Given the global pandemic we all find ourselves in, and my desire to engage a passage of scripture we don't usually preach/teach, I was immediately drawn to the book of Lamentations. Lamentations is that easily flipped over book of the Old Testament nestled after Jeremiah and before Ezekiel. It is only 5 chapters long, but is full of powerful imagery. It is commonly attributed to Jeremiah (hence its location right after his prophecy), however there is some debate over whether or not he actually was the one who wrote it. It does however deal with the destruction of Israel following being overrun by the Babylonians, leaving a large segment of the Hebrew people being taken into exile.
Some of the unique features about the book are lost to us when reading it in English, like the fact that it is poetry, but a very specific kind of poetry, an acrostic. The first 4 chapters all contain 22 verses, each one beginning with its subsequent letter of the Hebrew alphabet, (just can't see this in English unfortunately). Chapter 3 is a little different, and a little longer, as it maintains the 22 verse acrostic structure, but each verse is 3 stanzas long.
Upon reading the book, it may not come as a surprise to see that we often don't touch much of what is in the book as a whole. Yes we may pull out a verse or two here and there, but to read a chapter in its entirety is downright depressing. With phrases like "her people groan as they search for bread. They have sold their treasures for food to stay alive." (1:10), "I have cried until the tears no longer come...little children and tiny babies are fainting and dying in the streets" (2:11), or "Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege" (4:10), its not hard to see why Lamentations readings only show up four times over the three years of the Lectionary cycle, totaling 20 verses (three of those four readings are just repeated sections of the same verses).
Yet as unpleasant as some of the readings may be, laments in the Bible serve a very important, dare I say holy purpose. To begin with, Laments in the Bible serve as a form of protest, allowing the lamenter to push back against the source of their anguish (Lam 2:20). There is some strength in those who are oppressed or hurting in being able to "fight back", albeit with only their words, against the one who is causing their suffering. Of course, the irony here is that many of the laments in the Bible are pushing back at God. Secondly, the laments serve as a way for the speaker to process through their emotions. All through Lamentations, and other examples of lament in the scriptures (Job, Psalms 44, 79, 80 among others), we hear the speaker describe what they are seeing, thinking, and feeling. These sections read both like a journal entry and a confession as they lay bare what is consuming their hearts and minds. It is a powerful display when we consider what this might look like if we saw someone doing this in person. When reading passages like this, I like to picture the speaker as if they were performing a monologue, or a one-person stage drama, and imagine what it might look like for this to display physically what it is they are feeling with their words. Finally, laments serve as a way for the lamenter to voice the confusion that they are feeling. We can understand this sentiment too right? When we lose a close loved one, miss out on major life moments like graduation thanks to a virus, or any other sense of loss in our lives, confusion is a natural reaction. It is helpful to voice that confusion, and acknowledge that it is present in our lives. It really is the only way to deal with the issue and begin to move forward.
So what is the value of these deeply emotional and not really uplifting passages of scripture?
Well for one, they are honest reflections of the human experience. Life is filled with joy yes, but it comes with its equal amount of despair and pain. The simple fact that it is a part of scripture I believe serves as God's rubber-stamped approval that these emotions are valid ones for us to have, and that it is okay to take are anger and frustration out on God. The passages of lament provide for us a sense that we are not alone in the pain that we may carry, and that we even might blame God for that pain. Knowing that we are not alone in that, and that God does not disapprove of us for having such emotion is both relieving and comforting.
Maybe the strongest truths of the laments of scripture, especially those in Lamentations, is that we don't always get the answers to our deepest questions of the human experience. In the final verses of Lamentations the author writes,
19 But Lord, you remain the same forever!
Your throne continues from generation to generation.
20 Why do you continue to forget us?
Why have you abandoned us for so long?
21 Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again!
Give us back the joys we once had!
22 Or have you utterly rejected us?
Are you angry with us still?
This is the most fascinating section of scripture in the whole book to me! Do you notice the pattern of the author going from hope and confidence in who God is (verses 19, 21) to doubts and uncertainties (20, 22)? I think with the human experience, we too bounce between our confident hope, and anxious question. The reality sometimes is that, just as it was for the author of Lamentations, our last words may just be the questions that go unanswered. To mature in our faith means to be open to accepting that reality. And that's okay, for the Bible tells me so.
Comments
Post a Comment