Those Who Mourn (2)

Introduction

ILLUSTRATION: AMIT ACTIVITY

People in a large circle (oblong)

Step into the circle if you:

Slept less than 5 hours

Hate spiders

Can play a musical instrument

Mental health

Loneliness

Bully/Bullied

Think God doesn’t care about you

Segment 1: Blessed are those who mourn

Today going to talk about next beatitude

Matthew 5:4 ““Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Two levels for this term “mourn”

The first level = deep sorrow about our sinfulness and our walk with God

awareness of the sheer amount of sin in our lives

inability to escape it

It’s one thing to be aware of sin, another to genuinely mourn it

opposite of taking a light-hearted approach to sin

How many of us sin and think nothing of it? = lose its weight

we lose sight of the seriousness of sin

ultimate consequence = repentance stops

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

repentance is an integral part of our faith

Christian who does not repent - is not taking faith seriously

Repentance is not merely saying you’re sorry - it’s turning 180 degrees.

But REALLY what this point is about is: Jesus is saying those who recognise the real issues that are close to His heart are truly blessed

sheer amount of sin in the world, oppression of the poor, injustice - plight of the unloved

those who mourn the things that Christ mourns in this world - they will find comfort.

ILLUSTRATION: Struggling to be a pastor

When I first became ordained as a pastor back in FCC, I was young - and a truth that not many people know is that I really struggled to pastor. I am definitely more of a leader, someone who is far more comfortable naturally with strategy and big speeches and charting direction. I am not naturally gifted as a pastor, I do not naturally come by empathy. You know in youth ministry they just come up to you with the most menial small issues - “Oh pastor, I got a B in my exam, how am I going to survive?” “Pastor, this girl doesn’t like me”, “Pastor I just feel so bored all the time - I’ve got nothing to do” it may sound dumb to you but I was always aware that I just could not see these kids as God sees them. Honestly - it never bugged me that much, I was a pastor, they should know I was too busy for this kind of stuff; and I had leaders who were incredibly empathetic so problem solved - you’re welcome.

One day a youth came up to me, same kind of problem - “Pastor, I didn’t do very well in my tests.” I remember that I was writing a sermon at the time they bugged me so I dismissed them the same way - “well buddy better try harder next time.” I remember looking up after around 30 seconds of silence to realise that they had walked away. Later that week I had a leaders meeting where one of my leaders came up to me and told me that one of her kids had reported he was being physically abused by his parents and that we may have to call the police to intervene. I asked who it was - it was this same kid. Turns out that his parents would beat him when he got anything below a B, but as someone who was learning challenged - he struggled to do better than that; that kid was so scared to go home because he effectively knew he was always going home to a beating - and I had just told him to try harder next time.

I went straight home and prayed about this issue - God break my heart for what breaks yours. And that’s when I stumbled across what is today my favourite prayer. It’s by Mother Teresa:

“O Jesus, even if you are hidden under the unattractive disguise of anger, of crime, or of madness, may I recognise you and say, “Jesus, you who suffer, how sweet it is to serve you.”

Seeing Jesus in every person - God opened my eyes to see what He saw. And I started to see His youth group as He saw them. From that time on - any problem one of my youth had, I made time to listen, doesn’t matter how big or small. Loving people came before planning programs, or preparing sermons.

Our hearts need to be in line with God - we need to rejoice the things He rejoices, mourn the things He mourns

Our hearts need to break for the things that break God’s heart

unloved, lonely, widows and orphans, poor and needy, lost, victims of injustice and persecution, the bullied, the unpopular, the “least of these”

Segment 2: A deeper type of mourning

More to this definition of mourning - would be callous to ignore

Psalm 34:17–18 (ESV)

17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit.

God is close to the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit.

Just like many who responded by stepping into circle today - brokenness is everywhere

“When the righteous cry for help”

symbolises dependence on God

Submission of our brokenness to God

Are we too proud/ashamed to submit that side to Him?

You know one of the greatest lies I’ve heard the enemy speak into your generation is that brokenness makes you useless/unclean

On the contrary - God pretty much exclusively uses broken people

Segment 3: Brokenness unsubmitted

Issue: Brokenness that remains unsubmitted to God can become barrier in our relationship w/Him

Choose not to trust God

Turns into doubt, disappointment, discouragement

Brokenness -> Burdens which we carry around and affects everything

There’s beauty in the fact that Christianity does not actually seek a solution to suffering - but instead seeks a supernatural use for it.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (ESV)

7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 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. 10 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.

God’s Power is made perfect in your weakness!

We aren’t just meant to thrive DESPITE the fire - we are almost meant to thrive BECAUSE of it

Your breakthrough doesn’t come DESPITE your brokenness - your breakthrough comes BECAUSE of it

Trials, the fire - it REVEALS God’s power in us.

The Brokenness, the struggle - it’s almost as if these things are given to us so that we may see God’s power more completely.

