Why is it better to go to a funeral or a wake than to attend a party? How can sadness lead to salvation? The passage tells us: it causes men and women to think on eternity, to consider where they stand with God.
Considered as a rebuke of sin, the gospel goes out with the hope that God will use it to draw in his elect. Paradoxically, when we preach the good news, our hope is that it causes sadness. We want to see tears flow as people see their guilt before the one they must give an account to. It is through this process of sorrow over sin that the face of the redeemed sinner is made glad and they join the kingdom of God. However, it is for God to grant repentance. Without it, tears are shed in vain. Whenever he does give repentance and faith, what results is a godly sorrow which leads to repentance.
The Breaking of Bread, or eucharist, is a type of funeral. In it, we enter the sorrow of Christ as we remember his death; but this naturally leads—indeed ought to lead—to thoughts about the deliverance he secured for us. So it is our sadness of face, too, is turned to joy. |
