TOUR GUIDE TERM .....and the...... TRANSLATION
Old world charm ........... No bath
Tropical .................. Rainy
Majestic setting .......... A long way from town
Options galore ............ Nothing is included in the itinerary
Secluded hideaway ......... Impossible to find or get to
Pre-registered rooms ...... Already occupied
Explore on your own ....... Pay for it yourself
Knowledgeable trip hosts .. They’ve flown in an airplane before
No extra fees ............. No extras
Nominal fee ............... Outrageous charge
Standard .................. Sub-standard
Deluxe .................... Standard
Superior .................. One free shower cap
All the amenities ......... Two free shower caps
Plush ..................... Top and bottom sheets
Gentle breezes ............ Occasional Gale-force winds
Light and airy ............ No air conditioning
Picturesque ............... Theme park nearby
I think sometimes that is just the way grief is dealt with these days. When grief comes, everyone it seems, becomes a tour guide… try to say something good and comforting about something that is not so nice, and it just comes out all wrong. Some say “don’t cry” – translation is “stuff it, I cannot take your wailing anymore,” Some say “it’s time to let go” –translation is “get over it”. Apparently, next week during President Bush’s 3 day state visit to Britain, he is scheduled to meet with families of British soldiers killed in Iraq. Mr Bush would meet relatives of British soldiers killed in Iraq to tell them they died for a "noble cause". He will also offer them the sympathy "of the American people and the prayers of the president" and tell them "that their loved ones did not die in vain". But some translate that as “uncaring” using it to score points for themselves in justifying the war in Iraq.
Robert Kelly, whose son is 18-year-old, Private Andrew Kelly, who was killed in a shooting accident in Basra, Iraq, said that Mr Bush and Tony Blair do not care about the deaths of British troops. These were his words: "For these people to meet families, it is only for their own gain. They are not sympathetic towards people like me. They don’t really care that my son lost his life. Tony Blair doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about anyone. So what does George Bush care about our families and my family? He doesn’t care." Can you just hear the grief, the anguish, the pain in those words?
And I wonder what would Jesus do with grief, the pain and the anguish of people. Does He say get over it, stuff it, get with it, or offer prayers? What could He do about grief? To catch a glimpse of Jesus’ reaction to grief, read with me this Bible passage:
11Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, with a great crowd following him. 12A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The boy who had died was the only son of a widow, and many mourners from the village were with her. 13When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. "Don’t cry!" he said. 14Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. "Young man," he said, "get up." 15Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk to those around him! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, "A mighty prophet has risen among us," and "We have seen the hand of God at work today." 17The report of what Jesus had done that day spread all over Judea and even out across its borders. Luke 7:11-17 (NLT)
A. Jesus validates our feelings!
It is no use stuffing your emotions. Never were we made to be emotionless. Never were we made to be unfeeling. Never were we made to be like machines that can turn on and off with a switch or a button. Never were we made to be a statistic, a number, a piece of junk. Never were me made to not care, not get a lump on the throat as someone is suffering. Look at what Jesus said as recorded in Matt5:3,4 (NIV),
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Do you see that Jesus validates how we feel? Do you see it’s okay to be honest about our grief? Psalm 62:8 (NIV) says it clearly: “Trust in him at all times, O people; POUR OUT YOUR HEARTS TO HIM, for God is our refuge.” Here is the reality… God wants to come us in the painful and tragic moments of life.
See how Jesus walked over to the coffin and then gasp! He touched the coffin. It is a taboo in those days to touch anything that is associated with a dead body and yet He would walk over there and touch. Unclean! He could have said: “I’m just too busy, got crowds hounding me… besides it is not the right thing to do, it’s unclean”
Reality is many of us are numbed to tragedies because it is an everyday occurrence. Don’t know how to feel anymore. Picked up this story from the Net: As my five year old son and I were headed to McDonald’s one day, we passed a car accident. Usually when we see something terrible like that, we say a prayer for those who might be hurt, so I pointed and said to my son, "We should pray." From the back seat I heard his earnest request: "Please, God, don’t let those cars block the entrance to McDonald’s."
Aren’t we just like that? Instead of praying for people, feeling for the victims of the car accident, we pray for our entrance to McDonald’s. Many of us are numbed… as images of Sept. 11 is played over and over again on TV and people say “it’s like a movie.” Images of violence and tragedy fill up our days and we are paralysed and the immediate remedy – let’s get more numb – drug ourselves or drink ourselves silly until we can ‘t feel anymore.
Good news is God is not numbed by tragedy. Good news is Jesus is not paralysed when people are hurt, grieving and in shock. Good news is Jesus does not prescribe chemicals or drugs to deal with grief.
As the Bible says “His heart overflowed with compassion.” Jesus’ heart broke for the weeping widow. He took the time to be with this sobbing widow whose hope for life, for happiness, for stability, is all stored up in her one son who is now gone.
One of the greatest tragedies of life is to bury your own son or daughter. The natural thing is for the offspring to bury the parents, not the other way round. So the pain and brokenness that is in that widow must be extreme and deep. O the beauty of our God is summed in the way He touched the coffin and in doing so showed us the God is moved by loss, tragedy, those who mourn. No wonder the Bible says in Psalm 34:18 (NIV): “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Did you hera? He is close to the broken-hearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit! God loves us and wants to connect with us in our loss… so will you release in to Him, pour out your hearts to Him?
