Finding Hope in a Broken World
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
2 Timothy 4:3-4
“The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
“They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
Proverbs 3:5-8
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”
Please open your Bibles to: Matthew 5:1-12
On Mother’s Day we always want to talk about something positive and hopeful.
Just imagine today if all of our relationships were loving and healthy.
Imagine if we all put one another’s needs ahead of our own.
Imagine if all of our marriages were bound together by the unifying love of Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Imagine if all our children were following Jesus with all of their hearts and they would sit at our feet just absorbing all of the wisdom that the Lord had bestowed upon us.
Imagine if we would care for our elderly parents with the patient love that comes from God and an understanding that life is not easy for the aged.
Imagine a family reunion filled with laughter, where everyone spoke well of everyone else and love for one another abounded from the beginning to the end.
That would truly wonderful, wouldn’t it?
But … this world is broken by sin and humans are a part of that broken creation.
Humans are broken. We are broken and we break things, sometimes on purpose.
We see brokenness all through the Bible.
We see Cain killing Abel, his own brother, because of sinful brokenness.
We see brokenness when mother Rebekah and Jacob, her second born son, conspiring against Esau to steal his birthright and the blessing of the first-born.
What was the fruit of that act? Esau schemes to murder Jacob. (Genesis 27:41)
What was the cause? Brokenness.
We see brokenness when obedience to the Lord is discarded and the nation of Israel descends into civil war and the nation is divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.
What was the result of that disobedience? Years of war and bloodshed.
A result of brokenness.
We see brokenness in the Book of Acts when the Israeli Christian widows are receiving better care than the gentile Christian widows. (Acts 6:1)
What was the fruit of that act? Division among the believers. A result of brokenness.
We see brokenness when Paul and Barnabas argue over whether they should take John Mark with them on a missionary Journey. (Acts 15:36-41)
What was the fruit of that disagreement? Division among Christian leaders.
Brokenness, brokenness, brokenness all around us.
In our society we see broken marriages, abandoned children, children abandoning their parents, sibling who won’t speak to each other, fights at family gatherings, people trampling each other when the store doors open on Black Friday, people placing phone calls under false pretenses hoping to gain access to your personal financial information, people faking injuries hoping to get a large financial settlement through shyster lawyers …
Face it, brokenness is all around us. It’s a fact …
Is there any hope at all?
There is a popular song on Christian Radio that is about a married couple that is struggling in their relationship; it’s called Broken Together, and it goes like this …
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What do you think about when you look at me
I know we're not the fairytale you dreamed we’d be
You wore the veil, you walked the aisle, you took my hand
And we dove into a mystery
How I wish we could go back to simpler times
Before all our scars and all our secrets were in the light
Now on this hallowed ground, we've drawn the battle lines
Will we make it through the night?
It's gonna take much more than promises this time
Only God can change our minds (that’s a good start … will they follow it?)
Maybe you and I were never meant to be complete (sliding backward …)
Could we just be broken together?
If you can bring your shattered dreams and I'll bring mine
Could healing still be spoken and save us? (here they make one more stab at healing)
The only way we'll last forever is broken together
(final resolve – no healing – only broken together)
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Really? Is that all that we can hope for?
Is there really no hope even if both of the people involved are filled with God’s Holy Spirit?
Is brokenness the best we can hope for? Broken together?
Does the Lord give us any guidance at all in His Holy word?
With that in mind let’s look at: Mathew 5:1-12
May God bless the reading of His Word … (Prayer for help …)
Where else does the Lord show us how to have hope in a broken world?
Ephesians 4:2
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
Ephesians 4:32
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Philippians 2:3-4
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others.”
1 Peter 3:8-9
“Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love one another as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.
“Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and He will bless you for it.”
What if we followed the teaching in those Scriptures by the power of the Holy Spirit?
Would the best result still be “broken together” or could it be hope and healing and restoration of relationship?
Back in 1977 when Pastor Karenlee and I were 21 years old and married just over a year we bought a house from a couple that was headed into the ministry. Their names are Bill and Sandy Orf.
This couple was married before they were Christians, before they were devoted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were broken people living in a broken world and it finally came to the point where they divorced each other.
Although I am not sure of the exact course of events they both came to know Jesus as their Savior while they were divorced.
Eventually, Bill became engaged to another woman who was also a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. During this time the Lord was impressing on Bill’s heart that he should start dating Sandy again. Bill did NOT want to date Sandy again.
