TEARS

"JESUS WEPT" (John 11:35). The shortest sentence in the Bible, yet the most profound. In John 11:1-44, we are told of the death of Lazarus and how the Lord raised him from the dead. He knew from the beginning that Lazarus would live, yet when He saw Mary and the Jews with her weeping, "He groaned in His spirit and was troubled" and "He wept."

It reveals to us the heart of Jesus. He is tender and compassionate. He identifies with the feelings of men. The feelings of grief and anguish came upon Him as He looked at them. He knows what it is like to lose someone who is dearly loved.

As we meet people who are overcome with grief or are going through hard times, do we actually know the pain they go through? Sometimes, we feel we have all the answers and all the Bible verses. We wait for them to keep quiet so that we can share all that we know. But we need to do what Jesus did: we need to weep with them.

As we identify with the pain of others, we would be cautious with our words and attitudes. There are times we may need to listen to others and allow them to pour out their hearts and go through the "valley" with them. We need to relate to each other from our hearts, not superficially.

Dr. E. Stanley Jones, in his definition of relationship, says "Christianity is the science of relating well to others in the spirit of Jesus Christ. The disease of our time is that of superficiality. Shallow friendships and fragmented relationships mark out our society."

We need the heart of Jesus to relate with one another. We need to have the heart of Jesus to feel as He would feel and to have tears to weep for the lost, to have compassion for the weak and those who are hurting. It is not weak to cry. If we have been hardened in our hearts through the years, then let our cry be "Lord give me tears for the lost, soften my heart and let me weep with those who weep."

Originally written by Jo for Sunday bulletin dated 26 May 1996