Sitting Shiva – Greg Albrecht

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“Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you” (Isaiah 41:10 – The Message)

The book of Job begins with an unimaginable tragedy experienced by a man who “feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). Identified as “the greatest man among all the people of the East” (Job 1:1) Job experienced a financial disaster when he lost 500 oxen, 500 donkeys, 3,000 camels and 7,000 sheep, and the deaths of the many servants (laborers) who tended them. 

In the wake of this financial catastrophe, a hurricane-like “mighty wind” (Job 1:19) caused the house in which his seven sons and three daughters (and no doubt spouses and children) were feasting to collapse, killing all of his children. With the exception of his wife, Job’s entire family was wiped out.  

Finally, Job himself started to suffer a painful inflammation and outbreak of boils/sores all over this body, “from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head” (Job 2:7). Job’s three friends, when they “heard about all the troubles that had come upon him” (Job 2:11) visited Job. “They sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was” (Job 2:13, my emphasis). 

Following this example, as well as a ceremonial seven days of mourning Joseph observed upon the death of his father Jacob (Genesis 50:1-14), the Jewish people today “sit shiva” with those who have just suffered the loss of a loved one. Shiva implies seven, and Sitting Shiva implies a gathering of emotional support and outpouring of love. Spiritual comfort and emotional support while Sitting Shiva is just as important, if not more, than spoken words.   

While Sitting Shiva specifically refers to a cultural and religious Jewish custom, it can also be used to describe expressions of love, prayers and demonstrations of support across cultural and religious boundaries for any type of loss and grief endured by a family member or friend.

For Christ-followers, a Christ-centered Sitting Shiva means a self-sacrificial outpouring of love and resources, “bearing the burdens of others” who are walking through the valley of the shadow of death.  Letting others know of our love and support during a catastrophic tragedy may well be part of Paul’s encouragement to:

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

Paul is not using the word “law” to propose a continuation or even modification of the moral law of the Mosaic old covenant (see 5:14). The law of Christ places the definition of law as external regulations in the rear-view mirror of Christ-followers. The law of Christ is defined in his two great commands: 1) love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and 2) love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40).

When God came in the person of Jesus, he came to be one of us, with us and for us. He did not then (nor does he now) remain distanced, detached and immune from our hurts and pains. Jesus was and is God with us, he came as one of us, with us, always comforting and healing us. He invites us to bring our burdens to him. He bears/shoulders our burdens. He sits with us! 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). 

When tragedy arrives, Jesus is the first responder. He is first on the scene and he is the last to leave… in fact he never leaves catastrophes, he is always with us, now and forevermore. When Jesus heard of the death of his good friend Lazarus, he went to Bethany to Sit Shiva with Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha. He joined family and friends surrounding Mary and Martha with his comfort, presence, peace and hope. In a conversation with Martha, Jesus assured her:

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11: 25-26).

Those of you who live in the Southeastern United States have recently suffered, to one degree or another, and you no doubt have family and friends who have also been impacted because of hurricanes Helene and Milton. The thoughts and prayers of the entire CWR/PTM family have been with everyone in affected areas of Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, as well as YOU, our brothers and sisters in Christ, our fellow Friends and Partners.

We all have been Sitting Shiva with you, even though we are not sitting next to you in your living room or at your kitchen table. We are bearing your burdens in our hearts, souls and minds. Were we physically present in your home with you, the words we might say would not be as important as how we feel for and support you.   

Job’s friends “did not say a word to him, because they knew how great his suffering was.” Jesus, the Word of God (John 1:1) does not say an audible word to us in our suffering, yet he is present, with us in our adversity. Jesus is now sitting next to hospital beds, holding hands with those who have lost houses and possessions through storms and flooding, comforting those who survive and grieve friends and family who are gone. Jesus is in the Middle East. Jesus is in the Ukraine. Jesus is with soldiers who are maimed and crippled, and mothers and wives who have lost sons and husbands in brutal warfare.   

Where is God in such unimaginable suffering? He is in the middle of suffering – Sitting Shiva.  Jesus is in the storms, the floods, the fires, the warfare and the hatred. Jesus does not stop the storm, but he is with us in the midst of it, and in the aftermath that so many of you now endure. 

“Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God.  I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you.  I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you” (Isaiah 41:10 – The Message). Following Jesus, joining him, “Sitting Shiva” with all who suffer.

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