Learning to be blessed/mourn

Continuing with the expectations of the new covenant that Jesus was presenting we now consider the human concept of mourning.

There are many things that cause us to mourn. Losing a mate or a child is a devastating loss. For a child, the loss of a parent is life changing. The loss of a sibling, a very close friend is a loss that changes how we see things. To lose a very dear friend in a pet, to lose a friend through a misunderstanding, to lose a mentor or a teacher--the list goes on and we all know such losses.

What is mourning? It invades our heart with pain, it numbs our thought processes, it weakens our strength and changes our daily patterns with a sense of futility.

I am sure Jesus was including this very human concept of mourning. But because this is a new covenant and involves very deeply the kingdom of heaven, there is also, I believe, a deeper concept of mourning involved in this verse. Jesus grieved and mourned over Jerusalem.
Luke 13:34-35 (New Living Translation)34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 35 And now, look, your house is abandoned.

Luke 19:41-44 (New Living Translation) 41 But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. 42 “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. 43 Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. 44 They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation.”

There are many examples of men who agonized in prayer and mourned for the condition of Israel in her turning away from God. David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra, and Nehemiah to name a few. The letters of Peter, James, John and Paul are full of references to the sorrow they felt over Israel. Paul even said he would be willing to lose everything to see Israel turn to God.

These references show us a mourning that embraces eternity. The cause of mourning is not personal loss but the loss facing mankind for eternity if they do not repent. This mourning moves outside our own circle and embraces the world. It sees as God sees the downward swirl pulling man to eternal darkness, shut out for all eternity from the Presence of God and His Kingdom of Light. As humans we do not appreciate the ministry of God to this realm. The Father is beholding, the Son is present and ready to receive, and the Spirit of God is hovering, convicting, leading and teaching. The protection of covenant that God has made with this realm is with the just and the unjust. It is a day of opportunity, the Day of Salvation. Man has no concept of how much God is a part of their everyday life. There will be a time when that ends. There will be a day of judgment when every living being will give an account for their time of opportunity. This realm as we know it will be no more for God will replace it with His realm.

Do we mourn for the lost? Do we mourn over the lukewarm condition that God hates? Do we pray, as Daniel did, as though it were our own sin and weep before the Lord? Have we entered into that mourning phase that feels as though the heart within would break? Have tears become our companion and sorrow our daily expression? Is our first thought our own comfort and pleasure?

In covenant language there is a way to loose covenant provision. It is called "condition". "If you do this, the result will be..."
Jesus is saying, "If you mourn, you will be comforted and blessed."

What is the comfort? For our personal loss and mourning, there is the Presence of our Lord and the peace that He brings. Only those who have felt it can understand how warm is the comfort He brings.

For those who have known the mourning for the lost condition of this world and the lukewarm apathy of most of the church world,the Lord holds out His comfort. He hears your prayer and your cry for your nation and the world. You are expressing His heart. He will guide you and make you an instrument of salvation. The hope of His hand guiding and His Spirit hovering gives peace in the midst of travail. God wants you to feel His heart and think His thoughts. He appreciates your carrying the condition of the lost in your heart and takes note of it. It is true identity. You are blessed.