The Ones Who Came Back

Like many worship leaders, I’m preparing for both Remembrance Day and Sunday services this week. It’s the second last Sunday in the Church calendar and we’re going to continue to look at stories of the return from exile in the Old Testament.

Remembrance Day is promising to be rainy. The few minutes we will stand together at the cenotaph after the worship time inside is hardly a sacrifice compared to what the soldiers endured in the trenches. We can’t really complain about the inconvenience of becoming a bit cold and wet outside. And yet we’re making plans for the seniors in the crowd as so many cold and flu bugs are going around, not to mention Covid.

We will remember those who made it back and those who didn’t. My Sunday readings are about the faithful remnant who returned from Babylon to a barely recognizable homeland, with their beloved temple destroyed. I’m sure that veterans returning from combat feel as though their home has become unrecognizable in some ways too. Their world view has shifted because of what they have witnessed and the different places they have been. No doubt they look at the people who never left home and wonder why they don’t get it. Why don’t they see the urgency of fighting and protecting people?

I see the same urgency and frustration in the faithful remnant of my congregation, questioning why it’s so hard to help people understand how important faith is to them and their children. Why don’t they see how critical a relationship with their Creator is? Why don’t they see how much they miss by not experiencing the joy of being part of a faith community and enveloped in that love and caring for each other as Christ’s body?

Zechariah has a message from God for the exiles returning home. He tells them to have courage and to dream. Out of the rubble of conflict and war will be safe and quiet streets where the older generation will sit in peace and watch children playing in freedom. Zechariah affirms that they are God’s people, and will plant crops in peace and have abundant rain to grow them. These words from God are inspiring even as people are emerging from ashes of years of shame and despair.

We are still emerging from the ashes of what the last few years have dealt us, and there can be intense feelings of guilt and anger about the losses experienced. Even now it can still be hard to look back and see how God was with us through it all. Veterans who now see Afghanistan returned to the Taliban and others who have seen their efforts and sacrifices seemingly negated I’m sure have tough emotions as well.

Zechariah offers words of hope to all of us that the tide can turn, that safety and community can be restored even after a long time of suffering. All is not lost because God can do the seemingly impossible. And in this world when our journey ends, we are promised a better place.

I don’t know who needs to hear this today as they navigate the intense feelings of people in their pews, or people staying away from their pews. I believe these words are for us as much as the exiles - God has deep love for you and will return among you, creating new beginnings and rebuilding community. Nothing is impossible for God. Those who have been separated will be reunited. Sowing will happen in peace and the rains will come to end the drought. The survivors will be blessed.

Have courage, people of God, those who have survived this time. Don’t be afraid. Your God is still with you as you return from exile. Be open to sitting with those who have battle scars and who need the reassurance that we will listen and honour their stories. Be open to a bright future if you are willing to be led by God. And may the peace that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Jesus, the one who gave us His peace that is so different from what the world gives.