"I don't care about the picture of your vaccination card." That is my cynical statement of the day.
I'm joking here, but has anyone else had enough of the social media posts about vaccination cards? I understand this is a VERY controversial subject and that by just saying I don't personally care for people posting their cards online I risk irritating some. Even if you didn't have an instinctive reaction one way or the other reading that opening line, surely you recognize that it's a touchy subject. That's actually kind of the point of this devotion.
For the record, I got my vaccination so my fascination with the constant Facebook posting has little to do with agreeing or disagreeing with any social, political, or personal stance on the private medical decisions of individuals. I simply find it fascinating how fervent many people are in evangelizing the virtues and benefits of a particular medicine. Why, you may ask? Well, because you don't often see people work this hard, this persistently, and this passionately to tell other people about different aspects of their lives.
It makes me ask myself, "What if people treated their relationship with Christ this passionately? What if people viewed the necessity of salvation through the cross with the same fervency they view these vaccinations?"
At the end of Mark 7 we see an interaction between Jesus and a deaf man. The deaf man is brought before Jesus who proclaims "Be opened!" to the heavens and the man's hearing is restored. Interestingly enough, Jesus dissuades the crowds from testifying to this miracle.
He ordered them to tell no one, but the more he ordered them, the more they proclaimed it. They were extremely astonished and said, "He has done everything well, He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!" (Mark 7:36-37)
In the scriptures, when people have genuine experiences with Christ, they can't help but spread the word. I mean, how could you? You see a lame man walk or a suffering woman instantly healed and it seems like something worth posting about on social media, right? Yet so many of us have a hard time getting excited about talking about Jesus or our faiths because... what... it's not on a card from the CDC?
Unfortunately, so many people seem to have a personal disconnect when it comes to the miraculous works of Christ. When it comes to the vaccine, we hail this medicine as a marvel of modern science and a pathway to a normal life, but somehow exhibiting the same passion and fervency over a God, made incarnate, who died on a cross for your sins seems a little overbearing. If a medicine which preserves mortal health, and a politician who preserves a temporary government are worth evangelizing to all of our friends, family, and acquaintances, how much more deserving is it to spend the same (or greater) energy in sharing with others the eternal grace of Jesus Christ?
Truth be told, people can post whatever they want online; it doesn't bother me that much. Post your vaccination card, post your "I Voted" sticker... if it's something exciting in your life, then I'll give it a "Like" and say "Mozel Tov" in celebration with you. All I'm trying to say is that sometimes it seems like we get excited about things that are worldly while acting like the salvation of our souls is somehow a more private, muted matter not to be discussed. Shout it! Scream at the top of your lungs for it! You have been redeemed by THE creator of the universe who knew you before you were born, knows you now, and understands everything that makes you imperfect... AND YET that creator still gladly sacrificed himself on a rugged cross BECAUSE HE LOVED YOU. How can we keep to this ourselves?!?! This is truly something too good to keep in. If we're going to get excited over things that will be long forgotten 5, 10, 50, or 100 years from now, let's get excited over something that lasts forever... it's simply too good to keep to ourselves.
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