When the Church Doors are Closed
Stories
There was also a prophet, Anna…. She was of a great age…. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. (Luke 2:36-37)
Luke the evangelist tells us that the prophet Anna was to be found in the temple worshipping and praising God day and night, without fail. But what do you do when God’s sanctuary is no longer available?
November 1918. The war to end all wars had ended. It was finally over, over there! But Americans had barely begun to celebrate when schools, businesses, and yes, even churches closed in the midst of a worldwide pandemic that eventually killed perhaps as much as three to five times as many millions who died in World War I.
It was known as the Spanish Flu, not because it began in Spain, but because as one of the few neutral nations, Spain reported that people were dying from influenza while the combatant nations underreported the deaths to avoid starting a panic as the war wound down.
Instead of celebrations, closures. According to the November 2, 1918 edition of the weekly church magazine The Gospel Messenger, revival meetings in Hutchinson, Kansas, featuring Brother J. Edwin Jarboe, came to an abrupt end.
For over two weeks Bro. J. Edwin Jarboe preached the Word in its simplicity and with the power of the Spirit at this place. The audience also appreciated the message in song, by Sister Jarboe, each evening. Twenty-six received Christian baptism. Oct. 6 will long be remembered as a day of triumph for the kingdom of God. A “high water mark” attendance at Sunday-school was followed by the morning theme: “Elijah’s God or the Gods of the Prophets?” At the noon hour all enjoyed the social hour and basket dinner in the basement.
After which followed this stark note:
Because of the State quarantine further meetings had to be abandoned, without even a farewell to all.
So, the churches were closed, but was the church closed? The November 30 edition of The Gospel Messenger contains the perspective of two women, Julia Graydon of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Rose D. Fox of Minot, North Dakota, regular contributors to the magazine.
First Julia Graydon:
“No church on Sunday,” the paper announced, “on account of the influenza epidemic.” That meant no Sunday school either, and we wondered how we would spend Sunday. I said to myself: “It will be a long day.” But the Lord gave me some work to do and it was not a long day.
First, the care of a sister who was ill. Then the lending of an umbrella to friends who were caught in the rain: and the walk with a friend who had had trouble and needed a little cheering. Then the thought came to me that it would be a good time to copy some verses for a “shut-in” who had lost her husband. The reading of the Bible and two chapters in Dr. Jowett’s book, The Silver Lining, one of which was headed: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him,” closed a day which has passed very quickly and happily.
And the message over the phone, several days later, from the “shut-in” friend, thanking me for the verses which had helped her, made me realize more than ever the value of little things done in the Lord’s name.
Meanwhile Rose D. Fox first focused on other aspects of the pandemic.
Meditating upon the effects of the epidemic which has swept our land, from coast to coast, we are made to wonder just how far-reaching the results will be. Of course, it is impossible to determine this at the present time, but some of the effects can be seen now. One of the results which we have noticed is a drawing together of all classes of people, because of the common need. Suffering and sorrow, helpfulness and sympathy, make a “tie that binds” the hearts of men together.
But she couldn’t help but note:
But there is another side—the closing of all churches. This of course, is inevitable since every possible measure must be adopted to check the spread of the disease. But the alarming part is this—all churches having been closed, Satan, as he looks at it, has a chance to get in some of his best work, comparatively unmolested. What are we doing, friends, to combat his work? Do we awaken on Sunday morning, sigh luxuriously, roll over and go to sleep again? Nothing to do! A long day in which to read the Sunday paper…., eat a big dinner, write a letter or two, visit a neighbor in the next block (if we feel like making that much exertion), read some more, and go to bed.
Like Julia Graydon, Rose D. Fox pointed out that even if the churches are closed the work of the church goes on, giving several examples of what people might be about. She closed:
I wonder how many of us have welcomed the order for closed churches, feeling that we need a vacation anyway? And, on the other hand, how many of us have been doing the hundred and one little services for Christ which we could find no time to do before?
Christians, awake! Satan is not taking a vacation.
