03/29/2020
The Gospel Can’t Be Quarantined! March 2020
Pastor Barbara Allen Mark1:32-45
We are living during some strange, strange times. More and more cities are taking drastic steps to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. We, as a Church have taken drastic steps as well. We have cancelled our face-to-face group meetings for the immediate future and have moved much of our Ministry online.
That’s what it takes to contain a global pandemic like the Coronavirus. But there is something we must remember, even if every Christian was quarantined to their homes for the next several months … you can’t quarantine the Gospel.
The Gospel although contagious doesn’t hurt, it heals. It doesn’t destroy, it transforms. It doesn’t bring death, it brings life.
The Apostle Paul understood this well. At the end of his life he was stuck in a jail cell, chained to a Roman soldier waiting to be executed. He was in a final and ultimate quarantine situation. But he wrote these words in 2 Timothy 2:9, “And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained.”
I love that last phrase, “But the Word of God cannot be chained!” The Gospel message was spreading and multiplying even while Paul was in quarantine on death row!
In the same way, we may feel somewhat quarantined during this time of social distancing and house confinement. But the Word of God cannot be chained. I believe that we are living at a time where the Gospel can spread faster and farther than ever before. For the first time since 9/11, many people are turning to God, worried about death and concerned about this life and the afterlife. I’ve been sharing the Gospel for over 40 years and I can’t think of a time more ready for the spread of the Gospel than now.
A virus is a great example of how the Gospel spreads. It spreads from contact. It spreads from person to person. In the early church the Gospel spread from Jerusalem to Rome in less than 30 years, without airplanes, without cars, and without Facebook or google.
When I think about the Corona virus, I can’t help but think of Acts 1:8 where Jesus tells His disciples how the Gospel will infect the world (in a good way!). He said, “you will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”
We need to praise God today that the Gospel message is more contagious than the Corona virus. There is even a great difference - the Gospel doesn’t kill you it transforms you! It doesn’t make you ill, it makes you well. It doesn’t lock you down, it frees you up!
So how do we unleash the Gospel? We pray! We care! We share! We learn this from the ultimate carrier of the good news, Jesus Christ himself. He shows us how to start a viral outbreak in Mark 1:35-42. In this passage, Jesus becomes the ultimate carrier and starts a contagious movement that is still spreading like a holy pandemic 2000 years later. The ministry of Jesus wasn’t quarantined away in some monastery or out in a desert. It was strategically aligned for exponential growth. And what Jesus did we can do. What Jesus started we can continue.
1. Jesus set the pace for prayer - You wouldn’t want Jesus as a conference speaker! He’d always be gone on some prayer walk somewhere and nobody could find him. In a sense he was quarantining himself so that he could spend time talking to God the Father before he dove into the hard work of spreading the Gospel.
2. He proves He cares - He cast out demons. In Matthew 8:28-34 two men approached Jesus when He went to the other side who were demon possessed. They were so violent that no one could pass by. When they began to question Jesus and bid Him to cast them into the swine Jesus did so. They didn’t know that the swine would run and fall into the waters and perish. If you really take a look at this world you can easily see that the forces of darkness are real and that the Devil is doing everything in his power to stop us from loving Jesus and serving Jesus. However, as followers of Jesus we are here, empowered by Him, to bring healing and transformation to those ravaged by these literal demons. Jesus also healed the man with leprosy. The Bible had very specific instructions on how to deal with lepers in the Old Testament. They were isolated, because leprosy was highly contagious. But, instead of wearing a mask when around them, people were supposed to yell “Unclean! Unclean!” Can you imagine the stigma of that? But Jesus broke that protocol. In Mark 1:41-42 the word says He spoke, and the leprosy was gone.
Now, I’m not saying that you should go out and hug someone with the Coronavirus, but I am saying that you need to care for them and care for all of those who are afraid of it, which is pretty much everyone.
3. Jesus taught us to share - When Jesus was away praying, his disciples sought desperately to fin him. Here’s how Mark 1:36-38 records their search and his response,
“Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’”
Jesus had a greater purpose. His purpose was to share the good news of the Gospel with as many as possible. But how do we do that during a pandemic? We unleash the Gospel verbally and virally!
Remember you can’t quarantine the Gospel!
Jesus prayed, cared and shared. That’s how he dealt with a people infected with a pandemic called sin. And he healed lepers in the process.
As you go through this time of the Corona virus make sure the blood of Christ has been applied to your heart. Make sure you have surrendered your life to Him. Make sure you’re walking in the light. Then trust Him to watch over you and even empower you by His Spirit to minister peace and healing to others.
Yes, we are in the midst of a global pandemic, but you can’t quarantine the Gospel.
