THE JOY OF MOURNING
MATTHEW 5:4 & 2 CORINTHIANS 7:8-11
INTRODUCTION:
How would you define “paradox”? What is a paradox? And no, it’s not two physicians! Is a paradox a contradiction? Actually no. A contradiction is something that is wrong, two things obviously opposed. A paradox is a statement or group of statements that seem to be wrong, that go against our intuition, but actually contains truth. A paradox is puzzling... and that’s why one of the most famous paradoxical statements are the Beatitudes. Jesus uses pieces of a puzzle that don’t seem to fit and tells us, “This is how you can find true happiness, authentic joy, sacred delight.”
Jesus gives us 8 pieces to complete our puzzle of life. To the poor in spirit, to those that mourn, to the meek, those that hunger and thirst after what is right, to the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and to those who are persecuted. It’s to this band of joy seekers that God promises special blessings. But remember, the things that Jesus insists are the prerequisites to this happiness often surprise us. In fact, these few verses will demand a radical reconstruction of the heart, an extreme shift in our thinking.
Remember what we said last week. In order to have this joy we must recognize that true, lasting happiness does not depend so much on what happens around us but what happens in us; not on external circumstances but our internal attitudes. First, He says we must admit we are not good, that our life accomplishments do not impress the Creator and that we cannot save ourselves. We are to become poor in spirit, humble enough to say, "Lord, I can’t do it on my own, I depend completely on You." And that’s when we inherit His forgiveness, grace and contentment. And now, the second beatitude builds on the first. Jesus says, “Once you admit your need, then you will be happy if you will "mourn.. For then you will be comforted?" As crazy as it seems Jesus says that true happiness, begins with deep sadness. Genuine gladness comes through mourning. How can that be?
I. THE DEFINITION:
Well, let’s begin as we will each week, by defining what Jesus means. What is the definition of mourning? Let’s see what it is not. This mourning is not simply, sorrow over temporary distress or adversity. Jesus isn’t telling us that we will always be comforted when life goes bad. If you’ve ever lost a loved one, or if a family member or yourself has been diagnosed with cancer you know that there is not much comfort there. When you have financial hardship, or someone disappoints or hurts you, you will ache, you may mourn. Your adversity, in this world, may not ever be completely corrected. In fact, Jesus says in John 16:33, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows."(NLT) So, Jesus isn’t saying here, "Blessed are those who weep over loss of life or those who ache over adversity."
This mourning certainly does not refer to a blessing for the chronic complainer. You’ve heard the old saying, "The squeaky door, gets the oil," meaning.... “sometimes those who complain the loudest get the most attention.” Well, while that may be true in some aspects of the world, it is not true spiritually. God is not pleased with grumblers. Just ask any of the Israelites who had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years what God thinks of complainers. In fact, Phil.2:14 says, "do everything without complaining or arguing." (Repeat with me.) You see, Jesus says "Blessed are those that mourn," not.. "blessed are those who moan." So, Jesus is not primarily referring to the sorrow over distress and adversity that comes to us in life, nor is He promising comfort for the complainer. He is referring to something much deeper.
The word Jesus uses here is the strongest word for sorrow that could be used in the Greek language. It signifies a deep, sorrow that pierces the heart. William Barclay writes, "This sorrow is no gentle, sentimental, twilight sadness; it is a sorrow which is poignant, intense. The real meaning has to do with sorrow for sin. Jesus is saying here, ‘Blessed is the man who is moved to bitter sorrow at the realization of his own sin.’" A deep sorrow for sin and the request for forgiveness is the first act of the Christian life. The beginning of the Christian walk is the utter dissatisfaction with life as it is. You are humble enough to admit your need, (...poor in spirit)... Then based on that need, you are genuinely sorry for your sin that created that need and you desire change.
But please understand that Jesus is talking about a Godly sorrow here. Look at the passage in 2 Cor. and notice that Paul compares two kinds of sorrow. In vs:9 he says, "..you became sorrowful as God intended.." in vs:10 he says there’s Godly sorrow & worldly sorrow. There is a right way to mourn over your sin & a wrong way. Allow me to list 4 differences between Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow:
(1) Godly sorrow is remorseful over sin. Worldly sorrow only regrets being caught. A lot of times people are not sorry for what they did they’re just sorry that they got found out. The telling mark for this kind of sorrow is that they’re usually angry at the person that blew the whistle on them or incensed at the way they got apprehended. "What are you doing in my stuff?" or- "The very idea of the press investigating my private life."
2) Godly sorrow is evidenced by a humble attitude. Worldly sorrow continues to display a resentful spirit. If a person is really sorry they will admit it and say, "I’ve sinned and I deserve the consequences." But if it’s worldly sorrow they will sneer, "Who are you to judge me?" “There’s no way I’d go back to that Church, not after what they said." And because of that resentment everyone else is to blame for their sin. It’s the environment, parents, their friends, the devil, anyone but them. But the one who manifests Godly sorrow has a penitent spirit, seeing sin for what it really is and taking responsibility for it.
