The Humpty-Dumpty Conundrum: What To Do With Your Brokenness

The Humpty-Dumpty Conundrum: What To Do With Your Brokenness

Wildwind Community Church

David Flowers

April 18, 2008

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses, and all the king’s men -- ?

He’s broken. He’s fallen and he can’t get up. Remember that commerical? I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!!

Do you ever feel broken? Broken – like things in your life are out of joint, or like there’s something about you so flawed, so out of whack, that you don’t know if you can ever get it back in whack again. What do you do with your brokenness?

I’ve sometimes wondered if that little poem Humpty Dumpty was originally meant to express a deeper truth. There’s no question that we can see in it a deeper truth, not hidden in the poem but really almost in plain view. Once Humpty Dumpty fell, it was all over – there was no power great enough to save him, no one to put back the pieces. Is that true of all of us too?

What are we to do with our brokenness? The short answer is take your brokenness to Jesus. He’s in a position to put you back together again, because he’s the only one you’ll ever find who’s not just as broken as you are.

The long answer will take the rest of this message, as I show you a woman who took her brokenness to Jesus. From here on out I’m going to make two assumptions, and I’m aware that for some of you neither of these may be true. Assumption 1 is that you do not need to be convinced that you are broken. You have looked honestly into your own heart and have seen your tendency to hurt other people, to judge people by standards they could never meet. You know you think and act in ways that can cause you shame, embarrassment, humiliation. Assumption 2 is that you do not need to be convinced that Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God and that he is capable of bringing healing to the broken places in your life.

If you are not convinced of these things, this message may or may not really work for you, but I encourage you to hang in there. Very shortly we’ll begin a series that looks carefully at the words of Jesus and helps us think about whether we really needed to hear what he had to say. If you are a skeptic in any way, I invite you to make every effort to attend that series, and I invite all of you to partner with Wildwind in getting as many people as possible within range of my voice during that time.

Now let’s look at the story of a woman who knew what brokenness was.

Luke 7:36-50

Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman

36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is--that she is a sinner."

40Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."

"Tell me, teacher," he said.

41"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[1] and the other fifty. 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

43Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."

"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

44Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

48Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

49The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"