In the middle of Lent last year, we stopped meeting in-person to help slow the spread of COVID-19. We are now planning Lent this year to be streamed online. I’m disappointed. I’m frustrated. I miss seeing you. You may feel these and other emotions too.
It seems appropriate to lament. A lament is a cry to God about our situation. Psalm 22:15 expresses extreme thirst like someone waiting for surgery, “my mouth is dried up like a shard of pottery; my tongue sticks to my jaws.” Laments cry out to God for help, such as Psalm 69:1, “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.” Laments like Psalm 13 even blame God: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?”
We aren’t always good at lamenting together. Privately, we maybe complain to each other. Publicly, we think we need to be happy, put on a strong face, and not admit how sad we are. But sadness and disappointment are a part of life, the result of this life not being what God intended. Sin, death, and the devil—powers beyond our control—bring pain, grief, and broken relationships. Sometimes the reasons to lament will be few, but there are always reasons to lament.
And in this season of distress, we need to discover a way to lament together, to express our feelings in a healthy way. I suspect our inability to accept public sadness leads some to drink and do drugs, to party in a pandemic, and to make other reckless choices. Without lament, we nurture grievances against those we blame for robbing us of our happiness. Perhaps I’m overstating the case, but lamenting together may help us better understand one another and cope with what we’re facing.
Laments don’t save us ultimately—Jesus does. Jesus lived the lament of the Psalms in his suffering and death. The forty days of Lent and its disciplines of prayer, fasting, and giving, unite us to Jesus’ suffering and cries to God. But it is Jesus’ death and resurrection that bring us through lament into true joy.
Almost every lament in the Bible (except Psalm 88; check it out!) end with God providing healing and salvation. Read Psalms 13, 22, and 69 to see! Likewise, Jesus’ death becomes resurrection; Lent becomes Easter; a new day dawns because of God’s desire and power to make all things new.
Your companion on the journey,
Pastor Peter
