"My heart is broken!" Those are not just words dramatically uttered by a teen "drama queen." "She/he has a broken heart ... . " Heard that or said that?
It is interesting that when someone goes for open heart surgery to repair some mal-function or mal-formation of the heart, no one talks about that person's heart being broken. (Or, at least, I have never heard it expressed that way.) Yet, in a physical sense, the person is going for heart surgery because something is "broken."
But, the broken heart is something else entirely. What are some of the things we attribute as causes for a broken heart? Loss of "true" love? Loss of someone special and dear? Loss of a pet? Loss of a valued possession? Loss of a job, child, spouse, parent or friend? Loss in some major aspect of life? It is a long list. This is only the beginning. The "causes" are almost as numerous as the hearts that are broken.
Indeed it is true that all of the above causes and many more do contribute to the condition we label "broken heart." It is a real condition, and it happens to just about everyone in life!
AND once one's heart is "broken," there is no glue that can fix it. Rather there's something even better!
We all experience the pain of a broken heart. Then we have a choice of what we do and where we go from there. Do we crash and burn? Do we crawl behind a wall of some sort, cover our heads and cower there licking our wounds? Do we spend time lashing out at others so they see our pain and experience pain we inflict? OR do we turn our focus toward the One (Jesus) who is in the business of fixing broken hearts? Only He can restore this kind of brokenness!
We come to Jesus. We simply tell Him that we are broken and broken-hearted and need His restoring love. We ask for His help.
He doesn't take away the brokenness. He helps us use our own brokenness in outward focus toward others. A "broken heart" in the hands of Jesus is a heart that can reach out and love others more deeply than ever before due to the very brokenness we experience.
It is a wild and crazy paradox that broken hearts and broken people can be the tools God uses to restore other broken hearts and broken people in this broken world we live in! It is God's plan for reaching our world, our community, our "space" one heart at a time in relationship with God first and then with other "broken hearts."
Dr. Bob Pierce who founded World Vision and later Samaritan's Purse (now the ministry of Franklin Graham) once wrote in the front of his Bible: "Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God." If you know Bob Pierce's story, it is full of brokenness and pain. Dr. Richard Halverson, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in the greater Washington DC area and later Chaplain to the U.S. Senate once said, "Bob Pierce functioned from a broken heart." And the record is clear that Bob Pierce functioned very brokenly at times from that broken heart - which encourages me, but God still used him in a powerful way to build God's eternal kingdom.
Our own personal brokenness only has value as it reaches out to others to touch their brokenness and to point them to the only One who can take brokenness and bring restoration! That's what we are doing at a Restoration Church in the South Hills of Pittsburgh! If you are broken and you know it, then come gather with us as we all experience God's wonderful grace of restoration together!
Showing posts with label Fourth Presbyterian Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fourth Presbyterian Church. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
What is the church?
Remember the children's rhyme (with motions), "Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the door and see all the people."? What is the church in the rhyme? It's the building with people inside. So, even the rhyme almost gets it right.
On the night before Jesus died, he introduced His disciples to a radical concept: it is the "Fellowship of the Towel." Pittsburghers understand that as we have our own 'fellowship of the towel" - the terrible towel that we wave at Steeler games. Jesus wasn't talking about the terrible towel and Steelers, however. He spoke of His betrayal and death. He illustrated His body broken and blood spilled. He talked about what would come after His death and resurrection. Jesus' "Fellowship of the Towel" was His showing His followers how to serve others when He served them by washing their feet and wiping them with a towel. His main men didn't understand, but they heard His words. His disciples didn't get it, but they did let Jesus wash their feet as He initiated them into the "Fellowship of the Towel."
On that astonishing evening, Jesus told His disciples that they would literally become His body here on earth. He told them that the Holy Spirit would help them represent Jesus to the world.
Richard Halverson, former chaplain of the US Senate, flew into Washington, DC one evening. As he looked at the city's lights from his airplane window, he tried to spy his church - Fourth Presbyterian Church. Somehow he coldn't pick it out of the darkness, but he could see the lights of the Capitol, White House and many other government buildings. Suddenly he realized a wonderful truth: he was looking at his church represented by THOSE buildings. Members of his congregation worked in those buildings. They were being the Body of Christ (the Church) as they worked and lived and all the hours in-between.
The church isn't bricks and mortar or even a steeple. The church is people living and loving and serving the Lord of the church wherever life takes them. The church is "the Fellowship of the Towel"! The church is marked by thousands of points of light across our nation's capitol (and wherever else) pushing back the darkness as Christian believers "BE the church"!
"BEing the church" is us - believers in Jesus Christ, the people whose hearts are being restored by His Gospel! The church is us 24/7 showing Jesus' love with our hands and feet and hearts to a world lost in darkness. The church is us being willing to serve others at the point of their need - even washing dirty feet!
What the world needs now is love shown by restored hearts who love Jesus! The world doesn't need bricks or steeples. The world needs Jesus! And ONLY a restored heart - restored and being restored by the Gospel of Jesus Christ - can BE the church and show Jesus to the world!
We don't go to church. We are the church: the "Fellowship of the Towel"! It's something to think about!
On the night before Jesus died, he introduced His disciples to a radical concept: it is the "Fellowship of the Towel." Pittsburghers understand that as we have our own 'fellowship of the towel" - the terrible towel that we wave at Steeler games. Jesus wasn't talking about the terrible towel and Steelers, however. He spoke of His betrayal and death. He illustrated His body broken and blood spilled. He talked about what would come after His death and resurrection. Jesus' "Fellowship of the Towel" was His showing His followers how to serve others when He served them by washing their feet and wiping them with a towel. His main men didn't understand, but they heard His words. His disciples didn't get it, but they did let Jesus wash their feet as He initiated them into the "Fellowship of the Towel."
On that astonishing evening, Jesus told His disciples that they would literally become His body here on earth. He told them that the Holy Spirit would help them represent Jesus to the world.
Richard Halverson, former chaplain of the US Senate, flew into Washington, DC one evening. As he looked at the city's lights from his airplane window, he tried to spy his church - Fourth Presbyterian Church. Somehow he coldn't pick it out of the darkness, but he could see the lights of the Capitol, White House and many other government buildings. Suddenly he realized a wonderful truth: he was looking at his church represented by THOSE buildings. Members of his congregation worked in those buildings. They were being the Body of Christ (the Church) as they worked and lived and all the hours in-between.
The church isn't bricks and mortar or even a steeple. The church is people living and loving and serving the Lord of the church wherever life takes them. The church is "the Fellowship of the Towel"! The church is marked by thousands of points of light across our nation's capitol (and wherever else) pushing back the darkness as Christian believers "BE the church"!
"BEing the church" is us - believers in Jesus Christ, the people whose hearts are being restored by His Gospel! The church is us 24/7 showing Jesus' love with our hands and feet and hearts to a world lost in darkness. The church is us being willing to serve others at the point of their need - even washing dirty feet!
What the world needs now is love shown by restored hearts who love Jesus! The world doesn't need bricks or steeples. The world needs Jesus! And ONLY a restored heart - restored and being restored by the Gospel of Jesus Christ - can BE the church and show Jesus to the world!
We don't go to church. We are the church: the "Fellowship of the Towel"! It's something to think about!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)