Hope for the Broken
Joel Kolb
Hope Is Here! • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 42:51
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· 182 viewsThere is no worse feeling than when our sin finds us out. Being exposed can leave us feeling broken and ashamed. Oftentimes, this can be rock bottom for us. Many of us can relate to the woman caught in adultery. We may fail in different ways, but they have the same result. The woman was going to pay the price for her sin—until she meets Jesus. What hope she must have felt as the stones began to fall at the feet of her accusers, and she was given a second chance to “go and sin no more.” If you feel broken today, hope is here. Jesus is offering forgiveness and a fresh start. On the other side, how we interact with people around us who have made mistakes says a lot about our relationship with Jesus. The Church should be the place where grace is found easily and forgiveness is extended quickly.
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I want to welcome you back to our current sermon series called Hope Is Here.
We have been discovering the hope we find in our relationship with Jesus Christ and in the relationships we find with one another inside the Church.
Last week we looked at how Jesus invites us to find rest in Him when we are weary and burdened, and how we can share these burdens with one another so that we don’t walk alone.
This is where hope is found: in relationship with Christ and in relationship with one another.
The truth is we all find ourselves in need of hope from time to time.
Perhaps our need for hope does not stem from a weariness, but instead from a sense of brokenness.
Our lives are fragile. The choices we make matter, and our decisions have consequences. We have all had times when we have chosen poorly. We all have made mistakes and fallen into sin. When this happens, it often feels like things break. (Drop the whole vase/pot/mug.) Because of our choices, a relationship falls apart, we lose a job, our finances suffer, or our marriages are strained. It can leave us feeling hopeless as we try to pick up the pieces. We can feel abandoned by God and judged by those around us. It is in these times that we long for some kind of hope.
There is truly no worse feeling than when our sin finds us out. Being exposed causes us to feel shame and guilt.
This does not have to be the end of the story, because when Jesus meets us here, hope is here.
There is a story of a woman in the scriptures who knew exactly what it felt like to be broken and in need of restoration.
It takes place in John chapter 8 as Jesus is traveling to the temple to teach.
As he sits down with the crowd, his teaching is interrupted by an angry mob of religious leaders who are dragging a woman along with them.
John 8:1–6a (ESV)
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.
The woman in this story is brought before everyone with the accusation that she had been caught in the act of adultery.
She was cheating on her husband with someone else, and these men apprehended her in the middle of the scandal.
How embarrassing.
How humiliating.
I know what you’re thinking … where’s the guy?
But in Jesus’ day, the guy had legal rights, the woman didn’t.
She probably didn’ have a husband or a male family member to defend her.
She was likely a prostitute, someone who lost her husband and or family, and this was how she was forced to make a living.
She would have been fully aware that the consequence for this sin, according to Mosaic Law, was for her to be stoned to death.
This is what brokenness looks like.
A broken marriage or family.
A broken woman.
A broken reputation.
This is rock bottom.
WE ALL HAVE EXPERIENCED BROKENNESS
WE ALL HAVE EXPERIENCED BROKENNESS
What is most shocking about this story is that the woman seems to have been used as a pawn in the religious leaders’ plan to rid themselves of Jesus.
The religious leaders are very concerned about sin, but they are mostly concerned about the appearance of sin.
They know that God requires holiness.
So they do everything that they can to appear holy.
Deal with sin when it becomes public or when it threatens to be exposed.
The problem with sin, in their view, is what it can do to your reputation.
However the real problem with sin is what it does to your soul.
It hurts you on the inside before it ever becomes apparent to anyone else.
Here, sin was being exploited in front of everyone in order to harm Jesus.
Sin must be exposed.
Sin must be exposed.
This woman was caught in the middle, and her sin had been exposed.
Do you remember as kids, having school canceled because of snow? You would put on boots, warm clothes, and gloves to go play outside for hours. It was inevitable that slowly your fingers would grow cold and numb and force you back inside for hot chocolate. Removing the gloves and placing your hands by the fire was so painful. They would tingle and burn. It was the best feeling and yet, the worst feeling. But over time, that exposure to the heat would thaw your cold skin until it felt warm once again.
Our sin being laid bare is one of the worst and best feelings possible.
On one hand, it is horrible because everyone knows the truth about you.
On the other hand, it is wonderful because, finally, everyone knows the truth about you.
