Pestilence: A timely sermon I never expected to preach
In a lifetime of ministry, I never imagined I would ever preach a sermon about pestilence. But I’ve changed my mind. People everywhere have riveted their attention to the Coronavirus epidemic and I don’t know what subject could be more relevant right now. I have a hunch that other preachers agree. So here is a short sermon I never expected to preach.
This present pestilence
According to the World Health Organization, the official name for the virus causing the present pandemic is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, abbreviated as SARS-CoV-2. And the sickness caused by the virus is named Coronavirus Disease, or COVID-19. But the Bible has an older, more generic term for it: pestilence.
What is pestilence?
Pestilence is defined as “any very serious infectious disease that spreads quickly and kills large numbers of people.” [i]
The word pestilence occurs frequently (48 times) in the Old Testament. Very often pestilence is combined with the sword and famine to compose a trinity of tragedy that comes as an act of God’s judgment. Psalm 91:6 refers to “the pestilence that stalks in darkness” as a figurative description of its sudden and unexpected onset. But pestilence is not confined to the Old Testament: Jesus said in the end times, “There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences…” (Luke 21:11 ESV) This reminds us that despite all the advantages of modern medicine, our world still experiences pestilence.
Is COVID-19 a judgment of God or something else?
In Scripture pestilence, especially when combined with the sword and famine is an act of God’s judgment. But we cannot make a direct association between pestilence and judgment. God’s judgment is targeted but COVID-19 is a multi-national epidemic moving toward a global pandemic, affecting nations all over the world.
So what is the Biblical explanation for COVID-19? A good place in Scripture to answer this question is Luke 13:4-5. A tower in Siloam had collapsed and fallen on a crowd of people, killing eighteen. Jesus explained that the tragedy was not an act of judgment, as some had thought, but it was a wake-up call to the rest, to be reconciled to God.
Pastor John Piper explains, “All natural disasters — whether floods, famines, locusts, tsunamis, or diseases — are a thunderclap of divine mercy in the midst of judgment, calling all people everywhere to repent and realign their lives, by grace, with the infinite worth of the glory of God.” [ii]
His point is that sudden tragedy, causing the death of many people, grabs our attention like nothing else and forces us to think seriously about our own mortality.
What should Christians do in times of pestilence?
Nobody knows how long this is going to last. We hope and pray that very soon this pestilence will pass and we can all return to a normal life. But what should we do until then? It is not a time for Christians just to shelter in place. This thunderclap event is a God-given moment for us to show the hope of the Gospel to our non-Christian friends. By delivering groceries and doing other acts of service for those who cannot get out, and by having one-on-one conversations, this is an especially opportune time for Christians to serve others and to tell them of our hope in Christ.
When cholera broke out in London in 1866, the prodigious preacher Charles Spurgeon gave this charge: "…now is the time for all of you who love souls. You may see men more alarmed than they are already; and if they should be, mind that you avail yourselves of the opportunity of doing them good.” [iii]
As it was during the cholera crisis of Spurgeon’s day, so it is now today: men have become more alarmed. And men are more ready to listen. And for each of us, this pestilence called COVID-19 is a time to connect with non-Christians, to serve them and to show them the hope of the Gospel.
Sam Taylor serves as the Boston area regional coordinator at the Baptist Convention of New England.
[i] Cambridge English Dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english
[ii] John Piper, Desiring God, https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-we-make-sense-of-the-coronavirus
[iii] Charles Spurgeon, Autobiography, Vol. I, p.371