Admitting Our Brokenness
From Brokenness to Blessing

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Good morning, church! We’re starting a new series today and I’m excited about it. The new series is entitled, “From Brokenness to Blessing.” We will be going through the eight beatitudes, the eight blessings at the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. These eight blessings are reflected, not only in the Sermon on the Mount, but they’re really the basic principles for our Celebrate Recovery Ministry, which is why I have brother Stephen Winslow here with me this morning . He will be talking about this; he’s the leader of our Celebrate Recovery Ministry.

(Interview with Stephen Winslow, Sr.)

We’re beginning this new series today entitled, “From Brokenness to Blessing.” It’s exactly the opposite of worldly wisdom. It really turns worldly wisdom upside down because it basically says that admitting that you’re broken is the beginning of leading a life of blessing. This series is based on the eight blessings or the eight beatitudes that we find in the Sermon on the Mount.

The first beatitude is in Matthew 5:1-3 (ESV) 1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

It’s a big surprise. He doesn’t say ‘blessed are the rich,’ which is what the world would say or ‘blessed are the strong.’ He says in verse 3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” It’s really kind of a surprise that we’re blessed. The word, “blessed,” comes from a Greek word, “makarios.” It has the idea of “complete and total contentment,” “complete happiness,” “supremely happy and blessed.” In fact, the word has, at the root, the idea of “macro;” this idea of blessing to the “max.”

What Jesus says here, surprises us. If you want to be blessed to the max, if you want to be supremely happy, it begins by admitting that you’re poor in spirit and admitting that you’re broken.

Another translation says it like this, “Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless.” That’s a surprise, isn’t it? That would be the road to blessing, the pathway to blessing, to admit that you’re spiritually helpless or as Duck Dynasty star, Jase Robertson puts it, “The first step to dealing with a problem is admitting that you have a problem.”

We all have problems. We have hurts, habits, and hangups that we can’t overcome. It’s like something inside of us is broken and it leaves us powerless to change. We’re held captive and can’t get free! Let’s take a moment and consider some of the common hurts, habits, and hangups that we deal with:

HURTS: Abandonment, Abortion, Abuse, Adultery, Betrayal, Death, Divorce, Dysfunctional family, Grief, Neglect, Rape, Rejection, Unforgiveness…

HABITS: Abusive behavior, Alcoholism, Drug addiction, Eating disorders, Overeating, Gambling, Gossip, Isolation, Lying, Self-harm, Sexual Integrity problems, Spending problems, Workaholism, Pornography addiction…

HANGUPS: Anger, Anxiety, Arrogance, Body image, Bullying, Codependency, Control issues, Depression, Fear, Envy, Guilt, Hypochondria, Lack of self-control, Laziness, Materialism, People pleasing, Perfectionism, Pride, Procrastination

Perhaps you have been abandoned in the past . You have the fear of abandonment. Maybe there has been an abortion in your life or in your family and you’ve experienced the grief and the fallout that comes with that taking place. Maybe there’s abuse in your background or adultery, betrayal or death. You lost a family member and you still struggle with that. Hurt, divorce, dysfunctional family, grief, neglect, rape, rejection, unforgiveness. Who has a hurt in one of these areas? I guarantee if we go around the room that we’ll find somebody who has one of these hurts.

What about habits? Do you have the habit of abusive behavior, so that you lose your temper and you end up being abusive verbally or maybe even physically? Do you struggle with alcoholism, drug addiction or eating disorders? Overeating, gambling, gossip, isolation, lying, self harm. We have a growing group of teenagers today that have this idea that cutting themselves will somehow help them. When I first started as a pastor, I never heard of this. Young teenage girls, especially, will wear long sleeve shirts in the summertime because they’re hiding the fact that they’re cutting and doing self harm. We have these kinds of bad habits–sexual integrity problems, spending problems, workaholism and pornography addiction. Many young men or men of any age deal with addiction to pornography today more than perhaps any other time because it’s so prevalent and available.

What are our hang ups? Anger; we have people that have a “hair trigger” with their anger. Anxiety, arrogance, body image, bullying, codependency, control issues, depression, fear, envy, guilt, hypochondria, lack of self control, laziness, materialism, people pleasing, perfectionism, pride and procrastination.

These are just a short list of hurts, habits and hang ups that we all struggle with. The truth is, that we all are broken. How many of these problems did you circle just now? Maybe, you were afraid to circle because you were afraid the person next to you would see you circling, but you circled it in your mind. You’re thinking, I need help. I’m broken in this area.

