Blessed Are They That Mourn (Matt 5;4)
Magdalen College January 22nd 2017
Blessed are they that mourn (Matt 5;4)
Isaiah 57: 14-21 and Luke 7: 1-10.
There’s a famous line in theSherlock Holmes story called ‘Silver Blaze’. A famous race-horse of that name has disappeared and the trainer has been found dead. The police Inspector asks whether there any points to which Holmes would wish to draw his attention?”
Holmes replies: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”
“The dog did nothing in the night-time”
“That”responds Holmes “was the curious incident”.
The dog that didn't bark. It’s what’s missing that gives a vital clue….in this case - the dog must have known the assailant.
Noticing what’s missing can be important elsewhere too. It was considered a useful preparation for Oxford interviews, as many of you may know. We were told to prepare for the possibility we might get asked the question:What have you have read on economics, politics, etc., We had toreckon that after we’d proudly mentionedour favorite tome, the interviewermight say to us: “yes, and what do you think was missing from that book?”
With this in mind, let us turn to the second Beatitude and see what’s missing:
"Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
The first thing that is missing is a miracle.
Mourning means something important has been lost, a deep expectation has come to nothing. It may be a death of a loved one, or a hoped-for baby not conceived or carried to full term. It may be a job we didn't get. Something's gone wrong - and we are left bereft. This beatitude promises that when the kingdom of God comes, the bereft will be comforted. But why should we be in this situation at all?
Where’s the miracle? Isn't the kingdom of God supposed to bring an end to tragedy, to death, to disappointment? After all, when we think of Jesus, we naturally think of the miracle stories– indeed, we heard of one such miracle just now - the centurion’s servant - whose healing meant that a possible tragedy was averted - there was no mourning because there was no death. Isn’t that what the kingdom is all about?
Jesus seems to be saying – these miraculous healings are not telling you
what you might think. They are not saying that tragedy will never come about. In fact, if we think that the kingdom of God is about avoiding tragedy in our personal life, or professionally - or politically - then, Jesusseems to say in this beatitude, you have misunderstood the whole thing....
There will be grieving;
There will be mourning.
A second thing that missing is the political context. Matthew’s gospel was written at a time when his Jewish Christian readers would be mourning huge losses.The loss of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple by the Romans, the loss of homeland. This was like Syria today - the deliberate destruction of a place and dispersion of the people, to put down a rebellion that threatened those who held political power. Jewish Christians had thought this would surely usher in the Day of the Lord --- but it had not come to rescue them as they clearly thought it would.
Dashed hopes - and mourning as serious as any we might be feeling inthe midst of the current political upheavals in the Middle East, the UK, Europe and the United States (if you don’t like what’s unfolding there right now).
“They shall be comforted” - Matthew’s gospel seems to miss out this huge political context. But does he? In fact, his gospel has already hinted at just such a context. For this is not the first time the gospelhas used the word ‘comforted’. It is also to be foundat the point where the Christmas story turns dark:exactly at the point wherepower politics intervened: King Herod got wind of Jesus’ birth –and ordered the slaughter of the innocent children of the Bethlehem region. At that point, Matthew hears echoes of “Rachel weeping for her children” - “refusing to be comforted, for they were no more”.
The second beatitude is the next, and the only other time, Matthewwill use the word “comforted” in his gospel:it looks back to dark times - “blessed are they that mourn, for – despite all that has happened - Jesus seems to say - they shall be comforted”.
Comfort is not about miraculous interventions from outside, escapes from death or tragedy, personally or politically. It seems instead we are being invited to look inward – What are we looking for?
We might get a hint from thethird thing that is missing from this beatitude.What we don’t get here is the sense that those who mourn have to DO anything to deserve the promised comfort. It doesn't say they will be comforted IF THEY GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER. This is hugely important. There is no moral demand here; no mountain to be climbed or fence to jump; no standard to be judged against.
It turns out that in the life of the kingdom of God, being comforted is about letting that which mourns in us have its space to express its need.
Comfort takes time and arises from within.
A friend of mine found a few years ago he had colon cancer and needed a stoma bag.I was seeing him and his wife a few days after surgery, expressing sympathy. They said that it was fine: “Better a bag than a box” they said. I was amazed at their humour and resilience. Afterwards, I realized how tempting it would be to think that this comment would reassure others. Imagine their physicianhearing this comment, and thinking: I must remember this for when I have to break bad news.….and in the midst of a patient’s shock and tears trying to reassure them by saying: ‘better a bag than a box”. The very same thing that comforts and reassures when it is our own discovery is not reassuring at all when it is imposed from outside.
The beatitude suggests that the comfort that comes for those who mourn is not imposed from outside; its not doctrinaire or looking for quick results. The comfort that Jesus brings is an intimate work of courage that arises
from deeply within the heart - a welling up of peace from a sacred space within.
Indeed, although Matthew does not use the word “comforted” again in his gospel, it will become a central theme of John’s gospel when Jesus promises that his death will mean that the Comforter (parakletos) will come – the indwelling spirit.
This brings us to the fourth and final missing element; there’s no blue-print for what mourning is, and so, no set recipe for how to meet it. Mourning means many things: as we’ve seen, mourning can come about because people have suffered tragedy that has robbed them of the life they knew.
But there is also a type of mourning that is very subtle, and so common we may take it for granted: my last word must be for those who suffer in this way: I’m referring to the constant low-level grief that many of us have because we believe that we are “not good enough” - either because of how we are, or because of mistakes we have made in the past. This low-level grief and mourning comes from a sense of having fallen short again and again, a sense of having messed up– messed up relationships, or work, or our head- we want to be betterpeoplethan we are, butwe constantly feel - well, broken.
The kingdom of God that Jesus announces is one that brings comfort because it says again and again, “I know you’ve messed up – but you are loved and forgiven and accepted just as you are”.
Blessed are those who mourn –the kingdomis to be found in what’s missing - what’s hidden. Instead of a kingdom of miracles where tragedy is unknown or averted,we discernthat Jesus promises peace in the midst of themessed up lives we actually live.
Instead of a kingdom for those who are powerful or think they deserve it, who get their act together to acquirewhatever comfort can be bought - we discern that Jesus promises a lifein whichthat which mourns in us has its space and the time to express its deep need.
And insteadof a blueprint, we see there are many wayswe may find ourselves grieving…some hardly acknowledged…But at least when we can see clearly that we are grieving over something lost; then that very admission may be the start of the comfort and healing promised in these words of Jesus.
…and when this intimate, inward healing has begun, then we may have the wisdom and the energy to go out and change the world.
God give you the grace, whatever loss it is that you may have suffered in the past or are suffering now, to experience the deep peace of Christ’s comfort.
Amen
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