洗手和冠状病毒；洗手很好，但还不够好Handwashing and Coronavirus;Good, but Not Good Enough
作者：James Faris 译者：诚之
和其他教会一样，我们的会众也正在采取一些预防措施，防止COVID-19的散播，我们也将继续监测疫情。这些改变包括：我们的招待不会和人握手，我们也将暂时更改有关圣餐和什一奉献的常规做法；我们鼓励有高风险的成员留在家中并通过直播参加礼拜活动，并且请那些有病的人留在家中，以恩待其他人。当然，我们也要求会员保持警惕，随时洗手！
Like
other churches, our congregation is taking precautionary steps to guard against
the spread of COVID-19, and we will continue to monitor the situation. Among
other changes, our greeters will not be shaking hands, we will temporarily
alter regular practices regarding the Lord’s Supper and the collection of
tithes and offerings, we encourage high-risk members to remain home and
participate in the worship service via livestream, and we ask those with any
sickness to remain home as a kindness to others. Of course, we also ask members
to vigilantly WASH YOUR HANDS!
勤加洗手。这是一种简单的、常识性的做法，对你自己和他人都有很好的预防作用。当我们抹上肥皂，搓起泡沫之时，上帝给了我们一个绝佳的默想机会，思考什么是我们最大的需要，尤其是在当前的危机中。为何是这样呢？
Wash
your hands. It’s a simple, common-sense practice and a good
disease-preventative for yourself and others. As we lather-up, God gives us a
wonderful opportunity to meditate, especially in the present crisis, on our
greatest need. How so?
冠状病毒已经终结了全球许多人的生命，而且很可能夺走更多。我们可以通过洗手来减缓此类疾病的传播。但是最终，每个人的死亡率仍然是100％。我们会死，是因属灵上的不洁；我们会死，是因为我们有罪。这就是为什么我们在洗手台前的默想应该引导我们的思想朝向永恒。
Coronavirus
has ended the lives of many around the globe. It will likely take many more
lives; we can slow the spread of such diseases by washing our hands. But the
death rate remains 100% for everyone, eventually, of one cause or another. We
die because of our spiritual uncleanness; we die because of our sin. That’s why
our time in front of the wash basin should point our minds to eternity.
很久以前，约伯曾提到大概是他母亲教他的洗手方法：
Long
ago, Job reflected on the handwashing techniques his mother had presumably
taught him when he said,
我若用雪水洗身，用碱洁净我的手，你还要扔我在坑里，我的衣服都憎恶我。（伯九30-31）
If I
wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, yet you will plunge me
into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me (Job 9:30-31).
在经文的上下文中，约伯是在问：「人在上帝面前怎能成为义？」（伯九2）约伯知道即使用肥皂洗了手，也不会使他变得无辜或使他免于死亡。
In
context, Job was asking “How can a man be in the right before God?” (Job 9:2).
Job knew that handwashing, even with lye, would not make him innocent or keep
him from death.
即使通过努力勤劳洗手，成为一个有道德的好邻居，也不会为我们赢得上天堂的积分。不，只有耶稣的宝血才能洗净我们一切的罪（约翰壹书一7）。
Not
even the effort to be a morally good neighbor by diligent handwashing will earn
us points for heaven. No, the blood of Jesus, alone, cleanses us from all sin
(1 John 1:7).
因此，当您搓起肥皂泡洗手时，请在水槽前花一点时间，在自己内心里向主坦承自己的罪过，并再次承认耶稣基督是你唯一的救主。甚至在不断提醒孩子洗手时，也要教给孩子这些永恒的真理。父母如果不教孩子洗手可能是不负责任的，其他人可能因此受到感染。但是如果父母没有教导孩子们必须洁净罪恶，那么他们就是最不负责任的父母。
So
take a moment at the sink as you lather and scrub to confess your sins to the
Lord in your own heart, and to confess afresh Jesus Christ as your only Savior.
Teach your children these eternal truths as well, even as you remind them over
and over to wash their hands. Parents can be irresponsible by not teaching
their children to wash their hands well; others may be affected and infected as
a result. But parents are most irresponsible who do not teach their children of
the need for cleansing from sin.
让我们勤加洗手，并大胆地回到我们周遭的世界。洗手也提醒我们在灾难中要满怀自信地前进。我们必须采取明智的行动，保持正确的眼光。耶稣曾应许在这个时代会有瘟疫，但是我们无须害怕。相反，我们必须常存忍耐的心（路加福音廿一9-19）。在耶稣基督里，基督徒生来就是得胜者。当我们洗手时，我们也必须教给孩子们这个伟大的真理。我们无论是活着或是死了，总是属于主的人（罗十四8）。因此，我们每天都是为祂而活。
We
wash our hands to boldly step back out into the world around us. Handwashing
also serves as reminder to move forward confidently in the midst of calamity.
We must act wisely, and we must keep a right perspective. Jesus promised
seasons of pestilence in this age, but we are not to be terrified. Rather, we
are to endure (Luke 21:9-18). Christians are by nature, in Jesus Christ, more
than conquerors. We must teach our children this great truth as well when we
wash our hands. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Thus, we live every
day to him.
如此，就让我们好好洗手，然后回到主呼召你去做的任何服侍上。如同地球上的每一次瘟疫或流行病一样，冠状病毒也是上帝给圣徒的呼召，要他们满有信心地坚忍到底，因他们都已经被基督宝血洗净了。
Wash
your hands well, and get back to whatever work of service the Lord has called
you to next. Coronavirus, like every plague or pestilence on the earth, is a
call for the confident endurance of the saints who have been cleansed by the
blood of Christ.
James
Faris
Child
of God. Husband to Elizabeth. Father of six. Pastor of Second Reformed
Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ordained as a pastor in 2003.