Notes from 2-20-2009 Sermon – Brokenness

Where does depression hurt? It hurts everywhere. It’s like the ‘Check Engine’ light is on, and we’ve learned how to break the light. We have no sense of being crushed under our own sin. Instead, we try to remove that weight.

Unbiblical, anti-truth:
- Rob Bell: “no need for brokenness”
- The Shack (endorsed by Eugene Patterson, and Steven Curtis Chapman): “God submits to, needs people.”
- Rick Warren: “You don’t have to tell people they’re sinners; they already know this.”

Psalms 51:1-19

“Blot out” – like the flood
“Wash me” – like on a washboard
“Cleanse me” – a ceremonial style

=== I ===

Ps 51:8

Brokenness is an appropriate response to sin because sin leaves behind ‘scar tissue’ – a mark on us. See Romans 7:23-24.

=== II ===

PS. 51:3

Brokenness is an appropriate response to sin so that _we_ don’t forget our sins. God can forget, but _we_ can’t. We must realize that sins create memories that stay with us. This is good because:

1. If you could forget your sins, you could never testify to the forgiveness of God!

2. If you could forget, you wouldn’t be warned against doing them again. Imagine if we could forget that fire is hot…

3. If you could forget, you couldn’t celebrate your victory over sin – our triumphs through Christ.

=== III ===

Revelation 19:11-16

Brokenness is appropriate response to sin because our sin is an affront to a holy God.

“People don’t know that they’re bad. They watch the nightly news and think that _those_ people are bad.” Compare this to Rick Warren telling preachers that people already know they’re sinners.

We need to be done with this image of Christ as a weak, needy, feeble guy. Revelation 19:11-16. He is a God capable of great wrath.

He demonstrates his own wrath when he poured it out on his own son! How dare we think that he would do that to his own son, but because we’re “not that bad” he could never be that wrathful against us!

Unbiblical: “He wants you. He needs you. He’s desperate for you. You’re breaking his heart.”
Biblical: “He’s going to break you.”

People come into church looking to be appeased, thinking they’re owed something. Preachers are guilty of “trampling [his] courts” (Isaiah 1:10-18) when they hold these services that “target” sinners, gearing them towards a man-centric goal. These people say things like “_I_ prayed a prayer. _I_ have changed my ways.” No. Preach the word!

=== IV ===

Brokenness is an appropriate response to sin because sin is a hindrance to the true worship of a holy God.

Ps. 51:7-10.

Worship is an outward expression of brokenness.

In some churches, they say brokenness is an inappropriate response to sin. They say “you’re a Christian – you’re forgiven.” May it never be that we forget the weight of our sin. Brokenness is the _only_ appropriate response to sin. It’s not to wallow and indulge in self-pitty (that would be just as wrong); it’s not to make you feel bad. It’s to get you in the place where you realize God’s grace and glorify HIM.

In an of myself, all that I can do is continue to crumble under the weight of my own sin.

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