1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000
Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.

2
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:19,000
The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture to better grow in your relationship with Jesus.

3
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:26,000
Hey everybody, welcome to the Sanctuary. It's great to have you with us as always.

4
00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:36,000
Now, Memorial Day weekend has just passed here in the US and with that said, a lot of emotional baggage is pulled out with it, right?

5
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:44,000
Not only that, but there are people who have recently lost loved ones so it's a very emotional time of year even for them.

6
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:52,000
Or in the case, you know, there's people that are out there on hospice even, you know, and will soon be dealing with the heartache of loss.

7
00:00:52,000 --> 00:01:05,000
It's not easy losing loved ones. When it happens, there's truly no words that any of us can share that makes that load any lighter.

8
00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:14,000
Sure, we can try many things, you know, jokes, sharing memories, you know, quoting scripture, all that kind of stuff.

9
00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:23,000
Yet for those that are bearing the load, it's still just a little too heavy to carry, let alone to try to unpack all at once.

10
00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:33,000
You know, what we all need and can help us though is knowing where to turn in these dark times.

11
00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:38,000
And we're all going to face these dark times at some point. That's part of life.

12
00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:48,000
Of course, the place that we turn though is God. As hard as it is, we all find ourselves mourning at some point.

13
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:54,000
And if you haven't already, well, rest assured, it will happen.

14
00:01:54,000 --> 00:02:04,000
Grief and mourning are very much Old and New Testament concepts. It goes all the way back to the, you know, the beginning.

15
00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:14,000
There's nothing new there. The clearest places that we can find these concepts really as an outline are in Isaiah and in Matthew.

16
00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:37,000
Isaiah 61 verses one through two, the word says, the spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,

17
00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:47,000
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance, our God, to comfort all who mourn.

18
00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:53,000
Jesus refers to this passage himself even in Luke chapter four.

19
00:02:53,000 --> 00:03:07,000
While this speaks of captivity, keep in mind we can also become captives to death. And oftentimes we don't realize that we've been snared by this trap. And I'll give you an example.

20
00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:18,000
A loved one dies and every year on the anniversary or should I say death aversary, some people use it as an excuse to be sad and sorrowful for the day.

21
00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:25,000
What they're really doing is being selfish and they're lashing out and they can be just downright vindictive and not even realize it.

22
00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:32,000
They're not really mourning. Right. They're bottling up their feelings and just letting out that little piece.

23
00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:42,000
They're using it as an excuse basically to just do whatever and essentially treat people like garbage because they haven't fully dealt with the issue themselves.

24
00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:54,000
They haven't truly fully mourned yet and turn things over to God. And every year it turns into this thing where they tell people, you know what, this is the anniversary of, you know, so and so.

25
00:03:54,000 --> 00:04:02,000
And I'm not all right because of it. And they excuse themselves to behave poorly.

26
00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:13,000
And often cases, these are the same people. They'll go out and, you know, they turn to drugs and alcohol on top of it to deal to to deal or not to deal with these issues, you know, just drown them out.

27
00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:29,000
And I'll tell you now, that's not love. Matter of fact, in these cases, if the decedents were still alive today, they would be downright ashamed and embarrassed by what their loved one is doing in their name.

28
00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:36,000
You know, especially if this is your mother or your father, you're not doing anything to honor their memory or to honor them. Right.

29
00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:44,000
Let's face it, the vast majority of us, we don't want people, you know, moaning and wailing and crying over us for, you know, the end of time.

30
00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:53,000
It's like, yeah, mourn me and then move on with your life. You know, in claiming to honor the dead, too many actually dishonor them.

31
00:04:53,000 --> 00:05:04,000
And turning to Matthew, chapter five, verse four, in this section, this is a section that is normally called, you know, we refer to as the Beatitudes.

32
00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:11,000
So if you hear that, that that that little term, that little piece of Christian ease, the Beatitudes, this is that section right here.

33
00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:19,000
And this verse specifically that we're looking at, the word says, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

34
00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:27,000
Again, it is said, you know, comfort is said here. It is said comfort, specifically comforted. Right.

35
00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:40,000
And this is because the Lord is our comforter. You'll notice that the word says those who mourn, not those who cry, those who whine, those who lash out, but those who mourn.

36
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:52,000
And there is a difference. In one case, you're looking at an act and the other is someone actually taking the step in healing.

37
00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:58,000
And I'm going to provide examples here. All right. Matter of fact, dating all the way back to ancient times.

