In this sermon, Greg shares about the importance of lament during a time of loss and liminality. Building upon the ideas introduced by David last week, he expands on the topic and shares about his own experiences and the emotions he’s been wrestling with.
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Lamenting A to Z
• Greg Boyd
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The Psalmist in the focus scripture has confident hope he’ll see the goodness of God in the land of the living, which presupposes that he’s not seeing it at the present time. He’s saying that hope makes you strong and courageous enough to wait. In times when the goodness of God is not apparent, it takes strength and courage to wait. Greg shares how this is not something that he has ever been very good at.
In March when our lives radically changed because of the pandemic, Greg spoke about gratitude – that giving thanks is the key to happiness. While Greg was reflecting on the sermon shared by David last week, he began to rethink what he is experiencing during this time, and in his life as a whole. This has meant that he, and we, have to learn to lament.
Greg titled this message Lamenting A to Z, referring to the passage from Lamentations where the author writes with an acrostic so that the reader is forced to go all the way down through the process of lamenting, and not just skip over the pain in order to make themself feel better.
“Liminality” describes our current situation: we are living in an in-between space where we’ve moved beyond the old and familiar, yet the new has not developed. It is a time where we feel the loss of the old but we don’t know what is going to replace it. It is a unique space because it is a time when we are most open to the work of the Spirit in our lives. The prayer that expresses the pain and confusion of living in an in-between time, a liminal time, is called lament. It is an honest expression of pain, confusion, and fear of being “in-between.”
We don’t like being in-between, unsure and off balance. We prefer to be in control. We’re tempted to minimize or totally ignore our need to lament. This is especially tempting for Christians because we’re taught that with Jesus, we can have a joy that’s unspeakable and full of glory, and that isn’t affected by the ups and downs of life. In that light, spending time reflecting on feelings of loss and pain, or confusion and doubt can seem unspiritual.
Greg shared how he has been experiencing liminality and how the practice of lament has been something that he has avoided, and how he is not embracing it.
The only way to grow through your pain – to let God do all he wants while you’re in a liminal space – is to STOP, GRIEVE, and WAIT. If we don’t give ourselves space to feel our pain and grieve, we limit the good that God can bring out of our pain. Lamenting “A to Z” is crucial to our ongoing spiritual health.
We are called to live in hope: in the confident assurance that God’s love wins in the end, and that when God’s Kingdom finally comes in fullness, our suffering will have been more than worth it. But living in hope doesn’t mean we should gloss over the ugly stuff that life dishes our way. Living in hope just means we have the assurance that the pain we feel doesn’t have the last word. In fact, it means that we have the assurance that God can even use our pain to move us in the direction of our hope.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Hope, Pain & Suffering, Prayer
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The MuseCast : May 26
Focus Scripture:
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Psalm 27:13-14
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
3 thoughts on “Lamenting A to Z”
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"We have been podrishioners for several months. Our daughter, son-in-law and grandkids moved back to California after living in MN for 10 years. They attended Woodland Hills for about a year before they moved. Now we all go to the beach together on Thursdays, come home and have dinner together, then we watch last Sunday’s sermon together. It is a special day for our family."
– Dale and Patricia, from California
Thanks Greg
There are Psalms of lament
Ps 10,12,13
Also Marva Dawn wrote marvelous books on lamenting
Rob
Calgary, Alberta
PS I did a 300 hour study on the etymology of the words eternal and forever and they mean in the Greek aion, age.
also a plural form, eternities? forevers ? No
So so many thanks for speaking to this topic and your beautiful vulnerability Greg! You named where I was, yet didn’t have words to describe. And you named my frustration with big C Church and how our processing is cut short by people using Scripture to stop feelings from being fully felt! My prayer is that emotional intelligence also be practiced. Sending comfort as you walk through it all!💗
Greg, I humbly suggest reading, “Lamentations and the tears of the World,” by Kathleen M. O’Connor. This scholarly yet personal look at Lamentations has been helpful to me during my own ongoing season of lament. Her theological wrestling with the text offers several interesting points of convergence with your work in “God at War” and “Crucifixion of the Warrior God.” More importantly, like your sermon here, it honors the reality of the human condition of pain and suffering.