What Makes You Cry, Church

What is it that makes you cry?

When I am at a movie, and something in it makes my eyes water or get wet (no, I do not cry, I write with a smile), I often pay attention. Sometimes, it will be obvious, such as Marley and Me, a movie about a family who owns a dog through several years, and must eventually have it “put down.” Some are not so obvious.

Even for men, it is now okay to cry. Nevertheless, do the right things get us worked up?  

Jesus became sick to tears when people caused other people to stumble. Some of his harshest statements in the gospels are reserved for those people. 

This discussion comes with a warning label. You may not feel good. It might not build you up. In fact, Jesus uses exaggerated notions and actions to make his disciples face the gravity of what they have done.

By rebuking the unknown man who offered healing and exorcism in Jesus' name (Mark 9:38-50), the disciples had stopped up a tributary of divine compassion from flowing to those in need. In response, Jesus offers his disciples some of his harshest, most demanding judgments on what believers should do in order to avoid committing such sins. The Jesus of love and mercy now uses images of force and fury to illustrate how deep his emotions run on this subject. Those who willfully erect "stumbling blocks," whose actions hinder the progress of "little ones," are declared better off at the bottom of the sea. So great is Jesus' love for these "little ones" that he counsels the ancient mechanism of pars pro toto ("partial sacrifice for the sake of survival in a situation of pursuit, of threat and anxiety") to behavior that would lead others astray.  Jesus' greatest anger, his darkest emotions, his bitterest tears were reserved for those who took advantage of the "others," the "little ones" -- the poor, the weak, the young, the old, the sick, the outcast. Jesus did not try to curb his tongue when castigating those who took unfair advantage or practiced outright abuse against the "others" and "little ones" of the world. Neither was Jesus ashamed to let the fierceness of his feelings turn to tears of compassion and love for all the "others" and "little ones" who stumble and struggle in this world.

 Tears of justice, compassion, genuine heart-and-soul-break are rare today. Tears are not rare. Even men now are crying all over the screen.

When I was growing up, males learned that "Real men don't cry." Admonitions like "Get control of yourself," "Stop crying" helped wean the weeping out of us. Then we found out that because "Real men don't cry," men die earlier than women. A life-flood of tears is the lifeblood of health, joy and strength. 

What makes us cry, church?

Is our crying really nothing more than wanting what the world has, wanting what we used to have --the prestige, the preeminence, the power; wanting the perks that came from a time when church and culture at least seemed somewhat in sync?  Or is our crying based on the kinds of attitudes and activities that brought the sting of tears to Jesus' eyes?

"Jesus wept." These words have been a mystery through the ages. Jesus not only cried out a lot (Matthew 27:46, 50; Mark 15:34, 37; Luke 23:46). Jesus cried, literally.  An emotional Jesus -- breaking into a smile, bursting into tears of sorrow and chagrin -- is the Savior we serve. 

What really makes us cry, church? What makes you sad? What makes you glad? What makes you mad? 

Jesus cried when he looked out over Jerusalem and wept for a city that did not know what made for peace. The Triumphal Entry ended in tears because his own people could not recognize the Way, the Truth and the Life when it stared them in the face.

Jesus cried when he saw the havoc death wreaked on the life of his best friend's family. The Bible says he "was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved" from the pain of Lazarus' death and "began to weep" (John 11:33, 35).

So what really makes you cry? 

There is a verse in the Psalms: "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your record?" (56:8) According to Dr. James Fleming, an archeologist, the bottle of tears refers to an ancient practice of collecting one's tears and preserving them in a tear bottle made of glass, many of which had a bulbous bottom and a long neck flared at the top to facilitate collecting the tears.  The chapel on the Mount of Olives known as Dominus Flevit, architecturally shaped like a tear bottle, is dedicated to Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. Some have even suggested that the woman who bathed Jesus' feet with her tears (Luke 7:38) was pouring out her bottle of tears. 

Let us reflect upon the image of the tear bottle.

If you had such a bottle, what would be the stories behind the tears in that bottle?

You may well have tears of rage, outrage, compassion, and concern.

Maybe you have become too cynical. You no longer cry. Maybe you never did. Maybe you need to do so.

How many tears are in your bottle?