Tomorrow we Vax The Nation: Give God a hand; get vaccinated / Rev. Helen Jacobi

The billboard at St Matthew-in-the-City has a history of being a place where we share our thoughts with the community. In the days before social media it acted like a social media post, and would get shared by the mainstream media.

These days we can simply use our Facebook or Twitter pages to share articles and ideas. But it seems there is still something effective about a short sharp statement on a rickety old billboard in front of a traditional looking stone church.

Our “Give God a hand; get vaccinated” billboard garnered 3,305 likes and 478 retweets in the 24 hours after we posted on Twitter. Lots of replies and discussion as well, 99% of it polite and engaged.

I find it hard to understand why someone wouldn’t want to get vaccinated against a deadly disease. My mother has lived 84 of her 89 years with the effects of polio. Even now “post polio,” as it is known, is diminishing her movements day by day. I imagine that “long covid” will be like that and affect people their whole lives.

AJ Hendry has written eloquently on this blog about the nature of freedom and our freedom to choose. Yes we can choose not to be vaccinated but why would we put our own health and even more importantly the health of others at risk? My mother has lived a long and full life but if you ask her does she wish the polio vaccine had been available to her at the age of 5 – she says – absolutely, yes!

Given there is still some reluctance about vaccines out there we decided to enter the fray with our billboard. A few people on Twitter felt we might be being disrespectful suggesting that God needs a hand in doing anything.

At St Matthew’s we don’t subscribe to the idea of a God in the heavens deciding the fate of humanity. We believe in a God who in creating our world gave humanity the brains and the tools to be the best we can be. We fail at this day in and day out: every time a child dies of starvation, every time the planet warms another notch, every time we don’t get vaccines to the poorest countries first.

We give God a hand, we live into our created humanity, every time we love and care and bring about change for the good of others.

We should be in awe of the brilliance of our scientists who have brought us the vaccine so quickly and safely. We should be disturbed by the people who work against the common good in spreading disinformation.

We need to be alongside people who have fallen prey to this disinformation and help them get out of the corner they have backed themselves into. It is starting to feel a bit scary for people as travel and jobs are going to be on the line. We want people to get vaccinated because it is the right thing to do, not because they feel forced into it.

But the reality is time is running out and we have all the evidence we need from overseas that vaccinations are essential to stopping the pandemic.

We have plaques on the walls inside St Matthew’s remembering parishioners who died in the 1918 flu epidemic.

I hope and pray I never have to take a funeral of someone who dies of covid or put a memorial plaque up for anyone. Some churches have had to already. Let’s keep that number as low as possible.

Rev Dr Helen Jacobi MNZM is an Anglican priest and is the vicar of St Matthew-in-the-City. Helen has a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching (Chicago), and degrees in theology, languages, and social work.

St Matthew-in-the-City seeks to be a church which reflects the diversity of Auckland city and stands with those on the margins.

The focus of Helen’s work has always been the engagement of the church in society, and challenging the church to reflect better the society it operates within. Helen’s blog Spirited Edge can be found at https://helenjacobi.com/ and she tweets @RevHelenJacobi