June 3, 2018
Stetson Memorial UMC
Senior
Sunday
Sermon
by Cristy Tremblay
Mark 2:17
Psalm 84:1-10
God uses broken
things
She's 15 but she's already pregnant. He's
16 and he's already a father. He's 26 and has a serious heroine addiction.
She's a 24 year old single mother working the corner to pay the rent. He's 35
in an unhappy marriage, having an affair. She's 31 and having her third
abortion. These are all people God loves and forgives. God fixes broken.
Mark 2:17 Jesus plainly states “It is not
the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners.” Contrary to what a large number of people think or
feel, God in not one to pick the people who have their life together. Be
careful though, God takes broken things and repairs them, don't judge someone
who seems to have everything together. Take, for example, a godly man in
history named David.
He was a shepherd boy who later in his life
became the King of Israel. Its estimated that around the age of 15, David
fights the Philistine warrior Goliath. Back in those days, armies chose their
best warriors and had them fight rather than having their entire army fight.
David was a young boy and Goliath was a huge, hardened warrior, and yet,
Goliath fell to David by a sling.
David defended God. As Goliath slandered
all of Israel, God included, David stood up for what and who he believed in.
Interestingly enough, David later becomes king and is actually unfaithful to
his wife.
You must realize, even people that seem to
love God will make stupid mistakes. Understand, people will always have their
shortcomings, and God loves to be involved with broken people. All throughout
the verses of the Bible you will find people with brokenness and pain, much
like you and I might experience even today.
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
I am broken. I am not seen as a whole
person anymore because of the chair. Because I can't do what others are able to
do. Because in our society, when you have a disability you are seen as a burden
on society. But, God does not see it that way. God is using me to do his work.
Never in a million years did I ever think that I would be preaching God's word
in front of people. I have been happy sharing the word of God on social media.
Where no one can see me, where no one can see the disability. But, God took me
out of that comfort zone, and has me show others that I can do this through
God's strength. God wants others to see that even thou I am broken I can still
do God's work. By others seeing me and all that I go through, he is showing his
strength and His love for me and for others through me. God wants me to show
all my cracks and scars that life has given me. All those cracks and scars show
what I have been through and survived and they shows that God does forgive and
God does love the sinner. Our God fills in our cracks and puts our broken
pieces back together with something more beautiful and precious than gold. In
order to show the world that we believe in a God who fixes the broken things, we
need to bare our scars in our lives and wear them proudly.
The world is full of broken things – broken
bones, broken window, little birds with broken wings, not to mention broken
hearts and broken homes. Broken marriages, broken dreams and broken lives. In
some way we are all broken. It is whether we embrace that brokenness and allow
God to do his work is the difference. Most of us don't want to allow other to
see that we are broken, that we have flaws. We have to put on a mask of
perfection so that no one can see our weakness. But, it is in that weakness
that God does his best work. That is when we empty ourselves of ourselves and
make room for the Holy Spirit. Others need to see that it is okay to be weak, that
it is okay to need help. As God tells us, “I will never leave you nor Forsake
you”.
Jesus did not cut the bread. He broke it.
He was painting a picture of what was about to happen to His body. It would be
violently wounded. It would be torn and mutilated. It would be BROKEN!
There is an old saying that I have always
liked, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Many times we have set out
to make something that is working, work a little better, only to end up
breaking it where it won't work at all. This is where the saying, "If it
ain't broke, don't fix it" originated. We may spend our lives trying to
fix what is not broken. We must remember "If it ain't broke, don't fix
it."
Yet, when our lives are broken, they need
fixing. Too often, when something is broken, we spend all our time trying to
figure out why it is broken. We have a natural curiosity to know the
"Why?" behind what is happening to us. We ask questions like,
"If God is an all good God, why is our world broken?" The most difficult
thing to understand in life is why pain, problems and suffering are a part of
it. If we are not careful, contemplating "Why?", will leave us bitter
and cynical. Spending all our time wondering about why our world is broken does
little to mend our broken lives. Job's friends came to him and began
contemplating the reason for Job's suffering, but that only made his
difficulties more agonizing. Job's wife was agonizing as she exclaimed,
"Curse God and die!" When God finally spoke to Job, he revealed that
Job didn't need to know the "Why." Even if God were to explain the
"Why", Job couldn't have understood it.
