Broken by God.2023

Introduction

Sermon series

Show slide of stops and sum up the last couple of weeks.

Distribution of Adults along the Transformational Journey

Stop 1: Unaware of sin……........…1%

Stop 2: Indifferent to sin…............16%

Stop 3: Worried about sin...............39%

Stop 4: Forgiven for sin…................9%

Stop 5: Forgiven and active……….24%

Pressing On:

Stop 6: Holy discontent……............6%

Stop 7: Broken by God…….............3%

Stop 8: Surrender and submission…..1%

Stop 9: Profound love of God…… 0.5%

Stop 10: Profound love of people..0.5%

Scripture

Set up story with David....

2 Samuel 12:1–10 NIV

1 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” 5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

Pray.

The other day, my wife and I were going to pick up the kids from their classrooms at the end of the day. Another 5 year old in the class took something from one of the students. The mom of the child that committed this egregious act of violence, began to ask her daughter to apologize which led to a second kid crying. And then she lamented to us how hard that was to say sorry. Feel remorse, know that we did something wrong....all easier to do, but when it comes to saying sorry, there is a shame that immediately comes.

Lauren and I told her that we would pray for them, that this was clearly a breakdown in parenting as we never have that struggle.

The truth is, this isnt a dilemma reserved for 5 year olds. We all face this. Because to apologize and admit harm to another is to surrender part of ourself. And we love ourself.

George Barna:

“Brokenness will not occur until you make some further mental and emotional adjustments. For starters, you have to acknowledge that you cannot attain the life you want — the life He has prepared for you — without placing Him at the center of your life. He has always wanted the best for you, but you have clouded the picture through your dependence on everything but Him. He has never abandoned you, though. If you are really ready to take things to another level, He is ready to, too. But you must acknowledge with you mind, heart, body and soul that you want what He wants, and that you cannot get any farther in the journey without Him being the One who powers everything.”

Barna, George. Maximum Faith . Kindle Edition.

The story of David will show us some critical insights into the stage of brokenness.

Brokenness is always about the heart

Just went through the ordination process a few years ago. And at some point, actually several points, they go through a lengthy background check. I hate doing these background checks because I know there will be something that comes up. I find myself telling others about it before the search even happens. And what they find is my criminal history with DWI. It shows what I did wrong to break the law.

However, it does not tell you where my heart was at in that season. Self-absorbed, searching for validation and value in places that were not good. And completely justifying what I knew God was calling me away from.

See at this point David has an impressive rap sheet. but God is going to press in deeper to the foundation of the issue, his heart.

2 Samuel 12:9 NIV

9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

Relationship with God:

God tells David that you did not just break meaningless rules, you harmed yourself and the people around you. Understand this, to neglect or ignore the word of God was to ignore God himself and that is what David had done.

Friends, to reject or ignore the word of God is to reject or ignore God himself. Side note: when Nathan tells David the parable about the man that took whatever he wanted, David responded with death, a requirement of the Torah.

David’s own Torah-violating behavior had not robbed him of his commitment to impose the requirements of the Torah on others! 

Bergen, R. D. (1996). 1, 2 Samuel (Vol. 7, p. 370). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Sometimes we become nastier with religion and morality and ethics about the very thing that binds us. This stage of brokenness is about allowing Jesus to have his rightful place to rule and reign in your heart. And in this stage God reveals those places that you may have not yet yielded unto him.

Brokenness is a choice

I think David had a choice here and I think we do as well in this stage.

So often our first choice is to

cover,

justify

ignore

It has been this way since the beginning....

It is no small matter to face our brokenness and admit it out loud.

This can be about sin, or some other lack of trust in God. This week I was at a worship conference. and on the first day I couldnt quiet my spirit. I could not focus and receive what was going on. As I went to the altar that night, God pressed on my heart flashes of things that He wanted to purge. Entitlement, pride, and some other things I will save for my therapist and accountability partners. But the bottom line, it struck me that I had not told him I love him in a long time.

David, chooses to stop running from God. Maybe that is what broken by God looks like for us today. The choice to lay ourself open. That is why Psalm 51 is attributed to David during this season....

Psalm 51:3–6 NIV

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Oswald Chambers:

“The greatest blessing spiritually is the knowledge that we are destitute: until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us if we think we are sufficient of ourselves; we have to enter into his kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are rich, possessed of anything in the way of pride or independence, God cannot do anything for us.” - Oswald Chambers

Honestly, I got to that point this week. I can’t do this!

This kind of brokenness is a choice.

Brokenness is the first sign of healing

Did you know that when you have a fever or a rash or symptoms of any kind it is usually a sign of your body fighting to ail some infection or problem in your body?

These symptoms are a natural result of your body’s efforts to restore proper organ function, to slough off and get rid of dead cells and toxins and to fix injured tissues.

I know this sounds simple but I didn’t realize it until I had to care for another human being. I love that though, pain is a sign that healing has begun. This process and choice for David will hurt. It is painful to admit I am wrong. I hate it.

It is painful to admit I am destitute but that is where healing begins.

