We continue this week with more about that group of faithful folks who emerged from Babylon telling stories of life.
This simple narrative construction made theological sense and coherence out of a deeply incoherent historical experience. The story line offered by these Jews provided a theological case (punishment by YHWH) for Torah obedience, a task to practice Torah in a foreign land in order to maintain a holy people uncontaminated by alien context, and a hope for return home. The sequence of case, task, and hope is reflected in the tenacious insistence of Psalm 137, a song of the deportees that keeps the energy of the community sharply focused on Jerusalem:
By the rivers of Babylon - there we sat down and thee we wept, when we remembered Zion ---
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. (Psalm 137:1, 5-6)
In some ways, this psalm is like the music we hear coming from oppressed people everywhere. The great lyrics of gospel hymns are like this. Full of an understanding of the facts on the ground and also filled with a vision for what can and will be. Always moving toward hope with an understanding that the present day demands faithfulness in the promise of God to be the saving one who has a history of rescuing God's people even when it looks impossible. And yet, the songs are sung and encouragement is offered and hope springs from tears. It is the work of the poet to expand the vision and make for a reality that is beyond what is.
Connection: The days at hand are filled with possibility. More and more we must be able to hear from the voices of old and those of the day a story of freedom and hope. This is not always easy - but those voices are around us.
O God, you lead us into your future and we give you thanks and ask for the wisdom to see the way unfolding before us and the courage to take that way. Amen.
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