What I’m saying to you today and what Jesus is saying to you today is that it is the beginning of the blessed life . The beginning of being part of the blessed life is admitting your spiritual poverty, that you’re poor of spirit.

The apostle Paul wrote about these feelings. In fact, when we look at Romans, there is almost like a diary entry of what he feels like, as one who admits that he’s poor in spirit and that he needs help. He writes this to the church at Rome, who he’s never met. Can you imagine being this transparent? He’s this transparent about his brokenness. He takes us on a journey of how he feels. In his letter to the Romans, he describes how admitting our brokenness is the first step to the life of blessing.

I believe, as we look at the text today, we’ll see three ways that admitting our brokenness puts us on the road to blessing. Let’s look at it.

Romans 7:15-25 (ESV) 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, butsin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! This is God’s word. Amen.

We’re looking for three ways how admitting our brokenness moves us towards God’s blessing. Here’s the first:

1. It recognizes the REASON: Our sin nature.

It recognizes the reason for our brokenness. What’s the reason? It is our sin nature. That’s the reason for our brokenness. The reason for our poverty of spirit is our sin nature.

Look at verse 17 and circle the phrase, “sin that dwells within me.” He’s talking about the sin nature in another place. He refers to it as “the flesh” in verse 18. He says, “that is, in my flesh.”

When you read in the New Testament or the Bible about the flesh, it’s not really so much talking about your body as it is the state of your mind, of your soul and of your heart. Partly, it is that old nature, the sin nature. He’s saying that’s my problem. He has a problem. It’s this old nature, this sinful nature, that wants to do wrong.

We think of the word, “sin,” as breaking God’s law and that’s true, but it begins with an attitude. ‘I want to do it myself. I want to do it my way.’ It’s an attitude of wanting to be in control. The word, sin, literally has this meaning. It means “to miss the mark.” It’s like an archery term. It means “to miss the bull’s eye;” to miss God’s perfect holiness for us and so, when we talk about having a sin nature . We’re talking about a nature that has a natural proclivity towards doing the opposite of what God wants for us. All I would have to do to demonstrate this, all you would have to do to test this, is to tell a toddler what to do. Just tell a toddler what to do and then watch them do the opposite of what you told them to do. You’ll see the sin nature at work. We struggle with this our whole lives. We want to be in control. We want to be the “god” of our own lives.

It says, in another translation of Romans, Romans 7:18 (NLT) “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.” Paul is admitting this. He says, ‘I’ve got two natures. I’ve got the born again spiritual nature, but the old sin nature I still battle against and it keeps me from doing what is right.’ It’s the reason for our brokenness; we’re all sinners.

It says in Romans 3:23 (NLT) “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” How many broken people are in this room? All of us. All of us. I saw five or six people put their hands up. The rest of you are still trying to work it out. How many broken people are in this room? I’m broken. I need Christ. It begins the path to blessing. Maximum, complete happiness begins with admitting we have a sin nature. I’m broken and I can’t get there on my own. That’s the starting place. That’s the beginning. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” those who are poor and impoverished spiritually, as sinners with a sin nature.

We often put our place in the place of God. We want to be in control. We play the part of God. I’ve noticed, in my own life , that it might come out of a hurt that I had earlier in my life. I’m going to share from my own story for just a second, how a hurt can activate my sin nature. I’m born again. I have a spiritual nature that wants to do right, but an old hurt that hasn’t completely been given to the Lord and dealt with can raise its ugly head and trigger my sin nature. Let me give you an example:

When I was eight years old, my father, at age 39, died. He had fought the cancer battle for over a year and the Lord took him home. I’m the oldest of four children. From then on, I had in my mind that I’m the oldest and I need to control my environment. I need to control it so that bad stuff doesn’t happen again because the worst awful thing that I could ever contemplate as an eight year old was to lose my daddy. I wanted to control my environment and I didn’t want to lose my mother . I wanted to control as much as I could; I desired security, order and control. I didn’t know that that’s what I was doing; I just had a little eight year old brain. I didn’t know what I was doing, but based on a hurt, it was causing me to have anxiety. It was causing me to move towards perfectionism and these different kinds of things, trying to order my world.

Now, what was I doing? I was playing the part of God in my life. I was trying to be in control. What I’ve realized, through the years, is I can still get into that mode again. I can get blindsided by it and it’ll trigger the sin nature, which is dead in me. It’s crucified.

