Voices of Lament

Job 3:1-10, 4:1-9, 7:1-11

 “Voices of Lament”

10 July 2016 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

“There’s somethin’ wrong with the world today/I don’t know what it is/Something’s wrong with our eyes/We’re seein’ things in a different way/And God knows it ain’t his/It shore ain’t no surprise…If you can judge a wise man/By the color of his skin/Then mister you’re a better man than I.”

Lyrics from 23 years ago that come to mind when reflecting on what is happening back home this week. Crazy stuff going on back in the States. People turning violence into more violence. Our home country is crying out in lament asking many questions similar to those of Job.

“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.” Job is speaking from a place of deep anguish and pain, lamenting what is happening in his life. And his friends aren’t listening.

Lament is sorrow and regret that also contains a great deal of mourning over something or someone. Lament is crying out to God and the world over an injustice or loss. Job is a long lament not just over the loss of his wealth and children, but also over the injustice of his being unjustly punished for something he didn’t do as well as lament at the poor advice of his so-called friends.

It seems that for far too long society has allowed the cries of lament to be drowned out by busyness, wealth, “reality TV,” careers, sports, and many other loud distractions. People with voices in society have at best acknowledged the lament they hear, at worst society has derided lament because the language is too raw and strong, too real for the sheen of perfection society attempts to paint over discord.

Over the last few decades songs of lament, because of the raw and strong language used, were deemed inappropriate in society leading to unheard cries of injustice. After the tragedies of Baton Rouge and Minnesota and Dallas unfolded over the last few days, I can’t help but think that the rap lyrics society fought against in the 80’s and 90’s have transformed themselves from lament to prophecy.

In the Bible, lament is usually expressed through poetry so there should be no surprise that we find expressions of lament today through song. If only we would listen to the words of songs of lament and sit with the reason those songs were written.

Play Glory

Glory won an Oscar, rightfully so, but has it’s lament been heard? What if we actually stopped and listened to lament and sought to transform the injustice that was being expressed instead of writing it off as petty complaint? Yet, just listening, while important isn’t the proper response to lament.

Neither is the model provided by Eliphaz in today’s readings. The major mistake made by Eliphaz in these readings is that he wanted to use his personal experience as the authoritative source for dealing with Job’s lament. When we make the bar of injustice our own experience rather than God’s definition of justice, we drown out the voices of the oppressed and equate their lament with complaint.

I’m not an African-American who is afraid to drive in America or has to have the talk with my children. Not about sex, but about how to stay safe when walking at night. Nor am I a police officer who walks into unknown situations wanting to go home safe at night to their own family or one who goes to a protest to protect those expressing their lament for the world to hear wondering if there is a sniper waiting for the right moment.

Both of those contexts are not mine, though by listening to the laments of people in both of those contexts over the last few years, especially in the last 96 hours, I am open to hear the lament and the injustice of which they cry out to God for relief.

It would be a mistake for me to inject personal experience into the conversation as authoritative in any way because, while I may listen to their lament, I am not living the situation from which the lament arises.

So what are we to do beyond just listening and praying to ease the lament of our brothers and sisters in Christ?

Talk with people to determine the root cause of the lament. What is the specific injustice that prompts the lament? Then ask what can I do to correct the root cause? Maybe it’s too big for one individual. Who do I know that has the expertise or resources to address this injustice? Find groups that are addressing the injustice and actually attend meetings and get to know people who are working tirelessly to help eliminate the need for lament.

What if the church sought to stamp out the fear of the other? What if the church were a place that showed the world violence isn’t the answer to violence? Martin Luther King once quipped that the whole eye for an eye thing eventually leaves everyone blind.

What if the church was the place where all felt welcomed and able to express their feelings openly and honestly? What if the church was the place to model equal treatment and love for all, instead of one of the most segregated places we go?

What if the church gave voice to the voiceless? What if the church used its power to confront the powers and principalities that perpetuate, turn a blind eye, or stagnate in the face of injustice? What if Christians ran to the problem areas of the world rather than sit on the sidelines waiting for someone else? What if the church realized Christ’s plan is to use the church to answer the prayers and lament from those suffering?

Did Christ teach how to lay low and ignore the cry of lament all around? Of course not, Christ taught how to shine with the light of the Good News of Christ, and thus the world redeemed. The church is called, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to be the example and instrument of redeeming the world.

James Howell, the newly appointed Methodist Bishop for Western North Carolina summed up our call in the face of lament well, “We can be different. We can be the people God uses to be the answer to our own prayers. That is, if we come to the end of our prayers and do courageous things.”

So let us listen for the lament that surrounds us, pray for guidance in that listening as to how we can address lament and tackle injustice and then go out and be the church as Christ envisioned so that justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.