Blessed are those who Mourn
...for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:1-12
Mourn = to feel or express sorrow; lament; grieve; to grieve for someone who has died
Last week we heard that God blesses the poor in spirit – those who are at the end of their rope and realize their need for God. While it doesn’t feel much like a blessing while you’re at the end of your rope, being in complete trust in God is the best place you can be in.
Today we hear that God blesses those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Any of us who has lost a loved one knows what it feels like to mourn. How is that a blessing? And though most of us have been comforted from that loss, is the benefit we get from the comfort actually worth the loss?
Let’s look at it from a cost/benefit point of view: when we buy something, whether we think about it consciously or not, we’re always making a judgment about something’s worth. Is it worth what I’m paying? Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances; we all complain about gas prices, but they haven’t risen to the point where we have refused to buy gasoline. When I was in college, I realized that the price of books had risen to an unacceptable level, but I had to buy them… so I sought out used books. I didn’t like a lot of the books I bought – but they were part of the cost of attending class, which was part of the cost of getting my education.
The trade off was this: I bought some overpriced books I didn’t like for some classes I didn’t want to take in order to get the education I wanted. The end result was worth it.
But with this beatitude, at face value it doesn’t seem like the end result is worth the price. Comfort doesn’t seem like it’s worth the mourning. I mean, if there was a way to avoid any death altogether, I’d sign up!
To me, this is where Bible study gets exciting: when Jesus says something ridiculous!
To find out what Jesus could possibly mean, there are two paths I’d like to take.
First, we mourn when someone has died, so let’s talk a little bit about life and death. Who likes to talk about death? Not me. It makes me uncomfortable, possibly because I’d rather be in control. Death is the ultimate control-remover.
Do you remember how death was first introduced? In Genesis 2, God told Adam that he could eat from any tree except for one – and if he ate from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he would die. Then in Genesis 3, the serpent tempted Adam and Eve, telling them that God was a liar. "You won’t die," he told them. And though they didn’t physically die with their first sin, they spiritually died that moment.
Spiritual death is all around us.
So, what does mourning have to do with spiritual death?
First of all, spiritual death is worthy of mourning. One of the things we mourn about when someone physically dies is that we are separated from them. In spiritual death, we are separated from God. If we go through our entire lives separated from God, our reward is eternal separation from Him.
Our individual sins also separate us from God – and thus are worthy of mourning. Do your sins bother you enough that you mourn over them? Or are you satisfied that yours aren’t as bad as someone else’s? Here’s the truth: without God’s grace, we’re all spiritually dead – we’re just a bunch of zombies walking around like Night of the Living Dead. To make matters worse, we’re not only guilty of personal, individual sins, but we also commit corporate sin. As a church, are we concerned with those who are separated from God? Do we mourn that separation and do everything we can to bring them to God? Or do we walk around zombie-like, ignoring the spiritual death around us?
But what comfort comes from mourning spiritual death? Well, when it’s combined with last week’s beatitude, we mourn our sinful state and realize our ultimate reliance upon God – then the comfort that comes is salvation – life in the Spirit, which is true life indeed.
We’ve been taking the first path, the path of life and death, and let’s continue on the second path: let’s talk about the Kingdom of Heaven. If you remember from last week, I mentioned that the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-10 are bookended by the phrase "the Kingdom of Heaven" – meaning that all the concepts within are a cohesive unit having to do with the Kingdom.
So mourning and comfort have to be understood within Kingdom parameters.
In Revelation 21:1-4, we read the following description:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever."
This is the comfort that Jesus is promising for those who mourn – a time when we will see God face-to-face, a time when death is defeated, even spiritual death. Where nothing at all separates us from God.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:1-12
Mourn = to feel or express sorrow; lament; grieve; to grieve for someone who has died
Last week we heard that God blesses the poor in spirit – those who are at the end of their rope and realize their need for God. While it doesn’t feel much like a blessing while you’re at the end of your rope, being in complete trust in God is the best place you can be in.
Today we hear that God blesses those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Any of us who has lost a loved one knows what it feels like to mourn. How is that a blessing? And though most of us have been comforted from that loss, is the benefit we get from the comfort actually worth the loss?
Let’s look at it from a cost/benefit point of view: when we buy something, whether we think about it consciously or not, we’re always making a judgment about something’s worth. Is it worth what I’m paying? Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances; we all complain about gas prices, but they haven’t risen to the point where we have refused to buy gasoline. When I was in college, I realized that the price of books had risen to an unacceptable level, but I had to buy them… so I sought out used books. I didn’t like a lot of the books I bought – but they were part of the cost of attending class, which was part of the cost of getting my education.
The trade off was this: I bought some overpriced books I didn’t like for some classes I didn’t want to take in order to get the education I wanted. The end result was worth it.
But with this beatitude, at face value it doesn’t seem like the end result is worth the price. Comfort doesn’t seem like it’s worth the mourning. I mean, if there was a way to avoid any death altogether, I’d sign up!
To me, this is where Bible study gets exciting: when Jesus says something ridiculous!
To find out what Jesus could possibly mean, there are two paths I’d like to take.
First, we mourn when someone has died, so let’s talk a little bit about life and death. Who likes to talk about death? Not me. It makes me uncomfortable, possibly because I’d rather be in control. Death is the ultimate control-remover.
Do you remember how death was first introduced? In Genesis 2, God told Adam that he could eat from any tree except for one – and if he ate from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he would die. Then in Genesis 3, the serpent tempted Adam and Eve, telling them that God was a liar. "You won’t die," he told them. And though they didn’t physically die with their first sin, they spiritually died that moment.
Spiritual death is all around us.
So, what does mourning have to do with spiritual death?
First of all, spiritual death is worthy of mourning. One of the things we mourn about when someone physically dies is that we are separated from them. In spiritual death, we are separated from God. If we go through our entire lives separated from God, our reward is eternal separation from Him.
Our individual sins also separate us from God – and thus are worthy of mourning. Do your sins bother you enough that you mourn over them? Or are you satisfied that yours aren’t as bad as someone else’s? Here’s the truth: without God’s grace, we’re all spiritually dead – we’re just a bunch of zombies walking around like Night of the Living Dead. To make matters worse, we’re not only guilty of personal, individual sins, but we also commit corporate sin. As a church, are we concerned with those who are separated from God? Do we mourn that separation and do everything we can to bring them to God? Or do we walk around zombie-like, ignoring the spiritual death around us?
But what comfort comes from mourning spiritual death? Well, when it’s combined with last week’s beatitude, we mourn our sinful state and realize our ultimate reliance upon God – then the comfort that comes is salvation – life in the Spirit, which is true life indeed.
We’ve been taking the first path, the path of life and death, and let’s continue on the second path: let’s talk about the Kingdom of Heaven. If you remember from last week, I mentioned that the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-10 are bookended by the phrase "the Kingdom of Heaven" – meaning that all the concepts within are a cohesive unit having to do with the Kingdom.
So mourning and comfort have to be understood within Kingdom parameters.
In Revelation 21:1-4, we read the following description:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever."
This is the comfort that Jesus is promising for those who mourn – a time when we will see God face-to-face, a time when death is defeated, even spiritual death. Where nothing at all separates us from God.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
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