Secret Help For Secret Hurts
PPT 1 Series Title (Secrets of the Heart)
Intro: Today I am wrapping up my series on Rest and transitioning to a new series "Secrets of the Heart." During this series I am going to be revealing some secrets people have had for a long time, don't get nervous because none of the secrets I will be revealing are from anyone who is a part of this church body. At least as far as I know, but you may find yourself relating to some of these secrets. Some secrets people carry are very painful as you probably already know personally. If you are not in a place of great pain I hope to then make you aware of the suffering all around us, and motivate us to be Christ's helpers for those in pain.. Each week I will be sharing some very intimate secrets that people have shared as a way to help us emotionally connect with others, and as a segway into each weeks message.
PPT 2 Message title "Part 1 Secret Help for Secret Hurts"
Today's message is Sewcret Help for Secret Hurts.
Some of the other topics in this series we will be looking at include: Tattletales, Secrets of the Secret Place, Secret Sins.
So what are secret hurts?
Hurts others don't know about.
Hurts others may know about, but not the depth of emotion or pain connected with them.
Secrets that would shame us if they were made known.
Secrets that we keep to protect others, but hurt us as the same time.
I want to begin with a short video clip from a Ted Talk, then I will share some secrets, then I will discuss from scripture how to find help for Secret Hurts.
First for those who don't know Ted Talks is birthed out of something called the Ted Conference. "TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a media organization which posts talks online for free distribution, under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded in February 1984 as a conference, which has been held annually since 1990. TED's early emphasis was technology and design, consistent with its Silicon Valley origins, but it has since broadened its focus to include talks on many scientific, cultural, and academic topics." (Via Wikipedia) TED talks are to inform, to inspire, and to entertain.
This is part of a TED Talk by a man named Frank Warren on secrets.You may find it of interest that there is currently (Nov. 17) an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution of secrets that people have sent to his blog mentioned in this video.
PPT 3 TED TALK Postsecrets*
Now that you know what post secret is about. Let me sum up that the secrets shared run the gamut from joy to sorrow, shocking sin, to secret love, terrible heart ache, and unspeakable joy. I cannot as a pastor recommend the site without letting you know that you may be exposed to images and ideas that you may find very repugnant, offensive to our Christian faith, and images you don't want to see. For me, I looked at the site in ignorance of these facts, but the insight into the hearts and minds of lost people, and hurting people was significant enough that I still found it of value in helping me to connect with the heartbreaking and overwhelming sorrow that is so abundant, and that so many deal with in this world in which we live. Postsecret can be graphic and vulgar, not much different that modern television. Caveat Emptor (Buyer beware, or in this case viewer beware.).
So here are a couple of secrets that have been posted that I wanted to share with you, please be aware that they could stir up strong emotions, I am not doing that to hurt anyone but to connect with the hurting and say we in a small way understand what you are feeling. Afterwards as I said we will discuss help for secret hurts.
PPT 4 The Hurt of Secret Love "I am convinced you are my soulmate... But I never said a word to you."
I think most of us can relate to the feeling that we cared for someone but never told them how we felt, and we suffered silently when we saw them with someone else.
The Doobie Brothers had a hit song, "What a fool believes," that is in part about the exact same secret hurt. One line goes, "She had a place in his life, but he never made her think twice..." In other words he loved her, but she never gave him a second thought. Unrequited love, undeclared love, long distance love all speak of the same type of hurt.
PPT 5 Lost Husband
This one says, "The loneliest and saddest feeling in the world is knowing you lost your husband to this war...And he is sitting right next to you.
That speaks to the horrors and impacts of war, physical injury, ptsd, and inability to ever be the old you. More generally this speaks to the hurt caused by serious illness, mental illness, drug addiction, and the pain of living with someone who for whatever reason has checked out of the marriage.
PPT 6 the Hurt of Mental Illness
This one says, I wish I had cancer instead of a mental illness, because then I could recover or die. and nobody would think it was my fault.
Being sick is one thing, being blamed is an added layer of secret hurt.
PPT 7 Suicidal
When my friend was depressed I saved her from suicide, we started dating a few months later. She recently left me, The worst part is now having no one to save me. Now that I feel the same way.
PPT 8 Suicidal
Dear 13 year old self, Thank you for not choosing suicide, You are going to LOVE the person you grow up to be.
PPT 9 Never see dad.
It's sad the only way my brother and I see our dad is by going to his web site.
For me this speaks of the secret pain of divorce, or family splits.
PPT 10 Dry off
I've asked numerous times to dry yourself in the shower, you don't. I started drying the floor with your towel.
This speaks of a Secret getting even. Secret frustration, secret vindictiveness. Everyone has bathroom ideas of etiquette this person will secretly strike back at you if you break them.
So these are some of the secrets people have.
I think we can all agree there are a lot of people who carry around secret hurts. Some people wear their emotions on their sleeves and there is no secret to their hurts, some people live in their secret hurts, some people are haunted by their secret hurts. Some people are trapped in their secret hurts. Each week of this series I will share some more secrets, and you will see people have more secret hurts than they have secret joys. The main reason for that is we usually don't keep our joys secret. (Unless for example you are waiting to the right time to tell others you are expecting a child.)
So it is probably wise that we begin this series talking about secret help for Secret Hurts. So let's dig in to the scriptures. (Tie in with series on Rest)
PPT 11 text
Mt 11:28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Mt 11:29 "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
Mt 11:30 "For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."
