It Is Good to be Broken
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Matthew 5:2-4
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
Psalm 51:17
Do you view brokenness as weakness? Do you view it as giving in? As relenting to the battle you are fighting? Do you imagine that the only thing that could come from owning your brokenness is shame and embarrassment? Have you convinced yourself that you need to keep up appearances for others? Maybe even for God?
Maybe you're even embarrassed to answer those questions. But what if brokenness was the secret to strength? What if there was more shame in hiding our sin and weaknesses than owning them and confessing them? What if keeping up appearances was actually tearing apart your spirit? What if it was tearing apart the spirit of others as well?
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus exposed these tendencies with His first two beatitudes. He put two spiritual ideals up on a pedestal. Spiritual ideals that sound like defeat. Spiritual ideals that seem like giving up, like defeat. With these two beatitudes, Jesus totally crushed any concept that spiritual life was all about success, all about perfection, all about disguising the mess. Wouldn't we want to be rich in spirit in stead of poor? Wouldn't we want to be made whole in stead of being broken and mournful? We want the results of those beatitudes, but do we despise the graces that the results come from?
I say graces, because it is good to be poor in spirit. It is good to mourn the condition of our soul. When we are poor in spirit, we realize that all our efforts of earning, working, hiding, deceiving ourselves and others into thinking that we are wealthy and upright were just driving us further into poverty and shame. When we mourn our sin, we realize that all our efforts in keeping up appearances, playing the part, and putting our spiritual makeup on to convince others of our holiness were actually driving us deeper into the pit; the pit of sin and injustice that we tried so hard to convince ourselves and others that we were not in.
So why is it good to be broken? Why is it good to mourn?
1. Brokenness allows us to find our identity in Christ, not in our efforts. My best efforts to hide my sin and pull up my own spiritual bootstraps will only leave me as a sinner making a bigger mess out of his sin. But in Christ, we have forgiveness. In Christ, we have healing. In Christ, we are complete and stand as righteous before the eyes of the judge of all the earth. In the final analysis, our best masquerade would send us headlong into hell. Do you convince yourself and others that you are somehow better than brokenness? Somehow better than mourning sin? Run to Christ! Confess your faults before him and those you've hurt. He will bear your shame and give you peace in your new identity.
2. Brokenness opens the door to healing and comfort. One of the biggest lies I have believed and that we are all prone to believing is that we will somehow save ourselves and others from heartache if we just conceal our flaws, our sin. But what about that universal saying, "two wrongs do not make a right?" In your efforts to push away heartache, are you storing it up and intensifying it? In your efforts to hide your wounds caused by sin, are you deepening them with the sin of deceit? The Devil would have us believe that there is no good outcome, no positive aspect of confession and repentance; but wouldn't you like to be miraculously healed of your malady rather than putting a band-aid on a mortal wound? Run to Christ! Confess your faults before him and those you have deceived. He will bear your heartache and open the doors of healing.
3. Brokenness endears us to God, rather than pushing Him away. Consider these scriptures.
"Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." - Proverbs 28:13
"O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you." - Psalm 69:5
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." - Hebrews 4:12-13
There is a strange and dangerous place to be: a place where we are convinced that even God is somehow pleased by us trying to cover our own sin. A place where we think we are doing Him a favor by upholding a false testimony of perfection. Like Adam and Eve, who created their own garments of leaves to hide their nakedness, yet they forgot that the eyes of the Lord are in all places, beholding the good and evil. If you are God's child, you must always remember that you cannot hide one iota of sin from Him, but in the same brainwave remember that there is not one iota of your sin that was not paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. Do you hide your sin from others, and think you've hidden them from God? Run to Christ! Confess your faults before him and know that you cannot hide any longer. In your repentance you will find Him to be a welcoming, loving, and forgiving Savior.
Would you ask God to break you? Would you ask God to allow you to mourn? It seems like a dangerous prospect, and it seems like defeat; but take it from me as one who has both hidden transgressions and been broken by them. Jesus was not lying. There is blessed sweetness in poorness of spirit. There is blessed comfort in mourning. There is blessing in brokenness.
In blessed brokenness,
Pastor Aaron Frost
February 5, 2021
