Sunday 18Oct09, Matthew 5: 4, Ecclesiastes 7: 2
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted Matt. 5: 4
Yesterday my wife and I attended the funeral of a dearly beloved Sister in Christ who went home to be with the Lord after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Both she and her husband, Michael, were members of our student Christian Fellowship in university back in the early 80's. We've lost touch with one another over the years, but renewed contact by e-mail only this year.
And she has left us now.
She leaves behind Michael, with three grown-up children Nigel, Audrey and Dennis. There was quiet bereavement at the home during the funeral, with some effort made in keeping back the tears as the family members greeted and welcomed the guests, many of whom were fellow members of the varsity CF many years ago.
It was indeed a time of mourning.
Mourning is a time of grief. It is a time of sadness and tears. And it is often a time of weeping. In Genesis 23: 2, it is written that Abraham wept over Sarah when she died at an old age. Later, in Genesis 50: 1 - 10, Joseph wept over the death of his father Jacob. Together with Joseph, the Egyptian officials mourned for seventy days. Verse 10 says, everyone lamented loudly and bitterly.
Likewise, in Mark 5:38, we read that people cried and wailed loudly when Jairus' daughter died from illness. Mary also wept, in John 11:33, when her brother Lazarus died. Even our Lord Jesus wept when he subsequently arrived at their home.
Mourning is also a time of sojourn. Mourning takes time. It does not end upon completion of the funeral and the burial. The grieving continues for a time.
Recall that in Genesis 50:10, the entire cortege in Egypt mourned at Jacob's funeral for seventy days. In old testament times, a woman taken in battle must be allowed to mourn for her dead husband for at least a month. This period of mourning can be likened to a journey, a pilgrimage, at the end of which is the comfort of God.
Revelations 21: 4 tells us that at the end of our sojourn there will be no more death. No more sorrow, nor crying. Neither shall there be any more pain. Mourning can be likened to our pilgrimage on this earth. When one mourns, one becomes a sojourner for a short time towards the comfort of God. At the end of one's sojourn, God gives relief. He takes away the sorrow and crying.
Finally, mourning is a time of blessing. In his sermon on the mount, our Lord Jesus teaches us that those who mourn are blessed because they will be comforted. (Matt. 5: 4). That is the foremost reason why mourning is a time of blessing. Those of us who suffer grief and bereavement are blessed by the comfort of God our Father. A blessing which can only be received and experienced in times of mourning.
We may also think of another reason why mourning is a time of blessing. Ecclesiastes 7: 2 tells us that it is better to go to a funeral than to a feast:
Better to go to the house of mourning
Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to heart.
Thus, it is a blessing of reminder, of taking to heart, each time we attend a funeral, when we mourn together with the bereaved, that we remind ourselves this is the end of our days on earth, as we pass on to better days with the Lord in paradise.
Dear Christian, let us ponder over the blessing of mourning. Blessed are those who mourn.
