Luke 18:9-14

The Gift of Brokenness

Some years ago, Eric Wolterstorff died in a mountaineering accident at the age of 25. His father Nicholas has written about this tragedy in a book treasured by many people who have experienced similar losses. At the funeral, he reports, the community’s actions and symbols spoke as much as the words. The cloth placed over the coffin was “simple but wonderfully beautiful,” and near it burned a candle, symbolizing resurrection. The opening words recalled Eric’s baptism. The music was “glorious.” Together, the gathered people celebrated the Communion, “that sacrament of God’s participation in our brokenness.” Many of you have experienced the brokenness of loss.[1] That kind of brokenness is not a gift, but a result of life in a fallen world.

There is another kind of brokenness that is a gift. A certain beer company’s trademark is a wagon pulled by a team of majestic Clydesdale horses. I enjoy the company's Christmas commercials, but I wish they were advertising a better product. The Clydesdale horses are the epitome of strength and power. They also symbolize the gift brokenness. Those horses are utterly subservient to the will of the driver. They don’t "do their own thing" or willfully pull in any direction they choose. They march in majestic tandem, following the direction of their driver.

That is the God-given gift of "brokenness.” It is the gift by which we renounce self and seek and serve the will of God. It means to be like clay in the hands of our God. The gift of brokenness results from two other gifts of God: knowledge of self and knowledge of God.

Have you ever noticed that 12-Step programs like AA begin exactly where Jesus begins: the gift of brokenness?

§ Step one: I admit I am powerless over whatever the particular addiction or problem may be and my life has become unmanageable.

§ Step two: I have come to believe that only a God can restore me.

That’s spiritual brokenness. I am helpless before my sins, my failures, my needs. Part of what it means to be a child of God is realizing that I need God’s grace every moment of my life. But, it is so hard for us to admit that we can’t do it.[2]

Jesus tells a story to people who wouldn’t accept that they were helpless. Two men at opposite ends of society; religiously and socially came to the temple to pray.

One was a Pharisee, a member of the most devout religious group in the country. He came to the temple three times each day to pray. Do you know anyone who leaves work three times per day to come to the sanctuary for prayer?

But the Pharisee was like the preacher that Bishop Ed Tullis tells about. During a prayer meeting in Kentucky, the preacher asked everyone to stand. Then he said, "All those who have ever taken a drink of liquor, sit down." Lots of folks sat down. Then he said, "All those who have ever played cards, sit down." Lots more sat down. Then he said, "All those who have ever gone to a dance, sit down." By this time everyone was seated except for one man. He just looked around and smiled. But everyone knew that this man was an adulterer. The preacher had just failed to name his sins.

When we write the sin list, we usually include the sins of others and omit our own. But God knows all of our dirty laundry. The preacher’s self-righteousness would sound something like this: "0 Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way."

But there was another man in the temple that day, an unpatriotic thief and extortionist. He was so broken that he could not bear to look upward to heaven. Instead, he cried out, "0 God, be merciful to me. I am a sinner." That is the God-given gift of brokenness.

A woman from a small town in Pennsylvania's depressed coal region cried uncontrollably every time she took communion. The pastor asked other parishioners about the woman, and they said she had always cried at communion. After one service the pastor asked her, "Why do you cry while kneeling at the altar every time you receive Communion?" She replied, "Every time I receive the bread and cup I can't help but think that Christ died for me," she said. "I feel that the only fitting response is crying. By crying I am remembering what Christ did for me. I feel so sorry, so sad, so unworthy, to receive communion."[3]

The Pharisee’s prayer never got above the ceiling. But that broken tax collector's prayer set so many bells to ringing in heaven that the angels had to cover their ears. The tax collector went home forgiven and redeemed.

Methodist Bishop Robert Goodrich once said that when he was a pastor in Dallas, he had some laypersons who were so self-righteous that they had to hold onto the pews to keep from ascending.

I am convinced that some come to church primarily to see if the air-conditioning is too high, the organ too loud, or if there is a typo in the bulletin. I don't know that for sure, but I suspect it. God is more offended by such arched backs, stiff necks, haughty eyes and unteachable spirits than he is by the acts of prostitution or murder. Those who get tripped up by the sins of the flesh usually know they are sinners. But those of us who are respectable often find it difficult to acknowledge our true condition and the needs of our hearts.

