Pastor Chris Seay continued our recent series; drawing from the scriptures and the unique insight of theologian C.S. Lewis to offer us an invitation to better embrace tears. As Jesus himself modeled, we are called to weep alongside those experiencing pain and loss, and shed tears over the division and brokenness in the world.
Text
Psalm 126:5-6
John 11:35
Romans 12:15
Acts 20:19
I am very sorry indeed to hear that anxieties again assail you. (By the way, don’t ‘weep inwardly’ and get a sore throat. If you must weep, weep: a good honest howl! I suspect we—and especially, my sex—don’t cry enough nowadays.
- CS Lewis in a letter to the Kilmer Family
“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love.” - anonymous
Jesus said it of himself: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32) and “from my breast will flow fountains of living water” (7:38). It is only the “harsh and dreadful” commingling of both divine love and human tears which opens the deepest floodgates of both God and the soul, and eventually I must believe, it will open history itself. I will sink my anchor here.
-Richard Rohr
Love's As Warm As Tears - C.S. Lewis
Reflection
When was the last time you openly wept for the pain of another? To whom might you be called to reach out in empathy, to join in their grief?
When you feel like crying, what resistance do you feel in your mind and body? What internal or external circumstances keep you from welcoming tears?
Worship Set
He Set Me Free
All The Poor And Powerless
Cornerstone
Gravity Of Love
The Master's Calling
May You Find A Light