“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”  (2 Corinthians 1:3-5, ESV)

Here is a promise!  Our God is called the Father of mercies.  What a marvelous title for our great God.  And as the Father of mercies, He comforts us in our affliction.  In His mercy, He not only calls us to share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, but also in comfort.  He is able to console those whose burdens are heavy.  This includes consolation for those who are ill, who are suffering loss, who are grieving, who have been persecuted and those who are impoverished.

As wonderful as these promises are, we sometimes forget the other side of this teaching.  It comes from Jesus.  Luke 6:24 records Him as saying, “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”  Now of course, being rich in itself does not bring about the curse.  But failure to use the riches in the way our Lord directed does bring about a curse.  Riches can lead to selfishness, greed, and a neglect of the poor.

And this leads me to reflect on the nature of consolation within the Christian faith.  I was recently meditating on C.S. Lewis’ essay entitled “A Grief Observed”.  It is four short chapters.  He was reflecting on his own grief resulting from the death of his wife, Joy Davidman.  There were a few sentences that arrested my thinking.

Lewis said, “Talk to me about the truth of religion and I will listen gladly.  Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively.  But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect you don’t understand.”  I don’t think Lewis was denying the genuine consolations of the Father of mercies, but he was questioning those who lead the conversation with an invitation to consolation.  After all, in 2 Corinthians, consolation is offered to those who share in Christ’s sufferings, not those who seek comfort and ease.  And Jesus promised woes to those who seek consolation.

Lewis wrote further on this matter.  He said, “Of course, I quite agree that the Christian religion is, in the long run, a thing of unspeakable comfort.  But it does not begin in comfort, it begins in dismay….If you look for the truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth – only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and in the end, despair.”

I write these lines as I have been a part of a group designed to help people cope with the death of a loved one.  I myself have suffered the death of my wife.  But I have been disappointed in my group.  It is designed to help us deal with loss, with people who don’t understand our pain, with the need for self-care, with loneliness and avoiding despair.  These things are important, but I find something missing.

What is missing is truth and obligation.  The demand of our Saviour, that we repeat the words of Job.

“Though he slay me, I will hope in him”  (Job 13:15).

What is also missing is the truth that it was God who took our loved ones from us.  We should fear Him, for in the end, He will slay every one of us.  Psalm 90:7 states it that way.  “For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed.”  Several verses later, in verse 11, Moses, the author of the Psalm asks, “Who considers the power of your anger?”

I am not suggesting that my wife died because she had displeased God.  But we live in a world that God Himself has cursed.  We live in a world where the only hope for redemption is found in the awful sufferings of our Lord and Saviour.  We live in a world where believers in Christ are called upon to share in the sufferings of Christ.  Not to avoid them.  And in a world where death stalks us and haunts us, we find consolation.  For within this truth, we also find a God who promises to raise us from death to life.

Consolation is a gift for those who have been grieved and who cast themselves on the Father of mercies.  It is not the promise that we will not experience grief.  Nor is the Christian faith to be thought of as the promise we will not suffer.

I end with the words of a song that has been sung in some Christian circles.  It is the song, “Trading my Sorrows.”  It says, “I’m trading my sickness / I’m trading my pain / I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord.”  Posh!  What rubbish!  In truth, the call of Christ is the call to enter into His sufferings, so that we might also enter into His joy.  Only there will we find consolation.  The song should say, “I’m entering sorrow / I’m entering sacrifice / I’m doing it all to find Christ’s joy!”