The Faithful Remnant

In my series on the exile, I jumped out of chronology last weekend by turning to Zechariah. The king during his time was the father of the king Esther married. Somehow the themes seemed to suit this past Sunday better as we celebrated Thanksgiving.

Zechariah 8 talks about the faithful remnant, the small percentage of exiled Jews who chose to return from Persia when given the chance. It talks about God’s promises to them and how things would change, how God’s people would be drawn together once more into the holy city. It talks about old men and women sitting together in the streets with staffs in hand and children playing freely again. It talks about the temple being rebuilt and the vine producing fruit and crops growing in abundance.

As I read these words I reflected on how this is my desire in this dragged out time of pandemic - that our seniors would feel safe enough to be in the streets, leaning on staffs or canes or walkers, and that they would talk together and share wisdom; that our kids would play together without worrying about masks and distancing but just being allowed to run and enjoy life; that the church, the body of Christ, would be rebuilt and thrive with people being drawn together again to the glory of God.

I mentioned to the small faithful remnant in front of me Sunday that I was seeing glimpses of this vision coming true. I shared my thanks for all those who had helped to carry us through this time, and who had offered help at risk to themselves so that things could continue. I shared thanks for how every generation contributes something to the whole and shows God in some way to the rest of the church. I shared thanks for those able to hold on loosely to how things had always been done so that we could adapt and survive.

With small in person worship attendance it would be easy to believe that the faithful remnant can accomplish little and that the edges are fraying. But I know that, for many reasons, people watch the worship at home and some listen over the telephone. Those gathered don’t represent the full picture. This reality helps us to maintain perspective and to not lose hope. The vision we embrace moving forward in these times will be pivotal to whether we thrive or fizzle out.

Twice God challenges the people listening to Zechariah’s words of prophecy to have strong hands in this time of rejuvenation. I wonder how that applies to our work of rebuilding resilient churches as we emerge from exile. What shows evidence of our strong hands to insiders and outsiders? What does that strength look like? Is it strength in weakness, in giving our best, in serving and reaching out rather than crumpling inward? Strong hands reassure, stabilize, and focus effort. Strong hands can be used to build and help or to tear down and harm. Farmers tend to have strong hands, planting, tending, harvesting, and helping to bring new life into the world. The faithful remnant has this work to do and more.

As we continue to offer thanks for God’s blessings to us, may we embrace a vision of a different future than what we are experiencing now. May we be open to change that is necessary for God’s kingdom to come among us more and more. May we have strong hands offered willingly to do the work that God is asking us to do.