TEAR-JERKER

Oh, the tears that flow when I peel and chop an onion in food preparation. There's an explanation for that! When cut, onions release “syn-Propanethial-S-oxide,” a chemical irritant that stimulates the eyes' “lachrymal glands,” releasing tears. Next time you're experiencing buckets of tears while chopping onions, impress somebody with that explanation!

But there's another way to look at onion-peeling, one that's really personal. Prayer-centered monk and author Thomas Merton (1915-1968) compared the misery of onion-peeling to God's refinement of our character. Layer by layer, He peels away our self-centered spirits until the real-”me” is revealed. It's the idea expressed via another ancient spiritual spokesperson, Jeremiah, who gave this word from God: “I [God] will bring adversity on all flesh” (Jeremiah 45:5 NKJV).

What! Isn't God the grandfatherly type who answers every prayer for health, wealth and happiness? Sorry, but no. He uses hardship, tears, misery, of our fallen condition for good—if we let Him. One writer, commenting on the Jeremiah passage, put it this way:

God says that when he brings great disaster upon you there will be no time to pack a bag filled with ego, self-centeredness, lust, or materialism. He'll let you escape, but only with the Jesus clothes on your back. What you're left with is your real life in Jesus (Colossians 3:4). A life that is filled with God's purpose and a life in alignment with God's heart and mind. In this real life, we enter into the abundance of life promised by Jesus (John 10:10). (1)

Every layer of selfishness and “entitlement” that's peeled away, like an onion, is apt to produce angst and tears. But it's the process that brings us to the heart of God. No matter what hardship or discipline we endure, there's a bottom line—that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

Our spiritual journey will involve trials and tears, all part of God's way of peeling away layers of the self-focused life. Tough times may result from our own bad decisions, or from the negative actions of others toward us. Such times—it's often said—can leave us bitter or better. “Better” happens when hardship presses us closer to the heart of God.

And I remember: God's own Son wept. Over the pain of a sin-soaked world. But in His divinity He knew the rest of the story, in heaven:

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4)

Such hope sometimes brings tears to my eyes—good tears, not the onion type.

1. God Peels Back the Layers until the Real You is Revealed | Devotional by Jon Walker (thoughts-about-god.com) Oct. 19, 2019, accessed Aug. 24, 2021.

SUCCINCT

We faced one more assignment in our church's young teens two-year doctrine instruction class: to choose a “life verse” that we would memorize and quote to gathered family and church members. “And don't choose John 11:35,” the minister warned. One kid quickly looked it up: “Jesus wept.” Too easy! I'd already decided on mine, 45 words long in the RSV version I was using: Galatians 2:20 about being “crucified with Christ.” I really liked that verse as a challenge to spiritual growth. Decades later in my Bible-reading, I've noticed several other verses with huge impact despite their brevity.

First, regarding “Jesus wept.” It's tucked into the heart-wrenching story of Jesus coming to the cave holding the body of his friend Lazarus, whose sisters Mary and Martha often offered Jesus their warm hospitality. Their home was a safe and loving place from the demanding crowds and disgruntled religious leaders. The verse pulses with angst as Jesus, threatened Himself recently with death by stoning (John 10:31), showed His humanity by grieving with people He loved. This was the One of whom Isaiah prophesied, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). The two words, “Jesus wept,” are powerful and emotional before He rebukes Death.

Second, there's no special significance to the number of words in a certain Bible verse. The Bible wasn't divided into chapters (for easier reference) until the 5^th century. The first versification—of the Greek New Testament—came in 1551 A.D.

Still, there's something to be said about “versification” that spotlights just a few words. We're drawn to succinct truths. Even the meaning of the word “succinct” hints at why. It comes from the Latin succinctus, meaning “prepared, ready, contracted, short.” Its word family (going back 600 years) includes one that means to tuck up from below, as gathering up long robes to better move about. Theirs was no jeans culture!

Still, in my Bible reading, I pause and think when I come across "succinct" verses, like these, stair-stepped in 1 Thessalonians 5 (NIV):

Be joyful always. (v. 16)

Pray continually. (v. 17)

Avoid every kind of evil.(v. 22)

Brothers, pray for us.(v. 25)

Then, there's the profound “don't-go-there” lesson of Luke 17:32:

Remember Lot's wife.

The warning comes out of her story in Genesis 19. Married to Abraham's nephew Lot, she lived in the wicked city of Sodom-Gomorrah. They had two daughters and apparently blended into their evil community. The angels' warning to get out right now didn't sit well with her. Her home, her belongings, her friends, her status, her whole lifestyle, were enmeshed within those city walls. As they fled, she paused to look back to look and was incinerated by the mysterious, deadly explosion. Her momentary longing for her “old life” removed the possibility of “new life.” And could that be the problem we face today—of being enmeshed in the compromises of our culture, and having our pure desire for Jesus polluted? The rest of that terrible story is that her daughters got their father drunk and conceived children by him. The mother's sins...passed on, and on.

Jesus died for such sins. When we “look back” and inch back to bad choices, He weeps.