August 15 - Blessed are those who mourn

Part 3 - Blessed are those who mourn 

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. . . 

I’ve been sad before, and have even cried. I’ve been hurt deeply to the point of tears streaming down my face. I’ve grieved at the loss of a loved one, and I’ve been completely broken by the actions of someone close to me before. This type of pain is easy to mourn. It hurts, leaves you speechless, and causes deep emotion that doesn’t easily pass by. 

I also know that Jesus cares about those emotions. He too has expressed deep sorrow and grieved at the loss of Lazarus, knowing the pain that death has brought to the earth. He grieved  to the point of tears over Jerusalem when he saw the pain they would endure because of their stubborn rejection of him. Jesus knew and modeled pain driven mourning. This proved his humanity as he walked and lived amongst his closest followers. 

Yet here, in this sermon on the mount, the pain of loss, and the hurt of disappointment, are nothing of what he talks about as he gives this list of beatitudes. I know it would be easy to just say that Jesus means he is with us when we hurt, but that isn’t justice to the text. 

See, here, Jesus is listing a response to our behavior. 

Starting with the first beatitude, we learn our desperate need for Jesus. We realize that without his mercy and grace, we are broken people. We become poor in spirit, and in turn receive the kingdom of heaven. 

But what happens next? 

When Kristi and I were dating, we had one major moment that set the trajectory for the rest of our relationship. We were on a walk one day and were talking. I don’t really even remember what the conversation was about, or what made me frustrated in the moment, it was so insignificant, that it’s not even part of my memory. Yet whatever the frustration was, I was still learning how to overcome a bad temper. See, the 4 years leading up to our relationship, I was a prison guard at a maximum security, adult prison. While working there, I learned really quickly how to have a tough, impulsively angered attitude. I mean, is someone is cussing you out and raising a fuss, it wasn’t like I can just simply say, “ok, well Jesus loves you, please go back into your cell now. . . “ NO! I had to get in their face, yell at them, maybe even talk about their mama. . . . and tell them to get back. I couldn’t be gentle in that environment, or else I would have been run over by the attitude of the inmates. . . 

Now at the time of Kristi and my relationship, I was no longer a prison guard. But that didn’t mean the prison guard attitude wasn’t deep in me! So as Kristi and I walked along, she said something that I disagreed with. I don’t even remember what it was. But it made me snap. So as I turned, I kicked a large lump of mulch that was next to a tree. Little did I know, they had just laid that mulch down, and it was a large pile of loose mulch. So as I kicked it, it exploded into the air. 

As I stood there watching the smoke clear from this amazing mushroom cloud of mulch ashes, I saw through the clearing a youn lady half was across the field walking away from me. It was Kristi. She got in her car and went home. She left me standing there without saying another word to me. 

After walking 3 miles to her house, I threw pebbles at her window and called her down to the driveway. There I we had a conversation where she laid it all on the line. She insured me that she grew up around people with bad attitudes and wasn’t going to have it in her future. So the choice was mine. I needed to figure out which direction I was going to go. 

I walked back home from her house that night with a prayer of desperation! 

I knew that without a doubt I wanted to change. I didn’t want to lose Kristi, so I didn’t want to be he person I had become. In that moment, I had a broken spirit. I understood the brokenness inside my being that responded in a way I did not want to be. I cried out in deep desperation, grieved by the overwhelming anger and lack of self-control that had overtaken me. 

I pleaded with God to make me new. 

And while it was because I wanted Kristi to be part of my future, it was more than that. I did not want to be something that I despised myself. I wanted to be made right. 

And God comforted me. 

Now he didn’t take it all away at once, but, Kristi can testify that from that point forward something was different. God was transforming me from the inside out. All because I saw what was wrong, and grieved the result. 

This is the realization that Jesus spoke of when he said blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. He will comfort those who mourn the flesh that controls them. 

