Britain’s war years sponsored a frontline song favourite, which was eventually adopted and adapted by the world system – “Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, and smile, smile, smile.” Hide your problems and pretend to be happy. Look at the positives, ignore the negatives and so make it buoyantly through life. Don’t be sad, try never to be too serious, and only mourn if you have to. Unfortunately the same philosophy is often applied to sin. Gloss it over and it’ll be okay!
The structure of most human living – whether by the primitive or sophisticated, the wealthy or the poor, the educated or the uneducated – is based on the seemingly incontrovertible principle that the way to happiness is having things go your own way.
The world system believes that sidestepping negatives is necessary before the other things can bring cheerfulness. Throughout history a basic proverb of the world has been that favourable things bring happiness, whereas unfavourable things bring unhappiness. The principle seems so self-evident that most people would not bother to debate it.
Yet, godly mourning brings godly happiness, which no amount of human effort or optimistic pretence, based on possibility thinking, can produce. In the routine of ordinary day-by-day living, the idea of mourning to get happiness seems absurd, but Jesus steps in and confuses their maxim.
The epitome of His teaching is paradoxical – seemingly contradictory. What he promises from what he says seems incongruous or inappropriate and certainly upside down in the eyes of the natural man. The assumed inconsistency of the second Biblical beatitude is obvious – (for ‘beatitude’ read blessedness or happiness). What could be more self-contradictory than the idea that the path to happiness is through sadness and that the way to rejoicing is in mourning? “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” How can I be happy when the chances are against me?
When we face great sorrow, disappointment, disillusionment, tragedy or failure, we wish that we could escape it as we escape a thunderstorm by running inside, but comfort from the troubles of life is much harder to find than shelter from rain. The deeper the sorrow, the harder the pressure and the worse the despair, the more elusive comfort seems to be. Avoiding pain, trouble, frustration, hardships, and other problems, in the estimation of many, will bring happiness.
The average Christian in this modern age fights against a false sense of assumed piety, which gives the impression that to be religious is to be miserable – how sad and weird! There is also the co-joined error that to attract people we must be deliberately upbeat and jolly. It is this apparent superficiality and slickness that works against us because it is unintelligent and certainly illusory. Perhaps that is the reason the church is so unimpressive because in today’s climate of spirituality everything must be kept at a level that fails to produce seriousness and concern over real issues.
The love of God is offered as the answer; He is depicted as one who would never in any way harm us and that is basically true. It is thought therefore that everything should work for our benefit, and so it does, but not in the way we think. As an Arab proverb says: “All sunshine makes a desert.” There are certain things that only rain will produce otherwise the land becomes arid and dry. California seems to have an ideal climate but it is brown for many months.
The real meaning of what Jesus is saying is simply this: “Blessed [happy] is the person who is desperately sorry for their own sin and their own unworthiness.” That is the meaning of Biblical mourning, and the comfort that comes from that tearful confession is the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding . . . [which will] guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:7). Another interpretation says: “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.” [1] (Matthew 5:4). God helps us lose things that are counterproductive to our spiritual ascent.
[1] The Message by Eugene Peterson
