Pastor’s eNote: Weekly Update

Our current worship series, Hold Close, is all about how we care for the relationships in our lives. Each week we are exploring our relationships with parents, children, spouses, and friends. I am praying that we each find some encouragement for all our relationships.

The news from around the nation, especially in Minneapolis, is hard to hear even as we spend time learning to “hold close” to our relationships. I am often reluctant to join the chorus of immediate reactions to the events we see unfolding before our eyes since we often lack important parts of the story. Even as we gathered for worship just this last Sunday, my heart was filled with a heaviness which could not find an expression in words.

We have a word to describe this “wordlessness” we are faced with. It is lament. Lamenting is, quite likely, one of the least understood spiritual practices in today’s world. We have an entire book in the Bible called Lamentations which we seldom read, not to mention many of the Psalms and prophets, which include songs of lament.

Lament is not just our expression of sadness. Christian lament is born out of a reflection of hope in the midst of sadness. Perhaps these words from Cole Arthur Riley in her work This Here Flesh, might sum it up best:

“In lament, our task is never to convince someone of the brokenness of this world; it is to convince them of the world’s worth in the first place. True lament is not born from that trite sentiment that the world is bad but rather from a deep conviction that it is worthy of goodness.”

Riley names it so well. Part of our story as Jesus-followers is to point to that inherent goodness in Christ. So often we fall short of it. When we do, lament can be a key expression to guide us toward the redemptive love of Jesus. Remember, Jesus lamented over Jerusalem shortly before his death and resurrection! (Matthew 23:37-39)

Perhaps we might benefit from some lament before we pontificate on opinions. I was captured by the photo of a person in active lament at the sight of the most recent shooting in Minneapolis.

Let us pause to lament. Who we are and what we are doing as a nation, regardless of politics, invites us all to lamentation as we point to the only kingdom where love and justice truly reign. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Grace to You All,

Pastor Craig Brown

(January 27th, 2026)