When we have lost someone of tremendous value it is really OK to be downright honest about our feelings. It is OK to feel needy. It is OK to sense frustration, God gives permission for us to do so, or else it makes no sense that He left an entire book of the Bible called “Lamentations” where grief is expressed. It is OK to worry, feel helplessness, feel deeply a whole range of emotions. It is not OK to snap out of it, stuff it, live in denial, to be “strong” when you feel weak.
B. Jesus would say “God is back!”
Look at Jesus’ comment on the significance of this event and others like it comes in Luke 7:22-23. 21At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. 22So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 23Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." (NIV)
These events point to a certain era of expectation among the Jewish people that God will visit His people. John and his followers were wondering about Jesus. Is He the Messiah, the One who will save the people and bring back the glory days of King David and Roman domination will be over. The crowd’s reaction in v.16 shows that they do not see Jesus as the Messiah. They saw him as just a prophet. It is evident that they have an incomplete view of Jesus. With this account as one commentator wrote “Luke is steadily building his portrait of the many-faceted nature of Jesus. God is visiting his people. God’s visitation is a key theme in Luke (1:68, 78; 19:41-44; Acts 15:14). God is active through Jesus. Public opinion about Jesus is spreading and is taking on various forms. God is at work through him. Yet his activity suggests that no one label or title is sufficient to describe and explain who he is.”
But the nature of his work speaks as well. Jesus’ ministry is about compassion. It is able to overcome a hurdle as significant as death (1 Cor 15). The scope of his authority knows no limits. Surely someone with such power should be the object of great interest. Surely he should be heeded and allowed to speak for himself, rather than being categorized according to the whims of popular opinion. So Luke turns to an exchange between Jesus and John the Baptist to show how the One who performs such wonders views himself.
God’s visitation can turn grief into joy. Turn mourning to dancing. Look at His compassion, testimonies of power, and His own resurrection.
16They all realized they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful--and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, "God is back, looking to the needs of his people!" 17The news of Jesus spread all through the country.
Who is Jesus to you?
Do u know that Jesus’ heart breaks for you, for your grief, your hurts, your pain, your rotten circumstance just as His heart broke for the widow whose only son died?
What areas of your life that is broken and it seems beyond repair, hopeless, lost, can it be redeemed? Answer through Jesus is resounding YES!
See how he touched the coffin? Can you how Jesus would touch that which is categorized “unclean”? He would absorbed all the sin of the world, become sin for us, so we can live…
Do you know that He has the power to turn things around?
What areas of your life you have tried by your own power to turn things around?
Do you know that His power over death demonstrates that nothing can overpower God? He is above even that which can end existence!
Heart of God is revealed is this grief-filled woman’s story… heart of God breaks for every brokenness that produces gut wrenching pain, disappointment. He is emotionally moved, by human suffering and misery. God is not unconcerned at all with what we experience here…
God is back. God is visiting us through Jesus. Have we noticed? Are we too dead to recognize Him speaking “Get up.”
Some people live and die with bitter hearts – but it’s a choice to live that way. In this one regard, we all have the power to decide how tragedy affects us. If we choose bitterness, then we’ll only end up hurting ourselves – and we’ll also shut the door on our own happiness because we can’t be happy and bitter at the same time. Yet the Bible speaks a word to those struggling between grief and hope in I Thess.4:13-14 (NKJV) 13But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
There is a “get up” call for all Christians… no one will be left in the grave!
Some say with a loss: “My life is over! I just don’t see how I can go on from here; I don’t think I can ever recover from this.” Jesus says: get up, there is a getting up!
Choose to see that God is visiting us that God is back, and is helping and will be helping us, walking over to us and touching us and saying to us “don’t cry” touching our taboo areas of life, the unclean stuff and He is moved with compassion . God is not immobilized, frozen with disgust, to touch us when we feel dead, dirty or too unclean!
C. It is the time to rely on Christ.
The Apostle Paul said, 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. Phil. 4:12,13 (NLT)
Rick Warren once said: “If you want to be happy no matter what happens, do the following:
1. Lean on Christ for stability - “Such a person will not be overthrown by evil circumstances. God’s constant care of him will make a deep impression on all who see it. He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen. For he is settled in his mind that God will take care of him.” Ps. 112:6-7 (LB)
2. Listen to Christ for direction - “I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.” Jer. 29:11 (NCV)
3. Look to Christ for security – God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! Ps. 46:1-3 (NLT)
Rick Warren once stated: “A crisis creates a moment in your life when you can shift your dependence to something that can never be taken from you. Through it, God can teach us that we may lose our homes, our careers, our marriages, or our health, but we will never, ever lose our relationship with God. He promised to never leave us or forsake us – and that’s an eternal security we can build our lives on.”
9We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally--not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead! 10And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. 2 Cor 1:9-10 (MSG)
Love to see a church that is totally lives out the reality that it is OK to be human where - Feelings are validated, where hope is celebrated “God is back!”, where reliance on Christ alone, not on tradition, culture, what use to work 20 years ago, is honoured. Wouldn’t you?
