Breaking the Silence; John 11-13

May the mumbling commence!

Heading for heartbreak is a tough road to walk.  When we walk as Jesus does, sometimes we will be able to see heartbreak coming.  Heartbreak is tough to walk when we have company.  It is another thing entirely to walk the road of heartbreak alone.

There are many times in life when we feel as if we are asked the walk the path of heartbreak alone.  We feel alone as relationships break and die.  We feel alone as we deal with addictions – our own or the ones of the people we love.  Even Jesus, on the cross, felt utterly alone and abandoned.  It should be no surprise that many people suffer from depression.

And depression can be a lonely and silent walk.  Sometimes depression ends in suicide.  Silence is damaging for the whole community.

Silence, in this case, must come to an end.  I am not alone in my suffering and neither are you.  The Psalms of the Old Testament are evidence that it is okay to express ALL our emotions.  God can take it.  And we can learn from one another – at the very least that we are not alone in how we feel.

Jesus understands heartbreak better than anyone.  Read from John chapter twelve:

"Now comes my hour of heart-break, and what can I say, 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very purpose that I came to this hour. 'Father, honor your own name!'"

At this there came a voice from Heaven, "I have honored it and I will honor it again!" (Verses 27-28)

The hour of heartbreak was at hand for Jesus.  Jesus knew that his own personal heartbreak was part of God’s plan.  I wish that we knew when our own personal heartbreak is part of God’s plan.  I wish that God would speak to us from heaven.  It would make things easier.  But that concrete knowledge is seldom handed out.

We have communities instead.  In community, we can uncover some of the truth behind our heartbreaks.  Some heartbreak is due to following Jesus and should be embraced.  Some heartbreak is from our broken world.  Some heartbreak is a little of both.

I believe God can speak through a community of faith that is huddled around the Scriptures and praying and fasting for an answer.  God can speak through a community that seeks out the Spirit. 

But we need to break the silence on heartbreak.  We need to speak up.  We need to be active listeners.  And we need to seek God’s will together.

If we can walk along the Holy Spirit in this way, we can begin our understanding of the human condition and the world we find ourselves sojourners in.

Amen.  May it be so.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out