You can think of it like clothing. Am I gonna put on my “holy clothes of righteousness” today and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit or am I just going slip into those old dirty clothes I have laying over there called the old sin nature. Sometimes, without thinking about it, I can slip back into that old way of thinking and all of a sudden, I find myself trying to be in control again. Then, I feel anxious. What I’m learning is, Wait a minute. I recognize this territory. Why am I anxious right now? Why am I upset? Why am I worried?

Like Jesus said to Martha when she was worried about her sister preparing the meal. “Martha, Martha, you are worried about many things, but only one thing is needed.” Gary, Gary, you’re worried about many things. You’re trying to be in control and make this happen. Only one thing is needed and one thing is Jesus. I have to catch myself occasionally. Maybe I’m quicker at it nowas I grow in Christ. I’m more quickly able to see this , to recognize that my sin nature is triggered by these things.

We try to control things, we try to control our image. We have a social media thing called, “Facebook,” and I see people do it all the time. They take a picture of themselves and “work on it.” They will do some “photoshopping” and put that photo up on Facebook. They make everybody believe that is what they really look like. What they are trying to do is control their image.

We try to control these things. Will you recognize the reason for your brokenness today? Would you admit to God, I’m broken. I have a sin nature. I need help. Are you willing to look in the mirror and recognize your own problem? The first way way that admitting our brokenness moves us towards God is that we look and admit: I’ve got a sin nature. I’ve got a problem.

Here’s the second way:

2. It acknowledges the RESULTS:

It acknowledges our results; the results of being broken. When you admit it, you’re acknowledging that someone else didn’t do this to me. It’s part of my sin nature.

Let me list some of them to you:

Powerless to change. Paul is going to build to a climax here. He’s gonna talk about what it’s like for him. He has this sin nature that’s at war against my new nature in Christ. He is feeling powerless to change.

Look what it says in verse 18. He says, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” He is saying, ‘I feel unable. I feel powerless. I feel poor in spirit to do the thing that I feel called to do. I’m unable to work it out.’

Who could say that today? I’ve got this. I’ve got this hurt that I’ve been clinging to my whole life. I’ve got this habit I’ve been trying to break. In fact, I’ve had it so long. I’ve just decided that that’s just the way I am and I’ve just settled. I’m a worry wart. My mother was a worry wart. Her mother was a worry wart. And as far as I know, her mother’s mother was a worry wart. We’re just a bunch of worry warts.

Jesus says, “Do not worry.” Why are you worrying? It is because you’re trying to be in control of an outcome, so, you’re worrying to make sure. Did you kind of follow that thread back? Yes, that’s the sin nature being triggered because anxiety is the opposite of faith. It’s the opposite of trust. Fear and anxiety go together. Think about that habit of worry and decide to break it. Stop saying that you are a “worry wart” and start saying, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

Bad habits. Paul goes on to verse 19 and he says,”For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” If you keep on doing something, what’s that called? It’s called a habit. It’s evil, so it’s a bad habit. Paul has some bad habits that keeps on doing. He doesn’t want to do them but he keeps on doing them. Things aregetting worse in the way he’s describing this. This is like a “page from his diary” that he’s sending to the church in Rome. He’s being very transparent with them about this battle between the old man and the new man, the old nature and the new nature, the sin nature of the flesh and the new nature of being born again in the Spirit. Paul says, ‘I feel powerless’ and ‘I feel like I have bad habits. I can’t stop doing them.’

Frustration. Look at verse 23, “but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” He’s talking about this war between the old nature and the new nature. He’s using two kinds of metaphors here. One is a metaphor of war; another is a metaphor of imprisonment. He feels imprisoned. He’s captive. He’s in slavery to this habit, hurt and hang up . He can’t break free from it. He’s frustrated. He feels like he’s at war and it comes to a head like an explosion. It gets worse and worse.

Miserable. He explodes in verse 24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” I’m powerless. I have bad habits. I’m frustrated and I’m miserable. Miserable is what “wretched” means. We don’t use that word a lot in modern English, but it means miserable, beaten down, afflicted and very poor. He says, ‘I’m poor. I’m wretched. Who’s going to deliver me?’ You see, Paul understands something. This is the path to a blessed life–to cry out, to admit that he is broken and needs help. That’s where it’s so difficult for us because of our pride and because of our coping and our cover up. We don’t want to admit that we need help.

In Romans chapter six, it describes the chief result of sin, which is death. It says, Romans 6:23 (ESV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Our Lord’s death is the wages for our sin.

