Hope Remains

One of my cousin Betty's fields

Scripture

Zechariah 8:3-8

³ Thus says the Lord: I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts shall be called the holy mountain. ⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. ⁵ And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. ⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts: Even though it seems impossible to the remnant of this people in these days, should it also seem impossible to me, says the Lord of hosts? ⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts: I will save my people from the east country and from the west country; ⁸ and I will bring them to live in Jerusalem. They shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.

Devotion

The third weekend of July is usually the highlight of my summer.  In the wee hours of Thursday morning, I pack up my car and head out to join dozens of my relatives as we set up tents and campers at my Cousin Betty's farm in the mountains of my West Virginia. All weekend long, kids swim in the creek, young and middle aged adults cook in an outdoor kitchen, and the elders among us sit in the shade and chat.  We laugh together, pose for pictures with one another, renew old family squabbles, and eat half the food in the county.  At night, we gather around the campfire, and I scare a new generation of children with the ghost story my great-grandmother used to recite to me. It is a glorious few days.

This year Cousin Betty's fields will remain almost empty.  Instead of hitting the road in cars and campers stuffed to the brim with supplies, most of my relatives and I are staying home.  The locals who pplan to attend have decided to replace three days worth of activities and a huge potluck dinner with a plan to spend an afternoon gathering by the creek and enjoying individually packed meals.  This decision will help protect many of our at-risk family members, but it still breaks my heart.  The family reunion will be a remnant of what it usually is...and I won't even be there to participate. 

This summer seems full of little remnants of "normal" life.  Our typical activities are in shreds, and many of our carefully made plans have been changed or cancelled.   If all that isn't enough, folks are separated from the ones who help us feel connected and grounded.   Many of us long for everything to back to normal...to be able to hug each other and sing together in church and do a thousand and other things that we used to take for granted.  As we continue to adapt to the strange situation we find ourselves in, it can feel as if we will never get to do the things we enjoy or be with the people we love. Sometimes, it feels like we are all that is left of the world we knew.

In times such as these, the prophet Zechariah offers us words of comfort.  Zechariah was one of the Israelites who went home to rebuild Jerusalem after surviving the Babylonian Exile.  This group was known as the Holy Remnant...for they had stayed true to God and were what remained of the once great Kingdom of Judah. Even though they had been allowed to return to their homeland, the the Holy Remnant initially despaired of ever turning the desolation that they found there into the Jerusalem of the past.  The good life that they longed for seemed like an unattainable dream.

Zechariah stood amidst the rubble and proclaimed a bold message: Jerusalem and its people might be a mere remnant of what once was, but the Lord had big plans for them.  With God's help, the broken walls and ruined buildings would be replaced by a city that serve as a testament to others.  And as the city began to prosper, so would the Holy Remnant who lived there.  With God's help, this group of survivors would become so prosperous that their elders would be able to sit at leisure in the streets, and children would be running everywhere.  As the people grew and prospered, God would call other survivors scattered throughout the world to come take their place as members of God's beloved community.  This tiny, ragtag remnant of once was would become a shining testament to God grace, mercy, and power.  The present might seem bleak, but the the future was in God's hands...and because God called them his own, that future was bright.

When we are grief-stricken by our current situation--when our lives seem like a paltry remnant of what they once were--we can find hope in the knowledge that God still has great things in store for us.  Just as the new Jerusalem could never be exactly what the old one was, our future will look somewhat different from our past.  But God has promised that it will still be a future of joy.  There will come a day when we will once again gather with one another to live, laugh, and love.  When that day comes, we will know that we are truly God's people--that the same God who was with us in all our pain and brokenness has brought us into a time of prosperity and  possibility. 

As this weekend progresses and I think of all that I was doing this time last year, there will be moments when I feel sad.  But I know this time of sorrow will not last forever.  When my grief wells up within me, I intend to pray for a reminder of all the good things God has in store for our future.  Next year, God willing, there will be at least 4 toddlers for my relatives and me to chase across the fields and dip in the creek.  One of my cousins will have just graduated college; another will be preparing to start high school.  And with God's help and protection, the elderly loved ones who we are so worried about right now will be there to join us.  We will eat.  We will laugh.  We will love.  We may even start a new tradition.  And that future reunion will be all the more precious because of what we survived this year.

Beloved, yesterday may seem like a far-off dream.  It may feel like we can do to live from day to day. But do not despair.  Though we may not understand what the future holds in store, we can trust that will be good. The same God who holds tomorrow holds onto our hands as we journey through this life.  And there will come a day when each one of us finds ourselves arriving at that joyful place where the mountains touch the sky.

Prayer

God of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, there are times when it feels as if we are living on scraps.  Even as we grieve for the past or gaze with bleak eyes upon our present, we ask you to send us a vision of hope.  Remind us that your plans for us are good and that the future we have in you shall be blessed.  Inspire us to keep following your Word and trusting in your will as we wait to see what tomorrow shall bring.  Amen.

"Official" Family Reunion Photo, 2017