I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the LORD’s wrath. – Lamentations 3:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 25, 2020): Lamentations 3

Thirteenth-century Persian poet, Rumi, argued that “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” In the midst of our pain, it is good to recognize that it is sometimes only because we are broken, that we have the opportunity to understand what it is that in our strength we might miss. Watching George Floyd gasp out his last breaths as a police officer knelt on his neck, broke most of us who have watched the video. It wounded people of all color in a way that we needed to be hurt, and that pain gave us the opportunity to be agents of change in our society.

But we also have to admit that the wound that lets the light in is also profoundly personal. What breaks me might not break you. But I am also not responsible for your experience of hurt. I have to respond to mine. And if I am to grow, I have to be willing to face my pain and to let the light shine into my being during the times when I find myself cracked and broken.

Jeremiah begins his lamentations by speaking on behalf of the personified city of Jerusalem. But suddenly, his lament changes. Here, his expression of lament is not on behalf of the entire city, but rather it is a profoundly personal sadness and breaking that rings through the Prophet’s words. “I am the man who has seen the affliction.” Was he the only man who had seen the affliction? No. But Jeremiah understood that he was responsible for dealing with the pain that the fall of the city had caused in him. He had to let the light penetrate his hurt and shine into his soul.

It is also essential to recognize that Jeremiah acts in his lament as a bridge between the people and God. It is an excellent example of a principle that was outlined by the Prophet Joel. Joel argued, “Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar” (Joel 2:17a). Let those who intercede for the people weep with their hands outstretched to the porch, the place where the people have gathered, and the altar, the domain of God. Jeremiah laments with the people, he experiences their pain, and he cries with their tears, and yet he also can point to God’s purpose for their current time of suffering. The people are being broken so that the light that God intended for his children could shine in. Jeremiah was the one standing and weeping between the porch and the altar, understanding both the tears of the people and the pain of the God who wanted so much more for the ones whom he loved.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Lamentations 4