"It's Time to Lament"

The emphases nowadays on mental health issues during this time of physical distancing has fallen prey to current events.

The sadness of the loss of over 100,000 American lives in a matter of months is staggering, sobering, and saddening for anybody with a pulse.

But for those of us who are Americans of African descent, STILL not judged by the content of our character but by the color of our skin, we have been rocked by

Disproportionate death tolls of people of color during this pandemic

The hunting down and killing of Ahmaud Arbury

The violent, useless killing of Breonna Taylor

The chillingly heartless murder of George Floyd

The obvious display of hubris in using the false report of a 911 call, knowing full-well the dangerous implications for the innocent Black man

How can we POSSIBLY be expected to connect with God?

Now, to all my white, Latinx, Asian, or other ethnic brothers & sisters who want to click out of this message & go somewhere else right now because you think this is a “Black” message,

or, you might think that these things aren’t appropriate for a Sunday worship setting,

don’t go just yet.

Don’t allow your discomfort with the topics that lead us to the “ministry of reconciliation” that we have been called to as Jesus-followers in 2 Cor. 5:18, cause you to miss out on something that we ALL need, regardless of culture or ethnicity.

You see, often in our feelings of westernized self-sufficiency, or over-realized eschatology that has us living pretty good most of the time, make us reluctant to truly see ourselves as “despairing in absolute need.”

Trauma recovery experts tell us that in order for humans to survive tragedies, they must not repress their grief and shock and feelings of loss, but to face it & express it.

But something in our exposure to “church” has made us feel like we can’t do that without saying or doing something that might offend God.

I mean, how can Black people NOT feel frustration, anger, grief, hopelessness, pain, and disorientation when SOME are allowed to use their guns to force their way into state houses, and WE get murdered for minor criminal offenses, going for jogs, or sleeping in our own apartments?

How does one sing praises to the Lord when you don’t feel like singing?

The good news, for me is this:

“The Holy Spirit gives us great encouragement and freedom to express all that we are thinking and feeling, WHETHER those thoughts and feelings are about ourselves, others, or God.”

How, you might ask?

The Bible refers to it as “the lament.”

There are multiple passages of Scripture that are classified as lament literature.

The lament allows for personal and emotional honesty, particularly in seasons of distress.

The lament was so important, it was a part of Israel’s worship in the OT

67 of the 150 psalms are classified as “lament psalms”, including 13 that were to be sung as a part of the worship in the Temple

It allows for people in relationship with God to express pain over injustice, anger, and helplessness to God, without feeling like we’re “out of bounds” with God.

He sanctions it, because He knows it’s warranted!

The lament portions of Scripture have been referred to as “the believer’s blues.”

Some common elements of lament poetry/literature:

Feeling abandoned by God

Expressions of grief and helplessness

Anger at the wrongness of current events

Confession of sin & wrongdoing

Wishes of vengeance upon the oppressor(s)

Break his teeth God! (Ps58:6)

Let THEIR kids die horribly (Ps137:9)

Expression of hope & faith because of the character of God

Kidner: The lament allows for a dialogue between the two aspects of the believer: the aspect of walking by faith, the aspect of living by sight

“I see what I see, and yet, I’m TRYING to trust You thru this”

Let me show us how this goes: turn with me to the Book of Lamentations, chapter 3

Background to Lamentations:

586 BCE, Babylonians siege of Judah’s capital Jerusalem succeeds

For 2-3 weeks, they kill several hundred thousand, rape all the women they can, enslave all nobility, loot the city and the Temple of Yahweh, kill children by taking them by the legs & bashing their heads against rocks

But, they leave the poor, sick, & “essential” farm workers alive, but also the prophet Jeremiah alive

In the months after the Babylonians take off those who they will deport & exile in Babylon, Jeremiah writes Lamentations

He uses the “funeral poem” style to express how he feels.

He switches perspectives: the destruction from God’s perspective, Jerusalem (personified) & now, in chap 3, he talks about the atrocities and destruction he sees from his own perspective

In vv1-20, Jeremiah expresses that he is REALLY mad at God for NOT stopping this

He expresses his burden & bitterness at the way things are & how helpless he feels because, it looks like God has abandoned His people.

He can’t believe that God wouldn’t do something miraculous, gracious to end the suffering of his people

Look what Jeremiah says in v20:

New Living Translation Chapter 3

20 I will never forget this awful time,

as I grieve over my loss.

Please don’t tell us to get over this! Please don’t tell us that slavery happened a long time ago!

In Scripture, God NEVER tells His people to let go of the fact that they had been slaves!

The entire feast season for the Jews is built upon them NEVER FORGETTING & ALWAYS remembering.

That’s what the lament is all about: to remember & rehearse what happened so that

We will never forget what God brought us through

So that we never become passive or apathetic

But notice v21:

New Living Translation Chapter 3

Yet I still dare to hope

when I remember this:

New Living Translation Chapter 3

The faithful love of the LORD never ends!

His mercies never cease.

New Living Translation Chapter 3

Great is his faithfulness;

his mercies begin afresh each morning.

In the midst of Jeremiah’s pain, grief, bitterness, and frustration, he STILL DARES TO HOPE!

Lament expresses REAL faith!

The lament teaches God’s people how to hold on to your mind during the trials and troubles of life and how to respond appropriately as we journey with the Lord through this world of suffering until He brings us to His glory.

Jeremiah says that he can declare God’s faithfulness because, as bad as things are, SOME OF US ARE STILL HERE, we haven’t been “consumed”

We can trust God DESPITE what we feel because of His character.

I may not understand why He allows what He allows, but I trust His character.

v25

New Living Translation Chapter 3

The LORD is good to those who depend on him,

to those who search for him.

26 So it is good to wait quietly

for salvation from the LORD.

I don’t SEE good, but I believe He IS good!

in vv25-30, Jeremiah talks about how, since there is nothing else he can do to change the nature of the here-and-now, the best thing to do is to put his head down & endure this AS he trusts in God’s character

Look what he says in v31:

New Living Translation Chapter 3

For no one is abandoned

by the Lord forever.

Grandma used to say, “Trouble don’t last always”!

Because I trust in God’s essential goodness & faithfulness, I am going to wait on when He flips the script on those who oppress me, murder me, call the cops on me, ask me if I live in the house I pay for, who see my innocent son as a threat, because HE has the final say!

New Living Translation Chapter 3

Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion

because of the greatness of his unfailing love.

New Living Translation Chapter 3

For he does not enjoy hurting people

or causing them sorrow.

New Living Translation Chapter 3

If people crush underfoot

all the prisoners of the land,

New Living Translation Chapter 3

if they deprive others of their rights

in defiance of the Most High,

New Living Translation Chapter 3

if they twist justice in the courts—

doesn’t the Lord see all these things?

He is good; He is faithful, He will bring TRUE justice.

So in the meantime, I can be mad.

I can mourn.

I can hate the nature of systemic racism & the attitudes that sociologist call “whiteness” that makes some feel privileged over others.

I can pour out my soul to God.

I can ask, like Habakkuk (1:2): Lord, How long do I have to cry before You do something about this?

He is okay with my lament.

As long as we don’t give up on our trust in His ultimate goodness, His faithfulness, and His ultimate justice.