The opening sentences of daily prayer today from Lamentations, though, builds our foundation. Lamentations is a seldom-read book immersed in grief. And yet, for the people of God, a voice of hope in grief should be no surprise.
The Lord's unfailing love and mercy never cease, fresh as the morning and sure as the sunrise. (Lam. 3:22-23)We grieve, we struggle, we live our fully human lives with hope because "the Lord's unfailing love and mercy never cease..."
The New Testament reading is the story of the birth of John, a story of elderly parents who find themselves pregnant. (Though I must confess my daily prayer is that I am never part of that biblical miracle!) Elizabeth gives birth and on the day of the child's circumcision, she names him John. Friends and family argue...the child should be named after his father...and no one in their family is named John. When the infant's father, Zachariah, speaks up to concur, the muteness he has endured since he doubted God's promise of redemption at the beginning of the pregnancy is ended. His words of prophesy end this passage:
Blessed by the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.Zachariah is looking forward to his son's work, but speaks in present tense. Perhaps this defines God's hope, or our hope in God's work. Zachariah knows his son will need to grow and be taught and prepared for his work, so the redemption he would work for would certainly be in the future. But Zechariah speaks in now. God's promise is so sure it is present, even when we cannot see the activity happening.
That promise of in-breaking, of Kingdom here on earth, is not yet fulfilled, but we speak of it in the here and how, we live lives of hope-full service because the sun comes up every morning.
That gets us started here on a Sunday, where we will be gathered in worship strengthened in hope.
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