5-29-17<\/p>\n
I once attended a church where the Invitation at the end of the service invariably was unique. I did not grow up in churches where altar calls were\u00a0common, a situation I regret. In the church of my heritage it was assumed you were already in the family of God; or did not need a public act to show it or prove it. It was regarded as no one else’s business. Such things were too embarrassing.<\/p>\n
It is\u00a0strange to be in a \u201cfamily\u201d if you are too embarrassed to share your joy. Or admit to shortcomings. Or show your feelings. It would seem stranger, frankly, to be embarrassed to confess anything \u2013 joy, emotion, guilt \u2013 before God Himself. Yet many Christians act that way. How many people share virtually everything in their lives with another person, or other people, yet do not talk about\u00a0their faith? Is it a real faith, or is it not a real relationship, in those cases?<\/p>\n
Back to the \u201cInvitation\u201d at the church later in my life. It was a large congregation, and two aspects always impressed me. The pastor would end his sermon with the Salvation message; the importance for every person to ask forgiveness, to accept Christ; and to have a genuine relationship with the Savior. And, as Jesus instructed, to confess Him before all; to go public, so to speak, as His baptism was public.<\/p>\n
Many times there would be silence. Often it grew awkward; nobody came forward to kneel at the altar. Was everybody, even among two thousand, already confident about their souls? Then invariably, one by one, people came forward. And as they did \u2013 better, believe me, than if dozens had immediately rushed forward \u2013 the congregation encouraged them. No embarrassment. They clapped. Cheered.<\/p>\n
It was very much a picture of what the Bible tells us in Hebrews Chapter 11, that we are always compassed about by \u201ca great cloud of witnesses.\u201d Watching us\u2026 and supporting us, cheering us toward Heaven.<\/p>\n
The other aspect I remember from Pastor Focht was his encouraging word to those who hesitated, those who perhaps sought\u00a0mental excuses for their spiritual shyness.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might not think you are quite ready to make confession, and to accept Jesus,\u201d he said, \u201cBut you don\u2019t need to take a bath before you take a shower. Come as you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Profound. In truth, even after we are \u201csaved,\u201d forgiven and accepted into the Family of God, we still sin. The difference between the Old You and the New You, of course (quoting a Holy Bumper Strip I saw once) is that we are not perfect, but we are forgiven.<\/p>\n
We grow closer to God when we have the spiritual maturity to say \u201cGod, I need You so much. I am broken. Heal me. Help me. I cannot do things (including this thing called Life) on my own!\u201d And we grow not one inch closer when we say \u2013 as many of us are wont to do \u2013 \u201cGod, I\u2019ll take it from here. I understand it all now. Thanks for bringing me this far. I\u2019m OK now.\u201d<\/p>\n
None of us are OK now, without Jesus. All of us are broken, in some way or other.<\/p>\n
Broken in body, frequently. Broken in spirit, more often. Sustaining broken expectations. Battered by broken promises, broken relationships, broken friendships.<\/p>\n
I have always loved the not-so-incidental fact that Jesus was a carpenter. First, continuing His father\u2019s craft. But more so, He was a carpenter who mended broken bodies.<\/p>\n
Being broken, however, is not a lowly state; we only make it so.<\/p>\n
Cathedrals are constructed with broken stones, chosen and arranged just right.<\/p>\n
Beautiful stained-glass windows are made of uncountable pieces of broken glass.<\/p>\n
Mosaics are made of little broken chips of ceramic, odd and insignificant in themselves, but stunning \u2013 and making sense \u2013 when a master sees the big picture\u2026 and fits everything together.<\/p>\n
God loves the Broken Ones, and honors us when we admit to our brokenness. And he sees to it that Broken Ones come into our paths. We do His work when we bind them up, encourage them, and cheer them forward.<\/p>\n
It is why the poor are, somehow, always with us. It is why little girls frequently choose tattered old dolls over fancy new ones. It it why our selves and our churches (despite governments\u2019 efforts to co-opt these impulses) minister to the lost, the hurting, the\u2026 broken souls in our midst.<\/p>\n
In those times we see the broken ones; we see Jesus; we see ourselves. Whether we have a loose button and torn dress as happens to dolls, or are physically abused or addicted, or have felt betrayed and friendless, we all could use some real patchin\u2019 up.<\/p>\n
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