Scripture: Matthew 5:4
Sermon Series: Stormproof – Sermon 02

Jason Adams, Erick Anderson, Billy Baker, Adam Boatman, Christopher Clark, Mindy Clifton, James Cook, Reyna Gillahan, LeTeisha Mays, Jeremy Moore, Melinda Rainey, Melissa Stanford, Trent Stewart, Rachel Woodall, Steven Wright and Donald Yowell. Those are the names of the 16 victims killed in the explosion on the morning of October 10^th at the Accurate Energetic Systems factory in Hickman County, Tennessee. It was a total loss. No one in the factory survived.

Loss is the real yet hard part of life. Life can seem vicious sometimes. As a church, we recently lost our friend, Dave Hughes. Susan Kumba, Brian Fliss, Heidi Edmonds and others are struggling with serious health situations. Many of you have lost a loved one or family member recently. There are car wrecks, murders, tragic deaths of all kinds.

We struggle to understand loss. As your pastor, I’ve been at the scene of so many tragedies that I’ve lost count. When tragedy happens, I have to work through it too. I’m still learning to walk with the Lord in the midst of loss.

We live in a culture that doesn’t have the emotional or more importantly, the theological wherewithal to be able to answer the big questions. How do we live with tragedy? How do we live with loss? How do we not just survive life, but thrive? Please don’t let anyone ever tell you that time heals all wounds. It’s a lie. Time only makes those wounds feel less painful.  

For the Christ-follower, loss does not end with a period. It ends with a comma. It ends with hope. Please turn to Matthew 5:4 (p. 759). From a human perspective, Jesus said something that’s out there, even strange,“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).  

The Message translates it, You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Jesus said that there’s a blessedness even in loss because for the Christ-follower, there’s hope. Not a “hope so,” God’s hope. As we continue our series: Stormproof, we want to talk about loss.

Loss is an inevitable part of our lives in a world corrupted by sin. The real struggle is not in avoiding these times but in learning how to work through them when they come.

It’s easy to miss the things God wants to teach us because we can’t imagine Him being involved in loss or its heartache. Yet, some of His choicest deliveries come through the back doors of our lives. These unanticipated setbacks are sprung on us when we’re not ready to take them on in the package in which God delivers them. It’s why it’s easy to miss them.

1. Losses typically come in two categories. 

There is the loss of those you love. My wife, Jane, has often given away, Grace for the Widow: A Journey Through the Fog of Loss by Joyce Rogers, Adrian Roger’s wife. Losing a spouse or child are two of the heaviest losses.

If you’ve been in church for any length of time, you’ve probably sung that hymn, It Is Well With My Soul. It was written by H. G. Spafford after the tragic loss of his four daughters in a shipwreck. His family was traveling to Europe. Spafford stayed behind due to business matters. His wife and daughters were on a ship when it collided with another ship and sank in the Atlantic. After the tragedy, his wife sent a telegram saying, “Safe Alone.” She was the sole survivor. Spafford set sail to join her. He wrote the lyrics of that hymn while passing over the spot where the shipwreck occurred.  

The person you’ve lost might be a relative, loved one or close friend or working partner. Maybe you’ve experienced that loss alone. Maybe it was miscarriage, or a prodigal child. Maybe a close friend moved away.

You’ve lost that person either by death or distance. Either way, you’ve lost them. You’ve enjoyed the friendship, companionship and suddenly by death or their moving away you no longer have them near. That’s one kind of loss. 

Then, There is the loss of things you love. For many it can be a beloved pet. Jane and I couldn’t even be in the room when we had to put down our Golden Retriever, Dakota.

There is the loss of personal necessities or benefits. It could be your health. Maybe it’s the loss of job. Some lose a desire or goal, a dream in life, and we all have such dreams. What would life be without dreams? The loss occurs, and suddenly you know you’ll never realize the dream you had in your heart.

Russell Friedman from the Grief Recovery Institute suggested that there are some 40 different kinds of losses and sources of grief. Nearly every page of the Bible has a loss or a tragedy.

2. One man lost it all. 

Let me encourage you to take some time today to read the first two chapters of the book of Job. It deals with the timeless questions of suffering and loss. Even though the story is four thousand years old, it could have been written yesterday. Most of the book is poetry. The book has been called the greatest poem in all human history.