Paul says , “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” There’s little “deaths” all through our lives, if we’ll admit it. The “death” of our dreams, the “death” of a marriage, the “death” of some relationship. These little “deaths,” all throughout life, come because of the sin nature. Death is God’s enemy because God is the author of life. Paul is wondering who is going to get him out of this death spiral.

David talked about this in the Psalms; Paul’s not the only one. Look at what David says, Psalm 32:3-5 (TLB) 3 There was a time when I wouldn’t admit what a sinner I was. But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration. 4 All day and all night your hand was heavy on me.My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day 5 until I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, “I will confess them to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

Have you done that? Have you admitted to the Lord or are you still going through that season where you’re miserable? Are you in this desert land, just thirsty for something better?

In Luke chapter 15, we read the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The son went to his father and asked for his father to give him his portion of the inheritance. His father gave it to him and he left and moved to a foreign land. He spent all that his father had given him on riotous living so that he had nothing. So, he hired himself out to a gentile who put him to work, feeding the pigs. It just so happened, coincidentally during that period, that a famine struck the land and he was hungry. He would look at the pig food and the pigs groveling in the mud, eating pig food. His stomach would groan. The pig food was starting to become appetizing to him. He was Jewish young man and pork was something he was denied even eating, but there he was, wanting to eat pig food. It was at that moment, the scripture says, that he came to himself. He came to his senses. He says, ‘I will arise and I will go back to my father because even the servants in my father’s house are living better than this.’ He goes back and the father accepts him, but first, he has to hit “bottom.”

There’s a different “bottom” for everybody. Before you’ll come to your senses, you have to recognize that the “pig food” is not for you. You don’t need to be down in the mud; there is something better for you. There’s a blessed life that God promises . It’s better. But, often we have to hit “bottom” before we’ll look up.

There was a young man who had a wife, a family and a great job. He received an injury and he was prescribed Percocet. He lost his mother a couple of years before that and was still grieving that loss. He was working a very challenging job. Percocet helped him with his pain, but it also helped him cope with his grief and the load of life. He liked it and he kept taking it. Then, he started doing illegal things to try to get more of the drug. His boss started noticing a change at work, but he was such a great employee that he was sent off for six weeks, hoping he could get help. He came back and after a season of looking pretty good, he got back on Percocet again. Then, his wife left him and took the kids. He lost his job again; the second time they didn’t give him the help. His life began spiraling. He kept hitting a “bottom” and then a lower “bottom” and then another lower “bottom.” It was hard to watch. Finally, having lost everything except his life, he finally turned back to the Lord because he knew the Lord the whole time.

That battle between the sin nature and the spiritual nature is fierce. You must bring it to Jesus. If you’re still trying to be in control, if you’re still trying to nurse your grief and your hurt you will keep spiraling down.

Finally, he hit the “bottom.” He needed to hit it, but it was hard to watch. Finally, he looked up and got his life right. He was starting to put things together, but this past Fall, he graduated to heaven. The Lord took him home. I’m talking about my little brother. It was hard to watch as the oldest brother, so this is not just “book knowledge” for me. He finally admitted he was broken. He finally hit “bottom.”

There’s a lot of “bottoms.” How far do you have to go? How far down into the “pig pen” do you have to go before you’ll say, ‘I’m broken. I need help,’ so that you put away all pride. You admit, I’m powerless. I have bad habits. I’m frustrated, I’m miserable. I’m dying here. You come to your senses and say, “I will arise and go to my father. “

Will you acknowledge the consequences of your sin, your brokenness? That leads us to the final way that admitting our brokenness puts us on the road to blessing.

3. It confesses our need for RESCUE: Jesus!

He’s our rescuer. Notice in verses 24 and 25, Paul says, 24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Jesus will rescue you. You’re not left to yourself. You have to finally admit it.

It says in the Good News translation of that same passage, Romans 7:24 (GNT) 24 “What an unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ!” Have you called on the Rescuer to save you? Have you done that? Have you admitted that you’re a sinner and that you need a Savior? Good.

Do you recognize that it’s not just one thing that you do, but you keep walking in it. He saved you; now by grace, you need to depend on Him for power to live the life of walking by faith. Say, ‘yes,’ to that. We have to keep being aware that the sin nature is activated by our hurts, habits and hang ups and we need to keep giving them to the Lord. We need to keep admitting that we need help. This is what Paul is trying to teach us here.

