Un-Broken.
Her name is Janine. She is a Christian with a deep, trembling faith. Janine fears (that’s the trembling part) and loves Jesus. Janine always had a very positive way of looking at life’s twists and turns; and Jesus became her bedrock reaction to anything that came her way.
On one particular Sunday, the sermon illustration was about the brokenness that comes from sin. To illustrate the point, I took a pane of glass and a hammer. The hammer won the fight and this resulted in a box full of glass shards. Janine was there listening and taking notes as usual.
Two or three Sundays later she brought a gift to church and asked me to open it up after the service. I like gifts; who doesn’t? But this gift was not only special; it also drove home a deeper thought that was stirring in Janine’s mind when she saw the shattered glass.
Janine’s life-history looked like those shards of glass, but she had experienced again and again Jesus’ redemptive presence in her life. She knew that Jesus was active not only in simple ways, not only in multiple ways, but Janine knew that Jesus was active in her life incessantly, to repair what was broken. The gift she now shared reflected that presence that the God-man brings when he touches broken lives.
With the packaging quickly removed, I folded back the white crepe paper and saw a stunning work of art. Janine had taken her deep love for Jesus, that box of broken glass, some lead channel, and she had colored the glass and then fashioned an impressive stained glass window. What she taught me in that instant was simple: Jesus takes brokenness and makes it beautiful again. Jesus takes broken lives and refashions them, reshapes them, and makes them un-broken.
Revelation 21:5 states, “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” (ESV)
When Jesus, the one seated on the throne spoke, he said that he was making all things “new.” “New” means new in quality or fresh in opportunity. Heaven provides for us that eternal “newness.” We have an eternity waiting for us to experience fresh and brilliant opportunities.
When Jesus came to earth to live and die and rise again, part of his work involved taking the brokenness of life and making it “un-broken.” He did this in many ways but the one way we are focusing on in this Lenten series is his miracles. His miracles demonstrate both his desire and his ability to reverse the curse of sin—to make the broken into the un-broken. With each supernatural event he is adding the “un” to the “broken” and providing color and sparkle and shine to our future.
He took the joy that was quickly being extinguished from the wedding at Cana (John 2) and he rebuilt it by changing water into wine. He took the heartbreak of the widow at Nain (Luke 7:11-17) and un-broke her tears. He promises, in each of his miracles, to reverse the curse, to turn back the suffering that this world brings, and to make all things new! Join with us in this exciting series of lessons on the miracles of Jesus.
As we view each one, the un-broken power of God will strengthen our torn and tattered faith. We will gain fresh confidence that our Savior cares about the hurting and the lonely; he cares about each of us. May his love be fully evident as we dive into each of these valuable lessons!
Blessings to you from the One who takes the broken and makes it un-broken!