The book of Job doesn’t answer those questions with a theory. It answers them with a story. We’re invited to examine the life of one man who lost it all, most of it in one day. His life literally fell apart. Why did that happen and what did he do about it?

Job has a direct, simple beginning. It unfolds like a film running at hyper speed. The frames zip by one after the other as an entire life is squeezed into a handful of sentences. The first few verses tell us a few things about Job.

Job was a righteous man. In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1). Notice those four phrases: blameless, upright, fearing God, shunning evil. Job was as good a man as you will find in all the Bible.

Job was a rich man. “He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East” (Job 1:2-3).

It’s hard to know how to translate this into today’s terms. I thought of Warren Buffet or Bill Gates, but they don’t fit the image. By spelling out the details about his sheep, camels, oxen and donkeys, our text is telling us that if a list of the world’s richest people had been printed four thousand years ago, Job would have been at the very top.

Job was a religious man. “His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ This was Job’s regular custom” (Job 1:4-5). Job is a rare person: A wealthy man who loves God more than he loves his wealth. As a dad, he takes responsibility for the spiritual welfare of his family. Last Monday night I shared with the dads at our Dad’s Bible study that if they live out their faith in the workplace, they’ll be rare among professing Christians.

The point of these first verses is clear. By the world’s standards, Job was successful; by God’s standards, he was righteous. He was a man who truly had it all. He’s wealthy, godly and popular. He’s as good a man as you’ll find in all the Bible. And this is absolutely crucial to understanding his story.

What happened to Job happened because he was a good person. Nothing in Job makes sense unless that’s true. He’s a case study in the suffering of the righteous. As hard as it is to understand, it was his righteousness that brought on his enormous losses. It was undeserved in the truest sense of the word.

While you ponder that, consider what happens next. The story suddenly shifts to Job’s first test. The scene changes from earth to heaven. Job apparently never knew about this part of the story. While he’s on the earth faithfully serving God, Satan is having a conversation with God.

As we read the passage, you’ll notice that it’s God who brings Job’s name up. “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him” (Job 1:8). Satan was behind Job’s trials, but God was behind Satan. It’s not Satan who brings Job up. It’s God. It is as if God said, “All right, Satan, you’re looking for a good man. Let me tell you about Job. He’s the best man I’ve got. I don’t think you can break him.” Behind the suffering is Satan, and behind Satan is God.

It’s why, as you read the book of Job, you find that Job is complaining bitterly against God. He never brings up Satan. Satan is not the issue; God is.

Even though Satan was the one who caused the calamity, he did it with God’s permission. If God hadn’t given His permission, Satan couldn’t have touched a hair of Job’s head.

In verse 9 we come to the big question of the book: Does Job fear God for nothing? (Job 1:9). Satan accuses God of bribing Job into worshiping him. After all, Job has it all. No wonder he worships God. Who wouldn’t? Behind it all is a not-so-subtle message. You’ve bribed Job with prosperity. Satan is accusing God of rigging the system.

Here’s the big question: Will anyone serve God for no personal gain?

Satan’s question is the supreme question of life. You served God in the sunshine; will you now serve Him in the shadows? You believed Him in the light of day; will you still believe Him at midnight? Will you still love and serve God in the midst of great loss? It’s not hard to believe in God when everything is going your way, but when life unravels, what then?

Satan hits Job with four messengers of misfortune.The scene shifts from heaven to earth. Satan has received God’s permission to put Job to the test.  

First, the Sabeans steal Job’s livestock and kill his servants (vv. 14-15).
Second, a “fire of God” destroys his sheep and kills his servants (v. 16).
Third, the Chaldeans steal his camels and kill his servants (v. 17).
Fourth, a great wind hits the house where his children are feasting and kills them all (vv. 18-19). These four calamities hit Job one after another.

Three times the text says, While he was still speaking (Job 1:16, 17, 18). In the space of minutes, Job lost everything that was dear to him. His vast wealth: vanished. His empire: crumbled. His workers: murdered. His children: killed. When tragedy strikes, it often comes again and again. We think, “This must be the worst of it.” Then comes another knock at the door.

