The result of a weakened or absent faith
From Lamentations 1: 1 Oh, oh, oh . . . How empty the city, once teeming with people. A widow, this city, once in the front rank of nations, once queen of the ball, she's now a drudge in the kitchen. 2 She cries herself to sleep each night, tears soaking her pillow. No one's left among her lovers to sit and hold her hand. Her friends have all dumped her. 3 After years of pain and hard labor, Judah has gone into exile. She camps out among the nations, never feels at home. Hunted by all, she's stuck between a rock and a hard place. 4 Zion's roads weep, empty of pilgrims headed to the feasts. All her city gates are deserted, her priests in despair. Her virgins are sad. How bitter her fate. 5 Her enemies have become her masters. Her foes are living it up because God laid her low, punishing her repeated rebellions. Her children, prisoners of the enemy, trudge into exile. 6 All beauty has drained from Daughter Zion's face. Her princes are like deer famished for food, chased to exhaustion by hunters. (The Message Version)
In reading this text I thought back to recent drives through what once was the Mexican "downtown." In my childhood, Richard Street, named for Captain Richard King, the namesake of the ranch and town, had three grocery stores, a barber shop, pool halls, bars, and a bakery that grew into a regional supplier of pan dulce for area stores, including HEB. When I was 9, I followed my father's footsteps in getting a job at Chapa's Grocery, working every Saturday from 8 until 6 for one dollar and fifty cents, a fortune for a boy. Now, Chapa's roof has caved in, the other stores are boarded up, there are no businesses left in that downtown area. Even the first Apple store, so named for the huge apple sign it had, is closed. The sign remained for many years, but my last drive through there saw no sign. I suppose if we multiply the emptiness of this small south Texas town by a thousand or more, we could get an idea of what drove the writer to lament the fate of Jerusalem. From "queen of the ball" to "drudge in the kitchen," crying "herself to sleep each night, tears soaking her pillow." Once exalted, now exiled. From parades of military victories to a slow "trudge into exile," the city is no more.
The gospel lesson for this week calls for us to use what faith we have now to do what God expects. This lesson underscores the need for that by sharing the results of a non-acting faith. "The city" refers to the people of God becoming those of no faith, choosing rebellion over faithfulness, and paying the price. They chose to abandon God, and God abandoned them.
May it not be so with us and our churches. We have so much still to show for what can be, we need to work towards what should be.
PRAYER: Loving God, again I pray that you use my faith for Your service. I seek opportunities to grow and be faithful and fruitful. May my faith bless the faith of others I ask, in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
