Proper 22 / Pentecost 20 / Ordinary Time 27
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
How lonely sits the city that once was full of people!
-- Lamentations 1:1a
Lamentations is a communal lament over the disaster of Jerusalem being captured and destroyed by the enemy. Jeremiah's terrible prophecy had come true and the impact on the faith of the people was devastating. Israel had learned that when disaster had overtaken them, they still had the power of lament. This community was formed when God heard the cry of people in slavery and was moved to act (Exodus 3:7), and so, when all else failed, they could always cry out again in hopes of moving God to action.
The lament is a powerful act of faith. When disasters strike and all the structures of your life fall apart, the result is a loss of sense of self. The chaos around you leaves you feeling totally isolated and insignificant in the larger scheme of things. By uttering their lament, Israel was saying that there was still a power that could give order to chaos and that this power would hear their cry. They could not imagine what the new creation would be. They did know that nothing was impossible for God, and all they had to do was to cry out and then await God's response.
This, above all, helps make sense of Jesus' cry of lament from the cross in the form of Psalm 22. In the face of utter disaster, there was one that could make sense out of the chaos. There is a sense in which this particular lament could form the framework for a people's lament at the decline of a once proud and prosperous church. "How lonely sits the [church] that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the [other churches]! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal. She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her...." The emptiness of a once-great building can be a point of despair. "The roads to [this church] mourn, for no one comes to the festivals; all her gates are desolate, her priests groan; her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter."
What the Christian community needs to learn from their own heritage is the power of lament. There is one who hears, and that is the one that can split the darkness by merely speaking a word.
-- Lamentations 1:1a
Lamentations is a communal lament over the disaster of Jerusalem being captured and destroyed by the enemy. Jeremiah's terrible prophecy had come true and the impact on the faith of the people was devastating. Israel had learned that when disaster had overtaken them, they still had the power of lament. This community was formed when God heard the cry of people in slavery and was moved to act (Exodus 3:7), and so, when all else failed, they could always cry out again in hopes of moving God to action.
The lament is a powerful act of faith. When disasters strike and all the structures of your life fall apart, the result is a loss of sense of self. The chaos around you leaves you feeling totally isolated and insignificant in the larger scheme of things. By uttering their lament, Israel was saying that there was still a power that could give order to chaos and that this power would hear their cry. They could not imagine what the new creation would be. They did know that nothing was impossible for God, and all they had to do was to cry out and then await God's response.
This, above all, helps make sense of Jesus' cry of lament from the cross in the form of Psalm 22. In the face of utter disaster, there was one that could make sense out of the chaos. There is a sense in which this particular lament could form the framework for a people's lament at the decline of a once proud and prosperous church. "How lonely sits the [church] that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the [other churches]! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal. She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her...." The emptiness of a once-great building can be a point of despair. "The roads to [this church] mourn, for no one comes to the festivals; all her gates are desolate, her priests groan; her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter."
What the Christian community needs to learn from their own heritage is the power of lament. There is one who hears, and that is the one that can split the darkness by merely speaking a word.
