Readings for today: Lamentations 1-3:36
As a general rule, we do not like grief. We try to avoid the experience of loss. We are afraid of embracing our pain. Lament does not come naturally to us. As a pastor, I see it all the time. Someone we love passes away but we tell people we’re fine. Someone we care about breaks up with us and we tell people we’ve moved on. A relationship breaks down and we tell people we’re better off. It’s all a lie, of course. We are hurting. Heartbroken. Suffering in silence. We go home at night to an empty house or climb into an empty bed and the tears start to flow. Memories get triggered sometimes quite unexpectedly and the grief hits us yet again like a ton of bricks. Special days like birthdays or anniversaries come and go and our hearts ache for the one we loved and lost.
This is true for communities as well. I think about the collective grief of our nation in the midst of this COVID season. Our collective grief as we’ve watched videos of African-Americans being unjustly murdered. Our collective grief as we see police officers get injured in the line of duty trying to protect property and people in the face of riots. Life is hard. Pain is real. And the mature believer in Jesus Christ is not afraid to embrace lament as a regular spiritual discipline. Crying out to God is a good thing. Expressing to God our deepest emotions is a good thing. Telling God our fears and failures and heartaches is a good thing.
Traditionally, Jeremiah is considered to be the author of Lamentations. The angst he feels as he watches the destruction of his city cannot be overstated. The grief must have been overwhelming. Furthermore, Jeremiah clearly considers the destruction of Jerusalem to be at the hand of God. His righteous act of judgment on His people for their sin. The words he uses to describe what God has done are terrifying. The Lord has “cast down from heaven to earth”, “swallowed up without mercy”, “cut down in fierce anger”, “poured out His fury like fire”, “laid waste”, “scorned”, “disowned”, and “determined to lay in ruins.” God is relentless. He will not rest until there’s nothing left. His judgment is complete and final. And what is Jeremiah’s response? Lament. And what does lament look and feel and sound like? “My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city...Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street." (Lamentations 2:11, 19) It is almost too painful to read. In fact, I bet most American Christians have never read Lamentations for this very reason.
But pain is the reality of our existence. There is no escaping it. The more we try, the worse things get. The more we avoid, the worse we feel. We are so wrapped up in always “feeling good” that we lose touch with reality. We believe it is our inalienable right to be happy. All the time. But perpetual happiness is a fantasy. An illusion. Life is full of discomfort and pain. Life is full of heartache and heartbreak. Life is full of disappointment and failure. One cannot truly live and love without experiencing these things. This is why a healthy theology or system of belief must include lament. Your faith in God must be big enough to handle disappointment and failure and existential pain. This is the lesson God wants us to take away from Lamentations. From the prophet Jeremiah’s example. In the midst of all he suffers. In the midst of all he sees his people suffer. He still holds onto faith...
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:21-26)
Readings for tomorrow: Lamentations 3:37-5:22