Sorrow is common to the human experience. Sorrows large and small, sorrows that trouble
you for a brief time and sorrows that linger for decades. Sadness at the loss of a loved one. Despair as a marriage falls apart. Lamenting the demise of the good old days,
when things were better, when we were happier, healthier, wealthier. Sooner or later we all face sorrow and
sadness. It’s simply a part of life in a
fallen, sinful world.
Jesus addresses sorrow today with some wonderful words of
promise, as he prepares his disciples for his own death and resurrection, but
also for his departure to the Father.
Liturgically speaking, we are beginning to lean forward in
the church calendar, toward two important festivals: The Ascension and the Day of Pentecost. All of this is also running in the background
of Jesus’ words to his disciples today.
Consider, today, the words of our Lord as he promises that sorrow will
turn to joy.
Jesus is preparing these beloved disciples by his
words. He’s preparing them for what lies
ahead. In just two chapters, John’s
Gospel will take us to Jesus’ arrest and trial, his suffering and death. Jesus knew it was coming. And he knew that the scriptures would be
fulfilled. “Strike the shepherd and the
sheep will scatter”, and so they did. He
knew Judas would betray him. He knew
Peter would deny him. Perhaps he also
knew that John and Mary would stand at the foot of his cross and weep
helplessly as he died.
He knew they would feel the sorrow of the cross. They would be afraid and confused and
paralyzed in that locked room for fear of the Jews. They would be perplexed at the empty tomb,
and incredulous at the news of his resurrection. But he knew none of that would last. Their sorrow would turn to joy.
He knows this is the always the way of his people, though
his disciples experienced it in a microcosm.
Sin brings death and sorrow. But
Christ brings forgiveness of sins, and that means joy. Christ brings a
resurrection from the dead, and that means a joyful resurrection for us.
Jesus knows your sorrow.
He knows it, of course, because he knows all. But he knows sorrow personally. He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows to
the cross. He’s the man of sorrows,
well-acquainted with grief. He suffered
physically, of course, nails, thorns, scourge and rod. He was wounded for our transgressions. But he also bore the wrath of God and
suffered the separation from God that sin brings, that it is. And so he can sympathize with your sorrows,
and then some. He’s not indifferent to your
pain. He knows it. He knows it deeper than you do.
And he also knows it will end. In fact, he promises as much. For just as the disciples will weep and
lament, but their tears will turn to joy as the see the resurrected Christ – so
also will he turn your sorrow to joy.
In a little while they would see him no longer, for he would
enter into death, and then in a little while they would see him alive. A little while after that, they would see him
no longer – for in 40 days he would ascend into heaven, withdrawing his visible
presence from the world. But in a little
while he will return, and all eyes will see him, and those that belong to him
will rejoice, and no one will take away that joy!
You see he’s weaving it all together here – the sorrow of
sin, the sorrow of the cross, the sorrow of all the troubles of this life. With the joy of his resurrection, the joy of
his ascension and second coming, and the joy of our resurrection from the dead
on that day, and the life of the world to come.
He knows what’s coming.
His people will weep and lament.
The disciples will weep and lament his death, while Jews and Romans and
all his enemies rejoiced. But oh how the
tables would turn!
You, his people, weep and lament all the sufferings of this
life, even the persecution of a world that still hates him, but here, too, the
tables will turn. The world’s rejoicing
at all things foul and evil will be turned to sorrow at the final
judgment. And our sorrow will give way
to eternal joy.
And to drive home this point he uses an experience from
everyday life – that of childbirth.
Ever since the fall into sin, Eve and all her daughters
would bear the consequences of increased pain in childbirth. Comedian Carol Burnette once tried to
describe to me that pain women feel when they go into labor: “imagine taking
your bottom lip, and pulling it over your head.” Most of us guys would just say, “no
thanks.”
But as a picture of sorrow turned to joy there is perhaps
nothing better. For that pain and labor
has an end, a goal, a joyful resolution when the newborn takes its first breath
and makes that first precious cry. For
many of us, it’s the most joyful moment in life, a day we will never forget.
We are Easter people.
We are people who know sorrow, but we know that God will turn it to
joy. At the end, he will wipe every tear
from our eyes. And so we look forward in
that hope.
We know that joy, in part, when we hear the gospel. When our sins are forgiven. When we receive the blessed sacrament. And we will know it fully on the last
day. For now, it’s a foretaste of the
feast to come, but make no mistake, when it does, our joy will have no end.
So once again we see that the Christian faith is not a
promise that life will be perfect this side of heaven. God doesn’t promise us a sorrow-free easy
street, but rather Jesus acknowledges the sorrow and weeping we must endure in
this fallen world.
But none of that is the last word. In a little while, the weeping goes
away. In a little while, we will see
him, even face to face. In a little
while we will have joy that no one can snatch away. Because Jesus has died. Jesus now lives. Jesus has gone to the Father, and will come
back to us. We will see him, and live
with him in glory eternal. Joy of
joys! Thanks be to God. Amen.
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