WHAT DOES JESUS MEAN WHEN HE ASKS US TO MOURN?
Matthew 5:4

Kingdom living.  As we are beginning to discover, it is impossible for us to experience it on our own. The Christian life is not a "difficult" life to live, but it is an "impossible" one.  Yet, all the resources of an infinite God are at our disposal. 

The Beatitudes, those nine powerful statements dealing with character building, make us realize that only with God's help can we become what He desires us to be.  In the first Beatitude, we discovered that if we really wanted to receive membership into the kingdom, that we first needed to become "poor in spirit," emptied of ourselves.  We needed to confront sin head on and realize we can do nothing to solve that sin problem or to earn our way into heaven.  The second Beatitude now shares with us what our attitude toward sin should be.

This statement of Jesus, about being blessed when mourning, goes opposite the world's philosophy.  The world does not like mourners.  The world's philosophy is that a person should keep looking for one good time after another.  Its motto can best be expressed with those words, Let us eat, drink, and be merry; for tomorrow we may die.  I am reminded of the words to an old song I remember hearing as a child growing up.  I believe these words accurately describe the thoughts of the world:  What's the use of worrying?  It never was worthwhile.  So pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile.  Now, there is a measure of truth there, but I believe Jesus would have us face our struggles instead of just packing them away, but we will get to that thought tomorrow.

Most of us feel very uncomfortable being with people who mourn.  What do you say to them?  What do you say to a young lady whose brother was found brutally murdered in a Wisconsin forest?  What do you say to an elderly mother whose son has died upon the operating table?  What do you say to a young mother with two small girls whose lives have been smashed by the death of a husband and father?  In each of the above instances, as pastor I was called upon to share words of comfort with people who were grieving almost inconsolably.  There was a sense of uneasiness.  In fact, don't most of us feel more at ease at a ballgame than in a funeral parlor?  Don't most of us feel more comfortable at a McDonald's than at a bedside vigil? 

What meaning does this Beatitude have for each of us?  If we are to be mournful, or sorrowful, what are we to be mournful about?  We will look at that in our study tomorrow.

Father, I praise You that You are the God of all comfort.  We all know that this life is full of sorrows, and yet we can face each one with confidence knowing that You will be there right beside us.  You have felt our pain.  And You will not abandon us.  Thank You, Father, for Your comfort and for Your faithfulness.  For this we give You thanks in Christ's name.  Amen. 

 

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