Brokenness: Bitterness or Blessing?
Job 3:1-26
Job 3:1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
ILL - My family and I lived in a temporary home after a move and did not bother to unpack our boxes. My brother and I were kept awake each night by a bothersome cricket. After several nights of poor sleep we moved all the boxes out in an attempt to drive the cricket but were unsuccessful. Finally after a few more nights of poor sleep we emptied all the boxes to discover not a cricket but a fire alarm with a low battery. We had to get to the bottom of the box to find the source of that annoying chirp. This morning we are going to get to the bottom of bitterness.
Introduction: In all the pages of God's Word there has never been anyone who endured as much tragedy in their life as Job. I don't propose this morning to get into the details leading up to the series of events that devastated Job's life but I do want to focus on how Job responded to those events. Briefly, over a short period of time Job lost his fortune, his family with the exception of his wife who in her own grief told him to, "...curse God and die..." his friends and his fitness (health.) By the time we get to our key verse we have a picture of a broken man and just for the sake of context I'm going to read a few of these opening verses in chapter three.
First, there is Job's brokenness:
I. The Broken Life
a. Brokenness is common to man
Job 5:7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Brokenness is a part of the experience of being human because of what happened in the Garden of Eden. As the representative of the human race Adam's sin and its penalty passed upon all men.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
b. Brokenness is result of our conduct
Proverbs 13:15 Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.
Brokenness comes into our lives as a result of our own choices and conduct. I recall an anecdote that said here in the South that when you here the phrase, "Hey, watch this," it usually results in a trip to the ER! All of us have done things that have hurt us and others. We are free moral agents with the propensity and the inclination to do and say things that get us into the kind of troubles that can lead to brokenness. I heard a man say that a friend of his that "kept writing checks with his mouth that his body couldn't cash." That is true of all of us at one time or another.
c. Brokenness can come to the Christian
The thing that we need to remember about brokenness is that no one is immune. Even the best and choicest of God's servants have experienced breaking situations and circumstances in their lives. When this happens we almost always ask the question, "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?" One thing that stands out in Job's life is that he was a person of faith, a man who was approved by God and a man of sterling character for in Job 2:3 it says, "...Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause..."
Second, at this point every broken person has a choice; either they can give in to bitterness or to go on to blessing.
II. The Bitter Life
Hebrews 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
a. The tempted life
This first phrase in Hebrews 12:15 means to "take the oversight" to "be alert" to the fact that when trouble comes, and it will come, that you and I do not let bitterness "take root" in our lives. The truth is when these breaking experiences come we are often left with weakened defenses and our capacity to resist is diminished greatly. It should also be noted that it is at these times that the Tempter is able to exert a powerful influence on us. Even our Lord, who had been in the wilderness without food or water for 40 days, was not outside the reach of his influence.
Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Obviously, Jesus did not yield to the Tempters suggestions but you and I will at times of brokenness in our lives.
b. The troubled life
The person who suffers the most from a bitter life is you and I!
Deuteronomy 29:18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
"Gall" is water mixed with a plant called hemlock which is poisonous and "wormwood" is mentioned 7 times in the OT and 2 times in the NT, in the same verse (Rev 8:11). It is probable that the drink was known in the OT, for Jeremiah complained "He had sated me with wormwood" (Lam 3:15). On the other hand, reference is made more than once to the bitterness and unpleasant taste of the wormwood: "in the end she is bitter as wormwood" (Prov 5:4) and "a root that beareth gall and wormwood" (Deut 29:18 KJV).
The symbolism of this metaphor is very powerful. When any person allows themselves to become bitter they are poisoning their lives and this poison effects them body, soul and spirit. This metaphor goes so far as to imply that among the saints a bitter spirit can lead to "...fail of the grace of God..."
ILL - The story is told that when Leonardo Da Vinci was painting The Last Supper, he had an intense and bitter argument with a fellow painter. Da Vinci was thinking of a way to get this guy back. He came up with a devious plan. He decided to paint the face of his enemy onto the face of Judas Iscariot so it would be captured for time immemorial. And that is exactly what he did. When people came to look at his work in progress, the immediately knew who 'Judas' was. Da Vinci thought, "This is pretty good. I showed him" As he continued his work on the great painting of Christ and his disciples, he finally came to the face he had saved for the very end--the face of Jesus. But he could not bring himself to paint it. He was greatly troubled knowing that he had painted the face of his enemy as the face of Judas Iscariot. He realized that his hatred and bitterness were keeping him from being able to face the face of Christ. So he went back to the image of Judas and painted some nebulous face instead. Then he was able to paint the face of Christ.
