Rev Maggie reflects

Reflection on Returning from Exile.

Many wept when they saw this house though many shouted for joy so that people could not distinguish the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping. (Ezra 3. 12a and 13)

Since March, we have been “in exile” from church buildings. But now churches can open again and services are being said. St. George’s is open for private prayer and there have been two parish eucharists. Many people have returned but some are still shielding and others have not felt safe enough to do so yet. Each individual must make their own decision about when it is right for them to return.

Exile and the return from exile are familiar themes in the bible. We can all relate to the yearning that occurs when we are unable to be where we want to be. This yearning can be so strong that it gets in the way of living life where we are. So God told the Israelites in Babylon to buy land and marry and get on with their lives because the exile was going to be long. In due course the people were able to return and rebuild Jerusalem. The return from exile, however, was not going back to the city that they had known but to one that needed to be rebuilt. There was both joy and sorrow as the quotation at the beginning of this reflection describes. I imagine that there was a similar mixture of emotions at the services in St. George’s these past two week. I am one of those who is still in “exile” but I am sure that being in church will feel different from how it was in the past. There are the obvious differences such as social distancing and no singing but there will also be more subtle differences, especially because when we return we too will have changed.

During their time of exile, the Israelites’ understanding of God changed. They recognised that God was with them in their place of exile. They recognised that God was not confined to their homeland but was God of the whole creation. This led on to the understanding that God was therefore concerned about the Gentiles as well and was looking forward to the time when all the nations would come together in worship. Their understanding of God’s relationship with them, God’s people, also developed. They realised that worship was not confined by place, just as God was not confined by place. Worship was increasingly seen as coming from the heart: “a new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put in you. I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you.” (Ezekiel 36. 26-27a)

Now is a good time to look back over the months of lockdown and ask ourselves what we have learnt about God while we have been unable to worship in church as we have been accustomed to. Has it been a time of yearning to return to what we knew before or has it been a time when we have discovered new things because of our exile?

“When the exiles returned to Jerusalem and laid the foundations of the new temple they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to God, ‘For he is good and his steadfast love endures for ever’. ” (Ezra 3.11)

Psalm 136

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious:
For his mercy endures for ever.

2 Give thanks to the God of Gods:
For his mercy endures forever.

3 Give thanks to the Lord of Lords:
For his mercy endures forever.

4 who alone does great wonders:
For his mercy endures forever.

5 who by wisdom made the heavens:
For his mercy endures forever.

6 who laid out the earth on the water:
For his mercy endures forever.

7 who made the great lights:
For his mercy endures forever.

8 the sun to rule the day:
For his mercy endures forever.

9 the moon and stars to govern the nights:
For his mercy endures forever.

23 who remembered us when we were in trouble:
For his mercy endures forever.

24 and delivered us from our enemies:
For his mercy endures forever.

25 who gives food to all creatures:
For his mercy endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven:
For his mercy endures forever.