C A R L B. G A R N E R

'THEY THAT MOURN . . .'

Everyone looks for happiness and joy; while few seek mourning and grief. Perhaps that is natural, but in Matthew 5:4 Jesus said, "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." This verse has been a puzzle for some, but a source of hope for others. Solomon wrote, "There is....a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance," Ecclesiastes 3:4. By the time we are adults we have learned that life is made up of many things, including tears and sorrow. But in what way is man said to be "blessed" when he mourns?

IT IS NOT....
Jesus is not implying that all grief is profitable. Some are not happy unless they are sad. They grovel in their pain and affliction. They cannot talk enough about their troubles. They pity themselves and they want your pity, too. Give them a chance and they will make you as miserable as they are, and that will be their source of joy. No, that is self-pity, not mourning. Nor does Jesus encourage everyone to mourn over a drop in the stock market, or a rise in the interest rate. These may have a place in our life, but there are more important things in life than material gain or loss. Nor is he who has been "offended" by a brother or sister automatically a candidate for this "blessing," for some people are so easily offended that they are offended if they are not offended. Nor is there a "blessing" for those who are angry that their sin is now made known. Who then?

MOURN FOR YOUR OWN SINS
The word for mourn here is the most severe word for sorrow and lamentation in the Greek language. It is used in 1 Corinthians 5:2 to show how those Christians should have responded to the sin of adultery among them. Instead they were "puffed up" with pride. Sin is such that it must be mourned before it can be removed or forgiven. "Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death," 2 Corinthians 7:10. The person who acknowledges his sin, exhibits godly sorrow, and then turns from his sin, will be forgiven. That is a source of comfort to any rational human being.

MOURN FOR THE CONDITION OF THE WORLD
Care must be taken here, for the coffee shops are full of people who cluck their tongues at our wicked world. It is only when one is willing to do something about evil that good is accomplished. When Jesus saw the condition of His own people, He shed tears of sadness, Luke 19:41. Jeremiah 9:1 describes the mind of the "weeping" prophet, "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" But even the tears of Jeremiah and Jesus did not remove evil from the world. It took the preaching of the prophet and the blood of Jesus to reveal the way and provide the means for real hope. The only hope for man today is through Jesus Christ, John 14:6, and that hope is revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul realized this when he wrote, "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise....I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek," Romans 1:14-16. To mourn the crime and immorality among us can be a positive emotion, but only if it causes us to busy ourselves in eradicating that evil.

MOURN THE SADNESS AND SUFFERING OF OTHERS
There is much suffering and grief in this old world, and much of it is right before our eyes. Men, women and children are innocent victims of abuse. Disease and pain confront all of us at one time or another. The loss of one's capability to provide for his own family is a common problem. The death and suffering of little children cause all of us to grieve. Discrimination and injustice of all kinds are the lot of some, while many seem to face one crisis or tragedy after another.

Is there no value in our mourning over the suffering of our neighbor? Did not Jesus demand that we "love one another"? Are we not directed to "bear one another's burdens"? Does not the scripture instruct us to "weep with them that weep"? The words of John Donne are familiar:
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main...Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Years earlier Paul had written much the same thing in Romans 14:7, "None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself."

"FOR THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED"
One reason we may be said to be "blessed" when we mourn is that we "shall be comforted." Note: "Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." Mourning is not its own comfort, but though we suffer, mourn, grieve and weep, a time awaits in which genuine comfort will be afforded us. The word "for" in this verse indicates the certainty of that comfort. Though relief may not immediately follow mourning, Jesus' promises never fail.

"Blessed are they that mourn."