This past Thursday, there was another tragic death. This time a twelve-year old boy from my church. Needless to say, I'm really struggling trying to deal with this one. My heart aches for everyone involved. I guess I just want to share some of the remarks that I offered at the funeral a few weeks ago:
If you’re familiar with the Lord’s Prayer, would you pray it together with me this afternoon?
Part of this prayer of Jesus that sticks with me today is “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” With the death of Chris, a lot of us here are thinking about heaven, this place that our imagination tries to picture—free from pain and tears and hurt and sin, a place filled with God and with those who have been transformed by Jesus—a place that is now reality for Chris.
But what Jesus says that we should pray for in this prayer is that we would live the life of heaven here on earth now. And that’s the problem, right? Our lives sometimes look nothing like heaven. We are broken people… splintered, misshapen, fractured, spinning off in the wrong direction, cracked, shattered, distorted, crushed. In all the ways we can describe it, broken.
Not that there isn’t beauty and love and hope, but alongside it is brokenness. This was certainly true for Chris. Even with his sweet wife, and his adoring kids, even with his supportive family and loving friends, he was still a broken person. And if you and I were to sit down together, I know many of you here this morning could tell me about your brokenness. Relationships splintered—we’re often either getting beat up, or ignoring someone else’s pain, or maybe even the one causing the pain. Sometimes our brokenness is internal. Maybe you sense it within yourself most deeply. Look at our splintered hearts, our crushed minds, our cracked spirits. It’s the inward brokenness of guilt, shame, over-obsession and insecurity.
What about our relationship with God? Maybe for you it is torn apart, cracked, misshapen. God wants to come close to us, and we push him away. God wants to come into our lives, and we crowd him out. God wants to show us the best possible way to live, and we refuse to even listen. We fail to love and obey him, and we find our relationship with God shattered.
It’s not a mistake that at the beginning of the story of Jesus, the first message of God to humans was “peace on earth.” Remember the Christmas story and the angels announcing peace to the shepherds? In the Bible, the word “peace” literally means… to put back together, to put back in, to restore as it was originally intended to be, to bring fulfillment. This is what the angels were so excited about. “Peace on earth!” They were announcing the peace of God on all the earth.
Whatever else you think Jesus is about, I want you to know this: God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to begin the process of putting back together what is broken in us.
In the beginning of creation, the Bible tells us that God created us in his image and his dream for us was to live unbroken lives with him forever, but, when sin quickly came, that image was broken. God’s intention for creation was distorted. But God wants to restore what was broken, he wants to put back in what was lost. God has not given up on his dream for the world. And the coming of Jesus signals the restoration.
So Jesus, who is known as the Prince of Peace, his life means that our shattered lives can be put back together like new—better than new! God takes the pieces of our lives that are broken and splintered and shattered and miraculously reunites them. He takes our crushed relationships with others, within ourselves and with him, and fuses the pieces back together.
Through Jesus, God is restoring his people. He longs to take your pieces—all the junk in your life—and make you whole, without cracks, without splinters, without defect. Look at your life… do you think this is the way God intended for it to be? I know some of you could look at shards of glass and say, “that’s me.” You need to know your life was meant to be so much more than all this junk. I believe this isn’t all there is.
I’ve seen God put back together some of the broken pieces in my own life. Several years ago, I struggled through some depression… maybe not as severe as what maybe some of you are dealing with. But I know what it is like to feel like there’s something messed up and broken in my mind and find help and healing and to cling to the hope that God did not give up on me.
I think Chris’ family would really want you to hear this: If you’re here and struggling with some junk in your life, please get help. It’s okay if you’re not religious, but as one who has experienced it, I know that God can do a miracle in your life and make you whole. At the point you turn your life over to him, he will begin to heal the fractures and make your life into the life he always dreamed for it to be. It won’t always be easy; healing never is. But it’s worth it.
Now if you’re here and God has made a difference in your life, I need you to hear this: God is looking for partners. God’s renewal and restoration in your life is an invitation to join him in sharing the peace of God with other people. God is looking for men and women who will seek out those who are broken and cracked and help them to find wholeness. He wants to restore the world through you. Don’t be selfish: you were not saved simply for your own well-being, he wants you to be a part of his work in other people’s lives, too. God wants you to be the healing in their life, get your hands dirty—you be the remedy.
In a way, this is sort of like what my wife and I recently experienced. You see, we returned one year ago from adopting our daughter, Kate, from China. We already have two biological sons, and we could have said to ourselves, “thanks God for giving us a great family.” But, no, we saw so many orphans around the world without a family—huge brokenness—and felt that part of God’s calling in our lives was to reclaim one life out of that brokenness and be her forever family. At times it’s been hard, but we love our daughter so much and are so proud to be her parents.
Here’s what I need you to do this afternoon. 1. I want you right now to turn to the person next you and tell them, “This isn’t all there is.” Take a second to do that now. 2. I challenge you to be there for this precious family that Chris left behind, not only now, but down the road, too. Send cards, give hugs. In a few years, Elizabeth is going to need driving lessons… and I sure hope she doesn’t get them from her mom.
Let me end with this paraphrase of Hebrews 13:
“May God, who puts all things together, makes all things whole, Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus, the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant, Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd, up and alive from the dead, Now put you together, provide you with everything you need to please him, Make us into what gives him most pleasure, by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah. All glory to Jesus forever and always!”
Live the life of heaven now.
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