Remnant... Are We Really?

by TracI Hubbard

Anyone who says a small thing, a small intention, cannot be effective has never been in bed with a Texas scorpion or mosquito.

Holy Mystery, or as Barbara Brown Taylor names God, “MORE” has always initiated life giving change with one person or a small group of people that the world would view the most unlikely people to make a difference. There is something humbling about realizing that Eternal LOVE rarely begins with a majority. She often starts with what Scripture calls a remnant, a small group of people who are willing to live and love differently.

In Isaiah 42:1–4 we read the Prophet describe the servant of the Holy, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out…a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out…in faithfulness he will bring forth justice.”

Lean in and notice how quiet this prophetic introduction of Jesus is. There’s no shouting in the tone. There’s no parade or welcoming debut into Israel. There is simply faithful consistent service in bringing social justice and healing to the edges, to the marginalized, to the oppressed and discarded. This is how transformation usually begins, not with a stadium full of people giving a standing ovation of hope and trust to a new leader, but with a few hearts set on loving others like every day is their last day.

History is full of moments where a small group became the turning point. Twelve disciples changed the Roman world. A handful of abolitionists changed nations. The Underground Railroad. Martin Luther King. Martin Luther. Greta Thunberg. MADD. Terry Fox. Michael Lesher and Mike Stark (Marriage Equality in 2005). The Famous Five, Tommy Douglas (Medicare), and Cindy Blackstock (Indigenous Children's Rights). The strategy of the Spirit is rarely “mass influence.” It is a faithful imperfect remnant.

Listen to how Zephaniah 3:9–13 describes the people the Spirit preserves saying, “I’ll leave a core of people in your city who are poor in spirit…they’ll make their home in God…the remnant… they will be a people who are humble and modest. You’ll get a good night’s sleep and be afraid of no one.”

Our Source doesn’t say the remnant is powerful, famous, or impressive. The Divine says they are humble, truthful, and dependent on the Spirit. This is good news because that means we have a Loving and Wise Captain leading us.

If the qualification to be a remnant were “spiritual perfection,” most of us would be eliminated before the coffee finished brewing. A remnant isn’t a group of people who accomplish everything they hope. A remnant is a handful of people who refuse to stop trusting the One who lives within and among them. If this were not true, I would not be here with you. One of the reasons it was so easy to fall in love with you is because the Remnant that remained after Covid, and then two years of conversation and search for a minister, those of you who remained authentically cared about every single person inside and outside our church directory. Your love was and continues to be palpable.

Jesus, the master storyteller, expresses your love beautifully when he said, “Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one goes astray, don’t you think he’ll leave the ninety-nine and go after the one?” You, the remnant, carry LOVE’s heart for the one and your hearts have brought new life and new people to join us as we walk and love on the edges of Lake Country. Most systems, even the religious systems, focus on the majority. Jesus focuses on the missing person. Folks, sometimes congregations become places that care more about the ninety-nine already inside than the one who wandered away. But you, our expanding remnant, you are always looking to see who’s missing, hurting, or seems like they may be feeling like they don’t belong. We are not here to maintain comfort. We gather to walk with Jesus in his search for the one, or the many, who need to know they matter, they are loved, and we are here to help them in any way we can.

Throughout Scripture, the Holy rarely works through the majority. She works through the remnant, the few who stay faithful when everyone else has moved on. Jesus started his ministry with twelve disciples. Twelve! And one betrayed Him, one doubted Him, and the rest ran away at His arrest. Not exactly the dream team. Yet that little group changed the course of human history. The Spirit doesn’t gather the majority. She empowers the willing. And sometimes we underestimate what a small group, or even one person, can do.

There’s a powerful story from World War II about a man named Oskar Schindler. At the beginning of the war, Schindler wasn’t exactly a saint. He was a businessman. Some might say he was motivated by profit more than virtue. He joined the Nazi party because it was good for business. But something happened as the war went on. He saw the cruelty. He saw the suffering of Jewish families. His heart was broken open and something in him changed.

Schindler owned a factory, and he began hiring Jewish workers. On paper, it looked like a business decision. But in reality, he was protecting them. He bribed officials, falsified records, and used every ounce of influence he had to keep them out of concentration camps. By the end of the war, he had saved 1,200 people.

Now think about that. One man. One factory. One list of names. Those 1,200 people went on to have families. Children. Grandchildren. Today there are thousands of descendants alive because one man decided to do the loving thing. That’s the power of a remnant. Sometimes we think changing the world requires massive influence, huge platforms, or millions of followers. But the math of the Holy works differently.

In the Spirit’s kin-dom, one faithful person can become a turning point in history. You may feel like your faith is small compared to the culture around you. Maybe it feels like you’re the only one who takes your faith seriously. Maybe at family gatherings you feel like the odd one out. I say, “Congratulations!” You might be the remnant. And here’s the good news: the remnant is exactly who Holy LOVE loves to use. Because when a small group changes the world, nobody can say, “Look what we did.”They have to say, “Look what the Spirit did through them.”

Folks, we don’t need to waste time and energy around being in the majority. Our focus is not about having the biggest voice in the room. Our hearts simply need to continue to be faithful in embodying the ways of Jesus. Because the Eternal has always changed the world through the remnant…and just look around and see what we have accomplished these last fifteen months. Yes, we have grown in numbers, but more importantly, we have deepened in our connections inside and outside our walls. We have flown together in laughter, and tears. We have doubled one another’s joy and lessened one another’s sorrow. And this is huge LOVE made real because each one of you love so very well.

So, while we have breath, may we continue to love wastefully, laugh whole heartedly, and seek the ones living on the edges. May we refuse to be edgy people focused on numbers and continue to be people who love all who live on the edges of Lake Country and our world. May it be so, amen.