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Rooted in God’s Word, Growing in Christ’s Love, Branching Out to Serve, Bearing Fruits of Faith
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
As March still keeps us in the season of Lent and with the last week of this month ending with Holy Week, suffering comes to mind. Jesus knew this reality throughout His ministry, but especially showed concern of what this meant for His disciples. On the night He was betrayed He gave the promise of peace that would be in Him, but the fact remained “you will have tribulation.” Tribulation is not necessarily searching for some sin against the Law, but simply the suffering of circumstances brought on by a sinful world AND our relationship to Christ. As the Lutheran Scholar Rev. Dr. Gregory Schulz comments on the crucified Christ, “The crucial nature of suffering – which is not the same phenomenon as pain and is best thought of as biblical lament – has been largely suppressed in modern churches, including our Lutheran churches. The suppression of the fellowship of His sufferings in modernity has undercut the Christian faith.”
Lament is more than shedding a tear or feeling bad about an outcome. It is grief or remorse over life. A few felt this before the cross of Christ rather than run away. However, lament is also all over the Bible. Most would go to the suffering and losses of Job. If we dive deeper, a whole book in the Bible is called, “Lamentations.” Jeremiah the prophet shares his lament over the defeat of Jerusalem and exile. There is even a category of lament in the Psalms that is the saints of old prayer book. Psalm 10 asks, “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” There is plenty of other places, but this aversion to lament by churches today is no good. The power of positive thinking or looking at that silver lining is not the same as what Christ told St. Paul. In his suffering our Lord promised, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
We at St. John have the right to lament over hardships set before us. There is time and seasons for everything as the Wisdom of Solomon reminds us (Ecclesiastes 3). It means we can join David in the freedom to ask, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13) Lent as a season in the church year teaches lament. Such a longing over life in a broken and dreary world is to draw us to Christ crucified. Lament is not an end in itself like “getting off our chest” but to see that Jesus Christ knows our griefs and carried our sorrows. His promise is not that we can remove tribulations so easily, quickly or deny them. Instead, faith relies on what our Lord says, “I have overcome the world.” This overcoming by Jesus is in the perfect sense by what He lamented over on the cross before His Father.
The joy of Lent is that Easter turned lament into rejoicing in the Lord’s resurrection. It happened just as He said. A true deliverance of forgiveness has brought forth a new creation in Christ. This glory before the world hidden in His cross is to know the love of God. While the night is a sign to the end of a day, Jesus has made the eternal day in Him. The baptized holds this before our life, since Christ is faithful. Lament is to go through the suffering for a time, but God goes with us all the way. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). The last day of March will this year surprisingly be Easter! We might be surprised who joins us when lament before such a Lord is forgiveness, life, and salvation given for our lives.
The death and resurrection of Christ is for you, Pastor
Please join us!
Worship Time: Sunday at 9:30am
We are conveniently located in the heart of the Great Lakes Bay Region.
We may call Bay City our home but we are in close proximity to Saginaw, Freeland, Auburn, and many more surrounding towns
with easy access to I-75.
1664 Amelith Rd
Bay City, MI 48706
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