10:30 am, Sun, Sept 18, 2022 - J G White / FBC
Amherst
(Jer 8:18 – 9:1;
1 Tim 2:1-7)
But the trip got cancelled, just two weeks before. Some of my
nature-loving friends who where to be together with me went away, instead, to a
cottage up near Pictou.
On Saturday, up there, one couple I know – the gentlest, kindest of
folks – went swimming. They love the outdoors, always going canoeing, hiking,
swimming, all over the province. They went swimming in the rough waters. It did
not end well. The man drowned. His wife, who tried to rescue him, ended up in
hospital for a few days.
I was so shocked when a mutual friend emailed us to let us know of this
tragic death. All of us were supposed to be together in Shelburne County.
We all have things to lament. Bad things that happen to good people, and
we are sad. Or shocked. Or angry. Or distraught. As happy as these summer
months have been for me, here in our new place to call home, there is plenty to
complain or cry about.
We struggle with the homeless and needy population of this town. As
Donnie so aptly puts it, we go from wanting and longing to help them, to just
wondering how to get rid of them: once one starts sleeping on our church back
steps, or another steals a pint of milk when they come in to get a food bag.
We keep watching the world news, with all the hopes and fears for the
people of Ukraine. With flooding in places like Pakistan and Kentucky. With horrible
stabbings in Saskatchewan.
We face the loss of another public figure, or a celebrity, or a
sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II. Tears are shed again. We face the retirement of
leaders in our congregation – another minister goes this month!
And we face the personal conflicts of people in our families, or our
neighbourhoods, or in our church.
“O Lord, how long?” we might cry
out, with the words of Psalm 13. “Will you forget me forever?”
Today, I simply want to suggest – to remind – that this is an important part of the answer. The prayer of complaining
is an important prayer to use. A lament
is a holy thing. We keep it in our repertoire.
I know it is so easy for me, in my life or ease and privilege, to want
and pray that I might ‘lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
dignity.’ Yet, to pray for the best, and for all things, I must face the
troubles of the world. My prayers are more powerful when they touch the deepest
disasters and depths. Biblical lament meant
praying deeply, praying honestly. We pray the same way today.
The book of Psalms is full of this. As is Jeremiah, from whom we heard
today, and will again, in the weeks ahead. This moment, with prophet Jeremiah,
appears to be when the Hebrew people were being conquered, and the leadership
taken away as captives by the empire from the north, Babylon. And some of the
sadness was from the belief that the people deserved what they were getting.
Listen again to some of those words of Jeremiah 8.
My joy is gone, grief
is upon me, my heart is sick.
“The harvest is past,
the summer is ended,
and we are not
saved.”
O that my head were a
spring of water,
and my eyes a
fountain of tears...
To be grieved, and to express grief, is so important. In some ways, we
do this well, I suppose. In some ways, we are not good at this. We have all
likely been kind and comforting to some friend when they lost a loved one. We
have also said dumb things too, and not been that helpful.
I remember a scene in the movie, “Mass Appeal,” that starred Jack Lemon,
who plays a Catholic Priest helping a young priest-in-training, who is assigned
to his parish. The Priest takes the young seminarian along to visit a woman
whose senior mother has suddenly died. Father Farley says some of the standard,
dumb things: she was old, she didn’t suffer long, someone else’s mother
suffered for two years before she died...
After the visit, the young man, who had been silent, said to the priest:
(Mark Dolson:) “...Everything I think of
saying sounds so stupid.”
Father Tim Farley: "But
that's the whole idea, consolation should sound stupid. That way, a person in
grief can realize how inconsolable their grief is. Now, inconsolable grief puts
a person in a very exalted position, and that's how most people get through
tragedies. Now, it's your responsibility as a priest to raise common grief to
the level of the inconsolable by saying something inane."
Mark Dolson: "What?!"
said the student.
We have these amazing, ancient tools – the words of our scriptures – to
lead and inspire our honest lamenting. Lament
meant the sadness was shared, the grief shared, and understood.
Our complaints to God, about every hardship and sadness, are holy
prayers. As life goes on, and as our discipleship to Jesus continues, our
praying and sharing grief develops matures. Or, it can. Jesus wept for His
friend, Lazarus. Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem for the failures of the
people. Jesus wept over the sacrifice He made for us all at Calvary.
Jeremiah of old gets called ‘the weeping prophet,’ and he gets credit
for writing the book of Lamentations. Yet it is not totally clear who is
speaking in these verses of chapter 8. Is this the prophet? Or is it actually
God Almighty, weeping for the people?
“Why have they
provoked Me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols?”
For the hurt of my
poor people I am hurt,
I mourn, and dismay
has taken hold of me.
What if we hear this as the heart of God, as much as the words of a man named Jeremiah? What if we remember Jesus’ tears, and moments of anger, and even exasperation... that were shared on His journey to joy and hope? Lament meant that the Creator also cries: God is with us. You may know Shirley Murray’s worship song:
God weeps at love withheld,
at strength misused,
and children’s innocence
misused,
and till we change the
way we love, God weeps.
Christ will lead us to offer complete prayers. Perhaps, when we gather
here, we won’t just offer confessions of sin together, but sometimes simply a
lament for the problems that surround us. Give God our questions, our
unanswered questions. Wrestle with the Spirit when we are seeking hope and
health. Know Jesus’ tears are with us, and for us, and for others.
The story is told of a great theology professor, a famous teacher of
preachers, who spoke at a conference. It was back, thirty years ago, when the
worship wars were on in Churches: do we keep the old hymns? Do we sing the new
choruses to guitars and drums? The famous reverend professor was asked, “Is it
right for a Church to have a praise team?”
He responded, “I suppose so... as long as you also have a lament team!”
Let us come together in faith, not just to escape and get happy in the
Lord. Let us gather, by the grace of Jesus Christ, to share our lamenting. Lament
means being honest, it means sharing, it means God is graciously and powerfully
with us. Hallelujah!
PRAYERS of the People:
Dear Jesus, our Saviour, Teacher, Lord and Friend: we do come to call
out in Your name, because we can cast all our cares upon you. Many are the
people we care about, many are the troubles we’ve seen, long is the lament we
could offer. Hear our prayer, and let our cries for help come to You.
O Prince
of Peace, there is such violence around us! We call out for peace because of
the stabbings amidst the James Smith Cree Nation: heal, heal in heart and soul.
We call out because of the war in Ukraine; we hear but some of the news each
week: strengthen those who struggle and protect those who flee. We call out for
all those places that have been facing floods; in Pakistan, Kentucky, Italy,
Alaska, and beyond: set people’s feet on solid ground, and comfort those who
mourn so much loss.
We weep
with those who weep, Master. We weep with all who mourn Elizabeth, our Queen.
And now give grace and wisdom to Charles III in his role in Canada, and beyond.
Great
Shepherd and guardian of our souls, we ask for the Spirit to guide our lives
and our ministry together. Today, the Terry Fox Run brings people together and
supports the quest for healing: let it be blessed. This week, we and Springhill
Baptist prepare for English Second Language classes: bless this as a ministry,
and all who will benefit. This week, we and people we know are having tests, or
surgery, or therapy, or ongoing treatments: be the Great Physician, and give
courageous strength to all who face suffering. This week, our homeless and
needy neighbours will be at our door again: you have blessed us so we may be a
blessing: let it be so. And this week, Lover of our souls, we prepare to bless
Donnie and bid him farewell in his long ministry among us: may our tears be
tears of sadness and tears of joy. We are grateful!
Praise to
You: Parent, Pastor, Paraclete: for turning our mourning into dancing and
clothing us with joy! AMEN.