You can guess how Bill’s fiancée responded to this announcement. But, you would probably be wrong. Bill’s fiancée, knowing the value that the Lord places on marriage said that if Bill was absolutely sure that this was the Lord’s will they should break off their engagement and Bill SHOULD start dating Sandy again.
So, Bill called Sandy and told her what the Lord was saying to him. Sandy did NOT want to date Bill again, but, being an obedient follower of Jesus, she agreed.
Needless to say, God is still in the miracle working business in the lives of those who place their trust in Him. Bill and Sandy fell in love with each other again, they remarried and the Lord called them into the ministry.
They are not “broken together” even though I am sure there were great times of hurt and frustration in their first marriage to each other. But, the fact is that the Lord God is a great healer!
The Lord God gives us this great thing, and it is called HOPE!
The Lord God created us for relationships.
We were to have a special relationship with the Lord Himself.
We were to have relationships with one another!
In Genesis chapter one we read of the great creation brought about by the word of the Lord. But in Genesis 2:18 it states,
“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”
Relationship; man and woman; whole, complete, perfect.
Then the Lord introduced marriage, one man and one woman; whole, compete and perfect.
Then came sin and brokenness entered into the world.
The relationship with the Lord is broken
Genesis 3:8
“ … [Adam and Eve] hid from the Lord God …”
Adam blames the Lord and Eve …
Genesis 3:12
“The woman You put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Eve blames the serpent
Genesis 3:13
“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Sin brought brokenness into the world and the great phrase, “It’s not MY fault!” enters the world!
Sometimes we have a broken relationship with someone.
We may have broken relationships with our children, with our spouse, with our co-workers, with our boss, with our neighbors, with our teachers, with our parents, with our class mates, with our brothers and sisters.
Now, there ARE relationships that do NOT need to be fixed. For instance, if you had five girl friends in high school and to mistreated all of them by being a selfish idiot you do not need to be calling them all up to apologize. Especially if it is ten years later and you are now married and they probably are, too.
No, don’t go there. If you see one of them when you are out and about be polite but keep a godly distance unless you want another broken relationship. If they need spiritual help direct them to a godly lady who can show them the way to Jesus.
But, on the other hand there are many relationships that could be and should be restored. There is hope for those relationships!
Jesus entered the world and the path to hope and healing came with Him.
If you have broken relationships that need mending, what are the steps to take?
1) Make sure your relationship with God is solid
- Is your heart knit with His?
- Are you listening to His voice”
- Are you immediately obedient with His desires?
- Do you see others as Jesus sees them … as His children whom He loves?
2) Pray for those with whom you have conflict as the Lord brings them to your mind
3) Take the initiative as the Lord directs
- Is the Lord directing you to make contact?
- Are you allowing the Lord to condition your heart for the time when you see them?
4) Approach the person with humility and kindness
- Allow the Lord to control your speech; its tone, its vocabulary
5) Let it be a time of testimony as to what the Lord has done for you and how He has changed your heart from being self-centered to being other-focused.
6) Leave the results in the hands of the Lord.
- Some will respond and others will not especially if they do not know the love of Jesus
7) Go back to step 1
Sometimes the greatest burden of all is the one we have for unsaved children no matter how old they are.
Sometimes the barriers and the hurt is so bad that all we can do is pray and ask the Lord to ease the hurt and soften the heart.
We do not understand how powerful our humble prayers of intercession to the Lord can be. They can extend beyond the grave. The prayers uttered in this life for the salvation of someone may not be answered until after our life here on earth is through.
And in closing I would like to read the lyrics to a song that reflects this thought called, “Mama’s Last Amen”
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Afraid to lift my head, I stand before You
Afraid that it's too late to be ashamed
Unworthy to be heard I call upon You
After all the times I called Your Name in vain
Oh Jesus I don't deserve Your mercy
Knowing right from wrong I chose to live with sin
But today my soul is cryin' for an answer to the prayers
That ended with my mama's last amen
She prayed that I'd be strong enough to follow You
And I promised her I would but never tried
She said Jesus if he stumbles give him faith to keep on searchin'
Oh till he finds the Tree Of Life
Oh Jesus let me go back to her bedside
Give me one more chance to follow You again
'Cause today my soul is cryin' for an answer to the prayers
That ended with my mama's last amen
Yes today my soul is cryin' for an answer to the prayers
That ended with sweet Mama's last amen
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Concluding thoughts and prayer
