“The beatitudes:
Revealing Christian character and development”
Part 2: Those who mourn
(Matthew 5:1-12)
In the last article we learned what it means to be ‘poor in the spirit’. We discovered that it is a humility that makes us aware of our sinful nature and our inability to save ourselves. In other words, we are powerlessness over our hurts, habits and hang-ups. This humility begins the journey that will lead us to deny ourselves and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We can’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven without this humility.
As stated in my last article, the beatitudes build upon each other. Being ‘poor in spirit’ naturally leads one to mourn. As we realize our utter powerlessness over sin, we mourn our dire situation. As sin ensnares us and brings us closer to death, we realize there is nothing we can do about it. It’s as if we are trying to climb up a giant waterfall as we plunge down towards the sharp rocks. Sin has us. We are unable to escape hell on our own.
Along with mourning for ourselves, we also mourn for all of humanity. Sin is the root cause of suffering. It’s the sinful nature within each of us that causes oppression, economic deprivation, wars, violence and corruption. As we look at all the suffering caused by sin, we realize there’s nothing we can do about it. Alleviating suffering on our own is like fighting a full grown grizzly bear with both arms tied behind your back. We can’t fight sin on our own. We are slaves to sin. If this doesn’t cause mourning, I don’t know what will.
Let me share a real life example of mourning. When I was a Juvenile Probation Officer (JPO), I supervised youths who were on court-ordered probation. I remember supervising a 17 year old girl who was extremely mournful over her past. She came from a dysfunctional family and had an extensive drug abuse history. On more than one occasion, men have taken advantage of her while she was high on various drugs. Within a few weeks of being placed on probation, she took a drug overdose. So, I had her committed to a residential drug rehab facility.
When she first entered the residential drug rehab facility, we held a treatment plan meeting. This meeting involved the youth, her aunt, myself and various counselors. During this meeting the youth’s aunt called her a whore and brought up her past sexual encounters. The youth responded with heart wrenching sobs. She was clearly stricken with extreme shame. This youth was mourning her life because she had no hope.
Thankfully, God comforts those who mourn. He does this by delivering us from our sinful nature. Once we mourn and realize the seriousness of our dire situation, the next step is to surrender to God’s love and authority. We trust God to change us from the inside out. As we become more like Christ, we receive comfort.
In an effort to demonstrate this to the youth, I bought her a Bible. Every week I visited her at the residential drug treatment facility. I kept telling her that God loves her and I will pray for her. For the first several weeks, she yelled at me and told me she didn’t want to see me. After a while, she began to soften. We started to have good conversations about God and His love. When she left the facility, she seemed to be at peace and in her right mind. I’m not sure she was at the point where she accepted Jesus as Savior and surrendered her life to Him. I do, however, believe she was on the right track to eventually surrender herself to God’s love. She mourned and God comforted her.
Are you mourning? Are you mourning over your own sinful state? Are you mourning over the suffering of others? Do you look at the sorry state of this world with anxiety and depression? If so, remember what Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”. The answer to your mourning is Jesus Christ. Surrender to His loving sovereignty and be comforted. By surrendering to Jesus, you are showing meekness. That’s the subject of the next beatitude article. |
