Break It to Make It

Read Acts 27:30-44

Prayer & Subject

Introduction

Franklin Delano Roosevelt… the man, the myth, the legend.

He was elected in 1932 to be the 32nd US President.

He served for 12 years and was elected to 4 consecutive terms

He is credited by many historians and economists as having led the world out of the Great Depression and World War II.

And while some argue his success in those endeavors, his combination of social programs and penchant for leadership irreversibly changed the political discourse even to this moment.

Many programs and ideologies that Republicans and Democrats fight over are the brainchild of FDR and many things we consider to be Presidential are born from actions that he undertook while serving as the President.

Social Security, Public Works Projects, National Security, and Regular Public Addresses are all things pioneered by FDR and continue now.

And yet, despite the accomplishments and accolades that we can attribute to Roosevelt the monument…it is not FDR the President I want to look at.

Not FDR the Governor, not the Vice-Presidential Candidate. Not even the New York Senator. I want to look at Roosevelt… the man.

For his accomplishments during the Great Depression and leadership during World War II we view him as a Monument… A Monolith

But do we know him as a man….

And because we only look to the monolithic figure that is the 32nd President of the United States many people do not look at the real story behind him.

He was born privileged and spent most of his life in the spotlight both because of his family and because of his own political accomplishments.

He was a State Senator in New York

The Assistant Secretary of the US Navy

An avid sailor and athletic man

In 1920, he campaigned to be the Vice President of the United States and when they lost, he returned to his law firm and began preparations for his comeback.

Then, one day while on vacation with his family, he became violently ill.

He walked back to his cottage and laid down on the bed… And he never walked under his own power again.

If you can walk, you may not understand the gravity of that statement but to literally have your legs taken out from under you by something you cannot see, and you cannot trace.

A car accident is one thing because at least you saw it…

Going to war is another thing because the danger is made clear…

But to literally wake up one day and be, at least partially, imprisoned within your own body with no one to blame and no course of action.

He enters the crossroads of brokenness because…

He is broken in his body because his body no longer works

He is broken in his mind as he becomes depressed due to his condition

He is broken in his spirit because he loses faith in himself

He literally had to learn how to redefine himself in the confines of his new identity and for the first time he found himself in a situation that he could not get out of…

All he could do was learn what to do with the broken pieces

What do you do with the broken pieces?

In Church we love to put up this front that everything is going well and that we have no problems.

You put together the puzzle of your life and try to glue it together to save face and present a positive image in front of people

The saying is often used, you got to fake it until you make it and in the house of God, we take that as far as we possibly can.

But what happens when you cannot fake it anymore?

Have you ever been so low in your life that you cannot be fake…?

The days when you do not come to Church because you cannot take anymore encouragement.

Locking yourself in the bathroom at work and just stare past yourself in the mirror looking for a reason to keep working.

When you sit in the car with the engine running because you cannot face the responsibility of parenthood.

Nights when you go to bed early just so you do not have to feel the empty air and lack of words with your spouse.

These situations represent the cracks in your façade where your system of fake smiles, empty questions, and false identities starts to slip.

You go on a vacation or you buy yourself something to compensate and you slap some glue on the puzzle and keep on going.

But what about those breaking moments when you literally want to give up.

Forget being fake sometimes you just want to stop being…

You just lie in bed and are so exhausted you can’t talk because you are not in pain, but everything hurts

You are not dead, but you feel like you are dying

And you try to motivate yourself but soon you find yourself as your own greatest enemy in the fight to live with the pain of your brokenness.

These are the moments that I want us to talk about today…

I ask again, what do you do with the Broken Pieces?

Acts 27:30-44

In the text we see the Apostle Paul is a prisoner being escorted to Rome by a group of soldiers alongside a few other prisoners.

And we have to ask ourselves, how did Paul get in this situation...

Paul has been in ministry for some time and has traveled throughout the land trying to convert people to salvation.

But in the midst of his journeys he encountered persecution and prejudice from all manner of people

He was rejected by his Jewish brethren because he had accepted Christ and many saw him as a betrayer of the faith.

People never want to see you do anything different because they get comfortable seeing you in your situation. They are fine with you as long as you do what they expect, but as soon as you change your life around they open their mouth in opposition.

However, he was also rejected by many of the Christian leaders of his time because some still harbored anger towards him for the works he had rendered against them while doing his work as a Sadduccee.

People can preach something but fail to exemplify what they are preaching. The purpose of the Gospel is to let a dying world know that we have ultimate forgiveness, but some people are so contrary they ignore their own teachings just to hold a grudge against you.

Paul had made many enemies over the course of his life and his enemies had contributed to the struggles in which he found himself.

Some of those enemies took up arms and worked to arrest Paul. The Jews raised issues regarding him and took it upon themselves to arrest him when he went to the Temple in Jerusalem and they proceeded to beat him in the streets.

The Roman soliders in the city heard the commotion and interjected themselves into the issue and hopefully keep peace.

When they saw what was going on, they arrested Paul to separate him from the Jews.

Paul would go on to spend two years being held in the Palace of the regional governor as he awaited a trial at which point a new regional governor was appointed and his case was brought back to the forefront of the political discourse.

Paul made a proclamation of his Roman citizenship and therefore was entitled to a trial directly to the Roman Emperor.

Conclusion

God is using your breaking moments to get you exactly where he wants you to be.

Many of us look at these moments as obstacles to where we are going but the reality is that God wants to use the broken things of your life to build your pathway to freedom, salvation, deliverance, wealth, prosperity, better relationships, and other things.

Ernest Hemingway once said, “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”

It is my hope that even as you may be broken that you would grow strong in those broken places

Broken in your body

Broken in your mind

Broken in your spirit

Broken in your relationships

No matter…

God has preordained and predestined you to encounter your difficulties so that you can be perfected through those trials and struggles.

For his strength is made perfect in weakness

Decrease that he might increase within you