Mourning for what was.

So, now we have social distancing requirements, stay-at-home orders, threats of total lock-down, food and essential item shortages, hoarding, curtailments of constitutional rights, closings in every segment of society, cancellations, vast virtual education systems, on-line church, stock and financial shenanigans, and many other market-place, community, and human realities super-imposed over our lives. All of this, and more, in the "...land of the free and home of the brave". There's been mountains of comic relief too as the surprising dynamics of Covid-19 slipped into our lifestyles. We Americans know the value of good humor when life takes nasty turns. Still, to live under restrictions and heightened awareness isn't the norm for most of us free souls. It's a fact of life, though. We humans don't always appreciate what we have until we have it no longer.

Last night Harriet and I saw a live shot of NYC's Times Square during one of the news segments. Times Square was nearly desolate, a central gathering place of our most populated city. It reminded me immediately of the first sentence of Lamentations, Jeremiah's five poems about desolated and defeated Jerusalem---

How lonely sits the city that was full of people!

Lamentations 1: 1, ESV

The Prophet Jeremiah's first poem in Lamentations is mourning for what was. His first chapter chronicled the then and now truth of Judah's decline, the glories of God's favor in the past, the disgrace of God's punishment in the present. The nation "who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave" (v. 1). Remembering their former status in contrast to their fall stirred him deeply, both as God's prophet to the nation and as an individual servant of God. Verses 1-11a of chapter one are somber, grieving notes about the God's chosen people, their land, and their city. In verses 11b-22 Jeremiah addressed his own personal plight and the sorrow for his spiritual decline. He wrote, "For these things I weep, my eyes flow with tears, for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit" (Lamentations 1: 16, ESV). In looking back, he concluded "...for all my groans are many, and my heart is faint" (Lamentations 1: 22, ESV). Faint indeed!

Living in the past is generally criticized in Scripture. Several significant Bible passages give us directions for forward movement, our take on progress---

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a

new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the

wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43: 18-19, ESV

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting

what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal

for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3: 13-14, ESV

It is true that many believers, and congregations for that matter, actually live in the past, times when spiritual lives were responsive and active, with little movement now. Still, a glance in the rear-view mirror on occasion to see where we've been is essential in charting a course for the future. Jeremiah knew he couldn't turn back the clock. He was mourning what was as a reminder that the God who had guided them then, was the God who would guide them again. He and the nation needed personal renewal.

At this point the Covid-19 remains a challenging unknown. As we practice social distancing, isolating ourselves, being restricted to the house, let us remember and thank God for our then, reflect on the joys of life in this great nations, and pray that we have hope in the days ahead.

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The Hope of a Nation.

Lamentations are Jeremiah's five sorrowful poems about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BC. They mourn the downfall of Judah and express two levels of intense suffering, the personal pain of Jeremiah and the angst of the people. The City of David, Jerusalem, was believed to be the dwelling place of God, at Mount Zion (see Psalm 9:11, 76:2, 135:21). The temple, of course, was the center of their religious life. To the Jewish nation their violation by foreign armies was the conclusion of God's favor and blessings, their ruin as a dominant force among the nations. Many of the Hebrew people were taken into Babylonian Exile as a result of being conquered. Jeremiah's poems acknowledged their sinful ways and accepted their defeat as God's punishment.

For an unknown reason the author used acrostics to relate the dirge-like qualities of the poems. Chapters 1, 2, and 4 are 22 verses each, every verse beginning with consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 3 is 66 verses with an alphabetic letter grouping three verses each. Chapter 5 is 22 verses with no acrostics. There's much speculation about the use of the alphabet in the poems. Let's not go there in this context.

While four of the poems are sorrowful and repentant, several verses in Chapter 3 are considered the central theme God inspired Jeremiah to recite to the nation.

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 who seeks him. It is good that one

should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear

the yoke in his youth.

Lamentations 3: 21-27, ESV

For the sake of space I have removed the poetic meter of these words. Recalling the character of God, they are words of comfort, the promise of God's faithfulness as Judah faced so many uncertainties. He called them to mind because they gave Jeremiah hope. Jeremiah wrote them because they were words of hope for the nation as well. They are words we should perhaps note and pray in these uncertain times.

