I have continued to ponder lament, especially its place in corporate worship and prayer.
My understanding of lament:
In my words: lament is the natural, intuitive response of all humans to the reality of the brokenness in our world as seen and/or experienced in their lives. I would describe brokenness as anything that is wrong, perceived or otherwise. (I realize ‘wrong” is relative but whether or not it is a legitimate wrong, there will be lament.)
To press the point, if you meet someone who has no capacity to lament, they would be labeled a sociopath. In contrast, I would describe any person who has the capacity to lament as a genuine human being. There is a broader conversation needed about when, where, what, how lament is demonstrated in a wholesome human being. Or in our case, a wholesome Christian. At this point, my conclusion is that lament is a universal human emotional response to real or perceived wrong.
Accepting my conclusion, I would say that for anyone to deny, suppress, ignore or denigrate lament would make them inauthentic and I would not want them as a friend.
I’m looking for a friend who can weep over the death of a friend “Jesus wept”, and cry out “My God, my God why have you forsaken me”.
Here is a quote from Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times,
It was helpful to me.
…Shalom, therefore, does not eschew or diminish the role of the other or the reality of a suffering world. Instead, it embraces the suffering other as an instrumental aspect of well-being. Shalom requires lament.
Lament in the Bible is a liturgical response to the reality of suffering and engages God in the context of pain and trouble. The hope of lament is that God would respond to human suffering that is wholeheartedly communicated through lament.
Why would God expect lament to be a part of our worship?
I do not understand worship so much as a command but, rather an innate response of creature to creator, an encounter with Yahweh, i.e. Isaiah 6
I believe God expects our worship to be authentic, “…true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth…”. Therefore, I suggest that God expects us to be truthful in our worship and to the extent we exclude lament from our worship, (corporate and otherwise) we are inauthentic, I.e untruthful.
If God expects us to trust Him completely, how must he feel when we are reluctant or refuse to lament over real pain and suffering but freely complain about inconveniences? I would not presume to be God, but I might feel like a vending machine. It seems to me lament may be the purest expression of faith. Trusting when there are no answers. Where do we take those questions if not to God?
As a witness of our faith to the world, what could be a more powerful testimony than a people who in their worship make known a God that cares deeply about the pain and suffering that we all have in common, and to whom we are willing to take our unanswerable questions and keep rejoicing?
I resist efforts make lament “a part of our worship” because I suspect characterizing lament as a particular form of worship (ironically, it may be) would lend to the temptation to manage the worship experience i.e. “now we will pause for lament”… “ next month’s prayer session will be devoted to lament” and so on. In effect, rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
I struggle with conceptualizing what the inclusion of lament would look like in corporate worship or corporate prayer. For that reason, I would encourage us to think about our corporate worship as more like a symphony , an expression of all the various “instruments” in a beautiful harmonious composition, rather than a cacophony.
Reimagining worship may be like designing a new automobile. It begins with a usually impractical artist’s conception which is then subjected to rigorous design review and modification by all stakeholders which eventually results in a product that not only honors the artist’s concept but also can be manufactured and used for its intended purpose.
In any case, this is a Pandora’s box and if you open it, the consequences could be serious. For good or ill.
