This past week has been one of the hardest in my calling as a pastor. Within 24 hours we had three deaths in our congregation: one by cancer, one took his own life, and the other two by a murder-suicide.[i]
There is no sufficient response to these tragedies on this side of heaven. There are no answers, no sense to be made of such senseless loss. There is only grief and the promise that God is sovereign and he grieves with us.
I keep returning to Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem on the eve of Holy Week. In Matthew’s gospel, it seems this lament takes place at the Mount of Olives, where Jesus will lament his impending death in less than a week. But now, he looks over the city that will reject him, falsely accuse him, and crucify him, and he weeps over its brokenness.
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (Matthew 24:37-39)
We have a Savior who mourns with us: he grieves with the pain that we endure that is not our responsibility, and he grieves with the pain we endure because of our sin.
In God’s providence, I recently preached on the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Our Triune God is a God who draws near to us in our despair. He comes alongside us and dwells in us. 2 Corinthians 1 is saturated with language that our Triune God is a God who is not dismissive or far off in our pain, but draws near us in our suffering. God the Father knows what it is to endure loss: he lost his Son. God the Son knows what it is to experience pain, grief, and death: he became flesh and suffered unto death. And God the Spirit indwells us, knows our groanings, and intercedes for us.[ii]
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.[a] 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. (2 Cor. 1:3-7)
You might wonder where the Holy Spirit is in this text. Seven times in the text we see the word “comfort” (paraklesis in Greek)—the word is from the same root as one of the names Jesus gives the Holy Spirit (parakletos—sometimes shortened and transliterated as Paraclete in English and translated Helper or Comforter).
Are you mourning today? Our Triune God mourns with you and intercedes for you. I pray that you are met by him today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZrdib5ZNnI
[i] Here is the letter we sent to the congregation (names of the latter two individuals have been changed):
Dear New Life,
It has been a tragic week for New Life. On Monday we lost beloved partner Robert X to cancer. Please pray for his wife and his family. Robert had a generous smile and heart for worship. We feel his loss.
Today we lost two more dear members of our church family. Please pray for both of their families and for the community. Steve struggled with depression and anxiety for years. Mental illness is a serious condition that can be difficult to treat. Steve sunk to dark places in the last week and on Tuesday took Rick’s life and then his own. Steve and Rick were friends and neighbors.
There was no discord between them. They loved each other.
That is part of why we are confident Steve was not in his right mind when this happened. He was a gentle soul. We grieve losing him in this world. Suicide is a dark reality, but we are confident that it, like all sin is forgiven for those in Christ. Oh the great love of Jesus! So, while we grieve the loss and the circumstance, we have a peace that Steve is free from the torment of his mind in this world.
Rick had a childlike smile, and loved to laugh. He was a faithful husband and father, a good friend and neighbor: his loss makes no sense. There are no real answers to why. Yet, beyond our understanding, God is with family and friends tonight. He is weeping. He is comforting. He is simply with us.
So, please pray for the Johnsons and the Thompsons. Pray for peace. Pray for rest. Pray that we all might feel the warmth of His presence with us.
Praying with you, Greg and John for the Elders of New Life.
[ii] See Romans 8:22-26.
Photo by Dylan McLeod on Unsplash