38
00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:05,000
And this is something that's still in existence today. All right. You can actually get professional criers.

39
00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:15,000
These are hired people who fill in seats at funerals and related services, you know, and they cry and they play the role of a mourner.

40
00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:22,000
They take part in the various things that are going on. Right. But, you know, just the same, they're actors.

41
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:32,000
And believe it or not, family members and friends can do the same thing and fill in that same role, but without the pay.

42
00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:40,000
And they do all the things that are expected as a mourning friend or a mourning family member. Right.

43
00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:45,000
Another example here. Matter of fact, the first time I witnessed this myself. Right.

44
00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:51,000
It was I went out to Zuni, Zuni, New Mexico. A family member had passed away.

45
00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:59,000
The body was brought out, placed in the traditional position and location. Chairs were all pulled out. Food was prepared, et cetera, et cetera.

46
00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:04,000
You know, some people were clearly mourning throughout the day. You know, they're very sad. Tears were being shed.

47
00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,000
You know, they were going through the process. There is no doubt about it.

48
00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:16,000
However, there were many others that were sitting in that room and they're laughing and they're carrying on like it's another family gathering.

49
00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:24,000
Right. Almost like a family reunion. And then at a specified time, everybody comes into this room and they take their seat.

50
00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:31,000
Nothing's really said. Right. It's just kind of the ceremonial stuff that's done.

51
00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:42,000
And all of a sudden, just like that. Right. The alligator tears commence and there's moaning and wailing the whole nine yards.

52
00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:49,000
And then even faster than it all started, they just stop. They stopped.

53
00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:56,000
And then they went right back to what they were doing just minutes before as if nothing had just happened.

54
00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:00,000
You know, the first time I saw this, I thought, man, this is weird. Right.

55
00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:07,000
But then after seeing it a second, a third, fourth times and on and on, you know, I've witnessed this several times now.

56
00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:11,000
It was very obvious, very quickly what was happening.

57
00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:19,000
People were playing the role of what they believe they're supposed to do in a given setting.

58
00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:25,000
Oblivious to the fact that they're playing a role and living out a lie.

59
00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:32,000
All right. Like I said, you do have your mourners. You have people who mourn and we all should mourn.

60
00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:45,000
You know, and you could tell the people who are mourning, they're processing a plethora of emotions, shock, denial, pain, guilt, sadness, confusion, hurt, anger.

61
00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,000
That's a big one. Loneliness.

62
00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:57,000
But just to name a small handful of the emotions that we all deal with when we go through the mourning process.

63
00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:01,000
You know, some people, they try to bottle them up. Others just let it flow.

64
00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:08,000
However, dealing with these emotions and these thoughts are essential.

65
00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:13,000
No harboring them for an anniversary date to let loose of small doses like I was mentioning earlier.

66
00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:18,000
See, this is the God is our comforter.

67
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:28,000
These are who we need to be at some point, are the people who turn to God and are dealing with these things.

68
00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,000
You know, as we've seen twice now, God is our comforter.

69
00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:39,000
And the word says this in multiple other places throughout the Bible as well. New Testament and old.

70
00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:46,000
Turning to John 14 verses 15 through 17.

71
00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:53,000
Jesus says, If you love me, keep my commandments.

72
00:09:53,000 --> 00:10:04,000
And I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another helper, that he may abide with you forever.

73
00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:13,000
The Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him.

74
00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:18,000
But you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

75
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:31,000
Now, depending on the translation that you read, when you look at the word helper, this word might be translated as advocate or comforter.

76
00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:37,000
When we truly accept Jesus as Lord of our lives, we turn to him for everything.

77
00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:40,000
He is first and foremost, right?

78
00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,000
The word tells us here that we need to stop and pray to the Father.

79
00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,000
In other words, we need to talk to Jesus.

80
00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:53,000
John 14 verse 6 states, Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life.

81
00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:57,000
No one comes to the Father except through me.

82
00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:04,000
So in other words, we need to take our hurt and our pain and the of the emotions that we're feeling and going through.

83
00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,000
And we need to take it all to Jesus.

84
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:11,000
We need to take it to Jesus.

85
00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:20,000
And when we truly accept him, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit guides us and comforts us.

86
00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:25,000
This is why you see people that, yes, they're mourning, but they're at peace with what they're doing as well.

87
00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:26,000
Right?

88
00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:32,000
You don't see them just absolutely shredded.

89
00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,000
And they're not just statues either.

90
00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:39,000
You know, they're dealing with stuff, but you could tell there's still a certain peace about them.

