Lamentations 2:8-15
Revelation 5:1-10
The LORD determined to lay in ruins
the wall of daughter Zion;
he stretched the line;
he did not withhold his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to lament;
they languish together…
All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
they hiss and wag their heads
at daughter Jerusalem;
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of all the earth?”
(Lamentations 2:8, 15)
Yowza! Boy is Lamentations ever appropriately named!
Today’s lectionary passage begins by detailing the ruins that God is about to lay to His own city, Jerusalem. At the end of the passage, more than a little salt is rubbed into that wound when the author foretells of others – non-Israelites – passing by the ruins and scoffing, “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?” Ouchie!
What is going on here and, moreover, why is this reading even part of the lectionary cycle? Why drive us into such terrible depths of despair? Why focus us here and not elsewhere?
I can’t answer all those questions, but I do suspect that the lectionary often gives us psalms and writings of lament because the Christians who have organized these selections of readings knows that life is often full of just reasons for lament. They know that strong bodies age into weakness. They know that sharp minds dull into confusion. They know that once-vibrant churches turn into a cluster of 20 people spread over 3 families and 4 widows. They know the entropy of life has a way of creeping into every corner of it, laying waste to what was once beautiful, marvelous, splendid. Mostly, though, they know that even in the pain points of life, God is still present – especially the God who entered the greatest pain point of life on the Cross.
Of course, none of this may placate you if you were having a fine day up until the moment you read this lamentation. But that’s also okay, because sometimes a lectionary reading (and corresponding devotional) is not meant for you on this day, but on a future day; sometimes it’s not meant for your happy life, but for the weeping widow or listless widower. It’s okay – good even – to give these folks some space in scripture and devotion.
The Good News is that scripture never gives us a lamentation without a divine resolution. Oftentimes that resolution comes in an unexpected form. Most of the time it comes on a less-than-hasty timeline (for, of course, when we’re suffering, resolution of suffering cannot come quick enough! By definition, whenever the resolution comes, it’ll feel too slow). And so it is in this passage. For I read this passage in tandem with the one from Revelation 5 (not quoted above) in which we find that God has established a New Jerusalem and made none other than God’s own Son, Jesus Christ, the true and eternal King of this New Jerusalem. I take from these paired readings a call to confidence (“confidence” literally translates to “with faith”) that no amount of suffering today will mean anything once God resolves it. All tears will be wiped away. All hunger sated. All injustices accounted for. All sins forgiven.
In the meanwhile, we can do our souls a favor by not repeatedly dragging them over every disappointment and hurt, but rather by refocusing on what we trust will come true when God hears our lamentation and has mercy. What we, then, are to practice in the intermediary is the virtue of patience powered by trust. For the one who make speak our lamentation over us today will be the one who will sing our glory later. Thanks be to God! Amen.
