Monday Morning Memo: I'm Supposed to be Sad?

If I had to make a guess…it would be that you don’t like to be sad.  In fact, I’ll even go out on a limb and assume you probably go to great lengths to avoid feeling forlorn.  Hospitals and funeral homes, more than likely, aren’t your favorite places to go either.  I know all of this because believe me, I’m right there with you on every point.

Then why in the world would Jesus say to us in Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”?  Does this mean He wants us to be sad?  Should our goal be to make sure we are really unhappy so He can bless us?

If we look at this beatitude through the eyes of the world, it doesn’t make sense at all.  As I shared last week, our culture screams at us to live for ourselves and do what makes us feel good, so intentionally mourning just doesn’t add up.  But I think we need to look at what the true meaning is of Jesus’ words.

To mourn means to feel or express grief or sorrow, so I think we need to look at ourselves first as we decipher this beatitude.  I think one aspect of Jesus’ words is that we should mourn over our sins, our unworthiness, and our inadequacy as it pertains to our Savior.  We should feel grief and sorrow over our iniquities and be willing to ask for His forgiveness.  Before we can become strong in Him, we need to realize that without Him we are weak and in need of Jesus to guide and direct us.  

I think we then need to ask ourselves how long it has been since we have mourned for others who are lost or are hurting.  It is easy to get so wrapped up in our own lives that we don’t pay any attention to those who are around us.   Romans 12:15 tells us that we are supposed to “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn”.   Do we do either one of those things?  Do we really rejoice when others are rejoicing, or are we too jealous?  Are we willing to reach out to those who are hurting, or are we just too busy with our own problems to help carry someone else’s burden?

Mourning with others can be exhausting and sometimes unpleasant.  It may mean that we must sacrifice to come alongside those who need comforting.  But, as followers of Christ, we know that He is our ultimate comforter and He promises to do just that in this beatitude.  But there may be those whom He places in our path who don’t know anything about having a relationship with Him.  They may need to see our compassion, our desire to love them unconditionally, so they can see Christ in us first.  I’m guessing they will be blessed by our actions and I’m sure we will be blessed too. 

Hopefully we are beginning to understand that these beatitudes Jesus shared are meant to affect our daily walk with Him.  Of course the one for next week, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”, might be one that I want to skip.  The word “meek” has never been a true description of me…so that one may step on my toes!