Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
December 16, 1984
Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
Matthew 5:4 (NIV)
It has been said that if you want to get the feel for a society, you have to look carefully at its entertainment. In America, that means television. If a foreigner watches American TV for a few days they soon find out that we love to have a good time. Most of the shows are situation comedies, and heroes usually have an upbeat approach to life. We love to laugh and be happy. This is not a new development, either. Your grandparents probably sang the song that goes: "Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile!" Like the Bible says, we want to eat, drink, and be merry. The last thing you want to have around is a weepy person. They make us uneasy. We never quite know how to handle someone who is distraught so we tend to avoid them.
Jesus took a different approach. His second beatitude can almost be translated - "happy are the unhappy." That's not only different, it's a little weird. What kind of sorrow can it be that brings a blessing to those who feel it? Jesus is using paradox here: his statement seems like a contradiction but it contains a deep spiritual truth.
Like just about anything Jesus says, this beatitude can be taken several ways. The first is a very literal approach. When Jesus speaks of those who mourn, he means people who are grieving because of the loss of a loved one. The blessing is that those who are grieving will be comforted by God. This blessing isn't for humanity in general, however. Like the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, it is directed at followers of Jesus. He is assuming that his disciples will suffer in life and it will affect their emotions.
This assumption cuts against two tendencies I see among Christians. One tendency is to focus only on the joy of being a believer. These people rejoice in all the miracles and blessings God heaps on them. If they play their cards right, nasty things never happen. This attitude is prominent with the TV preachers, especially the charismatic ones. But these people forget that Jesus promised us more than just blessings. In John 16:33 he also promised, "in the world you will have trouble."
Anyone who sees the Christian life as one unbroken victory after another is being naïve. They will also end up being shallow. According to a William Barclay, the Arabs have a proverb that says, "All sunshine makes a desert." Everyone enjoys the sun, but if the sun always shines everything will dry up and die. There are certain things which only the rains will produce, and there are certain experiences which only sorrow can bring about. Mourning and grief will come into your life, and if you're going to grow, they have to come.
Another tendency is to accept the fact that bad things will happen to Christians, but then try to deny any emotional reaction. They say you have to be a stoic. If your mother drops dead at your feet you are supposed to say: "My mother has just died. But I don't care. I guess she's in heaven now."
This stoical attitude sounds spiritual, but it is unrealistic and unbiblical. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 4:13. Paul says:
"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope."
Paul is not saying Christians can't show sorrow. We do show sorrow, but we don't have to fall apart like those who have no hope in God. Even for Christians, it is natural to feel lonely and depressed when a loved one dies. It is reassuring to know they're in heaven, but you will still feel pain. Christians experience all the sufferings that the world does, and we feel the same emotions. The difference is that we also have the supernatural strength and comfort which God provides.
In times of distress you come to appreciate life and human relationships much more. It is also a time when many people first turn to God. The famous English preacher John Stott, surveyed his congregation and found that the majority of them were saved after a time of personal desperation, a sense of being at the end of their resources.
In the Old Testament some of the most important prophecies about the Messiah focus on his ministry to those who mourn. Turn to Isaiah 61:1-3. Isaiah quotes the Messiah as saying The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted…" Now down to the end of verse 2: "…to provide for those who grieve in Zion -- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Jesus himself quoted this passage in Luke 4:18 when he began his ministry. He wants to comfort those who have suffered in life and are sorrowing.
Literal sorrow is one approach to Jesus' second beatitude, but it is probably not the primary one. When Jesus said "blessed are those who mourn" he was also thinking of those who grieved for the suffering and sins of the world. The Bible gives two instances when Jesus wept and both are in this category. In Luke 19:41 Jesus weeps as he looks out over Jerusalem because he knows all the tragedies it was going to endure. In John 11 he weeps just before he raises Lazarus because he is witnessing the ultimate effect of sin, which is death.
Christians should also mourn for the suffering in the world. It is easier to watch the nightly news with all the reports on famines and wars, and say: "I'm glad it hasn't hit Coshocton County yet." It's easier, but it is wrong. We should be moved by human suffering and try to do something to alleviate it.
Literal sorrow and sorrow for the world could both be ideas behind the phrase, "blessed are those who mourn." There is one more possibility, and I think it is the main one Jesus had it mind. Those who mourn are those who are grieved over their own sins. In the first beatitude Jesus said believers must be poor in spirit - they must realize their spiritually bankrupt position before God. If this is so, then the second beatitude gives the emotional counterpoint to poverty of spirit. In the Bible genuine repentance is always accompanied by intense emotions. If your mother dies, you don't laugh at off - in the same way, salvation is not a light-hearted issue. If it is real, you are going to feel it.
Many Christians have put so much emphasis on salvation as a free gift that we forget what it costs. Sin always has an effect. First of all, it affects you. You lose your innocence and self-respect. Sin always isolates us from others. Guilt remains - memories are hard to erase. Your sin also affects those around you. Think of how many parents have been shattered because of what their children have done. And those sinful patterns are passed down through the generations.
Finally, your sin affects your relationship with God. The more you sin, the more distant and bitter you feel about him. The God of the Bible hates sin with a passion. Open your Bibles to James 4. Verses 1 and 2 say:
"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight."
These verses have described in harsh terms the spiritual condition of humanity without God. Now go down to verse 8, which describes Biblical repentance:
"Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
This is what Paul calls godly sorrow. Most people prefer the approach called Cheap Grace - the kind of relationship with God that goes, "please forgive me again, God… please forgive me again, God…" - just like a broken record. God can forgive a hundred million times, but don't bank on it. Get serious with God and genuinely repent.
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Typed on February 2, 2005, by Wendy Ventura of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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