Kerry Shook - Perfectly Broken
Last week, Chris and I had the opportunity to go to Jerusalem and meet with some leaders and in between meetings we had the opportunity to explore a little bit, and we've been to the Holy Land several times, and had the privilege of going to some amazing places like the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane, then the place where Christ died and rose again. And we've always, though, been leading tour groups. And so you're always on a tight schedule, and there's one place that we've never been able to go, because we've never been able to fit it in. It's out of the way; and leading a tour, you just can't fit this in, and it's Shiloh.
Now, Shiloh was the place in the Old Testament where the tabernacle, which housed the ark of the covenant, was placed for over 300 years. The ark of the covenant, where God's presence dwelt, was right there in that place for over 300 years. And so Chris and I have always wanted to go there, and we told our Israeli friend, Eliav, that we'd like to go to Shiloh if there's any way. And he said, "I would love to take you". He said, "I've been there before".
And so the next morning, he picked us up at our hotel, and he drove us deep into the West Bank north of Jerusalem and out into kind of the wilderness are, and we just kept going, and we got to ancient Shiloh. And it's amazing. Archaeologists have unearthed this ancient city of Shiloh. In fact, they've even found a rectangular cutout in the bedrock there at Shiloh. That's the exact dimensions of the tabernacle described in the Old Testament. So, it is almost for sure that we were standing right there where the ark of the covenant was for over 360 years, and it's just a beautiful, peaceful place in the springtime when the wildflowers are blooming.
Let's take a look at this. It's just beautiful there. And then take a look at this next even more beautiful picture, because it's my beautiful wife. And you can see how happy she is there at Shiloh and also a little bit mischievous, because she looked around, and we saw all these pieces of broken pottery all around, thousands of them, and there was hardly anyone there, because not many people go to Shiloh, because it's so far out of the way, and so she picked up a couple of them, and she said, "Eliav, you know, I mean, where do these come from"? And he said, "You know, there's just so many around here. You could probably take a couple of them".
So, right away, she became an archaeologist. And she's always said, when we go to Israel, "Really, all I want is just a shovel and to dig, because anywhere you dig, you're gonna find something amazing, if it weren't illegal". But anyway, she started picking up pottery. I started picking up some pottery, looking at it, and we became experts on pottery. We looked at our cell phones and started looking at is this ceramic from the first century, is it from the Israelite time? Is it Byzantine? And we're trying to figure all this out, or was it just broken here last week? We don't know, you know, but it could be so meaningful, and we're just looking. And then we said, "Even if there is, there's so many pottery shards, all these broken pieces. I mean, there may be a million of them, you know, if you dig just a little bit, there it is".
And they said, "That's because in the Old Testament there was a regulation that said, 'If a piece of your earthenware, if a piece of your pottery became ceremonially unclean, then you couldn't just wash it and make it clean. You had to smash it and break it, because you could never use it again.'" He said, "That's why there's so many broken pieces of pottery in all these places, because they just had to smash it, and it was a powerful symbol to them that they were broken in their sins, and they needed a Savior, a Messiah to come and to make them whole".
And so Chris and I took a couple of pieces of pottery, don't tell anyone, from Shiloh, and we have no idea if they were just broken last week or if they were several thousand years old, but they were meaningful to us, because it's a symbol to me, when I look at one of those pieces, that I'm broken in my sin; but because of what Christ has done for me, the God of the universe lives inside me, he's the treasure inside me, healing me and making me whole. And if you're a Christ follower, you know, God no longer lives in the tabernacle, or the temple, or the holy of holies. He lives inside of you. And so we're gonna start this new two-part series that I believe is going to be lifechanging, because it's called perfectly broken, and it's finding God and his healing in the places that we try to hide. It's in the very broken places that we don't want anyone else to see or know about before we can experience God's healing the most.
Now, another place we went is one of our favorite places in the Holy Land, and that is the Mount of Beatitudes, and it's the place where Christ preached the greatest sermon ever preached on the hillside there overlooking the Sea of Galilee. It's a beautiful place. In fact, there's a church there that's one of our favorite churches, and it's a chapel that's just beautiful. And so here's a picture of it. We were there at sunset, and it was just beautiful. And here's a picture of the sunset looking out over the Sea of Galilee that evening we were there. We love that place. It's so peaceful.