We are not mourning the loss of our nation. Americans are pulling together for the most part in dealing with the Covid-19 virus. That is an essential element of our national character, how we measure up corporately in challenging circumstances. The virus is a bothersome inconvenience right now. It is, however, raising doubts and questions about our system of government, economic policies, employment possibilities, educational structure, and medical preparation. You know, uncertainties that are playing by the day.

With Jeremiah, we should know the answers for these national questions are with our Heavenly Father. This morning I read all four verses of The Star Spangled Banner. The entire hymn is a declaration of the American spirit, the grit and commitment of the citizens in "...the land of the free and the home of the brave." The fourth verse was especially encouraging , one that I learned in grade school but let slip to the edges of personal memory---

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation. Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: 'in God is our trust.' And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

God was the hope of the nation then, in 1814. He is the hope of the nation now! It's what Jeremiah said to the people of Judah, and over the centuries to God's people facing difficult times.

The hope of the nation.

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Try a Little Kindness.

The other day someone posted a YouTube video of the Glen Campbell 1970 release Try a Little Kindness. 1970 was a time of cultural stress in the United States and Campbell's song soothed a few nerves in the American psyche. Headline news then included---more than 100,000 Americans protested the Vietnam War in the nation's capital; President Nixon ordered the secret invasion of Cambodia; the Chicago 7 were convicted of instigating a riot at the Democratic convention two years earlier; the Apollo 13 astronauts radioed "Houston, we have a problem" when their oxygen tanks malfunctioned and the mission was cancelled. And, woe is me, Paul McCartney announced that the Beatles were breaking up. In addition, gender dynamics were beginning to surface, younger Americans were demanding voting rights, and racial tensions continued to mount. All to conclude that Campbell's Try a Little Kindness resonated with our population. It was the number two hit on country charts.

Kindness? Sure, it's a cure-all for many cultural anxieties. Who doesn't brighten up when kind words are spoken or when a smile or warm greeting is extended? Even more, just think how some of the vitriol of social and electronic media could be abated by words and language that is pleasing to God. And, that's a broad understanding of the Hebrew words translated gracious in Solomon's Proverbs. The people of his day would have equated gracious words with language acceptable to the Father. Make note---

The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but gracious words are

pure.

Proverbs 15: 26, ESV

Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Proverbs 16:24, ESV

He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his

friend.

Proverbs 22:11, ESV

Gracious words drip with purity, and sweetness. The king will embrace a gracious person as friend when critical assessments are over-ridden by generous and kind speech. Those were most likely words from King Solomon's own heart. He knew the bitter taste of hateful talk. So, do most of our elected officials these days. Shame on us. We ought to try a little kindness.

The Apostles Luke and Paul also wrote about gracious talk. Luke's orderly account of Christ's life includes an assessment of his teaching by the people in the synagogue at Nazareth. They acknowledged that Jesus was the earthly son of Joseph. They could not imagine where he had mastered the holy language of the day. Luke wrote---

And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from

his mouth.

Luke 4: 22, ESV

Jesus, our Lord and example spoke words of grace. In a second New Testament reference The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Colossae. His instruction Included inspired thought about their use of language. He wrote---

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you

ought to answer each person.

Colossians 4: 6, ESV

Paul had faced every kind of opposition, hardship, and hateful words. He reminded his readers that gracious words are beneficial in every verbal interchange.

Luke and Paul used a Greek term more familiar to us. Gracious words were words filled with grace, charis, commonly defined as unmerited favor. This kindness isn't usually deserved or earned. Gracious words don't retaliate, settle scores, or take aim at the person receiving them. The are how we should respond to every person in a verbal exchange, regardless of the circumstances that occasion them.

These are volatile times. Media today gives us the social distancing that enable us to lower the boom on people that disagree with us. In such times, we should Try a Little Kindness so that our words, even when hard, are not harsh or destructive.

Try a Little Kindness. It's a double blessing---one, to the person who delivers them, and two, to the one who speaks them. Click here to listen to Glen Campbell.

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