On Lament and Lamentations (pt. 4)

Lament has been called a "lost art" and it seems to be a spiritual practice we have largely neglected in modern Western Christianity. For the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of the key spiritual truths that the book of Lamentations has to teach us. They are lessons and truths that we might otherwise miss if we try our own shortcuts past suffering.

Lamentations is a book about wrestling. It wrestles with the pain of judgment. It wrestles with all that has been lost. It wrestles with the God who has sent the suffering. 

While turning to God as the only source of relief, the author of Lamentations never turns against God. 

Lamentations still portrays God as good, even if it doesn't feel that way. Look how the book ends:

You, Lord, reign forever;

    your throne endures from generation to generation.

20 

Why do you always forget us?

    Why do you forsake us so long?

21 

Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;

    renew our days as of old

22 

unless you have utterly rejected us

    and are angry with us beyond measure.

(5:19-22)

God is still in control, he is still the one to make this right. He is still good...but the results are up to him. Lamentations reveals a genuine faith - a complete commitment to letting God be God. Ending it ambiguously, "unless you have utterly rejected us...", leaves us with the tension of waiting on God. And that's ok. 

God would step by step bring the restoration this book is so hungry for. They are restored back to their land under Ezra and Nehemiah. They are delivered in the inter-testamental period from their Greek aggressors. And finally, some five centuries later, Jesus arrives. The promised Messiah appears to restore the people to their God and inaugurate his Kingdom.

The story of Lamentations leaves things open-ended in the short-term because it leads us to Christ in the long-term.  God is still on the throne; he is still good and will make good on his promises to his people.

On Lament and Lamentations (pt.3)

Lament has been called a "lost art" and it seems to be a spiritual practice we have largely neglected in modern Western Christianity. For the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of the key spiritual truths that the book of Lamentations has to teach us. They are lessons and truths that we might otherwise miss if we try our own shortcuts past suffering.

If there’s any passage you know from Lamentations, it is the verses of 3:22-24:

22 

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

    for his compassions never fail.

23 

They are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

24 

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;

    therefore I will wait for him.”

These lie at the center of the book in chapter 3 and I don't think that is an accident. The pivot point for lament is this core truth about God. Lament could turn into bitterness if we didn't have this as our hope. 

In the previous post, we noted how God harshly judges sin. He's the ultimate cause of their suffering as they have forced him to punish their sin because they've refused to repent and loved their rebellion. So as chapter three is added to the equation, Lamentations confronts us with this paradox:

While God is the source of our pain, he’s our only hope of relief.

Later on in the chapter – 3:55-57

I called on your name, Lord,

    from the depths of the pit.

56 

You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears

    to my cry for relief.”

57 

You came near when I called you,

    and you said, “Do not fear.”

They have endured God's wrath, but they know they can still turn to their God.

And this isn't just limited to this part of Scripture. If you go to other places in the Bible with laments, you’ll see this same pattern. Google “Lament Psalms” almost every single one will end with an expression of trust and hope in God.

Even if answers aren’t apparent…

Even if relief isn’t on the horizon...

...We can still trust God. He's our only hope of relief.

An Up-and-Down Update

So I've had quite an interesting week. 

Let me start with Monday, when I had a true day off. The boys were at day care and my wife was working. I got to do my own thing at home. Nothing majorly exciting, attending a Grace basketball practice binging some tv shows, a nap. 

And then the mail came. 

We got several pieces of mail but two in particular had a pretty impactful effect on my next 24-72 hours.

One was a bill from a local Urgent Care facility that we had used at the end of October when our youngest had slipped and cut his chin open at the McDonald's playground. 

The other was from our Student Loan company. 

Before I get into further details about those things, let me also add that I checked my bank accounts online and discovered my credit card company was attempting to recharge one of our accounts for the 3-4th time after we had to straighten out a payment issue a few weeks before. 

So by Monday evening my restful and refreshing day off had taken quite a stressful turn with three separate issues needing my attention.

The Urgent Care bill was by far the most stress-inducing. When we'd taken my son in to get his chin taken care of, they cleaned in and superglued it and he was good to go. It was coded and sent to our health insurer who rejected the claim because it constituted "surgery" and was not one of the codes covered by our benefits. Therefore we were looking at a $500 bill for superglue. 

