My brothers and sisters of the Freestone County Community, I have been praying for all of you this past week. By now you have learned about the unforeseen loss of a beloved Fairfield High School Senior Graduate to a tragic accident. There is no need for me to name the individual or give details to the method in which this accident occurred, that is not my purpose, my right, nor my intent. Instead I would just like to simply address our community and all those who are grieving at this time.
I’ve had a chance to speak with many of the students, first responders, and faculty that were affected by this loss. My congregation opened up our church that afternoon to grieving persons for prayer and comfort. One of the primary reactions to such events is to try and find meaning, or purpose, for the passing of this beloved student. We grapple, reach, and at times even claw our way to find a good reason or silver lining in the depths of tragedies such as this, often leaving empty handed. Perhaps, and this is true for all of us, we can find simply no good in these circumstances, but merely the solemn hope that there is a better life to come through Christ Jesus. But the event itself bears no resemblance to victory or hope, it is merely surrounded in dark mourning and sorrow.
In times such as these maybe there are two simple reminders that we must embrace in order to endure such agony. The first is that to grieve means we have loved deeply. A person does not anguish over the loss of another unless they have a deep bond of love with that person. No one truly cries at the graveside unless they are wounded at the departure of the beloved person. We grieve because we have love. In a way, grief is a symptom of love, because we grieve the love we have lost. This is not something we should shy away from or reject. There is no need to hold in tears or stand unemotional to such tragedy, to do so is to reject the love of God within all of us that pours out when we lose those closest to us. Let us grieve together, let us love together.
The second reminder is that Christians serve a God that cries. The shortest verse in the Bible is one of the most telling, impacting and meaningful verses in all scripture. In the Gospel John, chapter 11 and verse thirty-five, it simply reads, “Jesus wept.” In this passage Jesus is weeping at the graveside of a beloved friend Lazarus. Jesus looks around and sees the mourners crying and the dead man’s sisters weeping and he is overcome with tears. Now, for those of us who know this story, we know that Jesus is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. So why would Jesus cry? Why would he not tell the others to stop crying? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that Jesus mourns with creation and acknowledges the pain we are feeling before he cures the sting of death. We worship a Savior who dwells alongside, above, and within the creation itself. We worship a Lord who experiences all the emotions of the world so that we may relate and cling to something who has borne our pain. We serve a God who cries.
Brothers and sisters, let us embrace one another this week and the weeks to come. Let us surround the family, friends, and relations of the departed with prayer and support. Let us shine the love and light of Christ in dark places and allow those to grieve. But just as Jesus grieved and then raised Lazarus, let us remember that we may weep and cry with Christ Jesus, but through our Savior there is always hope in the end.
Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Mike McVey
Minister – First United Methodist Church, Fairfield TX
ACS Chaplain – USCG, Station Galveston TX
Chaplain – Texas Game Warden Service
Cell: 919-935-2513
Email: pastormike@fumcfairfield.org
