Godly Mourning by Sam Dibin
The sermon was based on the beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall will comforted.” (Matthew 5:4). Beatitudes are the blessings listed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3–11).
The preacher talked about his experience in the new NLF church (“baby church” as he called it) in Davangere where the mission evolved from a house group to a full fledged church with its own hall. There is a joy and delight when they worship but also a sense of mourning where the people look at their past life and a feel gratitude for what they now have in Christ because they now know that they are the children of God. The worshippers in Davangere mourn and cry when they realize they were worshipping someone else and now they have know the true God.
The Bible begins with the story of Adam and Eve in a world of luxury but then Satan tempts them. Man’s sin/greed for more destroys him. In contrast, the New Testament begins with Jesus born on a cold winter night in the manger with nothing. Jesus came not with some false promise but talked about the kingdom of God. Unless we realize that we are in sin and darkness, we cannot appreciate the light. When we know how far we are from God because of the inherent human nature of sin, we mourn. Peter mourned and even Paul prayed how wretched a man he is.
Jesus promised not no troubles but that He will comfort those who are weak and heavy laden. We need to have a sense of mourning where we know how weak we are and we need God for everything. Also the beatitude can be looked at from the perspective of the disciples who left their families and everything else to follow the Lord who assures He will comfort them.
There is nothing wrong in mourning. If we look at Luke 19: 41 to 44 (MSG), we see that even Jesus weeps… over Jerusalem. Earlier in the chapter people rejoice over the king but Jesus comes closer and weeps as they did not accept His message. Jesus’ tears prove that He loves and waits for us to be saved and not to judge. Let us realize that even God himself weeps over the way we live, the sin in our life. He wants us to see the sin in our life and mourn, ask for His help, be comforted and saved.
2 Corinthians 7: 9 to 10 talks about sorrow that leads to repentance and then salvation. Such godly sorrow saves us and the worldly sorrow (when we weep due to greed, selfishness, and so on) leads to death. Romans 8:22 tells us that the entire creation groaned in the pain of child birth. Such pain was of hope for a new life and the answer for this mourning came in the form of Jesus.
Matthew 1: 21 to 23 tell us that:
The virgin shall give birth to a son.
A Savior who will save us from our sins.
He is “Emmanuel”, a God who is with us.
These verses hold the greatest promise in the Bible. So it’s not just that we will mourn but He will be with us, comfort us, and save us. The emphasis is not on mourning but in being comforted by God. Isaiah 61: 2 to 3 tells us that the mourners get a crown of beauty instead of ashes.
Genesis 3: 8 to 9 indicates how God confronts us gently. He asks to make us think where we stand. Just like with Adam and Eve, God communicates and walks everyday to have fellowship with us but we hide from Him when we sin and then His voice is not a delight anymore but a terror. The preacher talked about his personal experience where he tried to find comfort in church, books, and friends because of guilt and shame of sin.
We need to think of God as a father who even though we hide, comes seeking and searching to confront us like in Genesis. Just as God covers them with skin to protect them, He provides the covering and protection in Jesus so we do not have to hide. For our sake He was made Him sin who knew no sin… Isaiah 1: 18 promises that though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.
Our war with sin begins when we are saved. As we are in the middle of a warfare, our tools will be effective when we know what the war is. Romans 7:15 talks about this spiritual conflict “I do not understand…do the very thing I hate.” Romans 23-25 mentions the war the flesh keeps waging war against the mind and another law (“law of sin”) working inside. Let us realize that deliverance comes only from Jesus. It is up to us whether we listen to His voice or run away.
The next beatitude Matthew 5:5 if read in continuation with the previous beatitude shows us that when we mourn (and are comforted by God), we shall inherit a new earth.
Reflection by Shubha Jha