Our church community is spending three months wrestling in and through the Psalms. It is our hope that this time would be much more than a simple sermon series, but a season of spiritual formation for us as a community. As part of that desire, we have created a blog and various people are posting entries in an effort to stimulate discussion. So, whether you are a Living Hoper or another friend, hop on over there, check out the first couple of posts and share your thoughts. Here is my recent submission…
Gib spoke this past week on the idea of lament and as a community, we were led through a profound reading of lament over the circumstances in our lives, our city, and our world. I (JR) have continued to ponder the place of lament in the life of Christian community for the last few days. Many of you will have already discussed this in your small groups, but as mine meets tonight, I am still looking forward to the discussion.
To be transparent, I must admit that I am scared to lament. It makes me vulnerable and threatens the pride I take in situations being within my control. These desires I have however, for invulnerability on the one hand and pride in my own ability to control situations on the other, are nothing shy of idolatry. To lament then, is to blaspheme the idols in my life in the hope that God will fill the void. The way God fills this void however, comes not by an immediate change of the situations which I lament, but by the constitution and life of a community which laments together - in hope.
I take great solace in the biblical notion that while lamenting may threaten that which I (wrongly) hold most dear, it simultaneously grants me the opportunity to realign my vision of reality with God’s by drawing me into a community seeking to live out the reality of God’s Kingdom in the world.
This is not a foreign concept to us; misery, as they say, loves company. But this is where the world and the people of God part ways. We seek solace in the arms of others not because they merely empathize with us and our grief (this is yet another form of idolatry), but because the very Spirit of God dwells in the midst of the body of Christ, strengthening us, sustaining us, and filling us with an overflowing measure of faith, hope, and love. I would go so far as to say that lament – a God-centered cry for justice and mercy – is a divine opportunity for us to live out what it means to be the people of God – a people united not in their complaints, but in their Spirit-infused hope for the Kingdom of God to come “on earth as it is in heaven.”
5 responses so far ↓
1 wildflower // Sep 18, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Yes. And yes again, especially to that last sentence- so good!
2 Mandy & Lee // Sep 19, 2008 at 7:38 am
I have to confess that I often just scroll through your blog because your posts are always so incredibly long (not to mention all the big words that no one else uses but you!). However, I do often admire your deep thoughts.
3 Nick G. // Sep 21, 2008 at 6:48 pm
“We seek solace in the arms of others not because they merely empathize with us and our grief (this is yet another form of idolatry), ”
JR,
Can you expand on this a little? Im not clear what you mean, specifically, the idolatry part. Thanks bro.
4 JR Rozko // Sep 23, 2008 at 8:50 am
Yeah, good question Nick - that’s a statement that requires some context as it pertains to something our teaching pastor was talking about.
He was differentiating between complaining and lamenting and noting that complaining is ultimately self-centered whereas lamenting is God-centered. We complain when things aren’t the way we want them, and lament when things aren’t the way God wants them. So, whereas true lament ought to drive us into God-centered community, when we complain we often merely seek out others who will either affirm our self-centeredness because they “love” us or because they are similarly self-centered and happen to agree with what we are complaining about.
So, I guess all I am saying here is that self-centeredness is a form of idolatry and it’s all the more subtle (and perhaps all the more insidious) when we can find others who join us in the elevation of self over God.
5 Nick G. // Sep 23, 2008 at 3:08 pm
You mean it’s not about ME…. :-) Man !! I thought Christ died to give ME this great life…. Just kidding, of course. Well said.
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