A Godly Grief

I don’t know about you, but Jim and I have really wrestled with this SUBURBAN gODS series. These are soul-searching conversations about the more powerful sins in our part of the world. I have felt truly grieved over the past several weeks as I personally struggle with the idols of safety and comfort, consumerism, individualism, and busyness. And I don’t think I’m alone in that feeling. At one point I asked Allie, “What do we need to give our people to wrap this series up well?” She told me she felt like we all could use a bit of hope and encouragement. I wanted to tell her, well, God sent the wrong prophet! I am just angry and sad and heartbroken. I don’t know if I’m ready to be encouraging yet.

 

And yet as I prepared to preach on King Josiah’s idol-smashing reforms, I was reminded of who it was that preached the eulogy at his funeral. It was “the weeping prophet” Jeremiah, who watched the last great King of Israel die, and with him the last foothold of holiness in a land of toxic idolatry. Jeremiah lamented and he groaned. He had longed to see the promise come to pass -- that the Jews would be a holy and glorious nation -- but all he saw was one calamity after another, to the point he began to wonder why he was ever born. And yet Jeremiah was also the prophet who encouraged the newly exiled people of God to settle down and plant vineyards; to be a holy nation dispersed in a land of idols, and watch as their Father unfolded his plans to prosper them and give them a hope and a future. 

 

And that reminds me that grief isn’t at all opposed to hope or encouragement. As Paul tells the church in 2 Corinthians 7, “I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting… For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret…” Maybe it’s his kindness that leads us to repentance. Maybe it’s a loving father who disciplines his children. Maybe it’s the best of grooms who woos his bride in the wilderness. And maybe these pains, like those before birth, only mark the beginning of a beautiful life. 

 

- Josh