Week 2
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4
Preamble and context
In a similar vein to our first study, it’s important for us to see that there is both a spiritual and a practical implication to this Beatitude. Once more we must affirm that the one leads to the other - when we mourn over our sin (and various other forms of mourning) they should lead us to act. It’s important for us to realize the order is crucial otherwise we are acting in and of our own strength once more and have no real need for Christ.
Our first Beatitude framed all others by introducing what we could call Jesus’ ‘thesis statement:’ You can only live out these virtues, these Beatitudes if you begin here - knowing that you are poor in spirit - you have a humbling revelation that you need Jesus for everything. He needs to be the one who forms our words, our thoughts, our hearts and our actions. When we accept this, believe this and live from this, then we can live the remaining Beatitudes too.
So we must ask the question: what does it mean to mourn? Matthew uses the Greek word pentheo (to mourn) but Luke uses the word klaio (to weep). Are they to be considered synonymous in this situation? Good biblical scholarship would propose yes they are. And as we go through this study we will see how this is outworked - those who mourn are also those who weep. And the form of this mourning and weeping is multitudinous.
For your own personal study consider: Isaiah 61:2, Jeremiah 31:15 and the reversals found in Isaiah 65:13-16.
We begin our mourning by looking at ourselves and our own sin. For the majority of Christian history this has been considered the primary focus of this Beatitude. From the likes of Clement of Alexandria through the Reformation the predominant concern was to mourn over our sin.
What are we mourning over? This is where this Beatitude flows from the first - we mourn over our pride and self-reliance. We mourn over the belief in our own ability and independence, that we are all we need. We mourn over our actions that have wounded others through our words or deeds, either by attacking them or withdrawing. The list goes on. Through all of this we mourn.
But where does our mourning end? The early church writers were quick to say it must end somewhere or we will become lost in despair and sadness. Thus it should lead to the point of repentance. Our repentance is completely turning around and choosing to walk the other way. Our mourning must end with surrender, surrender of our actions, our words, our thoughts that we know to dishonor God and hurt both ourselves and those around us. We can look to the following scriptures as demonstrating both the need for our mourning but also our turning away from the life that causes us to mourn:
“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death”.
2 Cor 7:10
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“Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you”.
James 4:8-10
Yet we must acknowledge that it doesn’t end here - we are to move on from ourselves and mourning over our own sin to look upwards and mourn for so much more. The Reformation guides of Luther and Calvin expanded this notion of mourning to include the mourning we feel walking through a broken world. That everyday, to a greater or lesser extent we are faced with the brokenness of our world and we mourn over it. It doesn’t take long if we look at our newsfeeds to see the longing for power, the corruption and the result of sin in our world. And so our Beatitude also calls us to mourn over this. That we are actually blessed when we mourn.
We can unpack some more specific ways we are called to mourn as we look at the world around us. We begin with mourning over the structural sin and injustice in our world. Whether this is a consideration of systemic racism, or of greed before the goodness of being stewards of our planet or the impact of inequalities in health and wealth we are called to mourn. In all of this we see the work of death in our lives and we yearn and long for Jesus to bring justice and freedom and life.
We also mourn over loss in our lives. All of us can think of loved ones who have died or even the sense of estrangement that can happen in life. Friendships that are broken or strained or acrimonious. Relationships that have been dissolved due to abuse of any kind.
In all of these mourning’s what is that we hope for? For Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine and others it was for the end - the consummation - when Jesus would return and everything would change. It is the prayer for heaven to come to earth now that all the reasons for mourning would wash away.
Why would Jesus say that all of this is a blessing? Why is our soul flourishing in the midst of mourning? Jesus tells us in this Beatitude that through our mourning we will be comforted. This is not the modern image we have of someone patting us on the back. The comfort we will receive is not a band-aid on the knee but is apocalyptic in origin - we will see God’s victory - the old age will be remade into the new. The word comfort may be better translated ‘to see consolation’ to the point of inner strengthening, broken faith will be deepened, enlarged, elevated and fortified. In other words, through our mourning over our own sin and the work of sin in our world we will hold fast to the fact that Jesus will make it all new - there is hope - that it will not always be this way. A change is coming, can come now, and will ultimately change everything.
Questions to discuss and consider
What would you say you have ‘mourned over’ (if anything)?
On reflection, would you say you’ve ever mourned over your own ‘sin’? To answer this question, take some time to unpack what you understand by ‘sin’ and its place within a Christian theology. How does sin relate to God the Father, the ‘fall’ of Genesis, the promises of God for us, the work of Jesus.
If you can be honest, what personally do you mourn over in your life with respect to sin? What aspects of your life do you think ‘grieve’ God?
What do you think it looks like to ‘mourn’ over your sin? What does that journey look like? How does it begin and how does it end?
Do you think there’s a difference between ‘self pity’ and grieving over your sin?
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Read Romans 7:21-25
Paul is mourning over his own sin in this passage - what evidence is there within this passage of this?
How could Paul consider himself a ‘wretch?’
What was the only answer for Paul to this?
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When we expand our mourning beyond our own self, in what ways do we mourn for the world?
Of the list found in this study, which one do you think you mourn the most for? Can you explain why?
What do you understand by the ‘reward’ or ‘reversal’ we see in this Beatitude. What does it mean to be comforted? What will that look like?
Spiritual Practice for the week
Take a moment each morning to ask the Holy Spirit to show you what to mourn over in the day. It may be something you say that is hurtful, a news story that is upsetting, an action by another that reflects their brokenness. At the end of the day ask the Holy Spirit once more to bring these mourning events to your mind and take some time to pray for each one.
Practical demonstration for the week
As you go through your week ask the Holy Spirit to show you a practical way to help someone around you who may be going through a hard time and you are mourning for them. It could be a difficult paper or p-set; a strained relationship; or a personal loss they are walking through. Take a moment to think of something tangible and practical you can do for them (either meeting them for lunch, having a good conversation with them, writing them a note of encouragement or comfort).