“Then I remember”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, June 30, 2024
Lamentations 3: 21-33 (Forward, p. 63) CEV p. 836
Jeremiah, the author of today’s words, is ‘down in the dumps’ and for good reason. His beloved city, Jerusalem, is in a terrible state. Not only has it been destroyed and stripped of its treasures, but it now sits desolate, deserted, and lonely. What was once the pride of Israel and renowned among the nations is now disgraced and nothing but a heap of rubble. Its people have been taken into exile and its leadership decimated. And what is more, even Jeremiah feels as if he has been spurned by God and forgotten. He feels deserted by God. It is almost as if God has now counted him as an enemy. He doesn’t even feel that He can go to God in prayer.
But then he remembers: he remembers God’s past goodness, mercy and faithfulness and it fills him with hope. Yes, sometimes God allows pain, grief, and suffering to enter our lives but they don’t last forever. In fact, sometimes these things can have productive effects in our lives, teaching us lessons, and increasing our ability to be patient and endure whatever comes our way. Furthermore, these things can teach us to trust Him and obey regardless of what is happening around us or to us. Suffering, he concludes, is not God really wants for us, just the opposite, and so we can trust Him no matter what.
All of this is most helpful to us today, in the crazy, mixed up, sometimes dysfunctional world that we live in. We may not have a ‘Jerusalem’ that we have treasured, but there are countless other things, treasured things, that now seem desecrated or destroyed or counted as nothing. And, at times, like Jeremiah, we don’t feel that God is there for us either. And so, like him, we need to remember, to remember God’s goodness, kindness, love, and faithfulness. And we need, as Jeremiah says, to trust Him and obey Him regardless of what comes our way. After all, God is still there for us and loving us, caring for us, even if it doesn’t seem that way at times. Thanks be to God for His loving care.
Forward notes: “Great is your faithfulness” (verse 23b).
“Seven-year-old Michael turned away, his fists clenched, tears streaming down his cheeks. Bigger boys had cornered a stray dog and were stoning it to death. Hours later, Michael returned to the site and mounded stones over the dog’s broken body. He laid his beloved stuffed animal atop the rubble and whispered, ‘You’re not alone.’
“In today’s reading, we follow Jeremiah’s transition from despair over Jerusalem’s horrific destruction to hope, ‘but this I call to mind and therefore have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.’
“Horrific violence and destruction are prevalent in my community, nation, and the world, destroying innocent lives. Sadness consumes me for those wronged. I despair, Where is the hope? Where is God? What can I do?
“Michael’s actions guide me. He did what he could. He didn’t let evil be the last act. God calls you and me to be hope, to touch the pain of the broken-hearted. To assure them that they are not alone. In God’s faithfulness, in us, there is hope, new every morning.”
Moving Forward: “Rejoice in God’s never-ceasing faithfulness and love.”