3) Godly sorrow results in a willingness to change. Worldly sorrow results in hanging on to the sin. Worldly sorrow sees the sin as precious, as something you know is wrong yet you find yourself desperately trying to figure out some fool proof way to keep it close to you.
Video Clip: Lord of the Rings - Start: Chp. 5: 20:47 - End: Chp 5:24:11 (may be different in extended version)
Like Bilbo, worldly sorrow deceives us into thinking we can keep our sin under control, never realizing it can enslave us. But God is no cheap conjurer, He wants to free us of our sin, but to do so He knows we must be willing to let it go, to stop hanging on to what we think as “precious,” and be willing to change.
That leads us to the 4th difference that Paul mentions specifically: 4) Godly sorrow brings on repentance. Worldly sorrow brings on death. Death.. it is so important to understand what true repentance is. Repentance in the Greek is the word "metanoia." It is a word that was used for travel in the 1st century. If you were heading toward a particular destination but after a while you were not sure which way to go you might ask directions of someone. If you were headed wrong this person would say, "You need to "metanoia" (repent) and go back this way." Repentance is a change of direction. Paul says clearly in v:10- Godly sorrow brings repentance and it is that change of direction- that change of lifestyle- that leads to salvation. The key here is to understanding this "mourning" is to comprehend the need for a change of heart. That then leads to a change of behavior.
To clearly show us that, Paul inserts a little phrase in this 10th vs that at first appears hard to understand. Do you see where he says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and... leaves no regret." Are we not to regret the sin? Are we not to regret the harm we may have caused others? Sure we are. But Paul here is not talking about regretting what you’ve done. He is saying that you are so different that you do not regret what you have to give up in order to accomplish the change. Your sin is no longer “precious” but atrocious. The change is so complete that you don’t regret the fact that you repented! That means if you have to relinquish a wrong relationship, you won’t regret not having them anymore. If you have to give up going to a certain place because it hurts your witness or faith, you won’t regret not being able to go there any longer. If you have to deny yourself a certain pleasure because it is harmful to you, then you no longer regret not being able to indulge. Now, true, getting to that point may take some time but it begins with Godly sorrow- that brings repentance, a change of heart, a change of mind, a change of will. The nature of Godly sorrow is that it will bring you to a complete and radical change of lifestyle. The key word last week in the first beatitude was humility, the key word for this beatitude is repentance.
II. APPLICATION:
Let’s see how this concept of mourning can be applied to our lives. I want you to see how smoothly this quality of Godly sorrow, flows from being "poor in spirit.” When you are "poor in spirit", unassuming enough to see your need and humble enough to see Jesus as your Savior, you cannot help but mourn over your sin. And the application of "mourning" to "humility" brings you to see at least these three things:
(1) You will see more clearly the perfection of Christ. I always dreamed of being a big college basketball player. So, I was thrilled, when, I had a chance to practice with a Division I college team. I thought I did okay.. I shot fairly well, I played my part of a zone defense pretty well. But then they had us play man to man, full court and I got to defend an all-American guard out of New York City. He was so quick and his leaping ability was so incredible that he left me as if I was standing still sometimes. There was no way I could keep up with him. I’d play off him not to get beat and he’d shoot over me.. And make it! And he was the back-up point guard for Jacksonville University. When it was over I had to face the truth.. At that skill level I knew there was no comparison of my natural ability to his or to guys like him. But because of that weakness I have a greater appreciation and admiration for those guys who have such natural quickness, can jump out of the gym and can shoot, pass and handle the ball too.
Well, the same is true of my sin. When I truly see my sin, in light of Jesus’ death, I know I need to change. But I also know how difficult it is to keep from doing the things that I say I don’t want to do. Like Paul in Rom.7:19- “I end up doing the things I don’t want to do and not doing the things I know I should do.”(SEB) I know how many times I fail and how hard it is to resist temptation. That allows me to see and be impressed, beyond words, with the perfection of Jesus. Heb. 4:15- "Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin!"(CEV) Notice that didn’t say that Jesus was tempted in some of the ways we are, or in most of the ways we are but in every way.. as we are and yet He did not sin! That’s a Savior worth living for.
(2) This mourning allows us to see more completely the cost of sin. It’s one thing to learn about Jesus’ sacrifice in Sunday School or to hear the preacher talk about it in sermons. But it will never bring about the happiness Jesus promises unless we come to the point that we personally recognize that it was our sin that sent Him to the cross. Jesus did not die a martyr’s death, He died a substitutionary death. Has anyone ever taken punishment for you? Maybe a sibling who got blamed when you know you did it, or a friend who got caught in school and you didn’t? Our sin has separated us from God. And God has said from the beginning that -"the wages of sin is death.." (Rom. 6:23) (Repeat) For our sin that death was everlasting separation from God. But Jesus, in His amazing love stepped forward, knowing that we deserved death and volunteered to take the punishment for us. It was my sin, your sin that caused Him to go to the cross, but He did so willingly out of of His great love for us.
They say that the most traumatic thing that can happen to you is to lose a child. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have one of my children die. If you would ask me to give up my child I would say, as most parents, "Kill me instead.." You see just as painful as it was for Jesus to suffer on that cross for our sin, so to was it excruciating for God to watch His one and only Son bleed and die on that tree.