Segment 3: Brokenness turns into breakthrough

ONLY WHEN Brokenness is submitted does it turn into breakthrough

God wants to repurpose what you can’t repair

ILLUSTRATION: Ministering in Singapore

I was preaching at a church in Singapore a couple of years back. And when it came to the altar call I decided to do an altar call on self hate. Now this was a very conservative church, and according to the pastor this was the first time they had done an call on this subject so we had no idea what to expect. So I did the altar call - and a group of people came forward, but the group that came forward had extreme responses - one girl was screaming more than she was crying, another was making retching noises, a few were sobbing uncontrollably, a few were wailing - you get the picture. When they came forward, the leaders had no idea how to react because they hadn’t seen an altar call like this before - even I was a bit taken a back by how extreme the responses were. There was this awkward lack of movement after I had asked the leaders to go pray - none of the leaders moved, I think they just had no idea what to do. But one leader, a young girl started moving to the respondents, first to the girl who was screaming she knelt next to her, whispered to her and prayed over her and the girl stopped screaming, hugged her and started crying. After this, all the leaders moved in to minister but I couldn’t take my eyes away from this leader who moved with such boldness and tenderness to all the respondents, praying over them, whispering to them - many people were watching her and I know I wasn’t the only one who was moved by her ability to minister to this group of people. Later all the leaders went out for supper and I got a chance to chat to this girl, whose name I found out was Charmaine, I told her that I was so moved by how gracefully she had ministered to those people who responded to such a tough topic. I told her she had a gift for ministry, that was when she turned to me and pulled up her sleeve - which revealed multiple deep scars, a clear indicator of self harm. She them told me how she was one of those kids, and one of her youth leaders had loved on her, ministered to her and walked her through the self-hate that she was experiencing as a youth. She just said, “I became a leader so I could do the same.”

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit”

1 Peter 5:7 “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

It’s quite easy to make the mistake of picturing God as someone who doesn’t care

He has no time

Bigger fish to fry

Can’t see Him so I don’t believe He does

Contrary to all the above - God CARES about what you’re carrying

goes as far as to ask you to cast your cares on Him

every small thing, every bit of brokenness in your life

How can say we have a proper relationship with God if we can’t even share our burdens, our struggles?

God desires your vulnerability

He WANTS you to draw near to Him - to cast your cares on Him

But in order to do that we HAVE to surrender your suffering - you have to lay it at the altar and let God use it

Submit it and just say “whatever happens God - I trust you. Use this for your purpose”

Only in that surrender can God begin to heal and use your suffering to bring you into a season of breakthrough

What brokenness are you holding?

Mental health

Bullying

Broken Families

Broken Relationships

Health

Grief/Loss

Sometimes it’s easier to tell yourself not to care

= hindrance on your relationship with God. Wants to use your brokenness to draw nearer to you

What if God meant for your brokenness to be a part of your breakthrough?

ILLUSTRATION: David Cheong

You haven’t heard of the name David Cheong. He’s a young boy that attended our church, and one of my heroes of the faith. See, around two years ago when David was just 7 years old he was diagnosed with a disease called DIPG (Difuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma). It’s a tumour in the brain stem. If you look it up, it’s one of the few conditions in the world with a recorded survivability rate of 0%. The average life expectancy ranges from 8 months to 2 years from diagnosis and death comes by slow loss of function as the tumour grows and takes over crucial parts of the brain. There is no cure, and it is inoperable. When it comes to feeling helpless in the face of sickness - this pretty much beats everything you can think of. Imagine being told when you turn 7 that you have a year to live, and there is nothing that you can do about that.

But David’s parents are two of the bravest people I know. Instead of approaching this defeated and instead of blaming God for this situation; they chose to trust in God. Even though the suffering was immense for them and for David, they always chose to trust in God - and used it as an opportunity to show everyone what real faith looks like. They weren’t here to play Christian, they weren’t Christian because it was convenient, they held tight to their profession of faith, and showed the rest of us what it really means to be Christian even when it hurts, especially when it hurts. You know they came to church with David every single week without fail, even when the tumour and radiation therapy had caused his face to swell to double its size, even when he couldn’t walk on his own anymore and had to be pushed around in a wheelchair, even when he was having seizures that were causing him to black out at random intervals, even though they couldn’t make it through a single service without weeping - they were there at church with David - worshipping and praising God.

On January the 24th earlier this year, David went home to be with the Lord. There wasn’t a dry eye at his memorial service. You know I realised that I never once heard him complain, say it was unfair, curse God, nothing. My wife, who’s a doctor, told me that the specialist who was in charge of David at the hospital (who isn’t a believer), was so moved by David’s faith. She said despite seeing so many people on their deathbed she had never met anyone like David. She said his faith was so real - he knew that he was going to meet Jesus, and he was excited for it.

I’ll never forget this one week when I was preaching on the topic of peace. I spoke about how God was our refuge, and how He gives us peace in the middle of our storms - and then I did an altar call for anybody who wanted to seek that peace in their season of storm and suffering. David’s dad, Marcus, later told me that he turned to David during the altar call and asked him, “Son, do you want to respond to the altar call?” And David’s simple response to him was, “no need Dad, I already have peace.”

I hope nobody here is in the same situation as David

But David’s life - and death showed me how intimately present God is even in (especially in) our suffering. And how He can redeem even the worst situations for good.

I have many great men of God in my life that have showed me how to live as a Christian. But David was the first that showed me how to die like one.

I said it before - one of the greatest lies that your generation has heard is that brokenness makes you useless or unclean.

But God almost exclusively uses Broken People.

The only caveat is that brokenness is surrendered to Him.

Altar Call

Front altar call. Submit brokenness to God for Him to use as breakthrough.