Francis Grimke,
a pastor in Washington D.C. during the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918, preached a
sermon entitled “Some Reflections, Growing out of The Recent Epidemic of Influenza
That Afflicted Our City.” In this sermon, he reminds us that it is not wrong to
suspend church gatherings in order to preserve life. He also reminds us that Christ’s people
will intensely long for the gatherings to resume.
Suspending Gathering Is Not Necessarily Wrong
During the outbreak, the D.C. government wanted all
gathering places, including churches, to suspend meeting. This “shut down” lasted
for about 1 month. Grimke knew the priority of the church gathering. And if the
government had just asked churches to close (and not theaters, etc.), he might
have seen it as an effort to hinder religion. But since it was the government’s
attempt to stop the spread of disease, and encompassed every area of life, it
was proper for churches to help. Grimke said,
The fact that the churches were
places of religious gathering, and the others not, would not affect in the
least the health question involved. If avoiding crowds lessens the danger of
being infected, it was wise to take the precaution and not needlessly run in
danger, and expect God to protect us. [1]
Some may think that our current situation does not require
this in every city, and that might be true. My point is not what the health
policy should be. It is simply that suspending meeting is not wrong in very rare
conditions.
God’s People Long to Gather Again
God’s true people love gathering, for they are, at a
fundamental level, the people God has gathered into his family.
I imagine that for those with a shallow view of
Christianity, the convenience of online “services” will tempt them not to
return to church when the disease relents. Maybe they are not Christians and
just attended out of habit. Now that the habit is broken, they will not return
to it. However, for those who truly are God’s people, they desire to gather. That was the testimony of the church in D.C. in 1918. Grimke said,
The fact that
for several weeks we have been shut out from the privileges of the sanctuary
has brought home to us as never before what the church has really meant to us.
We hadn't thought, perhaps, very much of the privilege while it lasted, but the
moment it was taken away we saw at once how much it meant to us. One of the
gratifying things to me, during this scourge, has been the sincere regrets that
I have heard expressed all over the city by numbers of people at the closing of
the churches. The theater goers, of course, have regretted the closing of the
theaters. I do not know whether the children or the teachers have regretted the
closing of the schools or not; I have heard no regrets expressed, but I do know
that large numbers of people have regretted the closing of the churches. I hope
that now that they are opened again, that we will all show our appreciation of
their value by attending regularly upon their services.
(HT: Mark Dever and 9Marks.org for pointing me to this sermon)
[1]Francis
Grimke, “Some Reflections, Growing out of The Recent Epidemic of Influenza That
Afflicted Our City,” delivered November 3, 1918, Accessed on 3/18/20 at: https://www.logcollegepress.com/authors-g#/francis-james-grimke/
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