For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5, NIV)
We groan. We are groaning. We have been groaning for months now. We groan over the illness of loved ones. We groan over not being able to see beloved people. We groan about perceived rights being taken away from us. We have become a groaning people, and in many ways, we certainly have the right and justification to be this way.
My friend Cynthia led a Bible study this morning in which we looked at this whole chapter, but I was fixated on “Meanwhile, we groan.” That was a fresh, liberating idea. Groaning hardly seems like something that should be fresh or liberating. We usually groan with oppression or illness, both of which keep our physical bodies enslaved, either to another person or to malignant organisms. Here in this passage, Paul is talking about groaning because we are in these physical bodies when we long to be clothed with our promised heavenly dwelling. For many people, that is their normal groaning as they long to break free from their physical burdens and struggles.
Yet, Paul’s acknowledgement that we groan is what’s liberating to me. In my year of chaplain residency, I probably heard about a dozen times, “I don’t understand why he’s sick. We read our Bibles daily. We go to church three times a week. We pray every day (not just blessing meals). Why is God doing this to us?” In the midst of sickness, these people–usually women–had never been told, “It’s okay to groan.”
You see, the litany above reads like a check list.
- Church three times a week. Check.
- Read Bible daily. Check.
- Pray every day. Check.
- Get unlimited blessings from God. Ch–. Hey! Wait a minute! Something’s not working for us here.
The pain for these lovely people is that they had not been properly prepared for the reality of living in a fallen creation. They had been exposed to a variation of the Health, Wealth, Prosperity heresy, either by watching its proponents like Joel Osteen on television or coming out of the pulpit on Sundays. (Sidebar: I’m guessing your average pulpit preacher who ascribes to this heresy believes it’ll make him as wealthy as Osteen, so they spread the heresy.) Unfortunately, despite their checking off all the prescribed tasks, these parishioners were facing a decline in health. How can this be? They did everything right. Why is this beloved spouse or parent suffering and sick?
Somewhere along the way, they were taught they never have to suffer, so they’d never be in a position to groan when the truth is, groaning is a perfectly acceptable response to pain and suffering. The apostle Paul tells us that it is okay to do that. We can live into our humanity and groan over our sufferings and the sufferings of those we love. We can groan through our faith, knowing that God hears the groanings of our hearts, minds, and souls and responds to them through comfort and compassion. We can groan because we are human and sometimes words fail us. Is is okay to groan.
