In the last post, we began our Epiphany-tide exploration of the Beatitudes. These are the verses in the Gospel of Matthew that promise hope to those often seen as unfortunate. Matthew 5:4 has the second of these: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
There are many verses in the Bible about mourning and sorrow
being followed by joy. Psalm 126:5-6 is one that is familiar: Those who sow
with tears will reap with songs of joy.6He who goes out weeping, bearing a
trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.
Isaiah 61:2 calls us to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of
our God's vengeance, to comfort all who mourn. That is what Epiphany is
about, manifesting or showing God’s favor and love in the face of mourning and injustice.
Some commentators link this Beatitude to the previous one,
noting that we mourn when we are poor in spirit and that relationship with the
Holy One brings a “sense of pardon and peace, of restored purity and freedom.”
(Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers) Jesus promises his disciples you
will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief
will turn to joy (John 16:20). We can rest in that promise and share it
with a hurting and sorrowing world one person at a time.
I think it is interesting to look at the root of the words. In
this context ‘mourn’ is from penthos, meaning to grieve. The phrase ‘will
be comforted’ is from the words para and kaleo, implying to call
near and invite. In other words, those who grieve are invited to come near to
God. That is a wonderful promise. Whether we are mourning the loss of family
member or friend, grieving a transition, weeping over injustices, lamenting
over a personal failure, or simply feeling deep sorrow we are called close into
the embrace of God’s love.
Amanda Gorman, the young woman who gave the moving inaugural poem a year ago released a new poem for the new year. If you haven’t listened to it, I encourage you to do so. She speaks of mourning and of the hope that comes through and after sorrow. The poem starts with the words “Mourning, we come to mend” and ends with the powerful words “wherever we come together, we will forever overcome”.
As Gorman notes, coming together is the way to allow God to [turn] my mourning into joyful dancing…[taking] away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy (Psalm 30:11).. It is important to remember that we are not alone in our mourning. God is with us, and so are those friends that God puts in our life to share our journey. It is never a good idea to withdraw into our grief and think we are abandoned. God provides friends, counselors, church community, family members, and sometimes complete strangers to offer comfort. Occasionally, it can even be a random social media post that gives us a boost.
In these past couple years, we’ve all experienced a lot of
things to mourn and grieve about. Whether it’s the loss of things we took for
granted, death of family or friends, changes in circumstances, instability and
turmoil or any number of other things, we are all mourning. God invites us to
come—in our mourning, our grief, our lamentation. With, and by, God we are
comforted, loved, and sent out.
