workers, and all school employees, whether public or private schools. It is surprising, and it would be just silly if it weren’t for how many people are taking it seriously.

In a Sermon?

I considered whether or not this should be a sermon. I asked the elders what they thought. A sermon isn’t the only avenue of communication available to us at this point; I could have sent an email, posted it on the website, etc. But this seemed to be a profitable use of my preparation time, as well as a way to edify the congregation.

So, yes, a sermon, for the stimulation and strengthening of your faith, both in content and capacity. What we believe—that is, what we’ve received from God in His Word—teaches us what and how to think in the world. And as we remember some of these relevant truths may God make us more bold in living according to them.

And, yes, a sermon, because we’re going to work through religious exemptions. The pastors are not doctors (or lawyers) and, even if we were, the teaching and authority of the church has limits. What we are required to provide for God’s people is religious counsel and shelter.

What this sermon will not be is a set of reminders about your Constitutional rights as a United States citizen or citizen of Washington State. It will not be scientific or medical stats or stories (though that is available and I’d be happy to share what I’ve read and listened to). It will not be about the necessary questions regarding the believability of our public officials or media outlets, about their changing of the goalposts or flip-flopping messaging without corresponding evidence. It will not promote an alternative fear to the virus, a “conservative” fear about tyranny, even though we should have our eyes open. Instead I want to remind us of what we know in summary form and to affirm our church’s support for your decisions made by faith.

So it’s not a legal defense, or medical exemption, or pleading of sanity (as sure as you may be the sane ones).

A couple qualifications about terms. I will be speaking about religious exemptions, especially for those of you who wonder about the legitimacy of claiming that status or who desire to seek such an exemption from your employers regarding “forced” vaccinations via threat of termination or retaliation.

But even as I give the first point below, what we believe is not a footnote, a digression, an incidental allowance for ourselves as some sort of crazies. Seeking an “exemption” is what it has come to, but th[...]