It’s like thawing fingers from cold winter snow; as the pain subsides, there is the warmth of a fresh start.
We don’t want sin to be exposed, but it is important that is does come out, because unless it is exposed, it cannot be healed.
The way to deal with sin is to confess it.
The way to deal with sin is to confess it.
So if sin needs to be exposed and you don’t want anyone else to expose it, what do you do?
You need to be the one to expose it!
The Bible calls it confession.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
It used to be a regular practice in the church, but it’s not so popular these days.
Instead we have counselors and therapists.
But what do they do? They listen to the things that people don’t want to share openly.
That’s confession!
And hopefully, they point them to Jesus who is the only one who can actually remove sin.
So here this woman was, caught in adultery and laying before Jesus.
She had lost hope that her fate would avoid a death by stoning.
But then Jesus intervenes.
John 8:6b–9 (ESV)
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
We all have sin, but most of it is hidden.
We all have sin, but most of it is hidden.
Rather than agree to this woman’s death on account of the law, Jesus does something different.
The Bible says that he stoops down and begins to write in the sand with his finger.
We are not told exactly what he is writing.
Perhaps it is the names of the men who had brought the woman, perhaps it is a list of their sins, or perhaps it is a list of hers.
I think perhaps, that he was merely writing the ten commandments.
Whatever it was that Jesus wrote, it made these men in the crowd realize that adultery is not the only sin, and this woman is not the only sinner.
We are so good at spotting sin in other people, but so slow to recognize it in ourselves.
It’s easy to see brokenness when it’s on the surface.
It’s undeniable when our life is falling apart.
But what if we learned to recognize it when it is just a bad attitude, or a bad habit?
Most sin starts as pride or stubbornness. What if we learned to recognize and deal with that?
Regardless, when pushed by the mob for an answer, Jesus stands up and tells them they are free to proceed, but the one among them without sin should be the first to throw a stone.
Any takers? I didn’t think so.
THE CHURCH IS A PLACE OF HOPE
THE CHURCH IS A PLACE OF HOPE
You see, sin does not happen in a vacuum.
It often has collateral damage.
It touches other people.
It becomes common knowledge, even if it’s not public knowledge.
The church is where we find grace.
The church is where we find grace.
As important as it is for the sinner to respond rightly to a shameful mistake, it is equally important that the Church responds rightly as well.
We receive hope in the midst of our brokenness when we acknowledge that we all have fallen short and all have sinned before God.
When we deal with sinners, we are dealing as peers.
We too have experienced the devastation of sin, but also the healing grace and mercy of God.
The beauty of the fellowship of the Church is that we are able to extend forgiveness and grace to one another because we are all broken people learning each day how to live under the grace of God.
Jesus is making a similar point here.
He is teaching the religious group a lesson about grace.
If you cannot throw a stone at this woman, it is because you are guilty of breaking the law yourself.
Until you identify with her, you are not in a position to correct her.
So, these men, one by one, drop their stones and go home.
I love the detail we are given here.
First, the older men leave.
Their wisdom causes them to understand the lesson first.
Eventually the younger, and perhaps more stubborn, men follow.
As the dust settles, it is only Jesus and the woman left.
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
I can imagine Jesus looking at this woman with such compassion and love.
For the first time in this woman’s brokenness, she must have felt hope.
Jesus is the only one in this story who does not condemn her for her mistakes.
He is the only one who does not want to punish her for her wrongdoing.
Rather, Jesus offers her grace.
The church is where we experience love.
The church is where we experience love.
The first word over us is love.
The truest thing about you is that you are loved by God.
God does not determine your value based on how well you preform.
God does not decide your worth based on your reputation.
God calls you valuable because he made you.
Love is the first thing that each of us is supposed to experience when we come into this world.
Love is what we are supposed to learn and receive in families.
But not all families are loving; and most are not loving all the time.
We were raised by broken parents who had wounds of their own.
Some of us had good families that went through hard times and were a bit dysfunctional at times.
My point is that the church is also a family, and as such it is another opportunity to demonstrate and to learn to love.
We do that when we choose to see each other through God’s eyes.
We treat each other, not as who we were, but as who we are becoming in Christ.
Your hope is found in a God who loves you just the way you are, but loves you too much to leave you that way.
Jesus clearly does not condone the woman’s sin.