What I am going to do for the rest of this message is break down this passage into bite size chunks. Of all the texts in scripture I have found this one to be the most hopeful to those who are the most hurting. It is God's life line for people with secret hurts, and for those with very open and obvious hurts. It was designed by God to attach itself to any and all of the pains the human heart has had to bear, and bring the balm of God's restorative love.
Lets start with come unto Me, and learn from (of KJV) Me. I said earlier this is secret help for secret hurts, and yet there it is as plain as the nose on your face. Or is it? Let me back up 3 verses and show you the preface Jesus gave to this promise of His rest:
PPT 12, 13 text
Mt 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, "I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes.
Mt 11:26 "Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Thy sight.
Mt 11:27 "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
Mt 11:28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
So you can see that Jesus said these things are hidden from the wise and intelligent and revealed to babes. In other words it is a kind of secret knowledge. Then Jesus goes on to say that not only is there secret knowledge, but even knowing Jesus or God the Father is not possible unless like in the Wizard of Oz the curtain is pulled back. In that movie the wizard is spewing out threats and is very scary dude until the curtain is pulled back and you find out he is really a very likable guy. So it is with God, you need the curtain pulled back to really know Him. The only person who can do that Is Jesus.
So two of the things Jesus says are come unto me and learn of me.
Secret help stays a secret until you follow the bread crumbs Jesus has left. Jesus wants more than to help us, He was to be very very close to us. He is not simply interested in helping everyone who needs help.
So He says come to Me, not come to the cosmic grocery store. Come to Me and learn of Me. Who are you going to? To that He adds learn of Me. Someone has said the difference between heaven and hell is 18 inches. The difference between the head and the heart. Between knowing who you think God is and learning up close and personal who He really is. In Mark 7:6 speaking of the Jewish spiritual leaders said, "this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." That is the difference between a head and a heart faith. Let me ask this question is yours a head or heart faith? Christian have you fallen back to a head faith?
We live in a generation where people speak the word, more than talk to the living Word which is Jesus.
Where people speak to the storm more than they speak to the master of the Sea.
Where religious truth has replaced personal relationship.
Come unto Me is Jesus ever invitation.
All you who are weary and heavy laden.
The Greek word for weary is kopeeoh and it means to grow weary, tired, exhausted with toil or burdens or grief. This speaks of the person who is worn out by their hurt and it is beyond their ability to resolve or remove it.
The Greek word for heavy laden is fortidzo and means to be loaded with a burden. Think of a pack mule, and think of one that has been overloaded. For the most part others put that burden on the pack mule, and the mule can't take it off itself.
All - means everyone. All good and honest persons. Every thief and liar. Everyone who has hurts others caused, every one who caused their own hurts. Every one with every type of burden. No hurt is beyond this physicians touch. No pain is impossible for Him to alleviate. No sorrow is beyond His scope and reach.
Except for those sorrows that are not brought to Him.
By the way He came the lion share of the way. He has come further to help you, all He asks is that you walk the last few feet.
Recently I have been doing a lot of research on Leukemia as many of you know. I have shared with some a very amazing breakthrough that happened in England. There was a six year old girl name Emily Whitehead who had a very acute form of Leukemia, the doctors had given up all hope for Emily.
Aggressive chemotherapy failed to cure her Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and she was sent for hospice care. Her desperate parents agreed to an experimental treatment - and after one injection -she was home and playing with her family. The treatment, known in the science world as CTL019, the way it works is that the doctors used the HIV virus to get medicine into the very cells of her body. Hiv virus is very good at getting inside our cells. Researcher thought what if we could strip HIV of its deadly effects and use it as a carrier of medicine, and that is exactly what they did. Emily has been Leukemia free for the last five years and the FDA is expected to give approval of this medicine and the way it works shortly. This has the potential to change the way we treat all types of cancer. So what does that have to do with Jesus coming most of the way to help us?
In some says that is exactly what God did with Jesus. Jesus is God, but He took on human form, stripped of all our flaws and He is God's medicine for sin sick souls. In this case humanity is the HIV virus. God stripped Jesus of the sick parts of humanity, and through His humanity he touches the deepest need and hurts. His words have been designed by God to get deep inside the human heart and provide the needed relief.
As I said He came the lion share of the way.
I will give you rest.
I will is an ironclad guarantee for iron clad hurts. Fortidzo root of fortitude? Fortitude is strength strongly bound to your personality. Hurts can be strongly bound to us, but Jesus says unequivocally, "I will
I will not I can, give you rest."
I will - Mt 8:2 And behold, a leper came to Him, and bowed down to Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."Mt 8:3 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Give you rest. That is the removal of the burden, the lifting of the load, taking the weight off of your shoulders, but it is more than that, it is a renewal of life and energy.
Many time when Jesus healed people the bible words it in a very special way, it will say the person was made whole.
When God gives rest He doesn't simple remove the weight, He makes you whole again. Burdens have a way of knocking a chunk out of you, if you take the burden away the chunk is still missing. Jesus puts people back together, everyone who goes to Him and Learns of Him will find rest and be made whole.
Close: I've got burdens I want to unload. I have been dealing more with Jesus from my head than from my heart.
* Link for video: https://www.ted.com/talks/frank_warren_half_a_million_secrets
I feel the need to add a caveat that some of the secrets revealed are above PG13. There are may also be anti-Christian, confessions of abuse, cutting, pedophilia, and all kinds of deviant behaviors. Strong viewer discretion is advised.