91
00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:50,000
In Psalm 119 verse 50, the word says, This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.

92
00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:58,000
And in Psalm 147 verse three, he heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.

93
00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:08,000
Second Corinthians chapter one verse three, Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies.

94
00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:12,000
And God of all comfort.

95
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:27,000
And in Matthew 11 verse 28, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

96
00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:37,000
When we talk to Jesus and we trust in him fully, we find peace in the darkness.

97
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:39,000
We find light in the darkness.

98
00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:44,000
We will find healing where we didn't know that there was any.

99
00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:50,000
And we will find a bright new day waiting for us when we get through it.

100
00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:55,000
You see, death, death is a storm that's all around us.

101
00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,000
And it's one of the harder ones at that.

102
00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:03,000
So it's easy to get caught up in it and not see the way out.

103
00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:13,000
And what happens is when this when we get caught up in the storm, we tend to lean on our animal instincts instead of turning to Jesus.

104
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:17,000
And again, you know, just I'm going to provide an example.

105
00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:21,000
When a storm is moving in, how the cows react?

106
00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:23,000
Well, they try to run from it.

107
00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:25,000
What do people do?

108
00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,000
Well, they run and they look for ways to get out of it.

109
00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,000
It's all a bit panics, really like, oh, no, I don't want to get wet.

110
00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,000
Well, there's a storm coming in. It's about to get nasty out.

111
00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:39,000
And they run. So let me get out of this.

112
00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:47,000
You know, we've all been to the store at some point when there's a hard rain coming in and you have people just standing there in the doorway because they don't even want to go out to their car.

113
00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,000
Right.

114
00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,000
And then you have the bison.

115
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:56,000
Bison have a very different approach.

116
00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:02,000
When the storm is coming in, the bison turns to look at the storm.

117
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:08,000
And once they see it, they run headlong right into it.

118
00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,000
It deals with it right then and right there.

119
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:18,000
And as a result, the bison spends less time in the storm.

120
00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:22,000
Meanwhile, the cows take the storm's beating.

121
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:27,000
Instead of being level headed and trusting what needs to happen.

122
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:36,000
It sets itself up for failure, which is what we do when we don't deal with our grief and we don't mourn as we should.

123
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:44,000
We shouldn't be trying to bury our feelings. We should we shouldn't be avoiding or ignoring or bottling them up.

124
00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:50,000
What we need is to look the storm in the eyes and deal with it right then and there.

125
00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:58,000
We need to take it to Jesus and let him guide us through the storm.

126
00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,000
We should keep our eyes on him.

127
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:14,000
Turning to Matthew chapter 14 verses 28 through 31, the word says, Lord, if it's you, Peter replied, tell me to come to you on the water.

128
00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,000
Come, he said.

129
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:23,000
Then Peter got down out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

130
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:32,000
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me.

131
00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:36,000
Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.

132
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,000
You of little faith, he said.

133
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:43,000
Why did you why did you doubt?

134
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:48,000
You see, grief and mourning, it's a process. It takes time.

135
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:54,000
However, when we let go of our pride and we turn to Jesus and we trust in him,

136
00:15:54,000 --> 00:16:04,000
then like the bison, we get through the storm a lot faster and we get back to enjoying the blessings in our life.

137
00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:08,000
It's not to say we're not going to continue to feel the loss.

138
00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:13,000
But we're at peace.

139
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:24,000
However, when we take our eyes off of him, like Peter did, and we focus on the storm that's going on around us, we try to do things our own way.

140
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,000
We fall.

141
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:30,000
We get sucked into what's all around us and we don't heal.

142
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:39,000
We spend more time taking a beating from that storm from grief than what we're supposed to.

143
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:44,000
Don't be the cow.

144
00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:49,000
Take your baggage to Jesus.

145
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:54,000
And make him your focus.

146
00:16:54,000 --> 00:17:00,000
And you'll find healing and peace beyond words when you do that.

147
00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:04,000
Because he loves you and he wants to help you.

148
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:09,000
But only if you'll let him.

149
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:14,000
Remember, you are blessed and you are loved.

150
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:18,000
Now go and be the church.

151
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:23,000
Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.

152
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:30,000
Please like, subscribe, and share our podcast on any platform it is that you tune into us on.

153
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:47,000
If you do have any questions, any prayer requests, or would like to know more about our ministry, you can find us on our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or on Facebook at BeTheLightSanctuary.

154
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:57,000
You can also find how to contact us there, whether it's direct message or email. We look forward to hearing from you all. God bless.