Job lost it all, not in months, but in one afternoon. Tragedy is no respecter of persons. You can be on top of the world and lose everything in a second.

Job goes from loss to weeping to worship. “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Job 1:20-22). These are the actions of a man whose heart has been ripped apart. They’re public symbols of inner pain, much like wearing black to a funeral. But it’s the ultimate response of the man of faith in the face of unexplainable tragedy. He weeps and then he worships.

This is what differentiates the Christian from the rest of the world. They weep; we weep. They get angry; we worship. Our sorrow is just as real as theirs, but their sorrow leads only to despair, whereas ours leads to worship.

Job didn’t swear or shake his fist toward heaven and God. No, he prayed. He didn’t bury himself in self-pity. No, instead Job worshipped.

Chapter 2 tells us that Satan said that if he attacked Job physically, then he’d curse God. God again allowed Satan to strike Job with a painful disease. But even in the loss of his health, Job still trusted and worshiped God. The Bible has many individuals who lost a lot. Many Christ-followers have lost a lot. But Job lost it all and still remained faithful and trusted God.

3. We can’t prevent or protect ourselves from loss. 

Job 5:7 reminds us that man is born to trouble. As parents, we want to shield our children from the sadness of friends who die young or family members who die old. We want to keep them from the frustration of flat tires and from the heartache of lost loves. We want to shelter them from the uncertainties of life and tragedies. We want to keep them from scoliosis and emergency trips to the hospital. We can’t and we can’t even prevent them from our own lives. Loss, because sin entered this world, is part of this life and this world.

God warned Adam and Eve that if they disobeyed His one command to not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would die. Loss, suffering and death have been part of this world since. It’s why God the Father sent Jesus, to fix this world, so someday there would be no more loss.

Our hope for loss in this life is Romans 8:19-24: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know

that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope, we were saved…”

4. There is a biblical place for lament. 

The Bible never teaches that God wants us to go around with smiles on our faces all the time. It’s not how characters in the Bible acted. “I should never be sad or grieve. God wants me to always go around with a big smile saying, “Praise the Lord!”

Some Christians don’t seem to know there’s an Old Testament book called Lamentations. In fact, God must think it’s okay for us to complain about loss. There are more lament psalms than any other kind in the Old Testament.

One of the strangest lawsuits in US court history was filed on September 14, 2007. Nebraska Senator Ernie Chambers was seeking to stop evil and injustice in the world and actually filed a lawsuit against God. The lawsuit sought a permanent injunction against God’s interference in this world. Senator Chambers said of God, [He] has allowed certain harmful activities to exist that [have] caused grave harm to innumerable people in the world. In his lawsuit Chambers said that God has allowed countless catastrophes resulting in the wide-spread death and destruction upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants without mercy or distinction.

Eventually the lawsuit was dismissed. The Nebraska court ruled they couldn’t properly notify God because they didn’t have His address. While we may laugh at Senator Chambers, we must honor his honesty. He’s not alone in seeking to put God on trial. Whenever humanity is faced with loss, suffering and pain of life, God goes on trial. Have you ever put God on trial?

We enter this world with a cry. Though none of us remember the moment, the first sound we uttered after leaving the warm, protected confines of our mother’s womb was a loud protest. We enter wailing. To cry is human.

We aren’t the only part of creation groaning. Romans 8:22 says the entire creation groans. At the Fall and Adam’s sin, all of creation was infected with the damage of sin. Death is the ultimate reminder that something is wrong. And we don’t stop crying after birth. It continues because this world is broken. While sorrow is part of our humanity, there is an often-neglected prayer language in the Bible for our travails through a broken world: lament.

What Is Lament?Lament is not the same as crying and it’s uniquely biblical. The Bible is filled with this song of sorrow. Over a third of the Psalms are laments. The book of Lamentations weeps over the destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus lamented in His final hours of life. Romans 8 is a lament. Laments turn you toward God when sorrow tempts you to run from Him.

Lament is a form of prayer. It is more than just the venting of emotion. Lament talks to God about pain, and it has a unique purpose: trust. It’s a divinely given invitation to pour out our fears, frustrations, and sorrows for the purpose of helping us to renew our confidence in God.

