Hope For Broken People

2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Put Humpty Together Again

It's a children's poem generally ignored as nonsense by adults.:

HUMPTY DUMPTY SAT ON A WALL,

HUMPTY DUMPTY HAD A GREAT FALL;

ALL THE KING'S HORSES, & ALL THE KING'S MEN,

COULDN'T PUT HUMPTY TOGETHER AGAIN.

Just a clever little rhyme often animated with a funny egg figure perched on a wall. But today I want us to stop & take a closer look. I am often amazed at the profound meanings that come from children's books & children's nursery rhymes like this one. Perhaps the poem remains popular among children because it has a deeper meaning that we all can sense.

In this silly little poem, we have portrayed our human condition & the futility of most efforts to fix the world in which we live. & today I want to suggest that it can serve as an outline for understanding what Paul says in our text for today.

+1st line says, "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall." This line is the beginning of +poem but it also parallels the beginning of humankind.

The poem sets up the action with a simple statement. Perhaps it was a lovely spring day with flowers blooming & birds chirping. From his perch, Humpty declares that All Is Right With His World.

We can all identify with the Peaceful Tranquility of Humpty as he sat on the wall. Things are mess now, but we can look back to a better time. Can you remember back to such an idyllic time? How far back do you have to go to recover the innocence of your youth. Back before the Fall. Back before you made a MESS of life. Back when relationships were right. After the Fall, we look back with envy at the simple times of sitting on a wall.

The Bible says the same thing happened in the beginning of time. God sat humankind on a wall. Genesis 1:26 says, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: & let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, & over the birds of the sky, & over the livestock, & over all the earth, & over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created humankind in his image as the Best of creation.

It was as if God made humankind & set them on a wall.

People were able to Relate Perfectly With God, To Feel His Nearness, To Communicate Personally With Him. God sat humans high on the wall with Wisdom, Power, Knowledge, & God-Likeness.

Another analogy portrays God as a burning campfire at night & all God's new creation are All Joined Hands In A Grand Circle Around The Light. In this idyllic state, every person could see the light & everyone saw all their fellow humans with the light of God reflected in their faces. Like Humpty perched on the wall, this original state perfectly reflected the Divine plan.

But then something happened in our poem, something happened in creation, & something happened in our lives. In all three, we can describe it as the Fall.

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a GREAT FALL…"

The poem gives us no clue to the cause of Humpty's fall. Maybe the wall was SLIPPERY. Maybe he became DISTRACTED OR TRIED TO REACH TOO FAR. In the poem, the Fall is a mystery, but not in creation, & not with us.

The Bible says that humans tried to reach higher than they were meant to. We Can Picture Adam & Eve On Their Tiptoes Reaching Just Beyond Their Grasp. God Said They Were Not To Eat Of +Fruit, But They Wanted To Be Like God. Just A Little Further. The Snake Said This Fruit Would Be Good.

When the First Man tried to Reach that which was Out of Reach He FELL & GREAT WAS THE FALL THEREOF! HEAR GEN3: 1-6

This FALL represents the entry point of sin & failure into creation. This sin problem lies at the root of all the struggles of religion. The sin problem will occupy the next 66 books of the Bible.

ALL OF US TODAY HAVE FALLEN TOO. Our Fall has to do with more than just the Garden of Eden past. The fall IS NOT something in the past. It is something VERY MUCH PRESENT right now. It is personal for each one of us. For each of us comes to a point When We Want That Which Will Be Harmful To Us. We Stop Listening To God & Let The Snake Tell Us What To Do! We Change Our Loyalty From The Creator To The Creature. We Reach For The Forbidden Fruit.

The Bible warns: "PRIDE Goes Before Destruction,& A Haughty Spirit Before A Fall" (Proverbs 16:18)."Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn't fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12).