*****************************************
StoryShare, December 27, 2020, issue.
Copyright 2020 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
Luke the evangelist tells us that the prophet Anna was to be found in the temple worshipping and praising God day and night, without fail. But what do you do when God’s sanctuary is no longer available?
November 1918. The war to end all wars had ended. It was finally over, over there! But Americans had barely begun to celebrate when schools, businesses, and yes, even churches closed in the midst of a worldwide pandemic that eventually killed perhaps as much as three to five times as many millions who died in World War I.
It was known as the Spanish Flu, not because it began in Spain, but because as one of the few neutral nations, Spain reported that people were dying from influenza while the combatant nations underreported the deaths to avoid starting a panic as the war wound down.
Instead of celebrations, closures. According to the November 2, 1918 edition of the weekly church magazine The Gospel Messenger, revival meetings in Hutchinson, Kansas, featuring Brother J. Edwin Jarboe, came to an abrupt end.
For over two weeks Bro. J. Edwin Jarboe preached the Word in its simplicity and with the power of the Spirit at this place. The audience also appreciated the message in song, by Sister Jarboe, each evening. Twenty-six received Christian baptism. Oct. 6 will long be remembered as a day of triumph for the kingdom of God. A “high water mark” attendance at Sunday-school was followed by the morning theme: “Elijah’s God or the Gods of the Prophets?” At the noon hour all enjoyed the social hour and basket dinner in the basement.
After which followed this stark note:
Because of the State quarantine further meetings had to be abandoned, without even a farewell to all.
So, the churches were closed, but was the church closed? The November 30 edition of The Gospel Messenger contains the perspective of two women, Julia Graydon of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Rose D. Fox of Minot, North Dakota, regular contributors to the magazine.
First Julia Graydon:
“No church on Sunday,” the paper announced, “on account of the influenza epidemic.” That meant no Sunday school either, and we wondered how we would spend Sunday. I said to myself: “It will be a long day.” But the Lord gave me some work to do and it was not a long day.
First, the care of a sister who was ill. Then the lending of an umbrella to friends who were caught in the rain: and the walk with a friend who had had trouble and needed a little cheering. Then the thought came to me that it would be a good time to copy some verses for a “shut-in” who had lost her husband. The reading of the Bible and two chapters in Dr. Jowett’s book, The Silver Lining, one of which was headed: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him,” closed a day which has passed very quickly and happily.
And the message over the phone, several days later, from the “shut-in” friend, thanking me for the verses which had helped her, made me realize more than ever the value of little things done in the Lord’s name.
Meanwhile Rose D. Fox first focused on other aspects of the pandemic.
Meditating upon the effects of the epidemic which has swept our land, from coast to coast, we are made to wonder just how far-reaching the results will be. Of course, it is impossible to determine this at the present time, but some of the effects can be seen now. One of the results which we have noticed is a drawing together of all classes of people, because of the common need. Suffering and sorrow, helpfulness and sympathy, make a “tie that binds” the hearts of men together.
But she couldn’t help but note:
But there is another side—the closing of all churches. This of course, is inevitable since every possible measure must be adopted to check the spread of the disease. But the alarming part is this—all churches having been closed, Satan, as he looks at it, has a chance to get in some of his best work, comparatively unmolested. What are we doing, friends, to combat his work? Do we awaken on Sunday morning, sigh luxuriously, roll over and go to sleep again? Nothing to do! A long day in which to read the Sunday paper…., eat a big dinner, write a letter or two, visit a neighbor in the next block (if we feel like making that much exertion), read some more, and go to bed.
Like Julia Graydon, Rose D. Fox pointed out that even if the churches are closed the work of the church goes on, giving several examples of what people might be about. She closed:
I wonder how many of us have welcomed the order for closed churches, feeling that we need a vacation anyway? And, on the other hand, how many of us have been doing the hundred and one little services for Christ which we could find no time to do before?
Christians, awake! Satan is not taking a vacation.
*****************************************
StoryShare, December 27, 2020, issue.
Copyright 2020 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
