On Sorrow and Responsibility
This week we were introduced to our sermon series in Lamentations, and we learned that lament is the Biblical model for speaking our suffering, the language of sorrow. But aren’t born with fluency in this language. And we don’t study it in school, or hear it often from the lips of our media, mentors, or literature. So when it comes to learning how to lament, we naturally are hiking uphill, feeling a bit of a learning curve. We have to get through the “training wheel” phase, if you will.
In light of this reality, I wanted to provide a brief clarification to a question that may have arisen already or may arise in your heart during our time in Lamentations:
When I experience suffering and sorrow, is it always the result of my sin?
Lamentations does not pull any punches, and we saw that this Sunday. It is very clear from the text that the suffering that the people of Jerusalem are experiencing is in part due to their rebellion against God. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God warned the people what would happen if they did not turn away from their idolatry. In this way, they should not have been surprised when their sin led to sorrow and suffering. In the same way, God also may use sorrow and pain and suffering to discipline those he loves (Heb 12:6) and to help them to turn away from sin. In our sinfulness against God, he is under no obligation to prevent the suffering of the world from overtaking us, but only does so by his mercy. In fact, sorrow and suffering, which may come as a result of our sin, often is the means by which God brings us towards holiness (James 1:2-4).
This does not mean, however, that every specific suffering or sorrow you experience is a direct result of your specific sin. Jesus rebukes this fatalistic understanding of the sovereignty of God directly. We see an example of this in the gospel of John, chapter 9.
As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
The sorrow of blindness that this man suffered was not directly linked to his sin or his parents' sin. Yes, it was a result of the fall of man into sin (before Adam and Eve sinned, there was no sorrow, and in the new heavens and new earth there will be no sorrow either), but Jesus is not concerned with throwing guilt on those who are sorrowful. After all, he came to heal the spiritual sick and to relieve burdens, not heap them up. Instead, Jesus points out that this man's blindness is meant not to point out his sin, but rather to point out the great sovereign mercy of God. When we suffer, we should always see an opportunity to search our hearts for sin (Psalm 139:23-24), but we should also learn to acknowledge that sometimes the purpose of our suffering is not primarily to show us our sin, but to show the mercy of God. Think of Job, who was a righteous (although not perfect) man, and yet still saw great sorrow.
In the same way, we should have compassion on those who suffer unjustly (because of abuse, predjudice, etc) or who suffer seemingly without direct blame (disability, sickness, etc). Instead of pointing fingers and heaping guilt on those who are burdened, we have the opportunity to preach a gospel of freedom that provides purpose in our suffering.
In particular focus is our response to physical, sexual, or spiritual abuse that is sadly sometimes found in Christian circles. The reality of our repentance and lament should never lead us to victim-shaming. If anything, it should be the stark opposite. Lament provides the language to cry out to God when we see injustice and to seek to protect the vulnerable and point them to the comfort of the gospel; it should never give us opportunity to enable the abusers. Lament should be the language we use when we experience injustice, and the language that moves us to worship that is pleasing to God as we plead the cause of the oppressed (Isaiah 1:17). I pray that abuse of any kind is never coddled or explained away in our church.
In other words, yes, our sorrow is the result of sin. And sometimes, God is disciplining us to lead us away from personal sin into holiness. But other times, our sorrow is a result of the sin of others, and God’s purpose is not to heap blame on us but to showcase his glory in us as we endure suffering by his sustaining power (1 Peter 2:21). If this is the case, the victims of unjust sorrow who endure with hope are not to be blamed, but to be praised, because they model their savior who unjustly endured sorrow of sorrows so that he might bring comfort to God’s people.