We’re in the series, "The Case for the Real Jesus, How Jesus is not Synthetic or False, but Real and Reliable!" We’re using Psalm 34:8 (NCV) as our Scriptural theme for this series. "Examine and see how good the Lord is. Happy is the person who trusts him."
Historical evidence abounds for the authenticity of Jesus’ life, His teachings and His miracles, but what we’re looking at in this series is how experiencing Christ personally by placing our faith in Him is the way to see how good and how great He is! It’s the path to true happiness, inner peace and joy because as our faith in Christ deepens so does our joy and peace! We’re talking about how the empirical evidence proves Christ more and more real the more we trust Him.
There are some problems that faith alone can truly conquer. Two weeks ago we looked at how accepting and dwelling in Christ’s love for us gives us confidence over our fears, even and especially the fear of death. Last week we saw how a personal relationship with Christ and faith in Him conquers worry.
Admittedly, if what we experience with our five senses alone was all there is, we might want to discard the process of faith. Not that true faith isn’t based on facts and not that true facts ever contradict the Word of God, but there are some facts that cannot be tested in a laboratory because some things are not natural – they’re supernatural and they’re factual nonetheless.
In the book, “What’s So Great About Christianity,” author Dinesh D’Souza gives examples of how a lot of people ignore the supernatural. Here’s one quote.
“In his famous PBS program ’Cosmos,’ astronomer Carl Sagan developed the trademark slogan, ‘The cosmos is all there is, all there was, or ever will be.’ Sagan’s implication was clear: the natural world is all that exists, and there is simply no supernatural. This was presented not as a metaphysical claim but as the authoritative finding of science.
“But at least it was presented to adults, who could evaluate Sagan’s arguments and make up their own minds. Pretty soon Sagan’s doctrine could be found in children’s books. One, ’The Berenstain Bears’ Nature Guide,’ features the bears going on a stroll through the woods. Emblazoned on the page featuring a beautiful scene is the ideological message, ‘Nature is all that is, or was, or ever will be.’”
From TV documentaries to children’s books our culture is saturated with the ideology that the natural world is all there is. Jesus Christ challenges that philosophy. And those who accept Christ by faith find that there is a supernatural realm and that God’s help is available to us when we need it. But in order to access that help we must seek God by faith. We must trust in Him. God rewards those who trust Him as the Scripture states:
"Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He is real and that He rewards those who truly want to find Him." Hebrews 11:6 (NCV)
Today we’re going to talk about another area of our lives where we find Christ real to us. It’s another area where God rewards us by trusting Him. We’ve talked about fear, we’ve talked about worry; today we’re considering how a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, one where you walk and talk intimately with Him, heals a broken heart.
If you’re a member of the human race you’ve had your heart broken by any number of sadnesses but the good news is that Jesus is greater than the things that have brought us heartache! Our heart may have been broken by a betrayal, by someone’s shocking behavior toward us, by the loss of a loved one, loss of a job or a downturn in income, rejection, divorce, abuse, cruelty, hurtful words, or physical suffering brought on by disease or disability. Sometimes our hearts are broken by our own bad behavior.
But no matter what breaks our hearts Jesus can heal them!
Why is it so strategically essential that my broken heart be healed?
Because the failure to let Jesus heal my broken heart adversely affects me and those around me. It holds me back from experiencing greater joy, peace and happiness. It bars me from deeper relationships, both with God and with others.
That’s one of the reasons we need to pray this biblical prayer:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way." Psalm 139:23-24 (NASB)
Say that verse out loud with me as a prayer from our hearts right now.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way." Psalm 139:23-24 (NASB)
Sociological studies show that hurt people hurt people.
Some of the following behaviors are easy to fall into when we’ve had our hearts broken. Ask yourself if you’ve exhibited some of the following attitudes & actions.
A. Anger, bitterness, resentment, or closing ourselves off by erecting barriers to keep other people away.
B. Developing a “victim” mentality, which is really a lousy way to live. There’s no need in going around all the time feeling sorry for ourselves, and bemoaning our circumstances when we can have a positive attitude instead!
C. If there isn’t any drama in my life I manufacture it in order to mask my pain. In fact, wearing a mask is an often-used ploy of the heartbroken. If I don’t let Jesus heal my heartache, it can lead to the manufacture of a “false self,” which results in a lack of integrity.
D. My emotional maturity is stunted which of course leads to immature behavior. Why do some grown up people act like children? Sometimes its because they never experienced a genuine healing process.
E. The misinterpretation of the words and actions of others as “against” me. Paranoia.
F. The display of inappropriate emotions.
G. A broken heart can often lead to workaholism, alcoholism, promiscuity, and other self-destructive forms of behavior because the broken hearted individual is desperately seeking healing and accepting temporary relief.
