A Theology That Includes Tears
A Theology That Includes Tears  
Podcast: Lisa Harper's Back Porch Theology
Published On: Mon Sep 09 2024
Description: Learn more about Operation Christmas Child here.Save 25% off an annual subscription to Dwell here.Our Highest Good is available for purchase here.AccessMore presents Wonder. Live with Lisa Harper. Find out more here.Discover the way ahead at Indiana Wesleyan University. Learn more here. Find your nearest Operation Christmas Child drop off location here. Click here to get a 25% discount on the Dwell Bible App. Today’s conversation on Back Porch Theology is a vulnerable one y’all because we’re tiptoeing into the theology of tears. Crying used to make me uncomfortable. There was so much anger and chaos and sadness in my early childhood before my parents divorced that I subconsciously began using my blanket as a mini cape and tried to be Little Miss Sunshine. The way I figured it, my poor Mom and Dad already had their hands full of so much hard stuff they needed a daughter who was a self-sufficient smiler, not some needy crybaby. I was well into adulthood before I finally understood that my childish conviction that sad equals bad was way off base. Because sincere tears are God’s gift to express emotion where words fail. Those tiny rivers of salt coursing down our cheeks can help wash the debris of spent sorrow from our weary souls. They can even carry big balloon bouquets of sheer joy. And biblical narrative is quite literally soaked with tears. Ruth wept after her husband died and at the idea of being separated from her mother-in-law Naomi, Hannah wept because she was brokenhearted over her infertility, of course Job cried out to God over the death of his children and employees, along with the catastrophic loss of his health and wealth, Jeremiah wept so often over how the Israelites had forsaken the unconditional love of God and were foolishly looking for love in all the wrong places that he became known as the “weeping prophet,” the Psalmists were nothing if not emotionally vulnerable and the Sons of Korah – who were ancient worship leaders – even exclaimed that tears had become their food, Peter wept bitterly when he realized Jesus was right the night before when He soberly declared Pete would betray Him three times before the rooster crowed the following morning, an unnamed woman in the Gospels was so overwhelmed by the kindness and accessibility of Jesus that she washed His feet with her tears, and our Savior himself shed tears during His earthly life and ministry. One of my favorite writers Charlotte...