Blessed Are You Who Mourn

Have you ever experienced grief? Have you ever experienced the loss of a relationship or job? These are the times when it's easy to fall into a slump and feel like you’ve hit rock bottom. 

In Matthew 5:4, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” What does it mean to mourn and be comforted? 

The first song in Psalms 46 states, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” It tells us to pause and rest in God’s presence.

When Jesus hears that his friend Lazarus has died, the shortest verse in the Bible states that “Jesus wept.” When Jesus is preaching to the crowd, he is understanding what it means to mourn. When we see Jesus mourn over his own impending death, he cries out to God, “Father into your hands I commend my spirit.”

Sometimes grief or mourning happens as the seasons of our lives change. In Mary Oliver’s poem “The Messenger,” she touches on the new seasons of life. Oliver writes: 

Are my boots old? 
Is my coat torn? 
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me 
Keep my mind on what matters, 
Which is my work,

Which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished 

Blessed are you who mourn – the seasons shall pass where you will be comforted. 

We see an example of this in the Gospel of Luke. Peter, a fisherman, is down on his luck. He has doubts about God. One night, Peter is on a fishing boat but is struggling to catch any fish. Jesus appears on the side of the boat and suggests casting the net to the other side. Peter, a professional fisherman, is reluctant to take the advice of a carpenter. He is doubtful of God. But Peter casts his net to the other side of the boat, and he and the other disciples catch more fish than they could ever have anticipated. The fishermen, especially Peter, were spiritually at rock bottom, and yet they were blessed.

Blessed are you who mourn for you will be comforted. Even times when you are poor in spirit – when you are at rock bottom – you are blessed. There is no way to go but up. “Blessed” is a way to say that God is with us – God is on our side, inviting us to see things from a brand new perspective. 

I was recently reading about houseless people in Modesto, California that were found living in caves. They counted 75,000 houseless people in Modesto County and throughout the Los Angeles area. Reading statistics like these causes me to grieve for our nation. 

I grieve for the people who come to Plymouth Church in their time of need – the woman who needed help paying rent and the man whose car had broken down. I fear that sometimes we are too quiet in our message about a God who is inclusive for all people. This includes the person with no home, the person with no car, the person who has no job. 

We receive a lot of phone calls at Plymouth Church. Recently I received a call from someone who mentioned that they used to live right down the street. She was attending college at the time, and was looking to be part of a church in the community. She continued to explain that she ended up becoming wrapped up in a very conservative and narrow view of God, and so she simply just abandoned her faith. But then she came across our church’s website. 

Sometimes we are like Peter, and we are too quiet and don’t stand up and tell people about a God who still loves and cares about them. 

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

What does it mean to be comforted? We all have a need for community. We need someone to walk alongside us. We might not be able to fully take away someone’s pain, but at least they know that we are walking beside them. 

Maybe you know someone who is looking to be comforted. Or maybe that someone is you. We are the hands and feet of God, and through our work at Plymouth Church, you will find comfort. 

We are called with our voices and with our hearts to tell people about a God who still loves and cares about them, and we declare blessings over their lives. Blessed are you who mourn, for you will be comforted. Not because we say it, but because a God who loves and cares about all people regardless of their walk in life says it.