Ordinary 5

The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Job 7:1-4, 6-7; Psalm 147; 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23; Mark 1:29-39

“Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?”

On Monday, the furry red Muppet Elmo took to social media and asked a seemingly straightforward question. The floodgates opened and Elmo got an earful.

“Elmo, we are not okay.”

“Every morning, I cannot wait to go back to sleep.”

 “resisting the urge to tell Elmo that I am kinda sad.”

 “The world is burning around us, Elmo.”

“Every Monday, I cannot wait for Friday to come.”

 “Elmo we are tired.”

“elmo im depressed and broke.”

“Elmo I just got laid off.”

 “Elmo…”

I find it sad that people are willing to tell their truth to an inanimate puppet through the anonymous distancing of social media than to a living human being. However, I understand why.  Generally, when we are asked, “How are you doing?” we lie. We know that this common dialogue of etiquette is itself a lie. People aren’t really interested to know how we are and vice-versa and we innately know that. So we return lie for lie. “Fine.” “OK.” “Nothing new. How are you?” To have someone stand before us naked and vulnerable in their truth is an uncomfortable experience.

It’s not surprising, is it? The world is experiencing a grinding war in Ukraine, a potential famine in Gaza, and a seemingly endless drumbeat of mass shootings in our country. Many people are struggling with anxiety and depression. And in many places we’re in the middle of a cold, grey, winter. Add to that the price of gasoline and milk, the weather, your car and mortgage payments, and your in-laws, and wrap it all up with feelings of being treated unfairly and you have the current American Dream. And we don’t want to hear it.

Enter Job.

Job is a good and righteous man; except, he has lost all of his property, his children have been killed in a freak accident and he suffers from boils. He has an unsympathetic wife, and three friends who prod him about what he did wrong to deserve these bad things happening to him.

In response, Job does what we all do. He complains.

Life is a drudgery. He feels like a slave. Wages are an issue. Troubled, long nights. Restless sleep. No hope in sight. Life is like the wind. Will he ever experience happiness again? How is Job to help us? He’s the person who doesn’t get the social cue to lie when we ask how he is doing. We roll our eyes and hope someone will interrupt. But Job does teach us how to maneuver through periods of sadness, frustration, anger and anxiety. As I said, we all complain.

Have you ever considered complaining and expressing your anger to God? Or is that sacrilegious? Job and the scriptures teach us that complaining to God is a form of prayer. How is complaining prayer?

Consider, whom do we express are darkest, most angry, bitter feelings to? Isn’t it the person who cares deeply about us? And why? Because unlike the cashier in the supermarket, the coworker, the neighbor, the bartender, the hairdresser or the person at the gym; the person who deeply cares about us is not going to leave us. They will listen. How much more than will not our God listen to us.

Complaining to God is a form of prayer known as lament. Like those few people in our lives, lament – complaining – presupposes a relationship with God and depends on it! In his book Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Mark Vroegop defines lament as, “a prayer of pain that leads to trust”.

A lament is the crying out of the heart acknowledging our suffering. It doesn’t pretend our experience and feelings aren’t real, or worse, to deny them. To pray a lament casts our eyes beyond our pain to hope in a God who hears, who listens, and who responds to our cries.

Isn’t the mere fact we are able to approach God in this manner a sign of intimacy and hope!

Nearly half of the 150 Psalms are psalms of lament. “O Lord, how many are my foes! _{[Psalm 3]}.” “My tears have been my food, day and night_{[Psalm 42]}.” “Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself!_{[Psalm 44]}” The Psalmist never minces words, but rather exposes the raw feelings and anguish of the heart before the One who knows already what we feel.

The Book of Lamentations is an entire book of complaints. Job is the classic example of a good person who stands before God and complains. This should tell us something – lament is an important part of the human and spiritual experience!

So, how does a Christian lament?

First, direct your conversation to God. Lament is not directed towards our enemies or our suffering and pain. We direct our conversation to God, the One who hears us. “Save me, O Lord_{[Psalm 12:1]}”. “Why, O Lord?_{[Psalm 10:1]}”. “To You, O God, I call_{[Psalm 28:1].}”

Second, describe in detail your suffering and pain. Tell God what you are feeling! How angry are you about your experience. How frustrated you feel that God seems to be silent. Question God. “Why do you hide your face in times of trouble?_{[Psalm 10:1b]}” “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?_{[Psalm 13:1]}

Third, depend on God for help and hope. This is where useless complaining turns into Biblical lament – we don’t simply pour out our sorrows and pain before God, but also seek help and hope grounded in a trust that God will act on our behalf. “Hope in God; for I shall again praise God, my salvation and my God. [Psalm 42:5]”

Fourth, dwell on God’s faithfulness. God never grows weary of keeping his promises. Fidelity is another name for God. “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in God my heart trusts, and I am helped…_{[Psalm 28:7]}” “By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me…_{[Psalm 42:8]}.”

The goal of lament is not only to express our pain, but also to correct our thinking and renew our faith and trust in God.

At Lazarus’ tomb Jesus weeps and enters into the suffering and grief and laments. The raising of Lazarus is a powerful proclamation of eternal life and hope. But before hope comes, Jesus laments before God. He will do so again before he dies: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned?“

So, “God is just checking in! How is everybody doing?”

Check out the list of psalms and two articles below:

Psalms of Lament include: 3, 4, 5, 7, 9-10, 13, 14, 17, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 36, 39, 40:12-17, 41, 42-43, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 64, 70, 71, 77, 86, 89, 120, 139, 141, 142.