There are four elements of lament.Psalm 13 illustrates the four elements.

Turn to God. Often a lament begins by an address to God: How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? (Psalm 13:1). The point is that the person in pain chooses to talk honestly to God about their pain and what’s happening.

Bring your complaint. Every lament features some kind of complaint: How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? (Psalm 13:2). More than a sinful rehearsing of our anger, biblical lament humbly and honestly identifies the pain, questions and frustrations raging in our souls.

Ask boldly for help. Seeking God’s help while in pain is an act of faith: Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him,’ lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken (Psalm 13:3-4). Unremitting sorrow can create a deadly silence as we surrender to despair (“there’s no hope”) or denial (“everything’s fine”). Lament invites us to dare in faith to hope in God’s promises as we ask for His help.

Choose to trust. This is the destination for our laments. All roads lead here: “But I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me” (Psalm 13:5-6). More than the stages of grief, this prayer language moves us to renew our commitment to trust in God as we navigate the losses of life.

Lament is the prayer language for God’s people as they live in a world broken by sin. It is how we talk to God in our loss as we renew our hope in His sovereign care. To cry is human, but to lament is Christian.

The practice of lament is one of the most theologically informed actions a Christian can take. While crying is part of humanity, Christians lament because they know God is sovereign and He’s good! Christians know His promises in the Scriptures. We believe in His power to deliver. We know Jesus’ tomb is empty, He’s alive, but we still experience pain and sorrow.

Lament is the language of living between the pain of life and trusting in God’s sovereignty. It’s a prayer form for those waiting for the day when Jesus returns to make everything right. Christians don’t just mourn; we long for God to end the pain. Lament prayers require faith. Talking to God instead of getting angry or bitter requires faith. Laying out the messy struggles of your soul and asking for God to help you requires a solid theological mooring. Laments turn to God when sorrow tempts you to run from Him.

Christ-followers lament because we know the long arc of God’s plan: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. We know the root cause of all lament is sin. And we read in Revelation about the ending of all laments: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:4). We not only mourn the brokenness of the world, we long for the day when all loss and pain cease.

Until Jesus returns, this world will be filled with loss. Children will continue to be born. Their first cry will announce their arrival into a broken world. To cry is human, but to lament is Christian.

5. Use your loss for God’s glory and to minister to someone else. 

You can use your losses to help others. Your tears can be the rain that waters someone else’s garden, if you’ll use the grief process and sorrow. Someone wrote:

I walked a mile with laughter
She chatted all the way
But I was none the wiser
For all she had to say.
But I walked a mile with sorrow
And not a word said she,
But oh the things I learned
When sorrow walked with me.

No one enjoys loss, but once you go through the experience, you’re equipped to help someone else. It’s what Job did. God used him to help his foolish friends who didn’t know God or Job. God revealed His power and love for Job and Job stopped grieving and turned to his friends and prayed for them. In loss, Job helped others, and we can too.

Conclusion

Tim Keller wrote: “We may hear our hearts say, ‘It’s hopeless’ but we should argue back.” So, what does loss teach us?

Two Concluding Thoughts.

It’s a warning. James 4:14 says, “You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” The future is uncertain. You may plan, guess, predict, or speculate, but you do not know what tomorrow may bring. For that matter, you don’t know what today may bring. 

If you haven’t yet committed your life to Christ, if you’re not certain where you will spend eternity, if you’re not certain that if today was your last day, you’d wake up in heaven with Jesus, then please commit your life to Christ today. Claim John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

It’s a reminder of hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”

Winston Churchill planned his own funeral before he died. His wishes called for a bugler, positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul’s Cathedral to play taps after the benediction. The playing of taps was meant to represent that Churchill’s physical life was over. But then came the most dramatic turn. As soon as taps were finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of reveille—It’s time to get up. It’s time to get up. It’s time to get up in the morning. At the end of history, the last note will not be taps; it will be reveille.

I’m waiting for that trumpet. Are you? Every Christ-follower is.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

No matter the loss, even death itself, we have hope! My friend, do you have that hope? Are you trusting God, allowing the losses in your life to turn you to God, His love, truth and care?