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Rev. Klockers: When restrictions are lifted it is all up to us

by Rev. Walter Klockers
| May 5, 2020 11:24 PM

“Then the devil took (Jesus) to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from there, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Luke 4:9-12)

The above describes a portion of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. The devil even quoted Scripture in order to try and trip him up. He spent 40 days out there. It must have been quite an ordeal. He needed to keep his guard up the entire time and not relax.

Thankfully, Jesus resisted the attempts to veer him off course and negate his mission.

I don’t know about you, but this mandatory stay-at-home order is driving me up the wall. A great deal of what I do as a minister is meeting with groups of people. Except for an occasional Zoom virtual meeting on my computer, this isn’t happening right now. I miss seeing people in person.

Fishing has opened again. I love fishing for walleye. I’m going to see if I can do so from shore. If there are too many folks out there though I will be turning around and going home.

My fear is that most people will not heed the warnings to keep a safe distance of at least six feet apart. I’ve learned that some fishermen are not polite. They may attempt to push you away from a prime spot on the beach. They may even cast over your shoulder in an attempt to do so.

Besides fishing, as more things are opened up, I am fearful. My concern is that too many may behave like before the virus came upon us. If this happens it will be bad news for us all.

These are the temptations we face as a society.

We have made tremendous sacrifices over the past few weeks. There has been a great cost. Many have lost jobs, businesses are in financial trouble, schoolteachers have had to shift gears to create online lessons, students may be in limbo about their academic futures and our family dynamics may have become distressed after being cooped up together for so long.

All of these sacrifices were done in order to dampen the spread of the coronavirus, and we’ve had some degree of success.

In the days ahead, when more will be re-opened, I will be fearful. If too many decide to “go back to normal” without implementing safeguards, all that has been sacrificed will be for naught.

Many of us have heavily criticized Gov. Inslee, stating that his policies have gone too far. Well, if this is the case, then why not prevent him from doing so again? The best way, that also protects ourselves, is to personally practice safeguards designed to limit the spread of the virus.

To do otherwise, veers us off course and toward the implementation of further lockdowns. The choice is yours. Please avoid giving into the temptation to relax when we still need to remain vigilant.

Walter is pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church and has served as parish pastor for more than 30 years.