For crying in the sink, Part 2

“Oh, for crying in the sink!”  Though my dad’s been gone nearly forty years (he would have been 101 this year) I can still almost hear his “sinking” expression of frustration when doing home repairs, especially on the family washer and dryer. Never from him did I hear cursing, forms of "hell" or crude derivatives of deity terms that amounted to taking the Lord's name in vain. He was different from many of his era.

Sadly, today I hear foul language in common conversation far too much.  Even from the church pulpit I've heard people use slang terms incorporating God's Name (think: OMG and its relatives). I cringe to hear it.

As for Dad's silly saying, I grew up assuming it went with the image of a frustrated, bawling person leaning over the bathroom sink while copious tears went down the drain. Then recently, wondering if I might be wrong, I researched both library and internet sources for possible origins. One source thought it might be a modified oath, vaguely changing the words “Christ’s” and “sake.” But swearing and taking the Lord’s name in vain just weren’t in my dad’s spiritual DNA.

Still, it’s interesting to me that a blog I wrote about the phrase (July 17, 2010) became the fourth most frequently accessed entry in the eight years I’ve written this column. If the readers were searching for origins of idioms, I’m afraid they didn’t find an answer, as that blog discussed the different types of human tears.

Sometimes I wonder: do we make too much fun of tears? When I read psalms and other Old Testament passages, I keep running across leaders of those times crying a lot.

 “All day long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.” (David, Psalm 6:6)

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping.” (David, Psalm 39:12)

“My tears have been my food day and night.”(“Sons of Korah,” Psalm 42:3)

Jeremiah and Lamentations drip copiously as the author weeps over his nation’s poor choices,

These folks weren’t crying in the sink.  They were crying before God.
Sometimes I do that, too. I am so bewildered, hurt, frustrated or grieving that there seems no other appropriate response. But I don’t stay there.  I remember another promise:

Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him. (Psalm 126)

This psalm is subtitled “A song of ascents” and was one that pilgrims sang as they “ascended” through the hills to Jerusalem. It recalled the miraculous return of a remnant of Jews after a long captivity in Babylon. God sees our tears, but He sees beyond our tears, too.

Crying in the sink?  No--in this case, crying with the saints. And that can be a good thing.

Digging through the dust

I haven’t yet met a writer who didn’t have stacks of dusty stuff in the “office.” I plead: guilty, as charged. Thus, in attempts to get better organized, this week I bought a five-shelf bookcase to replace a rickety two-shelf one held up by stacks of books in front of it. As I dusted and re-stacked books on actual shelves, I discovered some I forgot I had.

Something similar happened this morning as I read to the end of Jeremiah. For a lot of people, Jeremiah is a dusty, obscure book. I understand! But little by little, it’s opening up for me.

Jeremiah’s long prophecy ends in a big swash of condemnation of nations near and far who didn’t follow God. It reminded me of the 1960s and 1970s when it seemed the continents took turns having “coup of the day.” But this was 597 B.C., and the stakes were huge, thanks to super-power Babylon and its ruthless ruler Nebuchadnezzar. He was eyeing a prize called Jerusalem and its young king, Jehoiachin.

Age 18 when he officially took over the throne, Jehoiachin wore the crown for a mere three months and ten days. The Bible’s analysis of his kingship: “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (2 Kings 24:9, 2 Chronicles 36:9). Not too great a job evaluation, huh? He’d barely warmed up the throne when the Babylonian king marched him off to captivity with the rest of the royal family (including the Queen Mother—imagine how she felt about his job performance!) and about 10,000 fellow Jews.

In this riches-to-rags story, Jehoiachin sat in a primitive prison for 37 years! Do the math: from age 18 (barely shaving) to age 55 (definitely sagging). He’d probably lost all hope. Then Babylon’s leadership changed. Power-hungry Nebuchadnezzar died and was replaced by Evil-Merodach (how’d you like that for a name?), who freed Jehoiachin from prison.

Then the Bible records an amazing event. You don’t expect it of a ruler whose nation is known for brutality: “He [Evil-Merodach] spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon” (Jeremiah 52:32). Besides being removed from prison, Jehoiachin was given fresh clothes and invited to eat regularly at the king’s table the rest of his life.

There are several ways to look at this story. One is this: Jehoiachin got better than he deserved, though it took a while. However, he never returned to Jerusalem to resume his rule. Plus, the Bible never indicates if he softened his heart toward the things of God. The man who “did evil” in his short reign didn’t emerge from prison on fire for God. He was content to slum along in the royal dining room until he died.

Another way of looking at the passage is this. Sin and godless living can land any of us in desperate circumstances. But God, who unlike Babylon’s pagan king is absolute righteousness, sees us in the dark prison of our own making. Instead of some plebian guard, He sent His own Son to unlock the dank chamber where we rot. He bids us come with Him, gives us fresh garments, and leads us to the King’s banquet hall. There He wants to fellowship with us, forever. For me, it puts another face on that memorable verse: “I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

As we end one year and begin the next, Jehoiachin’s story presents us with some searching truths. Have you given up hope in your negative circumstances? Would you be ready if the King called you?