IN one of my favorite chapters of the Bible, Paul explains his wrestling with sin in Romans 7. He says he keeps doing things that he doesn’t want to do, and can’t get himself to do the things that he does want to do. And the realization he has, is that SIN is controlling him beyond what he can resist. It’s what he calls the human nature. But he gets to a point of mourning where he can’t take it any more. He wants to do what is right, but sin keeps attacking him, and he gives in. So he says this line of mourning that resonates deep in the chest. HE says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me form this body that is subject to death?” 

This is the art of mourning. 

It’s the realization that sin is in you, which is not only bad, but it is damaging to the person you are meant to be. This awful thing called sin is eating away at you and causing you to behave in a way that you do not even want to do! What a wretched man I am! 

Yet it is this type of mourning that leads to Paul’s very next statement. 

When we realize the depravity of our sinful nature, it also leads us to understand the depths of God’s mercy and grace. So building off the first beatitude, Jesus continues, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

Paul recognized his sinful failures. But then continued on to realize God’s loving kindness. He says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me form this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

You see, once I become poor in spirit and realize the truth about who I am - that I need a savior- it should lead me to response. I should be able to stop and say that I am messed up! I need a savior. And who will rescue me? Jesus Christ our Lord!

That’s when you get the work of the cross. Jesus didn’t just die to pay the penalty for my sin. He died to bring me to a spot of realization that without him I am a wretched man. But with him, I am comforted. He has brought me wholeness.

There is a lost art of repentance in Christian culture today. It’s so instantaneous that there isn’t time for transformation. The Conviction of the Holy Spirit should sting! We should feel it and know that something is off. But we have focused on the was of forgiveness through Jesus that it doesn’t give us time to truly repent. 

But here is the good news, when we mourn, we will be comforted. When we truly stop and admit our sin, understand the effects sin has on our being, and go to God with a repentant heart, he hears us and pulls us from it. 

Now I also recognize there are two types of people listening right now. 

Some of you are going about life with easily hidden sin. IN fact, for some of you it’s so hidden that you don’t even recognize it yourself. If I were to ask you if you sinned today, you might even have to stop and wonder if you did or not. Knowing how easy it is to sin, I can venture to say that you probably did sin somewhere. And that sin might seem hidden to you, but it is the fruit of an underlying sin you don’t even recognize. 

What do I mean? 

Impatience with the person driving in front of you might result in the sin of saying something disrespectful, or acting a certain way out of aggression. But the root of it is much deeper. Deep down, it might stem from a sense of pride, a lack of empathy for others, or even a complacency that keeps you from seeing others as image bearers of Christ. But the truth is, there is something deeper in you that keeps you from responding differently. 

I would love it if you took some time in contemplative silence, and just asked the Holy Spirit to reveal this sin to you. Ask him to search you and know you. And in this process, reveal to you the things that drive you in the wrong direction. 

But there is also a second type of person listening today. 

You’ve been dealing with some sort of sin that you pray and pray and grieve and grieve, and yet you feel like it is not being taken away. You keep finding yourself trapped right back in the cycle of sin that controls you. While I know God wants to deliver you from this cycle, and I know you are earnestly seeking him, you need to know that he is still comforting you. You might not be healed from the sin, but you are healed from the scars that it creates as you keep on battling. So don’t give up! Keep seeking God and asking for him to set you free! And then find accountability to help you pursue that freedom! 

But as long as you are looking toward Christ, and looking for freedom while mourning the sin that entangles you, You will be comforted. So keep bringing it to the Lord. And every time you do, you are becoming more pour in spirit. And the promise is, your is the kingdom of heaven. 

So no matter what it is you face, whether a quiet hidden sin, or one that is constantly screaming in your face, take some time and get alone with God. Admit the pain your sin has caused. And let him comfort you. 

And as you do, I pray you know more of what you believe, and why you believe it to be true. Until tomorrow, I love you, and as you mourn for the presence of the forgiving, loving, and merciful savior, May God Bless YOU!