In this week’s chapel, Dr. Mike Wittmer posed that the language of lament is not on our lips because we do not exercise faith in God’s power over all things, hope for the new creation and love for our hurting brothers and sisters. If we have full faith, we believe that God will remedy wrongs. We do not grieve without hope, because we believe that God has a plan. It takes true love to grieve for and lament with another.
Lamenting means that we will have hope and still have faith that God will come through. We do not have hope without lament, just as Easter Sunday is nothing without Good Friday. But we also do not lament without hope.
“Tell me what you lament for and I’ll tell you who you love. I’ll tell you what you love.”
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr. Michael Wittmer serves as at GRTS as professor of systematic & historical theology and director of the Center for Christian Worldview. He has written six “theological books for the church,” including “Becoming Worldly Saints,” “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and “Don’t Stop Believing.” He also blogs regularly at mikewittmer.wordpress.com. Mike lives in Rockford, Michigan, with his wife Julie and three children.