Dave spoke this evening from Ps 126:5-6 on ‘sowing with tears’, reminding us that even Jesus wept (John 11:35). So often, we are indifferent to the fate of those who do not know the Lord; the doctrine of eternal punishment is not one we like to speak about nowadays, but we need to understand that God wants us to sow with tears. Great preachers from the past spoke often of the tears they shed as they implored people to come to Christ. We often look as though our tear ducts have been cauterised, but we need to understand that tears are ‘liquid prayer’ and that God wants to give us all wet eyes…
Jeremiah spoke of a ‘fountain of tears’ and is known as the prophet of lament and weeping (see Jer 9:1) and Paul spoke of many tears as he considered those who lived as enemies of God (Phil 3:18). Jesus Himself is known to have wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) as well as over sin’s wages (death) when Lazarus died (John 11:35). Heb 5:7 tells us that Jesus ‘offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears‘, and we too need to weep over lost souls. Brokenness is necessary if we are to see God move in power in our church.
As adults, we often believe that crying is childish. Tears are certainly our first language, speaking of pain and hurt. It is not spiritually healthy to suppress tears, though we need to avoid crocodile tears (being hypocritical in our display of sorrow.) We need to meditate on Jesus’s teaching on hell (see Luke 16:19-31) and understand that a right understanding of eternal punishment will leed us to care for those who do not know God (see Rom 9:1-3, Gal 4:19). Birth pangs need to be experienced before the church will see new life and as any mother will tell you, the pain of labour is intense!
If we want to know Christ’s heart and weep His tears, we have to spend time with Him, opening our heart’s door to Him (Rev 3:20) and allowing Him to share the burdens on His heart with us. Tears are the glue which make salvation stick; we need to learn to seek God with tears and to show compassion to all.
