Hope in Lamentations

Have I ever told you all how much I love the Bible. It’s a book that I find myself learning more about everyday. It’s God’s Word laid out before us, and it’s perfect for teaching, learning, growing, and understanding God more fully. With that, I love the Bible because it’s a book unlike any other book ever made. It’s a book filled with a variety of genres of writings, much like how there are genres of music:

Narratives

Wisdom

Prophecy

Gospels

Letters (Epistles)

Apocalypse

Poetry

When we read through Scripture, whether it’s one verse, whole chapters, or whole books, we come to understand the meaning more clearly when we know what genre we are reading. For example, there is a poem called “Bluebird” by Charles Bukowski. Allow me to read you the first stanza:

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there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you. there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I pour whiskey on him and inhale cigarette smoke and the whores and the bartenders and the grocery clerks never know that he's in there.

First, if we read this first stanza as a matter-of-fact, literal writing then our friend Charles Bukowski has quite the problem to deal with. He literally has a bird in his chest cavity! Not only would that be painful, but deadly!

However, if we read this poem as though it were a poem, filled with poetic techniques, illustrations, similes and metaphors, we can see more clearly that the author intended for the bluebird in his heart to represent his softer, more emotive side. It represents his kinder and gentler emotions, which he keeps trapped inside because he’s too strong and clever to let those emotions out. Instead, he drowns those emotions in alcohol, smoke, work, lust…and no one around him knows it’s there. See, isn’t that a beautiful expression of emotion?

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Hopefully though, you see why understanding genre is important, and that carries into the Bible.

This morning, we read 6 verses of the first poem in the book of Lamentations. Here’s some interesting facts about this book in the Old Testament:

Traditionally, the author is credited as the prophet Jeremiah. Though, nothing in the book indicates this.

It was written after the destruction of the first Temple in 586 BC

It was written about the destruction of the first Temple in 586 BC

The first four poems, or chapters, are written as an acrostic in the Hebrew language. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet and chapter 1 is how many letters… right, 22. Take a look...

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*EXPLAIN SLIDE*

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Much like poets today, the author of Lamentations chose a literary style and poetic devices to convey to the readers a deep sense of pain and agony. It lays out feelings of grief and abandonment. It’s a collection of poems about the trauma that Judah faced at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians as they ransacked Jerusalem, destroyed the city, destroyed the temple, and forced all of the people out, either into slavery or exile.

The once comfortable and prominent people are now displaced, confused, hurt, lost, and uncomfortable in a bad way. What’s interesting is that in the Near East in the 500’s BC, warfare was not just about securing a military victory. It was also about spiritual victories. Forces would enter a city, destroy everything it could, and then make their way to whichever temple was at the heart of the city. Military forces would loot it, plunder it, dismantle everything, set it ablaze and leave it totally dysfunctional. The idea at that time was that whatever god a city’s temple was dedicated to was present and protecting them as long as their temple stood. So, it wasn’t enough to just run people out, they had to destroy the very place that our God dwelled, the Temple.

The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was an incredibly monumental moment in the history of the Israelites.

Why was the destruction of Jerusalem so momentous?

Cities were incredibly important at this time. Places of pride, of wealth, of power.

Cities offered a sense of security to its people.

Spiritual factor. When David brought the ark of the covenant to Jersualem, that made Jerusalem the spiritual center of the Hebrew people.

Even deeper, the Temple and Jerusalem were the place where the people of Israel would gather throughout the year to celebrate God, remember His good works. It’s where their festivals would occur, and thousands upon thousands of people would flood the streets, the buildings, and the temple.

There were three pilgrimage festivals in the Israelite calendar: the festival of the unleavened bread (which includes passover), the festival of weeks (or harvest or Pentecost), and the festival of booths. Normally, the roads would be filled to the brim with pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem during these festivals. Now, there is no city or temple to come to. The city has ceased to function.

These lament poems show us that after centuries of breaking their covenant with God, God finally enacts judgement and justice. Yes, God is slow to anger, but as we see in the destruction of the temple, Jerusalem, and the sending of His people into exile…God’s anger does happen. Justice occurs.

So, it’s important to read our 6 verses, and the whole book, not just as another book…but with the backdrop of something as important as the destruction of God’s temple and Jerusalem in mind. To keep in mind that God has allowed this to happen to His people, but only after centuries of apostasy, denial of God, breaking of their covenant. The poet recognizes God’s right for justice, and understands why they deserved it, but it still echoes out hopes for mercy.

