( Sermon Lamentations 3 ) [ German Sermon ] [ Afrikaanse Vertaling ] [ Abkündigungen358.65 KB ]
1 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.
15 He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood.
17 my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.”
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
31 For the Lord will not cast off forever,
32 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.
37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?
39 Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! 42 “We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity;
55 “I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit;
56 you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’
57 You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’
58 “You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.
Dear sister, dear brother
How do you deal with suffering, disappointment, terrible things happening, the dark side of life?
So often in our time one hears slogans like "Think positive!" Or: "Don't lose heart!" "Keep a stiff upper lip!"
How am I supposed to think positively, you might ask, when everything is so negative. Illness is rampant, the economy is declining, politics is in chaos, law seems to be fading. How to be positive, keep hope?
The wonderful thing about the Christian faith, about the Bible, is that the Christian belief that the Bible does not close its eyes to the dark, the pain, the brokenness in our lives, in our world.
Most of the Bible was not written in a situation of prosperity and peace, but the Bible comes from situations where God's people, the church, suffered, were broken, persecuted. Most of our hymns also come from difficult times.
So also our sermon text for today - from Lamentations 3. I read more verses than suggested.
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The Book of Lamentations was written shortly after the fall of Jerusalem: Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians, the temple and city razed, a large part of the royal family and priesthood killed,
the last king had to look at it, and then his eyes were gouged out, and then the remainder of the ruling class still alive was exiled to Babylon.
What was important to the people of God: the temple as a sign of God's presence, the kingdom of David, the promised land - all was lost.
The Book of Lamentations come from this situation - 5 songs in the 5 chapters, always with 2 or 3 line verses, each beginning with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
In these Lamentations the poets complain, the people of God complain of their suffering, sometimes they accuse God.
We learn from this: We can complain to God. We can bring our suffering, our pain, our disappointment to God - even if we have the feeling that God is against us, we can still come to him with our pain, even with anger and accusation. We can scream, ask why and hold everything up to God.
The Bible does not treat God with gentleness and courtesy, but tells God directly what it really is like in the heart. And in doing so she does not avoid the dark, the pain, the brokenness of our life, but dives into the middle of the dark, and presents everything to God.
Luther wrote in the Heidelberg Theses about the difference between the theology of the cross and the theology of glory: The theology of glory avoids the dark parts of life, only wants to see and believe the nice things – especially for and about oneself. The theology of the cross, on the other hand, says what it really is, names things by name, calls a spade a spade.
So do the Lamentations: They accuse God of their suffering, accuse God in doing so - quite honestly, undisguised:
1 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; 2 he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; 3 surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. 4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; 5 he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; 6 he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. 15 He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood. 16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; 17 my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; 18 so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.”
There, where we dare to do this, where we honestly complain to God of our suffering, where we don't walk around the dark, but get right into it - there we will notice that God is there in the dark.
That is why God came into Jesus: not to float superficially on the glossy and glitzy side of life, where everything goes well, but he came into the depths of human existence, into suffering and guilt, into brokenness and despair to share and carry this with us.
Where we come to God with our suffering, brokenness and sorrow, we experience that he is already there in the midst of suffering, in sorrow, in the cross. Our suffering, which we feel as being imposed on us by God, is not alien to God - but in the midst of it he is with us, and in, with and under our suffering carries us, and our suffering, with us. Christ, the crucified one, is close to you in suffering, and wherever you lament and put your suffering on him, he carries your cross with his cross - and also carries you in the cross.
This is exactly what those who pray Lamentations find out:
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 31 For the Lord will not cast off forever, 32 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 33 for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men. 55 “I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit; 56 you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’ 57 You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’ 58 “You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.
We experience suffering - perhaps more now, in these years than in years before - but no more suffering than people have experienced over and over again in history. The future seems dark, confused, uncertain to us. Much of what was and is dear to us seems to be falling apart.
In the midst of suffering, we don't need to keep a stiff upper lip, simulate a smile, act strong and pretend that all of this is nothing. No, we can lament, bring to God what burdens us, and where we suffer from what happens to us.
In suffering we are allowed to flee to the cross: we are not alone in suffering, but in Jesus God is with us. And - just as God led Jesus through suffering and the cross, through death and grave, to resurrection and new life, we may believe that God can and will give us a new beginning for every end that we experience: God goes with us us through darkness to light.
We may trust this God - because his faithfulness is great and always new. We can draw hope from his steadfast love, from his presence with us even in suffering and in difficulty. Because he carries us and promises us: Do not be afraid! We may admit our fear, but also draw new courage.
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
56 you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’
57 You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’
58 “You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.
Amen