Meditation for January 28, 2009

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Isaiah 49:13-16a

13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

    break forth, O mountains, into singing!

    For the Lord has comforted his people,

    and will have compassion on his suffering ones.

14 But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me."

15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?

    Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands...

Never Forgotten

Today is our son Zachary's 18th birthday.  His name means "remembered by God".  When Julia and I were contemplating names for each of our children, we paid attention to what different names meant.  (Hannah means "grace".)

During the time that Isaiah 49 was written, the people of Israel were in exile in Babylon.  The prophet announces to the people that their time of exile will soon be coming to an end.  Despite appearances to the contrary, despite what they were feeling - "The Lord has forsaken me [us], my Lord has forgotten me [us]." - the prophet assures them that the Lord has never forgotten them.

The prophet compares the Lord to a loving mother.  "Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?"  We have all seen the light and radiating from an expectant mother, who cannot contain her joy.  We have all seen the tenderness and unique bond that exists between a mother and her new-born child.  There is nothing else quite like it.

And even in those rare cases - those cases that make us shake our heads because we don't really understand - those rare cases where a mother is so disturbed or in so much anguish, for some reason, that she abandons her newly born child, even those mothers cannot forget that child who they once carried inside.  And even if they could (which they can't)... even if they could, says the prophet, the Lord can never forget us, his beloved children.

You are never forgotten by the Lord.  God will always remember you - forever and ever.... Amen.  "Amen", as in "so it is."  Not only can God never forget you, but God always cherishes you.  There is nothing you can do to remove that amazing love that God has for you.  As Paul put it, "... neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)  And remember, this was written by a man who once persecuted the people of God.  This was written by a man who was responsible for some of the dearly beloved children of God being murdered.  This man came to know that nothing could separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You and I will go through difficult times.  Some of those times may be so difficult that we might even feel abandoned by God.  We might feel forsaken and forgotten.  But the truth is that our Lord's promise to be with us always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20), is not a promise that has any loopholes.  We might feel forgotten.  We might feel forsaken.  We may feel, in any given moment, that God does not love us and cherish us.  But those are just feelings.  Our feelings are important.  I believe our feelings are even God-given.  But they are designed, ultimately, to lead us back to the Truth that is God.  For when we feel abandoned or alone, when we are in the midst of deep grieving, all we can do is cry out.  And who is the one we cry out to?  Is it not God?  And who is the one who really hears us?  Is it not God?  Who is the One - over the long haul - who, time and again, comes alongside us in our pain and suffering, and brings back from the land of exile and isolation?  Who is the one who brings us back from that forsaken place, to the place that we call home?  Is it not God?

God, like a loving mother who carried us in the womb, can never forget us.  God, like a loving father, won't let us wander away without calling out to us.  The Lord calls out to us, over and over again, until we finally hear... and stop... and come to our senses... and turn around... and come back home.

We are all remembered by God, forever and ever.

And happy 18th birthday to our beloved son, Zach!