Leaders of Lament

News broke today of at least 600 bodies of indigenous children discovered buried at the Marieval Indian Residential School in Canada, following the discovery of at least 215 bodies last month at another school in Kamloops. The finding is a gruesome reminder of the quiet suffering indigenous people in North America have endured over many decades. A painful reminder of the church’s culpability in forcing assimilation in the name of faith.

After a while it’s easy to feel numb to the story; a strong person, group, or society abuses and dominates a weaker person, group, or society. Nothing is new under the sun. When we hear of such injustices how do we respond? And by we I mean those of us who follow the Jesus way.

I think the answer is found in lament.

It is appropriate that governments, institutions, and individuals confess specific sins committed against people, families, and groups. But beyond that, in the larger community, when violations against humanity come to light, it is appropriate for us to raise our voices in corporate lament. The people of God should always lead the way – because we know the value of all human life created in the image of the God we worship and serve, because we know the way of grace and our own desperate need for it, because we love humility and the fruit of reconciliation it brings.

Today I had a tough conversation with my thirteen year old, unrelated to the news from Canada. She told me she wondered if she could believe in an all powerful God who would allow suffering and people to be so unkind to each other. I told her it was a good question. A question a God as big and just as I believe ours is, can handle. She is the reason we followers of Jesus should be the first to lament. Her cry is as old as humanity. Why God?

Lament is good for those suffering; being heard and believed is a step in the path of healing. Lament is good for those of us witnessing suffering; it keeps us tender and accountable. Lament is good for the next generation; full of questions, they need our example.

In the face of injustice no one wants pat answers. Not even God, if the book of Psalms, Job, and Lamentations are any indication. Lament is a posture. It wards off defensiveness, excuses, and tidy answers. It welcomes space for messy emotions, the process of healing, and the active presence of God.

Lament isn’t something we think or talk about often, but maybe it should be. Here are a few observations I have about lament.

• It is work. A few I’m sorry words aren’t going to cut it. As I said before it’s a posture that takes time to cultivate and intention to live out. Followers of Jesus should be in the practice of grieving sin and its affects on the world.

“Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4

• It’s a season. It would be hard to live in lament all the time, constantly grieving. But there are appropriate seasons for grief and godly sorrow balanced, as we see in the Psalms, by times of joy.

“Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.” Psalm 43:5

• It is empowered by God. All humans have the capacity to feel sad and raise their voices over injustice. But I believe the truest and best lament happens when we ask God to give us a love for mercy and justice like his.

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

It’s tempting to want to leave the past to the past, but when people today are living with consequences birthed from past actions, compassion insists we respond. A good place to start is with a listening and open heart. It’s the least we can give to people who have stories that need telling, and perhaps we can learn from history important lessons that will guide us in the future.

We can also commit our response to prayer. Asking the Holy Spirit to guide our response is a good way to align our hearts with God. He will show us where we need to repent, comfort, or reconcile. One of the things that endears Jesus to me most from his time on earth was his willingness to bend low and listen to the stories happening around him, to touch the people who were suffering, to cry with and comfort the grieving.

Let’s be like Jesus.