(3) This recognition of our own sin also helps us to see more wonderfully the wholeness we can have in Christ. Because of Him, I can fall to temptation. I try not to because I want to please Him but because of Him I am no longer condemned. I heard a baseball announcer the other day, Rick Sutcliffe, describe young pitchers who make it in the major leagues and those who don’t. Rick said, “The difference between the two is whether or not they learn the difference between “falling” and “failure.” The words sound the same, they are even spelled very much a like. But falling is when you have a bad outing and work all the harder. Failing is when you just give up.”
I turned to Deb and said, “What is true for baseball pitchers is true spiritually.” Falling is something we all struggle with - we all make mistakes. But failure, in this context, is when you refuse to get back up! Please understand, the Christian life is not made up of perfect people but of progressing people. We fall, and Jesus lifts us up and says, “Come on, let’s keep going, I’ll help you.” There is a wholeness, a comfort that comes from that understanding. Sure I make mistakes but because of Jesus they aren’t fatal.
And that brings us to the blessing or satisfaction that comes from this mourning... "they will be comforted.."
III. THE SATISFACTION:
I see two different comforts or blessings that come from the mourning Jesus is asking us to do. (1) Is how we are seen by God because of the blood of Jesus . I hope you can understand the concept of being innocent in Christ. Maybe it is seen best in our Cor. passage. Vs:11- “See what this Godly sorrow has produced in you:.... Then he says, "at every point you proved yourself innocent in this matter." How could they be innocent when they were guilty? They had admittedly sinned and repented of their guilt.. Now they are innocent “at every point?” This is the greatest news of all. When God forgives he cleans the slate. When you accept Jesus Christ the Bible talks about being "baptized into Christ." Gal. 3:26-27- "All of you are God’s children because of your faith in Christ Jesus. 27And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes."(CEV) You see, when you come to Jesus and accept Him as your personal Savior, receive Him as Lord and obey Him then you are completely covered with Jesus, you are identified as being "in Christ." And because we are identified with Christ we are looked at by God as innocent, because He is! I would encourage each of you to memorize1 John 1:9- "God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong."(GW) Did you hear that? “Cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong.” No matter what you’ve done! Paul L. Warner has written a book entitled, Feeling Good About Feeling Bad. He wrote: “I know no better way to feel good, even though I’m a sinner, then to realize that if I submit to the Lord and repent of my sin I go from a verdict of "guilty" to "innocent." That’s Good News! That’s eternally great news!
And God supplies comfort for this life too. Please don’t make the mistake of thinking that God doesn’t care when you hurt. He does. Psa. 34:18- "The Lord is close to the broken hearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Matt.6 says that God knows the number of hairs on our head. (Obviously that’s easier with some of us.) 1 Ptr 5:6-7- "..to cast our cares on him because he cares for us."
And God expresses this care in at least three ways: (a) The comfort of God’s Word. Psa. 119:52- "I remember your words oh, Lord, and find comfort in them." Saturate yourself with Scripture.I would recommend that you take your Bible and read the book of Psalms, and highlight every verse that brings you comfort. You will be amazed at how many you will find.
(b) The comfort of God’s people. The fact is, we need each other. There is no such thing as a "Christian Lone Ranger." That’s why from the very beginning of this church we emphasized small groups. Can you imagine growing up in a family where you met once a week, ate a meal together, talked for awhile and then left, not seeing each other again til the next week? You say, "That’s not a family." Of course not. A family learns about each other and leans upon each other. They help and care for each other. 2 Cor. 1:3-4-"Praise to the God and Father.. Of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." A part of every Christian’s ministry (not just the preacher’s or the staffs).. is to bring comfort to others out of the times of hardship that you’ve experienced and survived. That’s the way a family is supposed to work!
But you can’t give comfort, and get this.. nor can you expect much comfort, if you’re not involved with others. Some think as long as they have Christ they don’t need the Church. Since Jesus died for the Church that is an anti-Biblical position. God is our Father, Jesus is said to be our Elder brother, we’re a family. Get involved in a small group. Make it a priority because it’s one of the ways God cares for us.
(c) The greatest comforter of all is God’s Holy Spirit. Before Jesus left this earth He said, "I will send to you a comforter." That’s the Holy Spirit. He promises to everyone who will accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord that they will receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And what will that bring? Comfort, hope, peace, joy.. Rom. 15:13- "May the God of hope fill you with all joy.. That by the power of the Holy Spirit, your whole life and outlook may be radiant with hope." (Phillips) So, the Holy Spirit doesn’t make you a religious fanatic or a holy roller, what does that verse say? The Holy Spirit makes your whole life and outlook radiant with hope! That’s what we need! Rev. 21:4 says that one day we won’t need comfort, everything will be perfect, but it’s not perfect yet, is it? Listen, you need Jesus, not so much because you might die tonight but because you’ve got to live tomorrow. Real joy, genuine comfort comes from allowing Godly sorrow to lead you to Him and He promises: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they WILL be comforted."
PRAY
{All Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, unless otherwise noted.}
