Ezra 6:7-8,12,14-20 / Lk 8:19-21
The experience of being exiled is terrifying, because it cuts a person off from his roots and his community, and leaves him free-floating in an unknown place. Rootless and unconnected, who are we? A terrifying question, and one that had to be faced by a whole generation of Jews who were sent into exile in Babylon after a disastrous defeat that left Jerusalem and their temple in smoking ruins. They remained in exile for 70 years, long enough for almost all of them to die and for their children and grandchildren to grow up with no memory of home and little memory of their special relationship with the Lord. So when the King Darius set them free and sent them home, it hardly felt like home anymore. After so long a time, most of the people had lost their roots and their faith.
It can happen to us for any number of reasons, but usually quite gradually. Without noticing it, we can lose our roots. And when some turning point comes, some moment of decision, we can find ourselves without a rudder, without a North Star, flailing about and almost inevitably making bad choices.
Some of those exiled Jews reconnected with their roots and were a part of the celebrations we read about today. The rededication of their temple was about more than a building. It was about their remembering who they were at their very center. And that is the challenge for us, never to forget, never to allow that knowing to be eroded, but always to renew that identity which defines us as special and keeps us headed toward life: We are your people, Lord, and you are our God.
