Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: Mourning What?

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

-Matthew 5:4

It's been a few days since visiting MLJ's Studies in the Sermon on the Mount.  A little late, not forgotten.  Today's chapter focuses on Matthew 5:4 and has to do with mourning.  One of the benefits of reading through Scripture at a slower pace is the opportunity to track with the intent of the author or speaker.  God has inspired Scripture intentionally and not with haphazardness.  So if we take seriously MLJ's argument that all of the Beatitudes are related and have a sequence that "makes sense," we can start doing away with some misconceptions about them.  And, like any Beatitude, this second one can be used, abused, and misused.  We must come to this and ask, "What kind of mourning is the Savior talking about?" to gain a real sense of what the blessing of comfort spoken of here has to do with.  Does this mean everyone on planet earth who is mourning (over one thing or another, from the loss of a child to the loss of their dictatorship over a country) will be comforted?  Is there some kind of "universal blessedness" promised here?  Does the audience matter?  Should we "force" mourning?  What is being talked about here?

Hallmark Doesn't Help

Scripture is complete.  Scripture is clear.  And Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, has themes and truth about God that becomes very clear when we go to it as its own interpreter, in the light-giving ministry of the Holy Spirit.  If a passage of Scripture seems to make you turn your head like the dog in the RCA commercials, like it doesn't make any sense at all, one of the most helpful things you can do is ask this question: Based on what I know about the Bible and what other "clearer" passages have to say about what's in question, what does this passage not mean?  That's probably one of the more helpful questions to understanding hard passages and its not usually the first we want to have answered.  We're quick to want the kernel of application and not so quick to want to know how to get it.  So when we come to something that seems like it could be - and has been - taken way out of context, how do we understand it?

In short, coming to the Word of God and taking one verse here or there isn't as helpful as it is popular.  I've seen "Christian" Valentine's Day cards that go out of their way to find a verse that has love in it, but doesn't make biblical sense to use it that way.  And to fire off a "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" to anyone and everyone is like sending off a greeting card that says (true story) "I have derived much joy and comfort from your love" as a romantic gesture.  Paul was telling Philemon what a blessing it was that he had served the saints so well and faithfully.  Frankly, it would just be better to write "I love you and here are the dozens of reasons why" and fill in the blanks than to chop up a passage of Scripture and use it out of context.  Words matter much more than that!

Mourning What?

So what kind of mourning is in view here?  Here is what MLJ has to say: "Our Lord did not say that those who mourn in a natural sense are happy, meaning by 'mourning', the sorrow experienced because of the death of someone. . . . As we saw that poverty of spirit was not something financial, but something essentially spiritual, so this again is something entirely spiritual and has nothing to do with our natural life in this world" (Studies, 43-44).  Whoa.  Is this too harsh?  Is Lloyd-Jones guilty of "over-spiritualizing"?  In one sense, I think we need to be careful to not over-correct the false impressions we get of these things.  There is comfort for those who are in Christ and mourn.  The Scriptures are clear about God's compassion and care for His people.  And in one sense, every bit of mourning that happens in this fallen world is a result of sin.  So yes, the comfort that comes to those who mourn has to do with real stuff, a real grief over the fallenness of this world.  But what MLJ points out - and this is what we have to see - is the kind of mourning that follows right on the heels of poverty of spirit.  If someone knows themselves bankrupt of any righteousness that will be acceptable before God, what must they mourn?  How do mourning and poverty of spirit relate?

The answer, Lloyd-Jones suggests, is to see that the threshold of conversion is stained with tears mourning sin and its sinfulness.  And as a very, very practical point of application, he has this to say about the failure to recognize the place that mourning over sin has in the Christian life, even characterizing conversion to greater or lesser degrees: "I cannot help feeling that the final explanation of the state of the Church today is a defective sense of sin and a defective doctrine of sin.  Coupled with that, of course, is a failure to understand the true nature of Christian joy.  There is the double failure.  There is not the real, deep conviction of sin as was once the case; and on the other hand there is this superficial conception of joy and happiness which is very different indeed from that which we find in the New Testament.  Thus the defective doctrine of sin and the shallow idea of joy, working together, of necessity produce a superficial kind of person and a very inadequate kind of Christian life" (Studies, 45).

These are certainly hard words.  But if you give some thought to it, it won't take long to conclude that Lloyd-Jones hit the nail on the head more than half a century ago when he preached these words.  And it hasn't gotten any better.  When the garbage of health-wealth-prosperity teaching can convince millions that their best life is now and when the design to provide a shopping mall experience of take it as you like it Christianity marks so many churches, is it any wonder that the Gospel - the life-changing, world-changing, sin-killing, love-producing, God-glorifying Gospel - is not taking hold?  We've got many folks who identify as "evangelical" Christians, yet don't know the Good News that makes evangelicalism evangelical.  MLJ: "They have failed to see that they must be convicted of sin before they can ever experience joy.  They do not like the doctrine of sin.  They dislike it intensely and they object to its being preached.  THey want joy apart from the conviction of sin.  But that is impossible; it can never be obtained.  Those who are going to be converted and who wish to be truly happy and blessed are those who first of all mourn" (Studies, 45).  Indeed, happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Not with the cheesy enticements and false promises of an illegitimate gospel - but with the comfort of God who welcomes sinners into His Kingdom, who extends gracious and open arms for a world at enmity with Him. 

Again, MLJ says: "The man who truly mourns because of his sinful state and condition is a man who is going to repent; he is, indeed, actually repenting already.  And the man who truly repents as the result of the work of the Holy Spirit upon him, is a man who is certain to be led to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Having seen his utter sinfulness and hopelessness, he looks for a Savior, and he finds Him in Christ. . . . He sees in Him the perfect provision that God has made and immediately he is comforted.  That is the astounding thing about the Christian life.  Your great sorrow leads to joy, and without the sorrow there is no joy" (Studies, 49).  Further, this goes on throughout the Christian life - mourning sin, our own and the sin of others, the sin that has brought this world into a ruinous fall - mourning it and finding fullness, hope, peace, and comfort in Christ. 

So that's where we'll end for this installment.  There is certainly more to be said, but I'll leave it off there.  I've got a good, cheesy movie to watch with my wife and a late supper to eat.  Meekness is up next and, Lord willing, that chapter will come in a couple two-three days, as we say around Wisconsin.  Take care.

To God Alone Be the Glory,
-Chris