Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
If you're planning on going to Valley Fair amusement park this summer, you could plan on paying up to $37 for admission. If you want to travel further for a more exotic experience, you could go to Knott's Berry Farm for about $64. If that's not fantastic enough for you, you could reserve a family starter package including admission and two nights in a hotel at Disneyland for just over $1,000.
People don't mind paying for amusement, but have you noticed the root word in 'amusement?' It's 'muse,' which means 'to think, consider, or ponder.' Adding the 'a' at the beginning, though, turns the meaning into the antonym; the understanding of 'amusement' park becomes a place to escape reality or reason, a place of fantasy where everything is enjoyment. Of course we don't have anything against amusement parks, we just understand that people are willing to pay for the opportunity to enter a fantasyland, and everyone wants to avoid reality if it includes mourning, or sorrow, or pain, unfairness or deep imperfection.
In Matthew 5:4, Jesus unveils the second Beatitude: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Jesus promises His comfort to the citizens of His Kingdom (the target of the Beatitudes). Negative situations, disappointment, sorrow or hurt cannot take away the state of blessedness from anyone who names Jesus Christ as their Savior, even when we don't feel happy or aren't experiencing sunny days.
Every Beatitude that Jesus described in his Sermon on the Mount has an anchor point in the Old Testament - a passage that his Jewish audience were probably thinking of as he delivered it. Micah 7 is the likely passage that people's minds were drawn to as Jesus prescribes a blessing on the mourners; it is Micah's final chapter, it begins with the words, "Woe is me!" and is described as 'Israel's Sorrow.' When comparing this 'sorrow passage' to Jesus' second beatitude, we can be encouraged that the promise of Christ's Kingdom is comfort to those who:
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1. Mourn over the general condition of sin in society. Micah 7:1-7 laments the types of sorrow that no one in our society can seem to escape: personal loss and disappointments and the sinful condition of our society. For you and I, personal loss might include the death of loved ones, loss of finances, miscarriage - life is full of personal loss. Disappointments for us might mean handicaps, divorce, illnesses, pain and suffering (arthritis, accidents, dementia), loneliness, rebellious kids, lost opportunities. The condition of sin in our humanity is easily seen in the headlines of our newspapers - human trafficking, ethnic cleansing, mass purging, tyrant governments who keep their own subjects starving, in abject poverty, fearful and powerless.
2. Mourn over the work of sin in our hearts. As Micah describes the imperfect situations he observes in his society, he notes that he sees the tendency toward wickedness even in his own heart and life (Micah 7:7-10). It's bad enough to see the work of the curse of sin all around us, it's quite horrific to see its reach in our own hearts! The blessedness of those who mourn over their own sinfulness is that God has established forgiveness through his Son, Jesus Christ, who suffered the penalty of sin on the cross to offer righteousness to all who call on him.
3. Rely on the character of God to make things right (Micah 7:18,19). God will make all things new, and in his coming kingdom, all will be as it should be. We will never see perfection or satisfaction in this life, but instead of avoiding or ignoring the discomfort of the imperfections and injustices that surround us, we can be encouraged to know that those who wait for Christ's kingdom are already blessed, and that a time of true justice, joy and perfection is coming.
