Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on 25 February 2024, by Paul Cooper. The scripture readings that day were Ecclesiasters 3:1-8 and John 11: 1-11, 28-44.

"Blessed are those who Mourn"

Of all the Beatitudes, this is maybe the hardest to understand. Many of us have mourned the loss of loved ones; even the loss of a well-loved pet is hard to accept, as my daughter found when her cat died a few months ago. How much harder is the loss of a husband or wife, mother or father, sibling or even more distant relative? I have experienced these, and seen their effects in others; my aunt, the eldest of my mother’s family, saw her younger brother and sister pass away before she did; I still remember her feeling of wrongness that she, the eldest, lived longest. Saddest of all is the untimely loss of a child; friends of mine back in the UK lost a young child, and still mourn their loss despite being grandparents now. But all of these things happen; many of us have mourned the loss of loved ones. So how can we be blessed by such a devastating experience? Time dulls the hurt, but it never goes away completely. My father passed away 35 years ago, but still things related to him can stir memories – most recently when I glanced at the mirror after shaving my beard off and momentarily saw my father there! My likeness to my father is not great – just a family resemblance - so it was just catching sight of an unfamiliar reflection that triggered the thought, but the thought was still there. My Dad was a keen sailor; when I am sailing I often think of him. And things come up that remind me of my mother, my first wife, Carol and of course most frequently of Calli. Mourning is most intense when we are close to the time of passing of a loved one, but it never goes away completely. The almost overwhelming feelings that engulfed me when Calli passed are now at a distance; I can think of happy times with gladness. But I can still be overcome by unexpected events; I can’t even remember what it was, but a sermon a few weeks ago here sent me down paths of memory.

So, how can we be blessed? Well, for one reason or another, the passage from Ecclesiastes has been going round in my mind recently. The book of Ecclesiastes offers insights into the human condition, and looks at the meaning of life. The very well-known passage we heard simply says that EVERY human experience has a time and a place, and that many are inevitable. For everything, there is a season.

During Lent, Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness remind us that He experienced everything that we can experience. In the letter to the Hebrews, the author says: “For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Of course, Lent reminds us that Jesus suffered in the wilderness. Jesus had to be fully human, and experience every emotion, every pain, every pleasure, every high and every low to be worthy of becoming the great High Priest that is pictured in the letter to the Hebrews. And our reading about the raising of Lazarus confirms this. Lazarus was Jesus’ friend – and when news of Lazarus’ death was brought to Jesus, Jesus reacted just as I did to the death of Carol, of Calli and of others – Jesus wept. John 11 verse 35 is notoriously the shortest verse in the Bible – “Jesus wept”, just two words, but see what an insight into the humanity of Jesus they give! But then we read the rest of the story and see how Jesus also demonstrates the power of God! Of course, the story raises all sorts of questions about exactly how the human and the divine met in Jesus, but I won’t go into that! Whole churches and denominations have been raised with different views on those, and sadly wars fought! It is best to leave it to one side, as one of those mysteries we will understand when we stand in the presence of God. It suffices to say that Jesus was both fully human AND fully God. And as human, He experienced the full range of human emotion – even mourning.

So how can those who mourn be blessed? Well, the account of the raising of Lazarus might give us an insight. Jesus wept, and when the onlookers saw that, they said “See how he loved him!”. Mourning is another side of love; if we never love, we will never mourn. And as the writer of Ecclesiastes says, there is a time for love; if we never experience love, how poor we would be! But without love there is no mourning; those who mourn are blessed because they have learned to love. And love is the highest of the great virtues of faith, hope and love – faith and hope will both end when we see the Kingdom clearly, but love never ends.

And mourning has its own blessings. Mourning is important for our mental health; those who do not mourn are those who are storing trouble for the future. Sadly, the British “stiff upper lip” has a lot to answer for in mental health terms! And I was brought up in an era when boys were often told “Big boys don’t cry!”; it means that I find it hard to express grief. Mourning is a healing process – we do not forget, but mourning helps us to place our loss into context; to allow us to see that our parting need not be forever. And mourning forces us to see our own mortality; to recognize that our time here is limited; that we must use our time wisely. Remember the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, which warns us to be always prepared for the coming of the Lord? Mourning is a sharp reminder that the Lord can come for us at any time, and not at a time we expect. 

There is yet another aspect to mourning. What do we feel when we read of events in the Ukraine, Gaza and the Yemen? Do we rejoice? No, we mourn. We see stories about the death of innocents and the suffering of many, and we mourn. And this is also a blessing because it opens our hearts to the will of God. If we mourn, we can take what action we can. It may not be much, but I always remember the prayer of St Teresa of Avila: “Christ has no body but yours”. Mourning for the evil in the world is a blessing because it prompts action – and through our action, onlookers will see the love of Christ. And although it might feel like there is little that we can do, we have access to the greatest power there is; through prayer we have access to the mind and power of God. But in prayer, we must also be ready to accept that we might be part of the answer to our prayer, just as St Teresa said.

So, where are we? Well, those who mourn are indeed blessed! First, because if they mourn, they have also loved. And love is the highest and greatest of the virtues; Love never ends! I mourn my loss of parents and wives, but I am assured that we will meet again in the Love of the Father. And if anyone wonders about pets, I will say what a former vicar of mine said – that only Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden!

Beyond that, we mourn events in the world because God too mourns them. And our mourning means that we are aware of the sin of the world and take our stand against it. If we did not mourn for the sin of the world and for our own sin, we would have no share in the Kingdom of God. So mourning is the gateway to the Kingdom of God; if we do not mourn our own sin, how can we enter the Kingdom?

Finally mourning unlocks our own desire for action. Mourning prompts a desire for change! And so I’ll close with the Prayer of St Teresa:  

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which He looks

Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are His body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.