Where to put the Lament

After being persuaded that we need to be more serious about lament in our worship, we have been struggling with where to put it in the service.  There seems to be no natural place in our order of service where it "fits."  Then someone at a planning meeting suggested we replace the confession one week with a lament.  Not to avoid our own sin, but to recognize that our personal sin is caught up in the brokenness of the whole world.  We lament then, and say not so much "I have messed up" but "I am messed up." 

But then there is another difficulty: what is the appropriate response to lament?  After a confession, we long to hear words of God's forgiveness:  "As far as the east is from the west, so far do I remove your transgressions from you."  This doesn't seem quite right when we're talking about racism and environmental degradation and cancer. 

But a declaration of God's ultimate sovereignty is exactly right -- it follows the Biblical pattern (see, for instance, Psalm 42 or 43), and it assures us (just as an assurance of pardon) that in the end, all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.

(Art courtesy www.davidsweeneyart.com)

Comments

[Brian Paulson]

I wonder about two possible locations (of course there could be many places) that might be valuable for the lament.

One place - especially on occasions of evident public sorrow or perplexity (such as after September 11) - might be as part of the gathering of the people. As we acknowledge God's presence, it could serve as a covenantal recitation similar to spiritual moves in the Bible's book of Lamentations. We bear our grief before God and recite the promises of God toward us. It always strikes me as remarkable that the famous verse "God's mercies fall fresh every morning" (what a great smiling welcome to worship) are drawn from the people of destroyed Jerusalem's demand for God to be remain true to covenantal promises.

You might catch that I think an appropriate response to lamentation is remembrance of God's covenantal promises. A range of covenantal references can be used from both Hebrew and Greek scriptures.

A second placement might be in front of the eucharist. Again, since the eucharist reflects the new covenant, it would be a powerful response to and companionship with our lament. If eucharist is absent from the order on a particular day, it could precede a reciting of a covenant verse that leads toward prayers of the people.

Perhaps this can help push the conversation forward.

Brian Paulson