But it gets worse...
c. The tainted lives
We are also told that this bitterness will "...defile many..." Have you ever observed a bitter person? Unfortunately I have and there is something I have noticed. A bitter spirit; a bitter life taints everything it comes in contact with and may "infect" those that we profess to love the most. It is contagious. A bitter life can sour our own family and friends. A bitter life can damage and even destroy lifelong relationships. A bitter life can diminish the witness and testimony of the church as well.
It is also true that if you are a bitter young person you may turn out to be a bitter old person. There is always that danger but it doesn't have to be that way. How many of you like happy endings? I do, just ask Sis. Judy about my taste in books and movies and she will tell you that I just love it when things turn out right. Now I'm about to surprise all of you folks, especially you ladies. One of my favorite books and films is, are you ready for this, "Pride and Prejudice," and that's because it has a happy ending. That's why I love the Bible, I know how it's going to end and for those who know Jesus everything is going to turn our right!
There is a blessed truth that I want all of you to know. You may have been broken and even embittered by life but you don't have to stay that way. Your brokenness can be the means of blessing in your own life and in the lives of others. I want to close with three examples of what I mean.
III. The Blessed Life
ILL - Bitterness is frustration that has festered. If jealousy is a simple cut, bitterness is the infection that sets in if not treated.
Only the Lord can help those who have a "root" of bitterness in their life. Listen to some Scriptures that declare this truth:
Psalms 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Psalms 30:11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
Psalms 34:18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
All hope for healing starts with calling bitterness by the right name. Bitterness is a sin my friends no matter what you choose to call it. The Bible calls it sin.
Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
When we call bitterness what it is the next step is to confess it to the Lord. When we do the Lord forgives and the healing process begins. When I say process I mean that when we receive forgiveness then we can start the process of forgiving ourselves and those who may have contributed to our brokenness and broken things can be a blessing. I want to share 3 examples of what I mean:
First, there is:
a. A loaf of broken bread
John 6:9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
Barley was the grain that the poor used to make their bread and indicates that he came from a modest background so for this boy giving these five loaves away would have been a considerable sacrifice but they are given to Jesus and He blesses and breaks the loaves and feeds thousands.
ILL - A young couple began attending a Midwest church. They had been saved only about 8 months when they announced that they needed prayer; they had experienced several miscarriages and had just discovered they were with child again. The congregation responded; they had the most prayed for baby in the church. After the child's birth alive, they realized their fears when their child died hours after birth. Their pastor joined them, as well as their unsaved family members. After a time of sorrow, the attending physician asked if they would like to hold their baby one last time. They said yes. Instead of cursing God, questioning Him, or complaining, they took their child (named Mindy), placed it in the arms of their unsaved parents, and said, "If you don't trust Christ, you'll never see Mindy again. We'll be spending eternity with her in heaven." In following weeks, her family came to church and responded to the gospel message. If she had responded in bitterness, who knows what happens next. She used the joy of the Lord that passes understanding, and saw her family saved.
We too need to discover and use the joy of our salvation.
Second, there is:
b. A broken alabaster box
Mark 14:3 And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
John 12:3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
Finally, there is:
c. A broken body
1 Corinthians 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
The Apostle Paul is describing the elements of the Lord's Supper and what they mean. He says that the bread is a metaphor for the Lord's body which is "...broken for you..."
The ultimate "broken one" is Jesus. The difference is that His breaking experience was purposeful, powerful and vicarious. His brokenness produces the healing that we need to experience blessing ourselves and to be a blessing to others.
How many of you have heard the song "Broken and Spilled Out?"
Lord, You were God's precious treasure
His loved and His own perfect Son
Sent here to show me the love of the Father
Just for love it was done
And though You were perfect and holy
You gave up Yourself willingly
You spared no expense for my pardon
You were used up and wasted for me
Broken and spilled out
Just for love of me, Jesus
God's most precious treasure
Lavished on me
Broken and spilled out
And poured at my feet, in sweet abandon
Lord, You were spilled out
And used up for me