H. We can be come so self-absorbed with our own pain that we fail to see the hurts in others.
I. We can even become victimizers once we’ve been victimized. This one is especially harmful to others.
In Dr. Sandra Wilson’s book, “Hurt People Hurt People,” although victimized herself in her childhood, she shares the wisdom of her years as a professional counselor when she writes, “The reasoning behind this (the victim becoming a victimizer) seems to follow this premise: If I overpower, dominate, and abuse you today, it temporarily numbs the pain I still have because I was overpowered, dominated, and abused yesterday. Apparently victims gain a sense of inner strength and personal mastery by dominating someone even more powerless than themselves.” (Page 33)
Our broken-heartedness is destructive to us and those around us. We alienate ourselves if we don’t work with Jesus for our broken hearts to be healed. So this is really, really important! We need to find out how Christ heals broken hearts and not dilly-dally around with our own often temporary, misguided and ineffective attempts to heal our broken hearts.
So what do I need to do? How can I have my broken heart healed so that I don’t have to go on suffering spiritual, relational, and emotional deficits? What should I do if I have a broken heart now, or suffer one again in the future, which is likely, its likely that we’ll have our hearts broken several times in our lives. But we don’t have to shudder at this thought because every time we have our hearts broken there is healing with Christ!
What steps do we need to take?
1. ACCEPT CHRIST’S NEARNESS.
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed." Psalm 34:18 (NLT)
Circle that phrase, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.” He doesn’t avoid us or stand off in the distance when we suffer a broken heart. One of the many great things about God is that He comes running to us when we’re in pain. The problem at experiencing that closeness of God is that we often fail to accept His closeness. We often complain, “Where’s God?” The truth is, He’s right there!
You and I must resist that urge to push Jesus away when our heart is broken. As mentioned earlier we often push others away when our hearts are broken out of a sense of self-preservation. We don’t want to run the risk, in our frail condition, of someone else hurting us, so we erect walls and keep a “safe” distance.
What we must remember about Jesus is that He is totally trustworthy and He won’t hurt us. The Bible says that He is particularly close to the brokenhearted, that He rescues those whose spirits are crushed. We’ve got to let Him into our personal space so that He can minister to us, so that He can heal our broken heart.
Many years ago a man named Bill Broadhurst suffered a brain aneurysm, leaving him partially paralyzed on his left side. Before his heartbreak he loved running, and so when one of his heroes, Bill Rogers, one of the most famous marathoners in the world, entered the Omaha, Nebraska 10K, Broadhurst decided to enter the contest too.
On race day some of the participants finished in 30 minutes. Even joggers finished in 60 minutes. But it took Bill Broadhurst much longer. As he ran his left side became so numb that he wanted to quit. He would take a stride with his right foot, then drag his left foot; take a stride with his right foot, drag his left foot. After two hours cars were parked back on the street, the crowds had all left, and the race markers had all been taken down. At two hours and 20 minutes he said the throbs of pain were so horrible that he didn’t want to go on.
Finally he saw the finish line. His heart sank because everyone had left. He thought, “What’s the use?” But he decided to finish anyway. And as he finished, around the corner came Bill Rogers, the world-famous marathoner who won the race, with a large group of people with him. They had been waiting for him. Rogers opened his arms, welcoming Broadhurst across the finish line, and hugged him and he took the gold medal from around his neck and put it around the neck of the last runner to cross the finish line.
Rogers said, “Bill Broadhurst, you’re the real winner! Take the gold!” (From "Hebrews," by R. Kent Huges)
In your life you’ve felt the heartbreak of not wanting to go on. In fact, there have been times you decided to quit. "It’s not worth it," you convinced yourself. Your heartache was too great. Your pain was too deep. It seemed as if no one was there. It seemed as if no one cared. Why go on trying?
The truth is there IS ALWAYS someone there. His name is Jesus. He is close to the brokenhearted. If we will only accept His nearness our hearts will begin to mend.
Since He’s near there’s another step we can take in order for Jesus to heal our broken hearts.
2. MAKE GATHERING WITH OTHER CHRIST FOLLOWERS A HABIT.
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 “ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” (Isaiah 61:1-2) 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16-21 (NKJV)
This is a fascinating passage of Scripture for several reasons. It not only lifts our spirits to know that God sent Christ to earth on a mission of preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, liberty to those who are oppressed and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. But do you know what we often overlook in this Scripture? Jesus went into the synagogue, the Jewish house of worship at that time, “as His custom was.”
