Cases of Covid-19 are at an eight-month high in Buncombe County, but it can be hard to find testing kits. The church has a few tests available. They are in the copy room next to the phone if you or a family member needs one. (Only take ones that you need, since we have a limited number.)
More Covid Testing Sites and Kits Now Available
In-person Covid testing opportunities have now opened on the campus of UNC Asheville on Fridays from 1–8 pm, and Saturday/Sundays from 9 am–5 pm at the Blue Ridge Room in the Highsmith Student Union (2500 University Heights). And more resources for testing are listed at ncdhhs.gov/GetTested, including information about the Harrah’s Cherokee Center testing site (87 Haywood St., Asheville), open 10 am–2 pm Monday to Friday.
Every household in the country can now order 4 free at-home kits through the newly created www.covidtests.gov website. (Expected delivery is 7–12 days.) And the NC Department of Health & Human Services also offers at-home test kits that are delivered at no cost and returned to the lab for processing. Request those here.
A Word from the Pastor – The Evidence of Things Not Seen
In Bible Study a few Wednesdays ago, we talked about the effect of having a Resurrection perspective in life. If you believe that Resurrection is on your horizon, then that trajectory has many wonderful benefits. For one, it gives you an attitude of Abundance, which makes us more likely to love our neighbors, serve other people, and help those in need—all the Jesus kind of things. The opposite attitude is one of Scarcity, where we want to keep as much for ourselves as possible, not willing to listen or share, we’re very touchy, and we get over-reactive.
Someone in Bible Study asked why so many Christians claim to believe in Resurrection, but then seem to live with an attitude of Scarcity. Good question.
As humans, it’s actually really hard to develop a perspective of Resurrection, because it’s not how we start off in the world. Think of what we’re like as children. If a child doesn’t have what they want when they want it, they get upset. They don’t stop crying until they get what they want, no matter how many times you say, “You don’t need to cry. I’m making the bottle right now!” A baby needs to see or feel the thing it wants, and doesn’t take your word for it that it’s on the way. Or, if a baby can’t see its parent, it cries then too, because it doesn’t understand that the parent really is still there, even when the baby can’t see them. That’s how we all see the world when we start out in life, so it’s hard for humans to grow past it. And it’s why some people who claim to believe in Resurrection still live with an attitude of Scarcity, because they live based on what they see and what they have and what they want.
Concrete items and things and ideas are easy to see and feel, because they’re visible and are right there in our lives in the moment. But abstract concepts—things we can’t see with our eyes—those are harder to think about. It takes effort because a Resurrection perspective requires looking past our own situation and our own lives. It’s hard to grow out of our base humanity, and yet, we are called by God to always keep growing and maturing towards the mindset of Christ.
As a perfect but terrible example, take the coronavirus. The reason it’s so dangerous—maybe more so than symptoms and fatality—is that when people get it, they can spread it for about a week before they even start to feel sick. That’s why it’s dangerous. People think to themselves, “I know I’m not sick, because I feel fine.” And then they go visit friends or family or a group and don’t think precautions are necessary, until later, when the symptoms start, and they realize they’ve had it a while, and then symptoms start for others. All because it’s hard for people to believe something that they don’t see with their own eyes.
From the very beginning of the pandemic, infectious disease experts said, “This is a horrible disease. Treat it seriously and responsibly.” But many people decided it wasn’t that bad, until their friends or family starting getting sick, and going to the hospital, or worse. Only then did people realize it’s as serious as the experts told us in March 2020. How many stories have we heard in the news of people in the ICU regretting the way they thought and acted? If only we had taken it seriously at the beginning, without waiting until it affected each of us, to finally understand. We could have prevented many of the 680,000 American deaths that Covid has claimed so far. That’s a lot of people. Each one with a family, who now misses them.
So remember that it is for our own good that God calls us to mature our understanding toward that Resurrection perspective, because it helps us know things in life that we cannot see. Hebrews chapter 11 talks about that. And it also warns us, that people who grow to reach that perspective have been mocked and mistreated because they live in a way that is not based just on what is seen around us (Heb. 11:1-2, 36-38). That’s another reason it’s hard. It’s hard to act on things that we cannot see, because there will be pushback from people who don’t have that perspective. But Hebrews 11 also says that because of our faith in the unseen, we can endure and persevere anything that the world throws at us. Because our perspective is based on Resurrection.
A Word from the Pastor — Admitting When We’re Tired and Frustrated
I have found myself saying this a lot this week: “I’m tired of thinking about the coronavirus.” Have you said or thought that too? I’m sure I said it a lot a year ago, but in corona-time, a year is like a decade and a month is like a year. So last summer was like a different era. And this summer felt different too, but in a good way. As more people were getting vaccinated, more things were possible, and it was great. I was excited and energized about non-stop improvements in health and safety…
And now this. To quote one of my favorite songs, we’re now all “in the land of the Delta blues.”
So once again, I’m tired of thinking about the coronavirus. However, I am truly blessed to be part of a great community here at our church. For anyone to be a part of this family of faith is a blessing, and one that should not be taken lightly. That’s why the church’s Health & Safety Team did not take the situation or our church people’s health lightly when it met this week.
No one liked having to put some of the rules back into place that we had 5 months ago, but nobody liked that the Covid cases in the county were again spreading like they were 5 months ago. We certainly don’t like pausing Sunday School, since we had only just gotten back to enjoying that good group time. And we don’t like having to wear masks more often like we used to, because wearing masks is annoying. So it was hard to make hard decisions, but the safety of those who come to our church is paramount as we follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbors.
