Sermon: Jesus Wept

         Jesus Wept is a Christmas Verse, 

a central message of the Christmas story.

         Yes, these verses are placed at the moment of Mary and Martha’s grief for their dead brother, Lazarus… 
The miracle to come is Lazarus called out of the tomb, 
but the first miracle is already there, Jesus wept. 

         Jesus wept, he wasn’t there for the sisters, 

         Jesus wept, he is late to the public period of mourning, 

         Jesus wept, outside the tomb.

         It’s about Jesus being there, 
even in his absence, 
even when late, 
even face to face with death. 
Present in disappointment, sorrow, the grave…

 

         Jesus wept… a Christmas story… 
It is the story of a baby experiencing the chill air outside the womb, 
and wailing in response.

         The doctrinal statements of the Church, 
that Jesus is fully human, 
takes on a fleshy poignancy there in the manger.

         God enters into this beautiful/awful world, 
fitting into our space. 
Wailing with us.

 

         The Christmas story is about God’s presence, 
and solidarity, 
with humanity… 
it is an ongoing reminder that you’re not alone. 
We’re not alone. 
Not alone in our tears, fears, worries, or losses
—God enters into them all… Jesus wept.

 

Prayer

         Do you know what tears do? 
Firstly, they lubricate our eyes and remove grit. 
They also remove stress chemicals, and… 
weeping is a social signal of empathy.

Empathy
—having compassion for… 
suffering with… 
tears tell us the other person is suffering with us…

         Jesus wept—signifies to us that God has empathy for us… 
God is com-passionate
—suffers with… 
God suffers with us. 

 

         Yes, the baby who wept at the manger was the man who wept along with Mary and Martha for Lazarus… 
but not only that.  

         -at the desolation of Jerusalem written of in Lamentations, 
a beloved city experiencing widowhood, abandonment, and exile.

         -With the Psalmist in the darkest valley and before the most frightening of enemies.

         -at the world’s groaning, joining us with sighs too deep for words

 

         Jesus wept… 
that reality is what makes Christmas so hard for those with tender hearts, 
and hearts tenderized by the weight of this world… 
God born among us, 
means among us as we are, 
as we live and as we die… 
but that doesn’t make for a good Christmas special, 
that doesn’t fit well on a Christmas card. 

That doesn’t feel like the stereotyped “reason for the season” 
but it is.

Jesus wept…

 

         Jesus wept…
         With and for a young local poet I know who took his life this year.
         With folk who’ve lost their job, folk suffering from hunger.

 

         Jesus wept…

-Alongside people abusing substances and those struggling to escape addiction.

-With people in physical and mental decline.

-Standing between abuser and survivor.

 

         Jesus wept…

In the midst of changed lives
—even good change, that’s the weird thing about being embodied human beings

—even good change causes us to experience grief… 
that’s why I’m so glad God is embodied and experiences those tears too
—God can fully be with us in our griefs, 
even if they seem irrational, embarrassing, or even goofy…

         Jesus weeps with us in the darkness of the Longest Night, 
as a not insignificant subset of human beings experience a sort of collective sun downingthis time of year…
In fact, cultures around the world respond with blow out festivals and lights galore, to keep back the night.

 

         Jesus wept…

While holding our isolation, uncomfortable memories, overscheduled lives, 
and excessive expectations.

At every disappointment and all the comparisons that we make with other people, 
because we’ve not internalized the truth that comparison can be a type of self-injury.

 

Jesus wept…

Cries, 
compassion, 
suffering with, 
empathy, 
God in the flesh, crying

 

         Jesus wept…

A child born in this world of ours.

A world that weeps.

A world that groans.

A world whose groans are labor pains, like Mary’s… birthing a new world.

With us.

 

         Jesus wept… weeps, 
with us.

Right here and right now.

Candle light in the night.

Community gathered, 
lifting up names, 
naming experiences, 
holding out hope.

 

With us

In the complexity of our grief

Out of our unsaid or weakly spoken words

Hidden in the small things we often miss 
or disregard as unimportant

In our impulses to reach out 
and as kindness to one another.

 

Jesus wept is a Christmas message. 
It takes seriously that God comes to dwell with us. 
Takes seriously too all our experiences of this world. 
I pray God meets us in this long night. 
Amen.