I Lament

Lament is a powerful practice of trusting God with our despair, speaking truth and acknowledging injustice.

 In our present moment lament is vital.

“Laments are prayers of petition arising out of need. But lament is not simply the presentation of a list of complaints, nor merely the expression of sadness over difficult circumstances. Lament in the Bible is the liturgical response to the reality of suffering and engages God in the context of pain and trouble. The hope of lament is that God would respond to human suffering that is wholeheartedly communicated through lament. – Soong Chan Rah, Prophetic Lament

Another Christian leader explains it this way:

“The practice of lament is an exercise in taking all our sadness, anger, disillusionment, disappointment, grief, and despair over the broken aspects of our lives and world into prayer before the Lord. . . The Lord can handle it all. But lament is not just mindless complaint or an opportunity for us to get endlessly stuck in a rut where we increasingly turn into ourselves. As Joan and Steve Huyser-Honig say, “Biblical lament is not complaint that goes nowhere.  It’s the people of God planting seeds of hope in the soil of exasperation and despair, expecting the Lord will come through in the end.”” (Rhythms of the way)

In my present moment lament is vital.

You may have heard about the Milford Highschool student who was taken by ICE while on his way to volleyball practice this past Saturday. Milford is my town, my daughter is a student at MHS. She is devasted. Our community is devasted. Marcelo is a kid who is loved by his peers, who has been missed at every moment since they took him – graduation on Sunday, school on Monday and last night at MHS boys’ volleyball playoff game. He is a son, a brother, a friend, a teammate. A human who deserves better. Reconciling what has happened with my faith in our country and my faith in and love for Jesus is a work in progress. And so I lament.

Saturday's rally in support of Marcelo

I also wrestle with confusion, anger and frustration at how some of my fellow believers have been complicit in bringing us to this point and/or are responding to it. The Lord and I are working that out, but I also offer here my lament/conversation with God on that front.

Lord, hear our prayers.

I lament a country where children are not safe going to volleyball practice

I lament a country where the danger not the protection comes from our own government

I lament a country where lies that offer comfort and promise power are clung to with an aggressive and harmful ferocity

I lament a country where truths are banned, and truth-tellers mocked or silenced

I lament a country that believes it is a city on a hill – chosen, special, whose leaders do not seem to know or care at all about the Jesus in whose name they claim moral authority

                  Jesus – humble, gentle

                  Jesus – poor, unhoused

                  Jesus – murdered by empire

                  Jesus – saving not condemning

                  Jesus – good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners

                  Jesus – came to serve not be served

Jesus, I wonder, I cannot understand

                  why do those who call you Lord

ignore the things you command

                                                     love neighbor (Matthew 22:39)

                                                      welcome foreigner (Deuteronomy 27:19, Exodus 22:21)

                                                      remember the poor (Galatians 2:10)

                                                      do justice (Micah 6:8)

                  why do those who say they are saved by grace

never offer it to others

                  why do those who claim to love you

                                    not love those you do

                  why do those who hold the Bible close and want to live by its words

                                    not seem to know it at all

                                                      whatever you do for the least of these

                                                      this is the fasting I have chosen

                                                                    loose the chains of injustice

                                                                    set the oppressed free

                                                      pour yourself out for the hungry

                                                      be openhanded

                                                      go and do likewise

                                                      learn to

do good

bring justice

                                                      love as I have loved

                                                      let us not grow weary in doing good

                                                      love your neighbor as yourself

                                                      let justice roll on like a river

                                                      defending the fatherless and the oppressed

                  why do those who sing your praises on Sunday

forget by Monday morning the words they sang so loudly

                  love undeniable and peace unexplainable

                  overwhelming never-ending love of God

                  love never fails

                  amazing grace

                                    saved a wretch like me

                                    grace my fears relieved

                  great is they faithfulness

                                    thy compassions they fail not

maybe they just mean it for themselves

                  or those that look like them

                                                 speak like them

                                                 have the proper papers

                  why do those that say they know you best deny who YOU say you are

                                    God of abundance

                                                    unfailing compassion

                                                    unending love

                                                    mercy

                                                    justice

                                                    hope

                                                    joy

                                    Creator of all

                                    Lover of all

                                    Redeemer of all who come

                                    Stitcher of souls and sustainer of spirits

Forgive my anger, calm my frustrations and sustain me for the work you call all of your children to – loving you and our neighbors with the same reckless, selfless, relentless abandon with which you love us. A love of heart, mind and action.

I lament, I weep, I grieve, I despair, I hope, I breath, I move, I speak, I act

What is mine to do this day, this moment?

Lord, hear our prayers.

#freemarcelo