June 5, 2007
The Beatitudes: Audiences of MournersPosted by Bryan
The Greek word for 'mourn' is penthos; it literally means 'grief.' This word is a strengthened word from a root that literally means
'to experience suffering.' So, here, God is promising blessing to a category of people whose condition of mourning is an expression of suffering grief.
With that in mind, take a moment to examine some categories of mourning, to see where you may fit. First, the Scriptures indicate a category of individuals who mourn improperly.
- 2 Sam. 13:2. Here is a man in mourning for his unsatisfied lusts. He can't have what he wants and his desires are incestuous, perverse lusts that led to grief.
- Read further and see how King David responds when his son Absalom is killed (18:33-19:6). You see, here David had a legitimate sorrow driven to an illegitimate degree. Why did David react to such an extreme? Possibly because of guilt over his own sin, and understanding of God's judgment upon it. But Joab recognized that this mourning was completely inappropriate.
- John 11:15-19. Lazarus, a dear friend of Jesus, and wealthy man in the community, had been dead for four days. When Jesus had arrived, he found that many of the Jews had come to give comfort. What's interesting about this is that in the Jewish culture, when someone died, particularly someone of wealth and prominence, the immediate family would mourn for thirty days. And as a sign of the righteousness and prosperity of the individual who died, the religious establishment would send in their 'professional mourners' (for a fee) for the first three days. Then, they would leave, and from the fourth day to the 30th, the family and close friends would mourn. What identifies these people as improper mourners are the fact that John labels them 'the Jews' which throughout scripture is the term used to label the religious establishment, and that they were present on the fourth day. They were there for selfish reasons, not out of genuine grief.
So, how do these types of improper mourners translate to modern-day parallels?
- In modern society, there is a demographic of people that has come to believe it is their entitlement to be victims, and when their status as victims is threatened, they mourn improperly. Too many criminal offenders who, being found guilty of violent crimes, have been sentenced to prison; yet, rather than acknowledging guilt and accepting responsibility, they blame the government, 'the system,' or other people. Then, from the comfort of a prison environment where every need is met, they dedicate their life to suing the government that has civilly incarcerated them in the face of their uncivil crime.
- In 2002, when I was going into the hospital to be with my uncle Gene in his last moments of life, I passed a man on the street who was bound to a wheelchair. Over his wheelchair was a large poster board that had in big letters, 'Dr. Smith (I don't remember his real name) is a butcher!' On the back, the poster screamed out, 'Dr. Smith ruined my life!' This man had no doubt experienced legitimate sorrow, especially if Dr. Smith had indeed performed some sort of gross negligence in operating upon the man. But the man had proceeded to an improper place of mourning because the hurt, the bitterness, the resentment, the anger had all grown to a point to where they now consumed him. Rather than seeking a quality in the life that remained, he had apparently given his life to that moment that had induced so much mourning in his life. Like David at the news of Absalom's death, nothing else mattered to this man.
- We, too, have professional mourners. They aren't on the church staff (at least not on my staff!), but they are the folks who for one reason or another seem to enjoy touring 'the funeral circuit.' Rather than being voices of comfort, they wail louder than any one else. They like to say things like, 'it should have been me,' or 'why did it have to be her?' because they sound so sweet, but if you really evaluate what is being said, is actually selfish and fleshly. These people seem to be at almost every funeral, and instead of helping, they only add to the hurt and genuine sorrow.
Despite the many who are guilty of improperly mourning, there are many others (a great many more, likely) who are identified as those who properly mourn. Understand that sorrow is an appropriate, real, genuine life experience.
John Macarthur relates an Arab proverb, 'all sunshine makes a desert.' And one of my favorite Jewish proverbs comforts, 'what soap does for the body, tears do for the soul.' Sorrow serves expresses purposes in our life, and you should embrace those experiences. Mourning is a time for learning, for growing, for trusting, for remembering, for healing, and for hoping.
The Scriptures share many experiences of appropriate mourning. Abraham grieved over his loss of Sarah. Not from a lack of faith, but from an awareness of his loss. David grieved over the assault of his pagan enemies. The father of the demon-possessed son mourned over his son, whom he brought to Jesus. And Jesus Himself grieved deeply for the sins of Israel, and for the deep loss He had for Lazarus, even though He knew that Lazarus would soon rise from the dead and dine with Him.
You may find it interesting that these two categories of mourning, 'proper or improper,' while the most prevalent in the world, are not the sort of mourning addressed at all in this beatitude. The sorrow mentioned here that is the recipient of blessing is to those who know the reality of godly mourning.
Look at how this mourning is defined in the Bible:
For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. (2 Cor. 10:11)
This means is that the only sorrow that leads to spiritual life is godly sorrow, which is sorrow over sin that leads to repentance. This doesn't invalidate or disregard other legitimate or appropriate sorrow, but in terms of the spirit life, the most import sorrow is sorrow that is linked repentance over sin.
Godly sorrow helps you understand the connection to mourning that is presented here in the beatitudes. Remember, to receive entry into the kingdom of heaven (both here and now, as well as in the hereafter), you must be poor in spirit. That means that you must continually and consistently remember that you come to Christ empty-handed. You bring nothing to the table. You add nothing to the equation. And you should be ever mindful of that position. Paul recalls this in Romans 7:18, when he wrote, 'nothing good dwells in us, that is, in flesh.'
The only way to experience godly sorrow is to be poor in spirit. Likewise, those who are poor in spirit become those who mourn. You have biblical precedence for this theological connection. Job, according to the Bible, was a godly, upright man, who had nothing that could be held against him. But Job had to lose everything before he came to the point of godly sorrow. Look what he declared: "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:5-6)." David expressed godly sorrow for his sin against Bathsheba: 'For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge (Ps. 51:3-4).' God loves for you to behave morally and to live righteously, but even more so, He desires you to be humble (poor in spirit) and contrite (in godly mourning).