THETWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST,
YEAR C - PROPER 22
LAMENTATIONS 1:1-6; 3:19-26
OCTOBER 2, 2016
ST. AUGUSTINE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
MORROW, GEORGIA
THE REVEREND BARRY GRIFFIN
“GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS”
This morning we heard two selections from The Book of Lamentations. The first selection was our Old Testament lesson. The second replaced our usual psalm.
A lamentation is an outward expression of grief, deep sorrow and despair. The Book of Lamentations is a series of five distinct poems which lament the destruction of the city of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians in the sixth century before Christ.
Conditions were grim indeed. Jewish leaders and prominent families had been deported to Babylon. The great city walls of Jerusalem had been torn down leaving the city defenseless. The King’s palace lay in ruins. And the magnificent temple built by Solomon was destroyed.
Can we imagine such devastation? Perhaps not. In times of war some people have seen similar destruction first hand, but keep this in mind: the Jews recognized the very presence of God in their temple, and now that temple was gone. It was as if God had utterly abandoned Jerusalem forever.
“How lonely sits the city that once was full of people,” the Book of Lamentations begins. “How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations.” Perhaps some of you visited Ground Zero following the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11th. I did, and since then whenever I read these ancient words from Lamentations that tragic scene of destruction comes to mind.
“How lonely sits the city that once was full of people.”
How lonely sits the person who once was full of life.
Sometimes we get blindsided. Sooner or later it happens to everyone.
Life is rolling along as usual when some unforeseen difficulty presents itself. The doctor calls to say there’s something unusual in your blood work. Please come in for more tests as soon as possible. It might be serious.
Your company suddenly announces it must downsize, and guess what? You are among the first to be laid off. Yesterday your future seemed secure. Today you’re scrambling to find a job just to make ends meet.
Over the years you’ve come to take your family life for granted. Then out of the blue your spouse wants a divorce. You never saw it coming. You were, as they say, the last to know.
There are lots of scenarios. Times of crisis happen, and they usually take us off guard. We tend to examine ourselves and ask, “Why did this happen to me? What I did I do to deserve this? Why did God allow such a thing?” There are no easy answers.
I mentioned that the Book of Lamentations is a series of five poems. Poem Three is distinct from the other four. It is the only poem which offers hope. In our second reading from Lamentations we heard these words: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end: they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
In other words, there is hope. The Lord’s mercies never come to an end. We may not see them in the darkness of the night, but they will come. They are new every morning. On this October morning and every Sunday morning we gather to remind ourselves and each other that, no matter what happens, God’s faithfulness is great. His mercies never come to an end.
Yes, darkness comes. It comes collectively to our community, our nation, and our world. It comes individually in times of loss, failure, death, and grief. Simply put, darkness is part of life.
The dominant culture in which we live teaches us to deny darkness. Some religious leaders do the same. The Bible does not. The Bible acknowledges the reality of darkness as part of human existence. The Bible also teaches us to wait: to wait things out. “It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord,” Lamentations tells us today.
Sometimes things get worse before they get better. The night is darkest just before dawn. “Weeping may spend the night,” we read in Psalm 30, “but joy comes in the morning.”
Ultimately it’s a matter of trust. As Paul wrote to Timothy in this morning’s epistle: “I know the one in whom I have put my trust.”
Such is the challenge of the night: to continue to trust God when all seems lost.
There’s a hymn based on this passage from Lamentations. Maybe you noticed.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
[sung]
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with thee,
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not,
As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hath provided,
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Amen.
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