Broken
Hope Mwemba
Midland SDA Church
November 28, 2015
“Broken” for whose glory?
· Pray
· How many of you are broken this morning?
· Brokenness –Meaning
1. Violently separated into parts or shattered into pieces
2. Damaged or altered
3. Violated by transgression
4. Disrupted by change
5. Made weak or subdued
6. Crushed or sorrowful
7. Imperfectly made, spoken, written
· Let’s begin with David, a man described as being after God’s own heart, yet committed adultery and murder
· Read scripture used for “call to worship” Psalm 51:10-17 which was written after David had committed adultery.
It is not easy to turn your brokenness to God and allow Him to turn it into something beautiful. Something that glorifies His name. In His time however, He picks up the pieces and puts them back together and sometimes He does not put them exactly where they were before but, He places them where they will be most useful and serve Him better. You may ask how can I do that?
Being broken, brings about complete surrender as seen in shuttered glass. In our brokenness, with a contrite heart, we completely let go of the self and allow God to take over and mold us into something beautiful for His glory.
· This reminds me of when Burt was ill and I asked him what he really wanted us to pray about, He said that he would like for us to pray that when the pain was too much that he would not sin against God. Broken indeed, for His glory.
· One of my favorite artist has written a book entitled “when God doesn’t fix it” in which she talks about her husband who was struck by a brain tumor and has been left with physical and mental disabilities. She asks, how does one move from this devastation to glorifying God who has not fixed what you asked Him to fix? You can only do that through complete surrender.
· Complete surrender begins when we realize that we own nothing, and He owns everything. Our children, our lives and everything else in it and He alone has control over what happens whether we like it or not.
· Vicki Griffin in her sermon on dealing with loss talks about how she prayed every night after losing her husband of 32 years. She prayed that she would not wake up. However, God had other plans, He wanted her to use her “broken heart” (spirit) for His glory.
· One would then ask, how can a loving father allow such pain and suffering to occur? Talk about conversation with Sadie after Sabbath school a few weeks ago.
· Well, we can look back at Job and what transpired there between God and the Devil. Let’s look at Job the faithful servant of God. In chapter 1 & 2 Job’s life is turned upside down, yet Job refuses to curse God, even in his brokenness he refused to curse God because He had completely surrendered his life to Him and Knew His father so well that he turned around in Chapter 3 and begun to curse the day he was born instead. How many of us under pressure would respond in the same way Job did? In turn God put the broken pieces of his life together in a way that was even better than before, a way he would not have imagined.
· There are things we will never understand as human beings and God declared that in Isaiah 55:8-9 that “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts”.
· If we always knew why we were suffering, our faith would have no room to grow. God is capable of rescuing us from suffering, but He may also allow suffering to come for reasons we cannot understand and it is Satan’s strategy to get us to doubt God when we are at our lowest point. He has promised in Hebrews 13:5 that “He will never leave us nor forsake us”.
Remember that “Pain” is not always punishment!
· Out of brokenness, comes a resilience, a determination to do better, a fire that cannot be put out by another human being. Out of brokenness comes a passion to leave no stone unturned and no life untouched for the sake of spreading the good news to all men. James tells us in James 1: 2-4 “consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
In verse 12 he says “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
· There is a brokenness that surpasses all human understanding. Look at how Peter was broken after denying His Lord. He was so broken and all He wanted to do afterwards was to serve his master (savior) and talk about His love to anyone who would listen no matter what the cost. He walked, breathed, talked Christ’s love and message of forgiveness till the day he was crucified hanging upside down, which was his own choosing for even in His death, He could not make himself worthy of being hung/crucified in the same manner as His savior, Jesus Christ.
· Paul who had persecuted His Savior over and over again, was transformed into a man who never rested and only wanted to tell the world about His loving and merciful savior. How could he not talk about one who had forgiven him of all he had done to His people? “The vilest sinner of them all” as he considered himself. He could only do so by accepting the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy and by dying daily to thy self. The common thread is the death of thyself and living only for the Savior. Paul said “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31).
· Let’s go back to our scripture reading, 2 Corinthians 4: 7-18 Paul writes: Read from Bible
· In Luke 9:23 Christ said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
· Tell the story of the eloquent speaker and the humble old Man Regarding Psalm 23, “The lord is my shepherd”.
· A contrite heart, is selfless, kind, meek, humble, broken and lives for Christ alone. Lives to possess Christ’s character. A contrite heart does not boast and is not full of pride. Do you ever ask yourself at the end of each day, “was I Christ today to the people I interacted with throughout the day”?
· Narrate story of recent student interactions
Here are some encouraging verses for you to consider or take note of in your iPhone/iPad
2 Corinthians 12:9, 10 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 1:3,4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
Psalm 34:7 “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
Hebrews 4:15,16 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
· Scars show where you have been. You can choose to be broken for the sake of showing your scars to others or use the scars to bring others to Christ. Perhaps it is a broken relationship with a family member, spouse, children, parents, siblings, and friends, perhaps a brokenness from illness, loss of a loved one or simply a broken heart. Yet He waits patiently for you to turn towards Him and not away from HIM. In our brokenness the devil knows how vulnerable we become and takes advantage of our situation and manipulates us into doubting God’s love for us. It is in that brokenness, that He stops and weeps with us, puts His loving arms around us and softly whispers for us to let go and let Him carry us through whatever it might be for the sake of His Glory.
· The question remains, are you broken this morning? And if so, for whose glory?