BROKENNESS MANOR, GOD'S SECOND HOME

  "For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:“I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite." Isaiah 57:15

Did you know that God has two addresses? That is what Isaiah 57:15 tells us. The first address most of us assume. We are told that the high and exalted God of the universe lives in eternity " in the high and holy place".  Yet, the prophet Isaiah tells us that God has another address where He lives as well.This may astound you, move you, encourage you, and touch you a you read this. Listen carefully, for God is speaking as you read this.It is amazing!

“I dwell...also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit."

You would think a perfect being, a royal king, a sovereign ruler, would be very comfortable living with the wealthy and successful. But this King chooses to dwell with a certain kind of person. He is drawn and attracted to those who have a broken and contrite spirit. I call this place, "Brokenness Manor." It is God's second home!

If you read Psalm 51, the great heartfelt prayer of penitence of King David after he fell into sin with Bathsheba, you find there what God desires from His people.

"For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." Psalm 51:!6-17

What does God want from you and me? "...a broken and contrite heart".

In His sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us the secret of true joy. He begins by saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). Blessed are the poor? blessed are the destitute? Jesus introduces a whole new way of thinking and feeling about life. The the word that is used for poor is the word ptochos.  In Greek there are two words for poor.  There is the word penes.  Penes describes a man who has to work for his living; the man who is not rich, but who is not destitute either.  But, as we-have seen, it is not penes that is used in this beatitude, it is pt6chos, which describes absolute and abject poverty.  It is connected with the root pt6ssein, which means to crouch or to cower, and it describes the poverty which is beaten to its knees. Ptochos describes the man who has nothing at all.  So this beatitude becomes even more surprising.  Blessed is the man who is abjectly and completely poverty-stricken.  Blessed is the man who is absolutely destitute. Blessed are the spiritual zero’s. The bankrupt, deprived, deficient. The ones that nothing would suggest that god would work through their lives.

They are the ones who are utterly spiritually destitute and bankrupt. They know that they have no chance of survival apart from God's intervening mercy and grace. Because of their need, they reach out to Him. He responds by lavishing them with the Kingdom and flooding their poor, needy hearts with reviving, surprising joy and happiness!

The place to meet God dear reader is the place of humility and brokenness; "Brokenness Manor". Our families, ministries, lives, churches, and ministries will never be the vibrant God glorifying, God magnifying, God honoring witness we are to be until we are broken.

This is the heart of James 4:8-10, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you".
 
You don't hear pastors or churches preaching sermons or offering seminars or conferences on "How to Mourn and Weep". We want to be happy and whole. We want to feel better about ourselves and our lives. God says, you want to be close to me? You want to be happy? You want to keep lifting yourself up? God says, "humble yourself, and I will lift you up."   What is brokenness? It is not always walking around always depressed or sad. It is not wallowing in self pity. It is not being morbidly self focused and introspective. It is not feeling like you need to be depressed, do penance, self flagellation or mutilation. it is not false humility or constant putting oneself down. It is not having experienced a great tragedy or loss in itself.  

What is brokenness? Brokenness is not merely a one time act, it is a way of life. It may come out of a spiritual turning point or points. It is a lifestyle, a day to day, moment by moment way of agreeing with God about the true condition of our life for one microsecond apart from Him.   It s agreeing with Jesus that "apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:7).   It is the posture of surrender and submission of my self will to the will of God. It involves submitting to the place where He has us and adapting to the pace He is moving in our lives. Pay attention to those two key words: SURRENDER and SUBMISSION.  

Remember where God says He lives back in Isaiah 57:15? "“I dwell...also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit." . That word "contrite" is one way the Old Testament puts brokenness. It literally means to be crushed into powder, to be pulverized. What is God looking to be pulverized in my life? Not my spirit, not my soul, not my heart, not who I am; He wants to break my self will. By doing that the life and spirit of God is released to me, in me, and through me before God and my fellow man. God desires to strip away all self reliance and independence and to cause us to totally depend up his grace working in and through us.   What does it look like? John describes it this way in 1 John 1:7, "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin".

A broken man or woman lives in free, transparent honesty and humility before God. That is the joyous freedom of walking in the light. Our lives are open and exposed before Him who knows and sees all. Oh what freedom and eased burdens are there in life when we live this way before God!

The result of this leads to a whole new way of living with others. A person broken before God also will be broken and humble before others as well. One person describes brokenness like a house with a roof and walls. God wants to blow the roof off (brokenness towards God) and the walls must come down (brokenness before man). God's richest blessings come only through brokenness. Listen to God's promise of blessings to broken, humble, and contrite people:

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen".  (Ephesians 3:20)

He invites you to move into His favorite earthly home, BROKENNESS MANOR! He is looking for are people who are absolutely dependent upon Him, who are absolutely surrendered to Him. He is looking for poor, destitute people who stand completely on faith and nothing else. 2 Chronicles 16:9, " For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him"

When you understand this extraordinary God and the extraordinary work that He desires to do through your brokenness you can begin praying a broken prayer like this: “Lord, let me make a difference for you that is utterly disproportionate to who I am". This is a prayer that any one of you who feel passionless, loveless, weak, inadequate, can pray boldly without fear of presumption. The wording of the prayer contains a disclaimer: "I am not great. But you, Lord, are very great. So in your astonishing sovereignty and glorious omnipotence you can flood us with love, passion, and power and let my little life make a difference far beyond all our little powers."  Pray this for yourself watch God move in your broken life.

Utterly Broken,
Pastor Bill