Calling a Spade a Spade (part 1)

In his new book, The Sin of Certainty, author Peter Enns suggests that we never seem to read some parts of the Bible in church, but we should. This 88th Psalm (the 89th as well) is one of those passages that rarely sees the light of day in public worship, but it is one that we need to resurrect from the darkness of exile simply because it can teach us so much about what it means to be fully human.

Speaking of what it means to be fully human, I believe this is one of the bigger reasons Jesus came in the first place. Jesus did not come primarily to rescue us from this life but rather to teach us by word and example what it means to be a full human being. I’ll need to unpack this idea for you this morning so please be patient with me.

Those ancient Israelites, when they wrote and edited their Scriptures (the Old Testament), decided to give us the whole enchilada. That’s right, they didn’t delete or edit out all those messy, nasty, hard to understand parts of their national story; parts that most good Public Relations people would have never allowed to see the light of day, let alone become sacred Scriptures.

Those Hebrew authors and editors were brutally honest with the full facts of life. They were not concerned with the “optics” as politicians seem to be today. They didn’t seem to care that their story as God’s people was deeply flawed, imperfect, messy, and not a very flattering narrative. It was a compelling story but not a complimentary one for sure.

I am convinced that much of American History as we know it today is one of the greatest con acts of all time. We Americans want our national history to be sterile and unblemished. Yet one historian a few years ago wrote an unedited version of American history. His name was Howard Zinn.

The title of his work is A People’s History of The United States. Zinn wrote our national history from the point of view of America’s underbelly, or from the perspective of those oppressed.. It is not the version of American history we learned in school; it does, however, fill in the gaps intentionally left out by mainstream editors. Our school children deserve to know our history from this perspective as well. It is brutally honest to say the least.

Okay, my point is this; In a way similar to those ancient Israelites, if we don’t know our full history we will lose our ability to lament and if we can’t lament we can’t live fully as human beings. Let me explain what I mean by this.

Psalm 88 is a Psalm of Lament. It reminds us that the editors of the Old Testament, particularly the Psalms, were willing to make unflattering parts of their history a part of their sacred Scriptures. (National story) They became a part of their public worship in fact.

The author of Psalm 88 is not happy with God. He is not a happy camper by any means. Life is not all a bed of roses for him. His faith is conflicted, messy and filled with uncertainty. Truth is this Psalmist seems to be having what we might call today a “crisis of faith” and this does not make him a very joyful person.

In other words, as far as he is concerned God is not acting according to the popular script. God isn’t acting, as he should. God has gone offline and cannot be reached. This causes a crisis of faith for the Psalmist.

But wait a minute: Doesn’t this guy know that he himself isn’t acting very spiritual? Doesn’t he realize that he isn’t coming across as a very good Israelite with all this complaining to God about how his life has unraveled and is unfair?

Isn’t all this complaining a sign of a weak faith?

And then the Psalmist delivers his left hook: “Darkness is my closest friend.”

Now my guess is that this final lament creates some difficulty for us. It could have easily been edited out of our Bible but it wasn’t. The Psalmist is being a real human being. In fact there are voices of lament scattered throughout the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments.

A number of Psalms are known as “Psalms of Lament.” Then there is the Book of Job and Ecclesiastes, both of which highlight the voices of lament of people struggling with their faith. Let’s not forget Jonah and his lament at the end of the story.

And if that isn’t enough to get our attention there is the voice of lament from Jesus himself as he hangs on the cross: “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” Earlier while praying in the garden he cried out in lament: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” These are words of lament.

So what is a lament and why is it important? Why is calling a spade a spade good for our soul?Why did the ancient Israelites and the Gospel writers believe it was crucial for them to include these voices of lament in our Bible? Why not just edit them out to make faith a bed of roses?

Part 2 has the answer to these questions. Stay tuned.

Image above is the Weeping Prophet Jeremiah.