The Student Loan company letter was a notice indicating that my application for a special Public Service Loan Relief was in essence denied. As long as applicants had made 120 payments of student loans while working for a non-profit - they should receive this relief (even money returned as I understand it). I checked those boxes and had properly filled out the paperwork but they were now saying I had maybe 4 payments that qualified (?). This had to be a mistake. 

I was upset and frustrated with all three of these things basically piling on at the same time. And given the time of day, there was nothing I could do about it immediately. Except of course take it to the Lord. I have felt spiritually worn down for awhile now and am planning a sabbatical early next year. And with this stuff I felt like I was getting to the end of my rope. So I took it to the Lord and even in that I could sense a little bit of hope coming through. He's come through in the past, why doubt that he will in the present?

So Tuesday morning came and it started on a good note. My bank account-credit card issue got resolved and I'm pretty sure for good this time. That started things off well.

Things didn't go as smoothly as I contacted the Urgent Care facility. The code was correct as was the price being charged apparently. My health insurance company wasn't budging either. It was about the code from their end of things.

At this point I felt the need to righteously vent. Which I did with a Facebook post. I figured I'd have friends who'd have sage advice with all of this and I was not disappointed. It is also nice to have three ladies in our church who have experience with medical coding and billing when it comes to their previous careers.

At some point Tuesday afternoon, I pivoted to address the Student Loan Relief issue. Thankfully, the customer service agent I connected with was super-helpful and informative. She indicated that the letter I received was basically a standard form letter and that my application was technically still being reviewed and once they confirmed my employment, my status would likely change. 

Yay! Hope!

As I arrived home Tuesday, I grabbed the mail and among the numerous random things, I noticed an unsealed card envelope. Once I got our boys and our stuff loaded into the house, I looked closer at the envelope. Low and behold, someone had inserted 5 crisp $100 bills. Clearly God moved someone to generously help. I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head. Of course God's coming through like this!

So really by Tuesday evening, all three super stressful issues had been resolved to a point. 

On Wednesday, I felt the need to still cover all the bases on the urgent care matter. As instructed by some of my sources, I left a message with the urgent care folks that I would be paying but wanted to file a grievance, which I spelled out to them. 

Calling my insurance company back, this new customer service person let me know that my policy actually included a Accident Waiver I could fill out for out-of-pocket expenses for accident care that isn't covered by our benefits. So we will likely be reimbursed for what we paid (over a $250 minimum)! Blessing up on blessing!

So, I've had quite an up-and-down week. And God has come through for us in some beautiful ways. It's pretty humbling to be honest. Thank you Lord!

Sermon Snippets - Tamar, the Righteous Prostitute

A little over a year ago, I read and reviewed "Vindicating the Vixens" edited by Dr. Sandra Glahn. I really enjoyed this survey of prominent women in Scripture who have been misunderstood and misrepresented in our common evangelical interpretations.

I decided to use it as a guide for this summer's sermon schedule. I usually try to come up with a series that will work through the summer when people often miss more often. This way, they can still glean a lot out of a specific week's sermon, but not feel lost or behind in the overall series.

Yesterday was my first sermon based on the characters featured in this book. We took a look at Tamar in Genesis 38, who is both described as a prostitute and righteous.

It was one of my favorite sermons I've preached in awhile.

The audio will be up on our website later this week here, but one of the pieces of evidence that she's a righteous hero in this complex story is how the Bible refers to her in other places.

Not only is she described as "righteous" in 38:26 for her actions, but King David names a daughter after her (2 Samuel 13). Absalom names his daughter Tamar as well, though I'm more inclined to see that as a tribute to his sister (2 Sam. 14:27).

Tamar also comes up in the story of Ruth. Ruth's story is another unorthodox account of love and family and God's redemption. In the concluding chapter, the people of Boaz's community give him their blessing, saying,

Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring which the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

On the surface, one could accuse Tamar just being a scheming femme fatale, going to great lengths just to start a family.

In reality, we see Scripture honoring her for her bold steps to seek what was right. Labels like "righteous" aren't given out to everybody in the story of God. And naming children after an ancestor was a way to show admiration for their character.