Plague, pestilence, pandemic…these are not new phenomena. As a Lutheran pastor, I can look back on how people of faith and Martin Luther himself grappled with the pandemics they faced. In 1527, Martin Luther wrote a short treatise titled “Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague.” Luther shows a surprising degree of understanding of the nature of the contagion and what we would call public health even with his talk of “evil vapors, mists, and spirits.” In fact, he has a lot of practical and spiritual guidance for our country, city, and congregation as we continue to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Luther’s response to pandemic centers around the theme of community. He reminds us that, like it or not, “we are bound to each other.” We live next to each other, we eat each other’s food, and we breathe each other’s air. On the one hand, he says it is community that makes a pandemic possible, just like it makes a mass fire possible. On the other hand, he insists that the very thing that puts us at risk is also the very thing that can help and save us.
What does it mean to be part of a community during a time of pandemic? It starts, of course, as it always does with looking out for others rather than just oneself. Like Jesus before him, Luther says that loving God means loving people. As he puts it, “service to God is service to our neighbor.”
In Luther’s time, as in our own, doctor’s orders started with vigilance about sanitation. Sure, pray to God for protection, Luther says, but then “fumigate, help purify the air, take your medicine as directed by your doctor.” Luther practically issues a lockdown order: “Shun persons and places wherever your neighbor does not need your presence.” He goes so far as to say that negligence in these matters is akin to murder. He had especially harsh words for anyone who had symptoms of the disease and didn’t take precautions not to infect others.
Within the community, Luther says that some people have special responsibilities. For example, doctors, nurses, and pastors have a calling from God for the sick and the dying. In our time, as in Luther’s, following this calling puts their own lives at risk. Luther promises that God is with them in what they do and says that they should be honored in the community for their selflessness.
Similarly, Luther argues that civic officials are called to be competent and responsible leaders in a time of crisis, always looking out not for their own interests but for the good of the whole. He insists that they have a particular duty to look out for the poor and the weak. When they flee or do not do these responsibilities in a fair and competent way, he says, they sin against God.
Luther reminds us that we have faced pandemics like this before and with the help of God and working together, we can get through this one also.
Further honor your medical professionals and trust their advice. Thank grocery store workers, delivery personnel, and all those who risk their safety for the benefit of others. Remember that whenever we wash our hands, social distance, or check in with/call a neighbor in need, or who is lonely, or care for someone who is sick, we are truly doing God’s work.
Finally, as Luther would constantly remind us, have faith that even when we fail, God will never abandon our community or anyone within it.
Pastor Hopkins
