blessed are those who mourn...

It was Tuesday night. EFCA Challenge National Youth Conference, Downtown Columbus, Ohio. Nearly 5,000 young people sat quietly as speaker and Pastor Geoff Safford spoke passionately on the second Beatitude...

"Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted."

~Jesus Christ

Matthew 5:4

To Geoff's right sat this breathtaking painting beautifully created by artist Eric Timm during our worship that night. Pastor Geoff spoke about grief and what it means to grieve. I must admit, I have always heard this verse and thought of this verse in the context of grief regarding a crisis or great tragedy. I have always taken this as a personal promise that although we grieve the loss of those we love on this side of heaven, our grief will be confined to this earth as God will one day comfort us in the ultimate way. 

While I believe there is truth to this, the way Geoff approached this Beatitude was unlike anything I have ever thought of and my heart longs to share it with those that will listen. 

The original Hebrew word used in this specific passage for mourn is penqeo which literally means to mourn, lament or grieve. My question is, to grieve what? "Blessed are those that mourn..." 

We are sinful people that live in a fallen world. The truth is, our sin breaks the heart of God. It keeps us in bondage to shame and fear. Sin limits the impact that we can have on those around us. It keeps us consumed with ourselves and numbs our responses to the needs of others. 

We enjoy our sin. If we didn't it wouldn't have such a tight grip over our hearts and minds. We long for freedom yet we hold tightly to the chains the enslave us. 

Have we ever thought about the One that died for the very sin we spend our lives holding on to? 

"He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 

Like one from whom men hide their faces

He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 

Surely He took up our infirmities 

and carried our sorrows, 

yet we considered Him stricken by God,

smitten by him and afflicted. 

But He was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, 

and by His wounds, we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." 

Isaiah 53:3-6

As Christ hung on that cross, naked, humiliated and completely abandoned, He cried out on our behalf. His body writhed under the crushing weight of our sin--every word arrogantly spoken, every lofty glance, every lustful thought or act, every greedy endeavor...every sin of every man. His heart broke with grief on behalf of His wayward creation. A Creation that He loved and longed for but was so blinded by the passions of the flesh that it failed to see the dying Creator hanging before their very eyes. 

As Geoff spoke, he took a large bucket full of goopy gray mud. As he spoke, he began to sling mud at this beautiful painting, the Precious Face of our dying Savior. A gasp was uttered throughout the silent auditorium as Pastor Geoff began to smear the cherished face of Christ. With every handful of muck, he spoke the name of a sin... 

"Arrogance." 

"Lust."

"Hatred."

"Greed."

"Disrespect."

"Envy."

As I sat and listened to my own laundry list spoken, hot tears stung my eyes as I saw my sin marring the face of my sacrificial Savior. 

"When are we as a church going to grieve our sin? When? When are we going to stand together and say ENOUGH! When are we going to stop pretending and start repenting? When are we going to stop condemning and criticizing and in turn start encouraging and holding one another accountable? When...oh when will grieve and mourn our sin before our Risen Savior? When?" ~Pastor Geoff Safford

Silence. 

Because God is faithful and just when He speaks, it doesn't end there. Jesus continued... "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." 

We are called to grieve our sin...hate our sin...confess our sin. It is not until then that we will be comforted. The anguish and the hurt that robs our peace and devastates our relationships is at the mercy of the One that is waiting to comfort. Forget not that He has already paid the price for your sin. All you must do is confess it. It is in that that He has promised to be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). 

Comfort. Complete rest. Complete peace. If only we would grieve that which grieves His heart. 

May comfort and freedom be yours in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Blessings....

<><tce