Day 174: When Covid is a Crime

DAY 174

                              Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic                     

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-five    Friday 4 September 2020

When Covid is a Crime

“Venezuelan officials are denouncing people who may have come into contact with the coronavirus as ‘bioterrorists’ and urging their neighbors to report them. The government is detaining and intimidating doctors and experts who question the president’s policies on the virus… ‘They told us that we’re contaminated, that we’re guilty of infecting the country,’ said a nurse from Caracas. ‘This is the only country in the world where having Covid is a crime…’ Doctors and nurses who have questioned official statistics say they have been threatened.” 

- From a current newspaper article by the same title

“Unclean! Unclean!” In Jesus’ day if you had leprosy you were required to cry out “unclean!” if anyone was in danger of coming too close to you so that they would be warned to stay away. It was one of the several things Jesus did that scandalized the religious leadership of the day when he spent time with and worse, touched those who were declared ceremonially unclean in the Levitical Law. Jesus had a heart – and has a heart – for all who are ostracized in their respective societies, and when he sent his disciples out to extend his ministry he charged them to “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” Matthew 10:8. The Message translates the leper-cleansing phrase as “touch the untouchables.”

I have been to Venezuela and preached there and have seen the stark contrast between the modern European-style city of Caracas and the ring of the shacks of those living in abject poverty surrounding the perimeter. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have a potentially fatal disease and not only be denied treatment but treated like a pariah in the midst of grinding poverty.   

Years ago my pastoral care ministry included spending time with men dying of AIDS and those so afflicted were treated similar to the lepers of old. One thing stands out – my parting hug was for them like a gift of gold, as many they thought were friends and even family would distance themselves from them avoiding all touch. Our touch to such persons for whatever reason can be the touch of Jesus, for He has no one else to touch others on His behalf but us.

Reflective question: Will you pray for the people of Venezuela, and also reach out to someone you know who is experiencing the avoidance of others for whatever reason. They need you.

Reflective Scripture: Luke 5:13 – “Jesus reached out and touched him… (a man with leprosy.)”

Reflective hymn:

“He Touched Me – William Gaither (1936-    )

He touched me, O, He touched me, and O, the joy that floods my soul!

Something happened, and now I know, He touched me and made me whole.