“Mourning” Glory

I’m not much of a botanist but I thought a little play on words might be kind of fun to start off this blog…sort of see what it blooms into!

Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” in the second beatitude in Matthew 5:4.   Not many of us would consider mourning to be a blessing.  But it truly is.  Mourning truly does bring God glory.  What kind of mourning might Jesus have in mind?  Well, I don’t think I can say for sure.  Perhaps one kind of mourning is over the loss of a loved one.  That is the typical way in which the word is used.  But I would say that this type of mourning doesn’t really fit the context of the Beatitudes.  I believe, as do others, that the mourning that Jesus has in mind is two-fold.

First, we are to mourn over our own sin.  Our sin should bring us to a place of sadness and mourning.  This sadness ought not to turn us to depression or isolation, but rather it should turn us toward God.  God can be glorified as we mourn our sin and the separation that it causes.  The mourning turns to glory as we are forgiven and comforted by God.

Second, we can mourn over the overall damage that sin does to this world.  If you were at the second service yesterday you know that I got a little bit emotional at the end and had a hard time reading the final scripture.  The reason that happened is because I was so overwhelmed with sadness over sin and its effects on people in our congregation at BVCOB.  I felt this tremendous weight of sin as we sang the song “He Reigns”; thinking about how awesome it is “when all God’s children sing glory, glory, hallelujah He reigns”; yet we’re not there yet.  The reality is that many children of God are suffering the consequences of sin; their own sin or the sin of others that impacts them.  After I dismissed everyone I went into the kitchen and cried!  In there, God comforted me.  I felt like I was living this beatitude.

Whether it is mourning over our own sin or the sins of the world, God is there to comfort us.  God is there to remind us that He has won the victory.  He has overcome the world.  We are on the winning team!  God can truly provide “mourning glory”.