To my knowledge, no one has gotten Covid from coming to our church. Not a one. As was expected, a few folks in our church family did contract Covid over the past year, as it spread to every community in the world. But thanks to the different safety guidelines we have used over the last year, no person got sick from coming to our church. And by golly I want it to stay that way.
Rules are frustrating and annoying, but I do remember when it was worse. I remember many weeks of standing in an empty sanctuary, preaching only to a camera. Those were weird lonely worship services, with only a handful of folks inside leading it. And when we came back, I remember having to put ropes and signs on the pews, and the ropes kept falling off, and sometimes your favorite seat had been blocked. (There won’t be any ropes this time for August, at least.) And a full year of Bible Study by myself, just talking to the camera. Ugh, those were the days. So I remember when it was worse.
Years from now we’ll be talking to each other or younger generations, and say, “Do you remember all that crazy stuff we had to do back then to stay safe? Back and forth, ups and downs, hopeful one day then worried about your family the next. Gosh, those were weird times. Thank goodness God was with us then. And thank goodness God is with us now.” I bet we’ll be saying that a lot in a few years. In fact, I might start it saying now. Because it’s true. Even when we are tired and frustrated, God is with us. And when we are weak like that, it's when we can be strongest, because we’re finally ready to let God’s Spirit fill us up.
May God’s Spirit fill us, guide us, soothe us, and strengthen us during hard times now and always.
At-Home Vaccination Program
In an effort to reach people who may have difficulty leaving their home to get a vaccine, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has set up a call-in number and online form for anyone to request medical personnel come to their home and provide a free Covid vaccination. (For more information about the at-home vaccination program, click HERE.)
To schedule an at-home vaccination appointment, call 1-866-303-0026 or sign-up online HERE.
If you can get out, you can find a place to get easily vaccinated for free HERE.
To learn about the different vaccines available—what they do and how—go to this helpful FAQ from NCDHHS.
Vaccination Event - Tue., May 18, 12-3pm
First Baptist will host the Buncombe Co Health Department with a pop-up vaccine clinic event. Both the single-dose and double-dose vaccine types will be available, whichever you prefer. Everyone age 12+ can be vaccinated at no cost, and no appointment is needed. (If you have a health insurance card bring it with you.) Park behind the church. Spanish translators will be available.
To view, download, or print a flier to help spread the word, click HERE.
To view and share the event on Facebook, click HERE.
A Word from the Pastor — Where Is God Located?
In the Old Testament, Jews believed that the presence of God resided specifically and physically in the Jerusalem temple. That’s why the holy festivals required a trip there, to make sacrifices on God’s holy altar, right next to the room where they believed God’s Spirit was focused: the Most Holy Place. And it’s also why, when the Jews were exiled to Babylon, it was soul-crushing and spiritually devastating. Not only were they far from home, but they thought they were far from the very presence of God—between 700 and 1,000 miles away, depending on where in Babylon they ended up. So how could they even worship God, since they couldn’t go to the building where they thought God dwelt? That was the motivation for the lament in Psalm 137, “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion…. How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” (vv. 1, 4)
When we read and think about that kind of belief, we might be tempted to think, “Bless their hearts. It’s not like that. God isn’t limited to just one building. God’s presence is all around you. Whatever place you’re in, you can pray to God and God will hear you!” We know that and believe it. However, how hard was it during the last year not to be able to gather as a congregation together—to really be together? Very hard. We chose to do that out of love and responsibility for our people, but it was sad. Maybe that’s why some churches thought it was impossible to even be a church if they could not all meet in person in the same spot at the same building. That sounds similar to what the ancient Israelites' believed.
When I read what the Israelites thought, I want to reach out and say, “It’s okay. You can actually worship God everywhere,” but maybe I need to hear that too. Maybe, as challenging and weird as the last year was, maybe I didn’t need to be so stressed and worried for the life of our church. Maybe the church—the Body of Christ—can still live and work even if a part of it isn’t in the building they love. A good reminder that even if the church—the Body of Christ—has to take a different form or meeting style, nothing in the world can ever stop it.
Was it hard, difficult, and sad for us when we could not all worship in the same space? Absolutely. But was God still worshiped, from many different places at once? Absolutely. And that fact is beautiful in its own way.
Even though it took a big catastrophe to help the Israelites learn the truth that God can be worshiped from anywhere, at least they learned it eventually. For us, in the past we all assumed that we had to walk or drive to a church building and be physically there in order to worship God, because that’s where God was going to meet us. Now, the catastrophe we went through last year taught us some amazing new truths. God can even be worshiped—and the Body of Christ can even stay connected—on the internet, of all places. There's nothing God can't use to bless people.
However, the past year also taught me how much of a true blessing and gift it is when we can gather together. So as hard as the pandemic has been, it has taught us some great, good lessons. And it makes us even more thankful now when we can be together in person. I hope we never take it for granted again.
Ringing to Remember
This past Tuesday (Jan. 19), there was a National Moment of Unity & Remembrance to remember and honor the lives lost to Covid-19. Towns across the country joined in illuminating buildings and ringing church bells, culminating in a lighting ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool at 5:30. Our church was honored for some of its handbell ringers to stand outside and participate in the nation-wide moment of remembering, as we rung out with both grief and hope. They rang for 4 minutes—one minute for every hundred thousand American lives lost at that point. (You can watch a brief clip of the ringing HERE.)