And to think about Christ teaching the greatest sermon ever preached right there, the sermon on the mount, and as Christ taught, the acoustics are amazing right there, coming off the lake and going up the hillside as people sat on the hillside, and he spoke in this kind of like an amphitheater right there, and he preached the beatitudes, and the word beatitudes simply means blessing, and that's because every one of the beatitudes started with "Blessed are those," and the word "blessed" simply means how very happy, how very fulfilled. Blessed, how very happy are those who do this, who do that. And when Jesus preached the beatitudes, it turned culture upside-down. And the beatitudes are baffling to me, because they go totally against culture on how to be, how very happy.
And it's the second beatitude that baffles me the most, but I think is the most powerful. And there's a little stone plaque there on the Mount of Beatitudes that has this beatitude. Here it is. And so I want you to open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5 and verse 4, because we're gonna read that second beatitude in Matthew 5:4. And would you stand in honor of God's Word, Woodlands Church? And I want to welcome all of you worshiping with us at our satellite campuses. Woodlands Church Atascocita, you guys are amazing. We love our church in Atascocita. Woodlands Church Northpointe, you guys are unbelievable, and we love you guys so much. And Woodlands Church here in the Woodlands, you guys aren't bad either, but we are just so grateful for all of you worshiping with us online or through our broadcast ministry, or at our satellite campuses, one church built on the Word of God.
And I know God has a word for you today. I want you to read this out loud with me. They're very short. But very powerful. The second beatitude, Matthew 5:4, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted". You can be seated, and I want you to really think about, though, what Jesus is saying here. Because did you really get that? You know, I told you that the word "blessed" means, "Oh, how very happy," and so Jesus is saying, "Happy are the sad". That's what he's saying here. I mean think about it. Blessed means how very happy, he's saying, "How very happy are you when you're really sad".
What is he saying? What was he trying to get across here? Happy are the sad. He said, "Happy are those who recognize how broken they are and bring their brokenness to me and grieve their brokenness, because they will find healing and comfort". You see, until you grieve your brokenness, you'll never experience comfort. Jesus was saying, "You're broken, but the good news is that means you have the potential to experience supernatural healing and comfort. It means you have the potential to experience me in your life in a miracle kind of way".
And so the good news is you're broken, so you have the potential to experience healing, which is the great news. On the outside, you may look like you have it all together, but we're all broken on the inside. We're all broken in our sins and mistakes. We're all broken on the inside. You can look great on the outside like everything is perfect, and you've got it all together, but I know something about you. You're broken on the inside. Every one of us carry a hidden hurt.
We all have broken places on the inside, and maybe it's a broken relationship. Maybe your marriage is really hurting right now, or maybe it's broken emotions. You've been wounded deeply, and your emotions have just been shattered, and you're filled with fear. Or maybe it's a broken heart, where you've experienced a loss, and you feel like your heart has just been torn in two. Or maybe it's a broken self-worth. You experienced rejection recently; and because of that rejection, you feel like one of those pottery shards in Shiloh. Your confidence has been shattered, or maybe it's broken purpose that you just feel like life has no meaning, and you feel empty on the inside. Every one of us are broken. You look great on the outside, but we're all broken on the inside. But it doesn't matter how broken you are. That's the good news, that brokenness can lead to blessedness.
You see, the good news is when we take our brokenness to God, that brokenness leads to blessedness. You ought to put that in your notes. Brokenness leads to blessedness. Why? Well, there are three reasons. First, my failures turn me to the Father. My failures turn me to the Father. When my kids were little, they would bring me their broken toys, maybe a broken bike, and they would say, "Daddy, fix it". And they had such confidence that their daddy could fix anything. It was ill-placed confidence, because I can't do anything mechanically. I have no mechanical abilities whatsoever, but their confidence in their dad made me feel so good that I would do anything.
