The Beatitudes...series... Comforting the Mourners

 Comforting the Mourners 

"Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted," is the second beatitude. It sounds just as strange and paradoxical as does the first. It is seemingly contrary to the accepted views of all mankind in every age of human history. It is not our custom to envy those who weep, or to congratulate the brokenhearted. We usually pity them, and offer them our sympathy. We write them letters of condolence, and compliment ourselves for having escaped such a sorrow. But Jesus pronounces a blessing upon mourners. He declares them to be happy, and sets them apart as a special and privileged class. 

But this beatitude is not all inclusive. Its application is not universal. It does not embrace all who mourn, regardless of the cause. There is a mourning that knows no comfort; there are burning tears that will never be wiped away; there is a bitter anguish that will never be appeased by consolation. 

The "weeping and gnashing of teeth" of the finally lost will be a comfortless sorrow. There will be no alleviation for their bitter anguish. There can be no comfort for those who refuse to separate from sin, for those who reject the overtures of "the God of all comfort." Those who grieve away the great Comforter cannot be comforted. 

The apostle Paul declares that "the sorrow of the world worketh death." This sort of sorrow does not bring comfort; it brings death. There are millions of mourners whose sorrow is born of remorse, not because of their conduct, but because of the personal loss resulting from their conduct. They do not hate the sin; they hate its results. The jails and penitentiaries are filled with mourners of this sort, but their mourning seldom leads to blessed results. There is another large class of pessimistic people who glory in gloom and misery. "There are those who are veritable gluttons for wretchedness. They search for despair as bees search for honey. They are never so happy as when they feel that they have a perfect right to be miserable. They are never so miserable as when they feel duty bound to be happy." ~ "The Sermon on the Mount," Clovis G. Chappell. 

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Come back next week when we will look at the section titled:  "Mourning That Brings Comfort"