Finding Wholeness in a Broken World
Pt 1 – Meant for More
Mark 10:17-31
“I just want somebody to help me.” Those were the words that came pouring out of the heart of a young man I met with recently. His life was in chaos and he knew it. He had burned most of his bridges and no one seemed willing or interested in helping. His story is the story of a lost world, a world where brokenness reigns in the lives of people. Unfortunately the reality of our existence is that brokenness is the norm. Dysfunction is our daily experience. And truth be told in today’s world it’s as prevalent in the church as it is outside our walls. I think that perhaps our greatest failing in the church today is our inability to connect our faith in Christ to our actions in the world around us. Over the next several weeks I want us to spend some time thinking together about how to find wholeness (a sense of peace, being put together, complete) in a broken world.
Let’s start this morning in Mark 10:17-31 – where we find a young man not so different that most of us.
Longing that calls us – “I was meant for more than this.” Do you hear the longing in this young mans plea to Jesus. It’s more than a question about heaven it’s a question about life. Jesus makes that clear in His response. You know the commandments Jesus says. “Yes, but that’s not enough. Some thing is missing. I’ve done all that and something still isn’t right.” Our hearts cry out for wholeness, in so many area’s of life. Marriages are fractured and empty and our hearts say there must be more than this. Our relationships are hollow and shallow and our hearts say there must be more than this. Our religion is cold and routine and our hearts cry out there must be more than this. Our relationships with our children are angry and frustrating and our hearts cry out there must be more than this. Our lives are frittered away on meaningless things and our hearts cry there must be more than this. That is the cry of this young man – he runs after Jesus and says to Him, “I’ve done all the right things but there still something missing. I’m not whole. I believe that in the depths of all of us there is a cry that says I was meant for more than this. It’s the drive of our hearts, the longing of our lives – there must be more than this. And the truth is
We are created for more than this – The scariest lie that we buy into from the enemy of our souls is that it cannot get any better than this. There is no path or journey that makes life better we simply must be content with broken. That is stuff despair is made from. My marriage, my life, my journey, my relationship with my children can’t get any better. I’m stuck where I am. That is the hopeless stuff of life. Our journey to wholeness begins at the beginning. Genesis 1:31 says “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” It begins with an understanding that we are created for better than what we are living in. God did not create us to live in brokenness. He created us for Eden. A place of wholeness in life and in relationship with Him. A place where life itself flows from the hand of God. When we broke Eden with our disobedience – He restored it with a Savior. Jesus says “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” He came to restore to us what we lost when we walked out of Eden. We are invited to live in the heart of resurrection power – the power to make broken things whole again. Who can be made whole again the disciples ask – if the rich can’t be whole with all their stuff who can make it? Jesus says “With man it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
So there remains a question – If we long for more – if we are created for more – why do we settle for what we have. Jesus said “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” The young ruler was handed the keys to the kingdom and he walked away because what he had, meant more to him than what he was offered. Sometimes the brokenness we know is better than the journey to something better that we don’t know. We get comfortable in our brokenness. Our dysfunctional marriages and relationships are more comfortable than the journey it takes to make them whole. Our broken lives are more comfortable than the journey to find wholeness. This is how Jesus responds to our reluctance - V.29-30.
So how do we find wholeness – Well we start that journey next week. For today it’s sufficient to know – Do you want to be whole? Are you interested in having what Jesus is offering for your home, your life, and your world? Are you ready to say yes to Him (to follow Him) or are you going to walk away? Your heart is telling you that there is more than this – isn’t it time to begin the journey with Jesus?
