In the last few years, as I preach and teach in the context of student ministry, the topic of lament has been a recurrent topic. I have taught the Psalms, Jeremiah, Amos, Colossians, and passages from the gospels. Lament is present all over Scripture. Here I want to share some of my personal reflections on Lament, especially considering Amos 5:1-3.
1 Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you:
2 “Fallen is Virgin Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.”
3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:
“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.”
Preaching from the book of Amos was both an exciting and daunting task. God is moved by the injustice of his people and the world. In the book of Amos, we have strong imagery to move the readers and to see the gravity of Israel’s sin. There are rhetorical elements and artistic expressions to help people out of their slumber. God laments. The lament God offers is a funeral song for Israel.
Amos prophesies a dirge to Israel. Imagine the effects of this for those who heard and read. He sings an elegy. This is a powerful use of the arts to communicate a point. Israel is apparently strong and prosperous, and Amos sings them an elegy, a funeral lament at the death of someone he loves. The song of Amos is out of tune with the sentiment of Israel. While they deceive themselves, God allows them to see that the way they live leads to death. And so, in one's own life or in human history, lament is the appropriate response to reality. And in this case, it is a funeral song that God led Amos to prophesy and experience.
"Lament is immersed in seeing reality from the perspective of God. A creator God, who loves his creation, who has made it for its flourishing in right and interdependent relationships, but who also sees evil, who sees pain—measures the destructive effects of sin on oneself, on others, and society in general." To prevent life from becoming dissonant and disconnected from reality, we must learn from lament. While many sing and only know how to celebrate, we as Christians have much to learn from the tradition of prayer in Scripture in which personal and communal lament is fundamental. Lament is not just lamenting in the face of pain, injustice, and loss; it is not pity. Lament is immersed in seeing reality from the perspective of God. A creator God, who loves his creation, who has made it for its flourishing in right and interdependent relationships, but who also sees evil, who sees pain—measures the destructive effects of sin on oneself, on others, and society in general. Lament recognizes the tensions of a good and just God, in a world that seems headed for self-destruction and allows itself to be affected by these dissonances. Lament dares to question God, to implore him and weep and pour ourselves before him. Lament permits us to feel indignant. The psalms show us how we relate to God in honesty and transparency. We pray, bringing pains, desires, sins, joys and deep indignation, anger and desire for revenge. None of this is wrong.
The dirge in Amos tells of a woman who dies in her youth. A tragedy worthy of being mourned and lamented! And it continues with the tragedy of a city decimated by war. The only appropriate response to this is to protest and cry. There is no good here; the response is to cry. You should not look for something good in the matter; you should cry. This must have been difficult for Amos, for the community that listened, and for us today. How difficult it is to stop amid our own pain and that of others and not want to resolve, but to cry! Crying is a response to pain that humanizes us. When we put ourselves in the mode of wanting to flee or quickly resolve to evade, we do not give ourselves the opportunity to respond appropriately, to recognize our humanity, our limits, to cry and to hurt.
Of course, the lament that Amos sings is a prophecy for what is to come upon Israel. For what will happen in the face of their lack of repentance. And in that sense, Amos' lament is prophetic, because he sees what others do not see. After all, he communicates the words that are appropriate to the historical moment, even if everyone thinks they are celebrating. Amos tells them that they should indeed be mourning. All lament is prophetic because it communicates that things are not as they should be. It is a form of resistance and at the same time, of proclamation and cultivation of hope in a God who sees and acts.
"Lament brings all our affections and sorrows before God, knowing that God sees, and that God is not indifferent, even when things may be very, very bad." Two caveats: First, I'm not suggesting that we are people of lamentation, sad and always crying. I encourage lament as an appropriate response to injustice, dehumanization, and the destruction of creation and relationships. This is not an invitation to dullness; on the contrary, lamentation is intense, as celebrations and parties are intense. Second, lamentation is perhaps the best art to resist despair. Lament brings all our affections and sorrows before God, knowing that God sees, and that God is not indifferent, even when things may be very, very bad. Lament does not leave us the same, because it works in the transformation of us being more like Jesus. It brings us closer to God himself and how he hurts and is affected. Thus, lamentation becomes an antidote to indifference. We grow in the hope of a God who is at work in history, even when we sometimes do not see him, and a God who is working in our hearts, making us and transforming us to become more like Jesus.
We are in good company to learn from lament, the Trinity itself, all the psalms, the testimony of brothers and sisters of all ages, and Jesus himself. Let us rediscover and practice lament as proper response to pain, grief, uncertainty, and fear. In my experience, lament has been one of the ways I have encountered the Lord and my hope has been renewed.