I’m reminded of the lyrics of a song by Lauren Daigle. She’s speaking from God’s perspective as if God is saying this to her:

“I hear the whisper underneath your breath I hear you whisper, you have nothing left I will send out an army to find you In the middle of the darkest night It’s true, I will rescue you”

Do you realize that God’s saying this to you today? He hears you; even if you just whisper it. We need rescue. You could even say it to yourself right now. Will You rescue me? I’m broken. I admit that I’m broken and I need a rescuer. He’ll rescue you; He’ll come rushing to you. Do you know that today? The first step to a blessed, completely contented life is to admit, I’m poor in spirit. I need a Savior. I need a Rescuer.

Our Celebrate Recovery ministry leads us through eight principles. All eight of them are based on the Beatitudes, the blessings. It spells out an acronym. It’s a good way to remember it.

Here’s the first one. I’ll be giving you more as these sermons as we progress through the next few weeks:

Realize I’m not God. I admit I’m powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and my life is unmanageable.

Realize I’m not God. That’s the first principle. That’s the entry point. I’m not in control, He is. That’s the entry point to the Beatitudes. It seems that they move in sequence. You can’t jump ahead. You have to take them in order. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Realize I’m not God.

Would you say this? ‘I’m powerless to change my past.’ Who here can go back in time and fix something?

Have you ever had a dream where you go back and change some things? You visualize what you should have done and what you should have said? Dou ever have moments where you wish you could go back? If I could go back, I wouldn’t have done that. I wouldn’t have said that. Would you admit, I’m powerless to change my past. I can’t go back. I need to just give that to God. I’m powerless to control other people.

Now, I know some of you ladies, you married a “fixer upper.” He was on his best behavior while you were dating. Have you realized yet, ladies, that you’re powerless to change that man? Only God can change him or her, men, if you married a “fixer upper.” You can’t change anybody. Only God can change the human heart. Some of us try really hard though. We nag and we pick at them. We feel like we are helping them.

No, you need to give it to God and say to Him, ‘I’m powerless to control other people. I’m powerless to cope with my harmful habits.’ Do you have a habit and you’ve actually made it part of your identity, so that you say to yourself, Well, that’s just what I am. That’s not your identity in Christ. Admitting we are powerless is an act of humility. It puts us in the geographic position so God can extend His grace and blessing to us. He can’t extend his grace and blessing to a prideful person; a prideful person won’t admit that they even need anything. You have to admit that you need help; you have to admit that you are broken and powerless. Then, he can pour out His grace.

James 4:6 (ESV) …“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” What it requires is a sense of humility, to just go ahead and say, ‘I need help. I need a Savior.’

What is grace? It’s God’s gift. It’s free. You can’t earn it. You can only request it and ask for it. He’ll give it to you if you will humble yourself and admit your need.

Some have used the word, “grace,” as an acronym, God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense. That’s grace. Grace gives you the power to change. Grace gives you the power to overcome your hurts, habits and your hang ups. What does it do for you? It empowers you. We all need God’s grace. Will you admit your brokenness and call on Jesus today? Will you ask Him for rescue? Will you admit by saying, ‘I’m poor in spirit, but I want to be blessed. Jesus, rescue me. Jesus, help me.’

Let’s pray. Jesus, have mercy on us. We admit our brokenness. We admit our powerlessness. We admit our sinfulness. We need rescue. Lord, I pray right now for that person in this room who’s never surrendered their life to You. You can do it right now, right in your seat. Just pray with me, right where you’re at, ‘Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner, but I believe You died on the cross for my sins. I believe You were raised from the grave and that You live today. I invite You to come into my life and forgive me of my sin. Make me the person You want me to be. I want to follow You. I want to follow You as my Savior and as my Lord. I believe in You. I trust You. I admit my need.’ If you’re praying that prayer of faith, believing, He’ll save you and He’ll begin to do a work in your life. Others are here today and you’ve done that. You’re a believer, you’re a follower, but you still have places in those three categories that I mentioned that you keep taking back from the Lord. Your sin nature is triggered by them and you keep falling back into them. Would you just confess it to the Lord right now and say, ‘Lord help me. I’m powerless to change this habit, to break this habit. I feel captive. I feel warfare at times I feel miserable instead of happy. I don’t feel like I’m blessed right now. Lord help me. Lord, I need You.’ Give it to Him, by name, whatever it is, whatever you are thinking about as the Spirit draws you right now. Surrender it to Him and say, ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. I depend on Your grace.’ In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.