For years one of the healthiest practices in my life is to meet in a band group. When someone was dealing with some type of pain and struggle, one of the most life giving things to be a part of is to speak words of life over someone in pain. When you are hurting from a choice or dependence or what I was dealing with this week, complete self-dependence, the pain is God fighting you to wake up. It is like the first sign of fever as your body fights off infection

Brokenness points others to God

Broken by God means we are turned away from the world and back to God. See David is another example of what is happening with Israel. If we had time, in studying 2 Samuel you are going to see God use covenant language with David. He is speaking to David with this judgement and punishment in response to it in the same way that he does with Israel when they choose themselves over God.

Just as Israel chooses other gods, so does David. Being broken by God is about seeing the place in our life that we have become just like the world, instead of the called, set apart, followers we are to be.

It is in choosing God in this moment, about finding forgiveness and humility, that we become a witness to the world.

Friends, God’s glory and work in your life is on display more in your weakness. As we choose to be used by Him, not only do we find healing....but others find him.

“It has always seemed to me that broken things, just like broken people, get used more; it’s probably because God has more pieces to work with.” - Bob Goff

Isn’t this amazing? We are talking about David today because of his brokenness and the way that God worked in the middle of it. In this place our lives begin to be put back together so that we, somehow, become a work of art that was better than the original and speaks of the artists’ brilliance.

Stained glass illustration.

Conclusion

Broken by God. Sometimes this is sin, sometimes this is a season of catastrophe or as Barna points out a lot of times it has to do with a diagnosis or some traumatic event. I don’t think as some would, that God does this to get our attention or turn us towards him. However, it is in those valleys of life that we realize how Spiritually anemic we are.

Most of the people in this stage go back to the earlier steps. Maybe even back outside of activity in the church.

“Many people will follow the Lord halfway but not the other half. They will willingly give up possessions of property and wealth but it touches them too deeply to disown themselves.” -Count Zinzendorf

Moravian Hernhut

One more challenging quote from Barna....

Think of it as a mindless mutiny: we refuse to give God control of our lives, but we’re not really guiding the ship toward a particular destination that reflects our ultimate best interests; we just keep meandering in the ocean of life hoping to find an appealing place to dock. Forgive the impertinence, but sometimes it seems as if the Church — the aggregate collection of Christ believers — is indeed a ship of fools. We are not so much Christ followers as we are Christ admirers who listen to stories about His life and His teachings, then go about our business with a smile and a lobotomy.

Barna, George. Maximum Faith . Kindle Edition.

This is the beginning of the deconstruction of three modes that are engrained in our lives:

Sin, self, society

Sin: We refuse to look deep in our heart. We cover anger with alcohol. We hide our porn addiction. This is the beginning of a deep practice of repentance. Repentance is not just remorse, but it is a gift God gives us to acknowledge that when you can’t God can.

Self: This is the breaking free of entitlement. We don’t want to admit this but we desire self-autonomy. We struggle to sacrifice much for neighbor and when we do it is in short blasts of philanthropy. We approach church, still like a commodity to be consumed. Rather than a family of God’s children. We do the same thing with our faith…looking to get something out of it. This is the beginning of learning that in laying down our life, we actually gain life abundant.

Society: We are American, parent, employee, republican or democrat, etc before we are a Christian. We budget our money but will not budget our stewardship with the church. We schedule our calendar for holidays and business and let church fit in somewhere. Our kids extra-curricular activities take precedent. This is the beginning of a rewiring of identity.

FMC, until we as individuals and as a community, allow God to break us free from sin, self, and society, we will just be playing church and be full of individuals that are experiencing the marginal life.

Rees Howells:

When faced with the reality that God will not allow for competing wills. God will not compete with us, he was given a choice by the Spirit. And I love that God the Spirit gave him un 6pm on the 5th day of the week to make a final decision:

"I asked Him for more time," Rees continued, "but He said, 'You will not have a minute after six o'clock.' When I heard that it was exactly as if a wild beast was roused in me. 'You gave me a free will,' I answered, 'and now You force me to give it up.' 'I do not force you,' He replied, 'but for three years have you not been saying that you are not your own, and that you wanted to give your life back to the Savior as completely as He gave His for you?'

I saw that Throne (Rev. 3:21) and all my future for eternity going. I said, 'Please forgive me, I want to do it.'

"Once more the question came, 'Are you willing?' It was ten minutes to six. I wanted to do it, but I could not. Your mind is keen when you are tested, and in a flash it came to me, 'How can self be willing to give up self?'

Five to six came. I was afraid of those last five minutes. I could count the ticks of the clock. Then the Spirit spoke again. 'If you can't be willing, would you like Me to help you? Are you willing to be made willing?'

Within an hour the Third Person of the Godhead had come in. He gave Rees that word in Hebrews 10:19, "Having therefore boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus." "Immediately," said Rees, "I was transported into another realm, within that sacred veil where the Father, the Savior and the Holy Ghost live. There I heard God speaking to me, and I have lived there ever since. When the Holy Ghost enters, He comes in to 'abide for ever.' To the Blood be the glory!

"How I adored the grace of God! It is God who goes so far as to give us repentance. It was God who helped me to give up my will. There were some things He had asked for during the week that I was able to give, because I was the master of them; but when He asked me to give up my self and my will, I found I could not—until He pulled me through."

Are you willing to be willing? Spend time in prayer today.