Pastor's Column May 2021
Through Pain and Tears
In the life of faith, we are sometimes presented with the idea that religious faith should always offer consolation and inner peace. In fact, one of the criticisms given by those outside of any particular faith is that if people of faith are suffering, then that faith and religion must not be real. In one of my theological journals there was a recent article cited in which a Rabbi, Joseph Soloveitchik, had written against this line of thought. He wrote:
“The religious experience does not always free man from care and pain, as many religious leaders assert. The believer is not always without sorrow and at peace with himself and the world. We find him quite often torn by inner conflicts and doubts, groping in the dark, wrestling with his own conscience and convictions. The transcendental experience weighs heavily upon him. He tries to cast it off and rid himself of that great burden, under whose impact he walks humbly and slavishly, committed to duties he dislikes, to restraints and sacrifices he resents, without being able to lift his head in full dignity, and to regain his freedom and independence of living.”
This was one of those little pieces that I cut out and saved for later because it certainly does describe the true-life experience of the faithful. As Christians, we indeed celebrate that we are redeemed from sin and set free from that burden and the power that sin, death, and the devil had held over us. But we are not necessarily always free from the ongoing pain caused by those forces still at large in this life.
The more I have thought about this, the more I am reminded that even Jesus wept. That leads me to another little quip of wisdom that I saw posted online a few weeks ago dealing with the tears Jesus wept over the death of his friend, Lazarus (John 11). The post read as follows:
“Jesus cried. He knew Lazarus was dead before he got the news. But still, he cried. He knew Lazarus would be alive again in moments. But still, he cried. He knew death here is not forever. He knew eternity and the Kingdom better than anyone else could. Yet he wept because this world is full of pain and regret and loss and devastation. He wept because knowing the end of the story doesn’t mean you can’t cry at the sad parts.”
This life is full of pain, regret, loss, and devastation. If you are not currently suffering from some such thing, you surely could think of someone who is. In those darkest and most difficult moments, we do feel the weight of those things. We do wrestle and struggle with inner turmoil about all manner of things we would rather avoid. We often long for the consolation and inner peace that seems it may never come. We cry when we are in pain and we also cry with our families, friends, all neighbors, and fellow human beings in their pain. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, weeps at the tomb of Lazarus because he had entered fully into this human experience and shared in it with us.
This understanding makes the season of Easter all the more joyful and significant for us. Our Lord Jesus has risen from the dead. He is the first born of the new creation. Through him we have the promise of resurrection and eternal life in his kingdom forever. While we wrestle and struggle, while we cry and crawl through the pain of this life, we are in fact consoled by this good news that we have through Jesus Christ. Even through pain and tears we look with hope and expectation for his coming in glory, bringing with him the Kingdom of God and the fullness of the new creation, when he will wipe away all tears and death, mourning, crying, and pain will be no more.