Judgment Mournin'

Judgment Mournin'

Lamentations 1:1-22

As I was preparing this sermon, I had just listened to Miriam Anderson singing “O Lord, what a Mornin’.” It is probably based upon an earlier African-American spiritual which was included by Bishop Allen in an early hymnbook. There have been several other renditions of this song before being written by Harry Belafonte in 1960. These earlier renditions bring out more of the apocalyptic imagery. It is talking about the end of the world. Some have wondered if it should rather be rendered “O LORD, what a Mournin’.” It has a warning for sinners to mend their ways in light of this judgment. It also provides hope through this judgment for His people.

As we come into the season of Advent, we need to remember that Advent is not Christmas. It is not a time we prepare our hearts for the Christ child who arrived more than 2,000 years ago. Instead, it is a time in which we prepare for the return of Jesus Christ our Lord. Are we ready for judgment morning? When the stars begin to fall, will we find our souls anchored in the hope of Jesus.

To see what this day of judgment might look to us, let us go back 2,600 years to the time of the Prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet.” He called out time and again for Judah to repent in the light of the coming destruction of Jerusalem. The people failed to listen. They considered Jeremiah to be a traitor. His long ministry failed to gain a single convert. The LORD had called him from the womb to this miserable ministry. He lived to see the horrific destruction of Jerusalem. The LORD had spared Jeremiah, and a remnant of the people were taken away captive to Babylon, while others found temporary refuge in Egypt. The vision of the destruction haunted Jeremiah. He recorded his grief in the Book of Lamentations.

Our Book of Lamentations is known in Hebrew by its first word which can be translated “How?”. It might also be rendered, “Why?”, Why has the LORD brought such destruction to the city which was once a shining light to the nations? This question actually answers itself once one thinks about it. the Book of Deuteronomy warned that if Israel was unfaithful to the covenant He had made with them that desolation awaited. Deuteronomy 28:15-44) Now the people had become widows, mourning their loss day and night. There was no end of their tears. There was no one to comfort her in her affliction either. Instead, the people were mocked in Babylon. “Play one of those old songs of Zion for us by the river here. “ (Psalm 137) . O LORD, what a mourning!

We should be warned from this dirge that a similar fate awaits any nation who dares to call itself “Christian.” If god did not spare the natural branches, His people, how much more will the LORD rain down judgment upon those who are unfaithful to Jesus who is the LORD of the Covenant. We see a great falling away in the West from its Christian roots. I am not saying that “Christian” nations have ever been all that Christian. But judgment mourning awaits all nations who forsake God. As the LORD bent over backwards to send prophet after prophet to warn Israel and Judah, the LORD raises up ministers who are called to warn the people to repent, But like the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day, they would rather listen to the false prophets who promise prosperity and peace. But I call on you to look around. Don’t you see everything now falling in? Nations are disintegrating and perishing from a famine, not of bread, but of hearing the Word of God. (Amos 8:11) Judgment has been perverted. There is one law for the elite and another for the commoner. the poor cry, and no one cares. God’s ministers who preach the truth are sneered at. In some places, they are severely persecuted. As “Christian” nations stray more and more from the truth, the people are being made captives and exiles in their own land. One does not necessarily have to be removed to Babylon. Babylon comes to us here to oppress us. Rome came to Israel and made the Jews captive in their own land, for example.

But there is a silver lining to this. The middle of the Book of Lamentations tells us of God’s eternal faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23). Even in the midst of catastrophic judgment, the LORD shows mercy and compassion. Jeremiah did not completely escape the suffering of Judah. Even though he was allowed to stay in the land, he was seized by the people and taken with them into Egyptian exile. But unlike countless others who perished in the siege of Jerusalem, he lived to tell about it with these five highly structured poems in the book. This is a thoughtful and reflective grief and not just the cry of utter despair. It does us well to reflect upon our sufferings and not just throw our hands up in the air.