Now, with all of that in mind, let’s revisit Lamentations 1:1-6. Listen closely to the language used, and try to keep in mind what Jerusalem once was, and what it is after the destruction...

Lamentations 1:1–6 NRSV

1 How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal. 2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies. 3 Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude; she lives now among the nations, and finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. 4 The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the festivals; all her gates are desolate, her priests groan; her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter. 5 Her foes have become the masters, her enemies prosper, because the Lord has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. 6 From daughter Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes have become like stags that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer.

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What we see in these first 6 verses of this first poem is the scene of an empty city that was once bustling with activity and importance. A city that has become like a widow (Jerusalem) who has lost her children, and whose husband (God) has fled providing her with no more children. This widow was once the greatest, the crown jewel, and is now nothing more than a servant (exiled and under Babylonian control).

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This widow weeps bitterly at night, having no one to comfort her. All of the lovers she chose over her husband (everything which the people of Israel chose to value more than God) have abandoned her to her misery, her friends have betrayed her. They are now her enemies.

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Her children (the people of Israel, Judah) are now suffering in exile. They are slaves again, like they were in Egypt, but now to the Babylonians. They have no rest, no comfort, no solace. They cannot escape the wrath and viciousness of the Babylonians.

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The scene is so sorrowful that even the roads mourn. Their function was to carry people to joyful celebrations and festivals…but now they lay barren and unused. The gates are desolate and ruined, the priests that once led now groan in sorrow, the young women that used to eagerly await the festivities and celebrate with dance and glad tidings…now grieve. Anything that remains in the city is bitter.

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The people of Israel’s foes, the Babylonians, have not become their masters. While they labor and grieve, the Babylonians rejoice and find comfort. It’s here we discover who brought all of this upon Jerusalem. The Lord. Why? Their endless betrayal and sins.

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Weakened after the besiegement, the people of Israel are powerless and fleeing. The once mighty have now fallen and they run in panic like a deer, leaving behind all that was theirs.

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This imagery of pain, abandonment, chaos… it continues on all through the book of Lamentations. And, while I assume that none of us here have been in a city when it’s been overthrown, I think it’s possible for us to understand these feelings that the people of Israel have in this poem.

You see, we don’t have to look far in today’s world to find something happening that seems like it could be a punishment from God. We don’t have to look far to observe evil, wickedness, and things that go against God and His commands for us. We don’t have to look far.

And, in the midst of all of that, in the world and even in our own lives , we often feel displaced. As if we have been exiled. As though we were promised this grand and great thing, yet we are constantly on the run. It feels like nothing we do is enough, everything we face is a tireless uphill battle, and even when we try to be faithful to God it can be so endlessly exhausting.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but there are seasons of my life where I feel like the widow, weeping bitterly with nothing but tears on my face, and I do so feeling oh so alone.

The truth is, we are often like that widow, like the people of Israel. Our sins finally catch up to us, the consequences of our own actions and the actions of others, and it just seems so futile.

But, while the people of Israel constantly broken their end of the covenant, while we as God’s people today constantly turn our backs on Him… the one thing between the two that is consistent is God’s faithfulness.

He longs for us to be faithful, but our faithlessness is not a reason that God uses to abandon us. Instead, it’s despite our faithlessness most days that God saved us.

Reading through Lamentations doesn’t offer much hope at first, but when you recall what is to come, hope returns. After all of this God liberates his people and returns them to Jerusalem. He comes to earth as Christ, lives the perfect life, teaches profound lessons, and connects God to people in a way that hadn’t happened since the garden of Eden. And, in the midst of it all, with His people’s faithlessness in full swing, he still chose death. He chose to take on the sin, the wickedness of the world, and die in the people of Israel’s deserved place. He justified, restored, and redeemed them…the very people who he brought justice upon during the Babylonian exile.

If God has done that before, if God has been merciful even to the most wicked, He will be merciful to you and your situation. You see, he already has been. The result of his sacrifice was a justification and restoration to the Father, and it was extended beyond just the people of Israel, but all people, including you and me.

So, yes, while there are moments in our lives and in the world where we are lamenting and mourning like the poet in Lamentations, there are also moments where we recall the sacrifice He made for us, and His never ending, abounding, and wonderful love. We remember that, despite the chaos of the world, every single Sunday, and especially on mornings where we partake in the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion...

Not only did God restore all of us around the world, but through this Holy Sacrament he unites us as well. Today, on this World Communion Sunday, let us remember that through this meal we join in together in something holy with one another here, with our brothers and sisters up the road in other churches, and with brothers and sisters all around the world...