In fact, the last words he speaks to her are “go and sin no more.”
Jesus cares about how we live our lives.
He cares about the decisions we make that leave us broken.
Jesus wants to expose the sin, but not for the same reasons as the religious leaders.
Pastor Steven Furtick says it this way, “God exposes sin, not to shame us, but to change us.”
You see, these men exposed this woman’s sin to shame her and to trap Jesus.
Jesus exposes sin for a different reason.
He wants to make us whole.
He wants to take the broken pieces and put them back together.
(Bring out the repaired vase/pot/mug.)
The church provides an opportunity for forgiveness.
The church provides an opportunity for forgiveness.
Where else are you going to find a place where you can be honest about your past, but hopeful about the future?
You can do that here, because we know and believe in the power of God to transform people.
Our slogan is: “Encounter God’s Transforming Love”
The church is the dwelling place for the presence of God, not the building, but the people.
This Wednesday into Thursday is the Biblical feast of the Day of Atonement.
Yom Kippur as it is called in Hebrew.
It is the day when the High Priest would take the blood of the sacrifice behind the veil in the temple to make atonement for himself and for the people.
Jesus is our High Priest who made one sacrifice for all, for all time with His own blood.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Here in the church we know and understand forgiveness because we all receive forgiveness.
Forgiveness is not automatic.
There needs to be repentance - turning from sin and toward God.
Confession begins that process, but real repentance can be tough and it often takes time.
That’s why having people around you who know the grace of God, can walk with you and help keep you on that path is important.
Like Jesus, we know what it is to be human.
He won the victory, we want you help you win your victory too.
A day of atonement make forgiveness possible, but a community of atonement makes it real.
GOD PUTS THE BROKEN PIECES BACK TOGETHER
GOD PUTS THE BROKEN PIECES BACK TOGETHER
I have good news for you today.
If you find yourself broken today,
if you feel like you are surrounded by people who only want to throw stones,
Jesus meets you here in this place,
and hope is here.
You have a choice.
You have a choice.
You have a choice to make, and it will determine the future that you will live into.
You can choose to make no changes and continue on your current trajectory.
That seems hopeless.
The other option you have is to confess your sin to God and receive his forgiveness and walk in new life.
When we confess our sin and believe in Christ, then we are found in Christ.
Paul writes about this when he is writing to the church in Corinth.
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
We are made new.
We are made new.
The old ways of living become things of the past, and God does something new in us.
The Church is nothing more than a gathering point for a whole bunch of sinners who are learning every day how to live into this new life.
The Church should be the place where grace is found more readily than any other place on earth.
The grace of God, and the grace found from those with whom we fellowship, is the key to our hope.
I read a quote from evangelist/preacher Juan Carlos Ortiz that expresses what living in the reality of this hope of grace is like…
Watching a trapeze show is breathtaking. We wonder at the dexterity and timing. We gasp at near-misses. In most cases, there is a net underneath. When the trapeze artists fall, they jump up and bounce back to the trapeze. In Christ, we live on the trapeze. The whole world should be able to watch and say, "Look how they live, how they love one another. Look how well the husbands treat their wives. And aren't they the best workers in the factories and offices, the best neighbors, the best students? Look how this church loves its community." That is to live on the trapeze, being a show to the world. What happens when we slip? The net is surely there. The blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, has provided forgiveness for ALL our trespasses. Both the net and the ability to stay on the trapeze are works of God's grace. Of course, we cannot be continually sleeping on the net. If that is the case, I doubt whether that person is a trapeze artist.
This morning, I want to invite you, with your broken pieces and all, to believe that God can make something beautiful of your life once again.
I want to invite you to trust the community that he has placed you within to offer hope to one another and live out this wonderful, grace-filled life together.
Questions for reflection:
Questions for reflection:
Have you trusted Jesus to forgive your sin or are you still trying to make it on your own? Are you trying to hide your sin or your brokenness? Pretend it’s not there? Wouldn’t it be better for you to expose it than to be exposed?
Are you struggling to find grace? Do you know that you are loved? Do you know who you are in Christ? Have you learned to see yourself the way that God sees you?
Are the pieces coming together? Do you have hope for healing, recovery and a life that is whole and satisfying? Do you need someone to stand with you today and agree in prayer for a breakthrough? Or is today a day to stand in agreement for someone else?