I would try so hard to try to fix it, to prove them right, that their confidence in me was justified, because they just, Daddy can fix it. Bring it to Daddy, and then I usually had to pay for someone to fix it, but they had such confidence in me. Now, when my grandkids come to me, it's awesome, because they say, "Can you fix this"? And I go, "Nope, but your daddy is amazing. Bring it to him". You know? But God loves it when his kids bring him their broken toys, and God loves it when his children have the confidence in him that he can fix anything. It's, "God, here's my broken heart. Daddy God, fix it. I can't. I'm bleeding on the inside. Here's this broken dream. Daddy God, can you fix it? I mean this dream has died. Here's a broken relationship. It's been torn apart. I have tried and tried. I can't fix it. Daddy God, fix it".
God loves it when we bring our broken toys to him and ask him to fix it. Folks, in life, you're either pretending or you're depending. You're either pretending that you've got it all together, and you're making it on your own, or you're depending on God, one or the other. Now, a lot of people are pretending, and they're not making it very good. Are you pretending or depending? The prodigal son was pretending that he had it all together, and then everything just fell apart. And in his terrible failures, his denial was completely destroyed, and he ended up in the pigpen of life, and it was through his failures that we find the turnaround verse, and we see that he stops pretending. In Luke 15:17, it says, "When he came to his senses, he got up and went to his father".
When he failed miserably, and everyone could see that failure, and that failure was just so bad, it destroyed his denial, that's when he came to his senses, and he turned to his father. You see, it's my failures and my mess-ups and my brokenness that turn me to the perfect loving heavenly father to experience his healing. And some of you are pretending today. I mean, you came in here to church, and someone asked you, "How are you"? And you go, "Oh, great, it's awesome". Or maybe you gave that spiritual answer. "Oh, I'm doing so good". Praise God. I mean God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. But on the inside, you're hurting, and you're pretending. And I want to ask you, how are you doing, really? I mean, how are you doing, really? I want to know. The people around you want to know. How are you doing, really?
Church ought to be the one place where you come and not pretend, because the Bible tells us we're all broken. So, why do we come to church and pretend like everything's great, when we're bleeding on the inside. And all we have to say is, "Man, it's been a tough one. You know, I lost my job this week. Man, it's been a tough one. You know, I'm really struggling. You know, my marriage, it's been so hard this week". You know, we just got some bad news. It's been so tough this week. You know, my heart's just breaking. We can be real at church. We don't have to pretend because every one of us are broken. We all know that. And when we stop pretending, then we can start depending on God, and we find the treasure of God's presence.
See, and we're all ordinary jars of clay, easily cracked, easily broken. But if you're a Christ follower, you have the treasure inside you. So, we're going to do a little study of 2 Corinthians chapter 4 to see how that brokenness turns into blessedness and to see how God can heal our deepest hurts. And what we need to do to cooperate with God in his healing process in our lives, the first thing is don't hide from your brokenness. We're always trying to hide the broken places in our lives. Don't hide from your brokenness. In 2 Corinthians 4:7, the first part of that verse, it says, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay".
We can just admit our brokenness, because that allows the real treasure to shine through. We're always trying to hide those broken places in our lives from God and from others. The purpose of most repairs of broken things is to hide the brokenness. You know, maybe you drop a vase, and it breaks; and if it didn't break too badly, maybe just a couple of cracks, then you do that super glue fix, and your goal is to make it look like it wasn't broken at all. You don't want anyone to see where it's been broken. You don't want anyone to see any crack there. And so the purpose of repairing broken things is to hide the brokenness.
Well, there's a Japanese art that goes back hundreds of years that does just the opposite. Instead of trying to hide the flaws in a broken piece of pottery, the artist highlights them by filling the cracks and the lines with pure gold. They have this fine gold, and it's an art, and it's called the art of kintsugi. And with kintsugi, the word just means golden joinery or golden patchwork. It's an age old custom of repairing broken pottery with real gold, not only fixing the break, but giving the piece even more value then when it was new. Now, when we successfully repair something, we say it's as good as new. It's really not, but you know, that's our goal, trying to hide the brokenness and to make it as good as new.
Now, when a kintsugi artist repairs a piece of pottery, it's not as good as new. It's better than it ever was. It's more valuable than it ever was. The piece not only has a history, but it now has a new story. And here's a picture of a bowl, a kintsugi bowl that's been broken, shattered, and now repaired with fine gold in those cracks. And I thought about that, and I thought, really, that's the way God heals our hurts. He doesn't hide them. He doesn't hide the scars. He doesn't hide the flaws and the broken places, but he beautifully lines them with the gold of his grace, and he takes every scar and every broken place and makes it more beautiful than it was even before the brokenness. It's called redemption.