Don’t overlook that. Jesus made it a habit in His life to go to the house of God at the appointed time and day. He made a commitment to meet with those who believed in God when they were meeting. If Jesus hadn’t reinforced the value of consistent, habitual, regular worship attendance by His own example, this scene might not have occurred.
What does this have to do with having our broken hearts healed? Jesus, the Living Word of God, and the Bible, the Written Word of God, are indicating to us that one of the ways to have our broken hearts mended is by making gathering together with other Christ followers a habit.
People who interact in close community with others have their broken hearts healed more quickly. In Jesus day, the synagogue was supposed to be many things but one of the things it was – was a healing community. Today the same is true for the local church family.
The Bible gives many compelling reasons we ought to be committed to and active in a local church family. These reasons offer great healing to us and to those with whom we come in contact.
A. A commitment to habitual worship consistently places me in a loving atmosphere.
34 "I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. 35 All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other." John 13:34-35
Just before He went back to heaven Jesus taught His followers the prominence of love. Not only were they to love each other – GET THIS - they were to love each other the way that Jesus had loved them!
When a bunch of people gather together and love one another sacrificially the way that Jesus loves us – there is healing power in that environment! When we gather together we know that the other Christ followers around us have been issued a directive from our Lord and Savior to love us and we to love them.
Love is the greatest healing tool available to any of us and when we miss out on gathering with other Christ followers we miss out on the great potential for healing that it brings!
Some Saturday nights and Sunday mornings you’re sitting and home and I’ll tell you what the devil is whispering in your ear. “Don’t go to church on Sunday. You’re hurting inside. You’re sad. You’re depressed. The last thing you need to do is be around a bunch of people singing these positive songs and this guy getting up saying these positive things from the Bible.” Satan simply wants to keep you away from having your broken heart healed! He wants you to marinate in your misery.
Furthermore, when we get together it sends a message to the heartbroken people in the community around us – they see our love for one another and Jesus says it proves to them that we’re His followers. They begin to see the advantage of a healing community.
Second reason Jesus made it His custom – AND THEREBY SET AN EXAMPLE FOR US – in regular and consistent worship attendance:
B. A commitment to habitual worship moves me out of self-centered isolation.
"If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our body is honored, all the other parts share its honor." 1 Corinthians 12:26 (NCV)
We have a choice. We can suffer alone. Or we can suffer together. When we suffer together there is comfort, help and hope in the care of others for us.
On Facebook a week or two ago I was noticing the pictures of a friend of mine’s family. The first picture she uploaded was of her son and daughter on the day they arrived at Disneyworld.
My friend’s caption under this photo read, “Our first five minutes at Disneyworld! My two ‘angels’ not at all happy about having to be close to each other to take this picture.”
Then the pic of the last day at Disney.
And the caption this time with the two teenage siblings hugging one another and smiling: “I tell you... there’s magic at Disney. This is what my little darlings looked like on their last day in Disney. Apparently Disney IS the place for all of your dreams to come true.”
Don’t throw anything at me but I think church ought to be a little like Disneyworld! I think when we get here sometimes we feel isolated and grumpy and when we leave we know that we’re part of a family again! I believe when I take advantage of an opportunity to worship with other Christ followers I move out of self-centered isolation and into being a part of what God created me for – community!
C. A commitment to habitual worship heals me by developing spiritual muscle.
No one will ever grow to spiritual maturity just by attending worship gatherings and being a spiritual spectator. It takes participation to build spiritual muscle.
"As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts to grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing full of love." Ephesians 4:16 (NLT)
D. A commitment to habitual worship heals others around me.
"A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church." 1 Corinthians 12:7 (NLT)
God designed the local church family as a place for Christ followers to discover, develop, and deploy their spiritual gifts. Why? So that each one of us could help heal the broken hearts of others.
E. A commitment to habitual worship helps keep me from backsliding.
"Encourage one another daily…so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:13 (NIV)
Others help keep me on track. Mutual accountability helps insure that we won’t be fooled by temptation. It’s our business to watch after one another’s spiritual well being.
"If you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back." James 5:19 (Msg)
Satan loves detached believers. He loves to isolate us so that when our hearts are broken we’ll mistakenly conclude that no one cares.
The Christian life is more than just commitment to Christ. It’s a commitment to other Christ followers! Early Christ followers understood this.
"First they gave themselves to the Lord; and then, by God’s will, they gave themselves to us as well." 2 Corinthians 8:5 (TEV)
Let me summarize this message with simplicity.
If I stay close to Jesus and close to His followers my broken heart will mend much more quickly and effectively than if I go it alone!
