This week has been rough, to say the least. First, on Sunday a report came out about numerous individuals who had their sins covered up by others causing heartache among those whom they abused. And then yesterday an 18-year-old man walked into an elementary school here in Texas killing 19 children and 2 adults, in an instant lives were shattered and families destroyed. This shooting happened only 10 days after another massacre occurred in Buffalo, NY. As a member of a Southern Baptist church and also a public school teacher I went to bed last night with a heavy heart.
We live in a world in which sin exists both outside and inside the church. If this week has taught me anything it is that sin and demonic powers are not as far off as I and many may think. This past Sunday a pastoral resident preached on Jonah and he mentioned how often we think that the people of the world only need a little course correction in their lives and they will be good people. He reminded us that everyone, including those in the church, is dead outside of Christ and needs the miracle-working power of a resurrection for our hearts to be anything other than bent towards sin.
Whether in the church or outside of it we are all prone to sin and its vices. Our flesh craves wickedness while the Spirit is constantly redirecting our gaze back upon Christ.
In the coming days, weeks, and months much will be said about what can be done to limit sins’ effect on the world, particularly sexual abuse, and gun violence. But while politicians and pastors debate the current events and what to do about them there is already one thing that we can do, lament.
Lament is not mere groveling and complaining about the way of the world or our current situation, it is rather a holy act that draws us closer to God reminding us that this world is not the finality of God’s work. Lament causes us to long for the return of Jesus when sin will be no more and holiness the norm. A lament also softens the heart of the one lamenting towards those he/she is lamenting. A lament does not only cause us to pray for the victims of sexual abuse and gun violence but it also leads us to pray for their abusers and perpetrators.
Lament reminds us that the world is not our answer but God and God alone is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Today we lament, we weep with those who weep just as Christ wept for those around him. But lament is also a promise that soon, Jesus will come back, and all of the tears that we cried in our laments will be wiped away. Days like today make us long for that day just a little bit more.
Thoughts Redeemed 