Matthew 5.4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
We mourn when we experience the kinds of loss that are life-changing. It could be our job, our health, a relationship, and yes, the death of a loved one. Comfort is not emotional cotton wool; it is strength to go on. Comfort is when we are surrounded by the strength and prayers and practical help of others. And every such word and act of comfort that comes our way has God’s signature written all over it. Because God is the God of all comfort.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." (2 Cor. 1.3-4)
That word translated as ‘comfort’ is a couthy word. It means paraclete, and that refers to someone who comes alongside to help, an advocate, someone who has our back. The God of all comfort comes alongside those who mourn, the Father of compassion feels our sorrow, hurt and sense of loss when life goes wrong.
In the story of Crown Terrace Baptist Church in Aberdeen, Stewart and Helen were fine examples of Christian service and compassion. They were people who came alongside folk who were struggling. One of Helen’s sentences in her prayers for people was “may you be blessed and be for blessing.” That’s exactly what Paul is saying to the Corinthian Christians then, and his words come as benediction to us now.
We are blessed to be for blessing. As a community each church is a conduit of grace, love and compassion, each of us called “to comfort those in any trouble, with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” When we struggle, God comes alongside. When others struggle, God sends us to come alongside them – may we be blessed, and be for blessing.
These past months have been times of loss for so many people: bereavement, unemployment, loneliness, illness, lock down isolation, loss of the company of friends, family and social interaction, freedom to shop without anxiety, and a long list of etc. etc. we could all add to.
Blessed are those who mourn…Give thanks for all those phone calls, cards, acts of kindness, supportive gestures, and even allowing for physical distancing, folk who have come alongside us when we mourn what we have lost. So may we each be blessed, and be for blessing. “for we shall be comforted.”
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