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I remember my younger days when my friends and I spent countless evenings at our local Blockbuster Video location, trying to find the perfect movie to watch that weekend. The crowded, cavernous stores saw crowds of all ages - younger moms or dads trying to find a memorable children’s movie, many older adults choosing from the selection of classic films, and of course the couples trying to pick out the best “date night” movie. Blockbuster had a massive array of movies featured on their massive, colorful blue and yellow shelves - larger, suburban locations offered up to 9,000 different titles, with up to 100 copies of each of the newer, more popular movies, for a total of nearly 30,000 VHS tapes (and then DVD’s) at each store.
The first Blockbuster Video store opened in Dallas, Texas in 1985. Competing with smaller, cramped “mom-and-pop” video stores of that era, Blockbuster locations were spacious, brightly lit, and utilized a state-of-the-art computerized checkout system. And while most video stores back then had their movies behind a counter, Blockbuster displayed all of their movies on wide shelves.
Blockbuster grew rapidly, and at their peak in 2004, they had more than 9,000 locations around the world – about half of those were in the United States, with Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Latin America (especially Brazil and Argentina) each home to hundreds of Blockbuster stores.
But the company was slow to adapt to competitors who offered more efficient (and effective) business models. Redbox kiosks started popping up outside of grocery stores and gas stations, offering customers the latest movies at lower prices without the hassle of the long lines at Blockbuster. Netflix, founded in 1997, created their own popular, profitable niche – back then, customers would place an order on the Netflix website, and the DVD’s would be mailed to them. They didn’t charge late fees. And that was at a time when Blockbuster was receiving mounting criticism for their excessive late fees (upwards of 40% of Blockbuster’s’ profits came from late fees). And Blockbuster was tethered to physical locations with high overhead. Interestingly, in 2004, Blockbuster had the opportunity to buy Netflix for $50 million. But, in one of the biggest blunders in history, Blockbuster declined. Within a decade, Blockbuster declared bankruptcy, while Netflix grew to a company worth $376 BILLION (which is 7,500 times more than $50 million).
By 2010, Blockbuster (and its antiquated business model) could no longer compete, and began closing most of their locations. By 2019 all of them were closed. Well, all of them except for one. Today there is one Blockbuster left. It’s in the city of Bend, Oregon, which has a population of about 100,000. That Blockbuster location is a fully functioning movie rental place, featuring about 1,200 DVD’s with an estimated 4,000 members, each of which has one of those classic blue and yellow laminated Blockbuster cards they display when renting a movie.
It has become a major tourist attraction, drawing up to 10,000 visitors each year - fans from around the world who seek to relive the nostalgic experience and to see a slice of historic pop culture up close. They are taken back to a simpler time when seeking the movie was almost as much fun as watching it. The one remaining Blockbuster not only rents DVD's, they display and sell memorabilia (80% of the store’s revenue comes from merchandise sales.) In 2020, the location was the subject of the documentary The Last Blockbuster.
Obviously, the owners are doing something special, allowing the store to remain profitable when the other 9,000+ Blockbuster locations have long since closed their doors.
While the world has moved onto streaming video (including Netflix), the last remaining Blockbuster still realizes that some experiences can’t be replaced. The world may not appreciate it, but a few remaining people cling to that belief.
Our Christian faith is ancient - but not outdated. While our culture places its values in other things, the Bible speaks of a “remnant,” which is a small group that remains faithful when so many others have fallen away.
In 586 B.C., the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem (in Judea), forcing about 30% of the Jewish people into exile. They deeply longed to return home, and the prophet Isaiah promised that many of them would – but not all of them: “A remnant will return… Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant of them will return" (Isaiah 10:20–22).
About 70 years after Babylon exiled the Jews, many were allowed to return home. But many Jews chose to stay in Babylon. After all, they had been there for two generations, during which time they had settled in Babylon, developing roots, building businesses, and raising families. Those who returned faced ruined cities, hostile neighbors, a non-existant economy, and famine-level conditions. In addition, the trip back was expensive and time consuming. And keep in mind that many of the younger Jewish people had never been to Jerusalem – the life they knew had always been in Babylon.
The Bible emphasizes that those who stayed in Babylon were still blessed by God. While He had called a remnant to return, that return was not a litmus test for faithfulness. After all, those who remained in Babylon were able to bear witness to God’s faithfulness there. Those who stayed developed a thriving Jewish presence in Babylon, transforming Judaism from a religion tied to a specific place (the Temple) into a faith that could survive anywhere. No longer was it about where they lived, but how they lived.
But the remnant that returned to Jerusalem epitomized deep-rooted faith and trust in God. Their story highlights a powerful Biblical theme: restoration often begins with a willing few, not the masses.
And from that faithful few, the lineage of Jesus would come. Both Joseph and Mary were descendants of the faithful few in that Jewish remnant.
In Romans, Paul speaks of another remnant: “So too, at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace” (Romans 11:5).
A small remnant of Jews would choose to follow Christ, and from that faithful few would come countless more.
The last remaining Blockbuster is the "remnant" of a once-mighty empire – it’s a reminder that what endures is not always what’s the newest or trendiest.
Our world will offer false promises that could pull us away from God. But I pray that, when others fall away, we can cling to the truth and promises of God.
Friends, I am proud and thankful to be your Pastor, and I hope to see you on Sunday. Until then, know that you are loved.
Joe
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