The Beatitudes in Matthew 5 begin …
- Blessed are the poor in spirit
- Blessed are those who mourn
- Blessed are the meek
This is not the wisdom proclaimed by our secular age.
I remember NT Wright saying during the COVID pandemic the church has forgotten how to lament. To lament is to mourn, complain, regret, grieve, weep, and/or cry.
We know lament is legitimate because there’s a Biblical book, Lamentations, focused on this idea. What would you do if your city had been ransacked, your church destroyed, and your community occupied by a foreign army? We’d all lament.
There is no one-size-fits-all form of lament. It is an act of despair and calling out to God when our situation is beyond us. Glenn Packiam, learning from NT Wright, says lament is at least five things:
- Lament is a form of praise.
- Lament is a proof of the relationship.
- Lament is a pathway to intimacy with God.
- Lament is a prayer for God to act.
- Lament is a participation in the pain of others.
How do we reclaim the biblical tradition of lament in a don’t worry – be happy, there’s a medication for that, secular age?
The Sermon on the Mount is much, much more than a call to lament. The opening Beatitudes do, however, imply this is a one place to begin in learning the ways of Jesus.
