Mourning That Leads to Action
Matthew 5:1–12
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

The second beatitude can refer to sorrow aroused by the suffering of others. Christianity is partly caring for other people. And it should produce a sound social conscience. In fact, if it does not, we have some reason to doubt our Christianity. For John said, “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3–4). What were Christ’s commandments? Well, there were many. But among them were these: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44); “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (7:12). “Give to everyone who begs from you” (Luke 6:30); “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (v. 36); “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). An awareness of the sin of the world should produce a mourning for its evils in Christ’s followers.

It follows from this that the Christian church should never stand aloof from the great social movements of the day or, worse yet, be critical of them. Christians should be in the vanguard of social reform. And they should be there from a heartfelt love of humanity and from an acute awareness of the horror and destructiveness of man’s sin.

I believe that this often has been true in past periods of church history. Lord Shaftesbury was one of the great Christian social reformers, but there were others: Calvin, Oberlin, Wilberforce, Moorehouse. And it would be proper to include in this list most of the pioneers of the modern missionary movement—William Carey, Robert Moffat, David Livingstone, John Paton, and others—all of whom combined an evangelistic zeal with social action.

To each of us, therefore, the second beatitude is a call to involvement in the social arena—in the struggle of minorities for true equality; the plight of underpaid workers; pollution of our natural resources; education; ethical problems in politics, medicine, and business; and other contemporary problems—just as Christians were formerly active in the war against slavery, child labor, lack of freedom of the press, and immorality. We should mourn for such things. And we should mourn deeply enough to do something about them.

Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865

Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.