As humans, we tend to automatically discard
something if it’s broken, but for God, it’s the exact opposite. God uses broken
things and broken people for His purposes. I find the more broken I become the
more God has for me to do. The more God wants me to share.
It can be so easy for us to push ourselves
to the side and think that we are useless and seen as no good, because we’re
caught up in a particular sin or are hanging onto the past. But you know what
is amazing? Despite all of our flaws, God looks past them and doesn’t see what
we narrow ourselves down to be, because we are so much more than that.
God sees our potential and believes in us. But, we need to believe as well. We
need to trust God plan and stop “trying to fix our brokenness”. It is through
that brokenness that God gives us the strength and the courage to keep going.
It is through our brokenness that other will see the light of God through us.
Throughout the Bible we see God using
imperfect people for the sake of his mission to bring hope to the world. I
never quite understood why Jesus chose the individuals he did, but I am
guessing his reasoning was to further prove the validity of his being. He didn’t
call the popular, rich or successful to further his ministry, but rather, the
poor, broken and faithful. I can only imagine how confused the Pharisees and
religious leaders must have been while looking at the team of people the
proclaimed Savior had gathered together. They were a team of misfits with
nothing to lose but everything to gain with God.
From an outside perspective, we can see
that It didn’t matter where people were from, what they had done, or who they
use to be; Jesus used all people for the good of His will.
God does not want us sinners to pick
ourselves up by our bootstraps and try harder. He does not want us to feed our
pride by “making things right”, nor does he simply want sadness and sorrow over
the consequences and pain our sin brings to us. He want spiritual brokenness,
the kind of brokenness He can use. He wants godly sorrow that leads to
repentance. 2 Corinthians 7:10
Out of brokenness, out of grief and hurt of
a fractured heart over sin, God longs to produce humility in us. It is humility
that allows us to recognize, as David did, who God is and who we are in
comparison with him. It is humility that sets us up to come to grips with our
sin.
God wants us to be like His Son and He is
working to conform us to His image. What is hindering us from being like Jesus?
You won't like the answer, because the blessing comes only after we are broken.
Brokenness is bitter but essential for the Holy Spirit to make us like Jesus.
It is brokenness that allows us to see that we are not perfect. That we don't
have to hide our scars. That we don't have to be ashamed of all that we have
been through in our live. Brokenness opens us up to salvation. To a life with
Jesus.
The greatest problem that keeps us from
experiencing the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the Church is not
our lack of ability, but it's our stubbornness and lack of brokenness. God
cannot work through an individual who is proud, disobedient and self-centered.
God works through the broken. The Holy Spirit is what fills in the cracks and
heals the scars. God will not leave us broken. He will fill us with the Spirit
so we can shine his light.
The reason brokenness is beautiful is
because of how God can use it in our lives. It is something that can draw us
near to Him. Brokenness can make room for a remorseful heart and repentance to
bring us back into fellowship with Him when we have miserably failed. It is not
lovely in and itself, it is not the end of the journey, it is not a cute
hashtag to put on a picture of a dirty house. It's not a word to use when you
want to feel “authentic”. Standing alone, it is messy and sad. No, the beauty
in spiritual brokenness is found in where it brings us. True brokenness is a
tool by which God brings His wandering sheep back into His loving arms.
If you ever feel like you aren’t worthy
enough to be used by God, let alone loved by him, just remember that Jesus used
a bunch of flawed people to share Hope to a flawed and broken world. In God, we
find renewal, mending, and purpose. Jesus didn’t call the equipped, He equipped
the called. And no matter what you’ve been through in life, remember that the
same power that conquered the grave lives within you. You are worthy of life.
You are worthy of God's love. You are worthy of joy. You are worthy of a
fulfilling purpose that will take you places you never imagined reaching.
The beautiful thing is that God is in the
business of not only LOVING broken people, but also sweeping up all the broken
pieces and gluing them back together for His purpose.
Yes God uses broken things. Perhaps your
life has been broken by sin, but unlike Humpty Dumpty and the king's horses and
men, God can put it back together again.
June 3, 2018
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Senior Sunday
Psalm 84:1-0
Mark 2:17
(Mark 2:13-17
the calling of Matthew”
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
and sermon: “God Uses Broken Things”
video
text
by Cristy Tremblay
Children’s Message
by Shyanne Foss
Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon blog
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“God’s
Whisper” blogStetson Memorial United Methodist Church
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June
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Senior
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