And so those broken places in my life turn me to the Healer. It's those broken places in my life that really point to where I've been healed and where the gold of God's grace has come into my life to heal me and to make me whole. In Psalm 34:18, it says, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit". The irony is we try to hide our broken places from God, but it's in our broken places where we can experience God the most. He's closest to us in those broken places, and we experience the treasure of God's presence right there, and that's the greatest treasure of all. It's not the presence that he gives us. It's his very presence, that he is in us with the treasure of God's presence.
And without the brokenness in my life, I would never experience that treasure of feeling God's presence and knowing God's presence is in me and will never leave me. It's in the deepest, darkest moments of your life where you can feel God's presence the most, and it's unexplainable. It's called a peace that passes understanding, that God is right there. For some of you, you're going through a time like that right now, and I want you to know, don't hide the hurt. Don't hide the brokenness. God knows it. God sees it, and he loves you completely, perfectly. And when we admit the brokenness to him, and the hurt, and the grief, and we bring it to him, and we bring the mess and the pain to him, we experience him the most in a way that can't even be explained. It's in my broken places that I can experience the love and the grace and the mercy and the presence of God.
And so the treasure of God's presence is the greatest treasure of all, but there's a second thing that I have to do: rely on God when I feel like giving up. This is important, because when my heart is broken, I feel like giving up. When my heart is broken, I just feel like throwing in the towel. But it's at the place of giving up that I can experience God's power the most, if I'll turn to God. In 2 Corinthians 4:7, the second part of the verse, it says, "This all surpassing power is from God and not from us".
So, when I give up trying to fix my brokenness, I can finally turn to God and experience his power. When I give up trying to fix the situation, fix the relationship, fix myself, fix the circumstances, when I give up trying to fix everything. And I turn to God, then I get God's power. God's supernatural power, and I experience the treasure of God's power. In fact, the more brokenness in your life, the more the very light and power of Christ can shine through. And so I want you to see a third thing. I have to bring my brokenness to the Healer. I can't heal myself. I have to bring my brokenness to the Healer. After Jesus died and rose again, he appeared to the disciples.
You remember that. And he appeared to them, and they were all there in a locked room, everyone, that is, except for Judas, who had killed himself. And then Thomas. For some reason, Thomas wasn't there. And so the disciples were so excited when they saw Jesus, that they ran, they told Thomas, "You wouldn't believe it, but Jesus is alive. He came to us. I mean, it's amazing". And Thomas said, "I'm not gonna believe that. Last time I saw him, he was dying a horrible death on the cross. It's over guys. Admit it". He said, "I won't believe it until I see the nail scars in his hands and touch his hands and his feet and then put my hand into the scar in his side".
Well, the next night, they were all gathered. This time Thomas was there. So, even though he was Doubting Thomas, he was sticking around to see what happened, and he was in the room. And when you go through doubts and confusion, and we all do, because of the broken places in our lives, stick around. You know, don't give up on God, even when you doubt that he exists. Stick around. Keep coming to church. Stick around. Stay in the room. And God revealed himself to Thomas. Jesus appeared.
And look at what he said in John 20:27. "Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here. See my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.' Then he said to him, 'My Lord and my God.'" So Jesus says, "Okay, Thomas, you said you wanted to see the scars in my hands and feet, you want to touch them, well, here they are. You wanted to put your hand into the wound in my side, well, here it is. Put your hand into my side. Here it is". And Thomas, "You are my Lord and my God".
Now, what I wonder about this is why did Jesus leave his scars on his body after he rose from the dead? It was his new resurrected body, his perfect body, and it was totally healed. I mean he defeated death. And yet he leaves the scars from the crucifixion on his hands and feet and his side. He could've taken this scars away. Why did he leave the scars? And I believe he left those scars and when we see Jesus in heaven, we'll see those scars. He left those scars, because those scars tell a story. Those scars tell the story of God's glory. Those scars tell the story of how he defeated death and sin.