CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
March 21, 2010
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
PRAYERS AND REQUESTS:
God’s will for our congregation Various friends, relatives and co-workers
Our nation, military and leaders Peace
LAMENTING LOSS - 2
“I am one who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath” (Lamentations 3:1).
Jeremiah has seen all that he loves; his land, his people, the city and the Temple; destroyed by the Babylonians. He knew it was the judgment of God. He knew the scriptures of the covenant that warned Israel what would happen if they disobeyed God and served other gods. He knew what would happen if the people mistreated others and made alliances with other nations. All that did not make it easy for Jeremiah to see the destruction. Out of this Jeremiah laments.
Lamentations is a book of poetry. It is divided into five poems. Chapters one, two and four are called acrostic poems which means that each verse begins with a letter of the alphabet in sequence of twenty-two verses, the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet (1). The third chapter is a triple acrostic poem of sixty-six verses. Chapter five has twenty-two verses, is alphabetic but not acrostic. As poetry, it has been seen in any number of ways.
We can see Jeremiah’s lament in the first verse. “How deserted lies the city once so full of people.” What was once a vibrant city is now all but deserted. Sin has consequences. “Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean” (vs. 8). God had rejected His people. Even though this was written in the covenant of Moses a number of times, it was eventually ignored by kings and priests. “My sins have been bound into a yoke; by his hands they were woven together. They have been hung on my neck and the Lord has sapped my strength” (vs. 14). Picture here a burlap sack filled with unopened cans. Now picture this being put on your back. Now picture this in the hot August sun when the temperature and humidity is the same. Begin walking without water. How far will you get? I have referred soccer in August in hot weather. By the end of the match, one is exhausted. It requires a shower, a lot of water, and a good night’s sleep to regain any strength. Their sin has weighed them down and there is no relief.
Reading through the book, one sees three ideas (2). The first explains why this has happened and why all the suffering. The second is how to handle the situation and then move beyond it. Finally, it provides a way to complain to God, expressing their pain through prayer. Chapter one explains the situation in Jerusalem and makes an appeal to God for deliverance. Chapter two explains God’s anger and that there will be no comfort. Chapter four casts blame on the people, priests, prophets, politicians, and enemies. Chapter five is a prayer expecting God to respond to the covenant people. But there is no response. “Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure” (5:21-22). There is no answer.
I think that Jeremiah wrote this shortly after the fall of Jerusalem around 587 B.C. As things began to settle down, Jeremiah and the Babylonian ambassador became friends. Jeremiah told the people to hang in there because God would be with them. But when the ambassador was assassinated, the Jews were fearful or retribution, and even though told by Jeremiah that they would not die, took him and fled to Egypt. Jeremiah warned them that none would return if they did so. Based on this one can understand the ending of the lament a little better.
The most famous text in Lamentations is a song that we sing. We sing it because it is an uplifting song. For Jeremiah, the text is a message of hope in the midst of despair. It did not make the suffering any easier but it does offer hope.
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion says my soul, therefore I will hope in him”
(Lamentations 3:22-24).
The word “hope” can also be translated “wait.” Jeremiah is attempting to focus on God and trust that God will eventually respond. It would be the exile prophets, Ezekiel and Daniel, that would tell the people of God’s response and give renewed hope to the people of the exile. Jeremiah would find little comfort in his day. The usual question found in lament is “how long will you take before you answer Lord?”
As Christians we haven’t looked at lament as much as we probably should. We do not have many songs of lament. There are a few written out of pain such as “It Is Well With My Soul.” We often have our tears around the funeral where people come to comfort us. Sometimes we express in words that do not bring comfort such as “it is God’s will” or “she is in a better place now.” The Jewish people have a seven day period of mourning or lament. Even in Jesus’ day, there were people who came to lament as an aid to the family to unleash their feelings. We often call it wailing.
For us, we see death somewhat differently. It is not that people get over the loss of a loved one quickly. Even time doesn’t always comfort the loss. The pain may go away but there is still the loneliness and the emptiness. Yet we still have a different perspective. We have the resurrection. We can sing about the steadfast love of the Lord because we know that one day we will be reunited with those who have gone before. Does this make it any easier? No. But in the midst of lament, there is hope. Jeremiah is showing us that the pain goes on but in the midst we realize that God will one day answer. So we wait. And that is the difficult part.
Next time we sing the song, keep in mind what is happening around it in scripture. It is a song we can sing when we loose a love one, a job, a house to fire or natural destruction. It offers hope though the pain remains. One day, the new morning will be the eternal day. That then is our hope.
George B. Mearns
(1) Derek Leman, Lamentations for Tisha B’av, 07/29/2009 at http://derek4messiah.wordpress.com
(2) Heath Thomas, Until He looks Down and Sees, Grove Books Limited, 2009.