Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN

a prayer to open

Give me eyes to see, Lord—

to see your Kingdom, your heart, your love. Give me eyes to see.

When we mourn, sadness and emptiness overtake us, and those around us can feel the depth of our sorrow. But when Jesus spoke of those who mourn—and called them blessed—he wasn’t referring to those who have experienced a personal loss. Jesus spoke instead of those who carry sorrow over a world in rebellion against God—those who look around them and mourn as they see people chasing after money, power, and status. These people mourn unforgiveness, deception, and injustice. They mourn the friend, coworker, or neighbor who gets so caught up in this world and all it claims to offer that they miss the Kingdom of God.

Blessed are those who mourn. Those whose eyes are fixed on the Kingdom of God—who, though they may suffer persecution or be treated as outcasts, don’t go astray and fall for short-term worldly promises—will be comforted.

• What practices, behaviors, attitudes, and ideas in our world today should disciples of Jesus Christ be mourning? (Start with a wide lens—looking at the world—and then focus on your country, your community, and your home.)
• Reflect on something in our world that you mourn over. What causes you to mourn? How might you bring that mourning before God?
• As you reflect on your own life, in what areas—big or small—do you see rebellion against God’s ways or desires for you? Sit quietly, remembering you are in his loving presence, and ask him to illuminate how you are still seeking after what the world values.

Father, this is your world. You created every part of it. You sustain it. Yet we turn our backs on you and run away from your loving call to us. Show me the ways that, though I profess to love and follow you, my heart still chases after the things of this world. Root out the desires within me that look to be satisfied by anything other than you. Help me see and then mourn over the ways I am in rebellion against you and in league with the culture around me. Give me a heart that mourns the unforgiveness, lack of peace, deception, and injustice in my own home, my community, my country, and the wider world. And remind me that you are the comfort of those who mourn. May your Kingdom come. Amen.