Broken things and broken people

One of my favorite songs right now is a Crowder song that came out in 2014 entitled Come As You Are. When this song first came out I found it moved me; it moves me even more so now. Here’s part of the lyrics:

Come out of sadness from wherever you've been,
Come broken hearted let rescue begin.
Come find your mercy Oh sinner come kneel,

Earth has no sorrow that heaven can't heal.

There's hope for the hopeless and all those who've strayed,
Come sit at the table come taste the grace.
There's rest for the weary rest that endures,
Earth has no sorrow that heaven can't cure.  

So lay down your burdens, Lay down your shame,
All who are broken, lift up your face.
Oh wanderer come home, you're not too far,
So lay down your hurt, lay down your heart.
Come as you are.  

Fall in his arms come as you are
There's joy for the morning, oh sinner be still.
Earth has no sorrow, that heaven can't heal.

Crowder touches on something that we know in our head even as our hearts tell us something else. We know that God uses “broken” things but our hearts wants us to believe that God will not use us. This morning I was thinking about how some things are better broken; yes, you read that correctly some things are better broken. How many of us would stop in Philadelphia to see the “Liberty Bell” were it not broken? I doubt many tourists in Italy would visit the town of Pisa were it not for the tower that’s not quite right. Have you ever seen a mosaic? Most mosaics are beautiful yet the reality is that a mosaic consists of broken pieces arranged to be something beautiful. We live in a world of broken things: broken hearts, broken promises, broken homes, and broken bodies to name a few. However, like a mosaic, God has a wonderful way of making something beautiful out of broken and ragged pieces.

The bible is FILLED with broken people. That’s one of the great things about God’s word. It does not cover up or gloss over the foibles and failures of God’s people. 

• Joseph’s family was the epitome of dysfunction to the point his brothers sold him into slavery. Yet God chose to use Joseph to save his people from famine. 
• Ruth was chosen by God to be in the lineage of Jesus even though she was a Moabite (unwelcome in the temple), childless, and a widow.

 Not all of the broken people were broken because of the acts of others. Many were broken because of their own poor choices. 

• Moses was a murderer yet God chose him to lead His people out of bondage. 
• Rahab was a prostitute yet in Matthew 1 there she is listed as the great great grandmother of king David, clearly in the lineage of Jesus. 
• Speaking of David, he was an adulterer that God chose to be leader of His people. 
• Abraham the bible calls the father of the faithful yet he lied on multiple occasions. 
• Saul of Tarsus arrested, had tortured, and even killed 1^st Century Christians. Then he met Jesus who gave him the name Paul. And the apostle Paul was used to plant churches and right almost half of our New Testament.

Are your broken today because of the actions of someone else? Are you broken because of your own choices? In either instance this morning, realize God will use you in your brokenness. We often think when we are broken that God is finished with us when it’s possible just the opposite is true. God may not be “finished” but rather only now beginning to use us for His glory.

As I listened to Crowder’s song this morning the words “come as you are” kept resonating with my heart. Like many of you who read this today, I find myself in a place of brokenness. The enemy tells me that I can’t come to God like this; he lies and says God will not accept me. But the truth of Crowder’s song is found in its simplicity. Crowder says come as you are … friend there is no other way to come to God than as you are. He likely won’t leave you were you are but He will welcome you if you come as you are.