· Proud people focus on the sins of others; broken people know their own spiritual needs.

· Proud people need to prove they are right; broken people are willing to yield the right to be right.

· Proud people claim their rights with a demanding spirit; broken people yield rights with a meek spirit.

· Proud people desire to be served; broken people are willing to serve others.

· Proud people have an attitude which says, "The church is lucky to have me in it." But broken people feel this way: "I don't deserve to have any part in this ministry. O how good of God to include even me."

· Proud people keep others at arm's length; broken people are willing to be vulnerable and close to others.

· Proud people find it difficult to say, "I was wrong and I'm sorry." Broken people are quick to confess and are genuinely repentant.

· Proud People, in a conflict, wait for the other person to apologize; broken people take the initiative to reconcile, regardless of who was at fault.

· Proud people don't believe they need spiritual growth, but are sure everybody else does. Broken people continually sense their need for a fresh encounter with God.

· Proud people compare themselves to others and feel superior; broken people compare themselves to the holiness of God and beg for mercy.

William Barclay once told about traveling by train from Glasgow, Scotland to London. As they passed through the Yorkshire moors, he noticed a little whitewashed cottage. It seemed to shine with almost a radiant whiteness. A few days later Barclay made the return trip to Glasgow. Meanwhile, a deep snow had fallen. He noticed the little white cottage again, but this time its whiteness seemed drab and soiled and almost gray, in comparison to the whiteness of the driven snow.

Your righteousness or my righteousness may seem strong if we compare ourselves to certain other people; but when we become aware of God’s holiness and our sinfulness, we know that we are simply soiled sinners.

A martial arts student was meeting with his master and teacher at a table, having tea. The student said to his master, "I've learned all you have to teach me about defending myself. I want to learn one thing more now. Please teach me about the ways of God." The master took the teakettle and starting pouring the student's cup full of tea. Soon the cup was full and began to spill over onto the saucer. But the master continued to pour the tea until it spilled over the saucer and then onto the floor. The student finally said, "Stop, stop, the tea is spilling over. The cup can't take any more." The master then looked at the student and said, "You are so full of yourself that there is no room in your life for God. It is not possible for you to learn the ways of God until you learn to empty yourself."[4]

Only the broken can be filled with God's Spirit and used for God’s purposes. God can fill only that person who has some available space. If John Calvin Presbyterian Church to serve God’s will, we must first become broken people; not broken in the sad worldly sense, but broken in the beautiful spiritual sense.

The Chaplain to the U.S. Senate, Lloyd J. Ogilvie, recalls a woman who said to him, "I've been a church member for years, but it wasn't until my arrogant religiosity was broken by an unsolvable problem in a relationship with my son that I had to go back to the cross for grace to sustain me."

When was the last time you grieved because your sin caused nails to pierce the holy flesh of Jesus? When was the last time you admitted a fault to a Christian brother or sister and asked that person to pray for you? When was the last time you called sin what it is for the sake of your brother or sister in order for God to break him and thus live in the freedom of God’s will? When was the last time you shed a tear of gratitude for the cross?

Jesus labored in a carpenter's shop for twenty years. And one day on the trash heap outside Jerusalem, this Jesus, the perfect God-man allowed his body to be broken for sinners like you and me.

It is only when we know who we are, who God is and the vast difference between the two that we can say that we are recipients of the gift of spiritual brokenness. Are you broken enough to allow Christ to mold you like clay according to his will and not your own? Are you truly broken?[5]

---

[1] Attributed to ‘Amy Plantinga Pauw, ‘Dying well,’ in Practicing Our Faith (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1997), 176” at http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search

[2] Attributed to “Leonard J. Vander Zee, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” September 21, 2003, South Bend Christian Reformed Church Web Site, Sbcrc.org” at http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search

[3] Attributed to “Gail Godwin, FATHER MELANCHOLY'S DAUGHTER (New York: Wm. Morrow and Co., 1991), pg. 133-135” at eSermons.com

[4] Attributed to “Deadly Sins and Living Virtues, R. Curtis Fussell, CSS Publishing Company, 1997, 0-7880-1138-3” at eSermons.com

[5] Collected Sermons, Dr. Bill Bouknight, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., 2002, 0-000-0000-13