It's All Jacked Up

It doesn't take long, as a pastor, or even as a human being, to figure out that the world is one jacked up place. Systems are broken, families are broken, relationships are broken, and even our individual lives are, yes...broken. The snowball effect of brokenness makes me want to crawl in a hole sometimes and just give up. Sleep becomes a great option - but it never quite lasts long enough; or, responsibility comes knocking at the door. In other words, broken things long to be fixed, and fixers don't get much sleep.

I love to fix things. Give me a leaky faucet or some puzzle or problem, and I am your man (most of the time). And hey, if I can't do it, I know someone who can. Either way, we will get this thing fixed. But there is a brokenness that is different. It is the brokenness that walks through our church doors every day. Sure their electricity is about to be turned off; but after just a few questions, it is obvious that this is no superficial wound. This life is all jacked up.

She's a single mom with three kids. She's twenty eight, and her eldest son is eleven (with CP). The middle child is 8; and the youngest is just 7 weeks old. Her apartment is crawling with mold and is causing the children's asthma to flair up. She has applied for a job, but most wont pay her enough to cover the cost of child care. So she is almost forced to stay at home and care for her kids. But who pays for this? Her mother hates her b/c she reminds her mother of her father (strange). She has 19 brothers and sisters; but is close to none of them. The father(s) of her children are nowhere to be found. She is alone, and has resorted to asking us for help (people she doesn't even know). Sure the government pays to feed her, among other things. But I asked her about her. I said, "Your situation is awful. But it must be awful to have no one." She cried.

Its simply amazing that one single 15 minute act can lead to a lifetime of responsibility. It takes kids these days just a few seconds of 'experimenting' with their hormones and body parts to bring another life into this world. There are no boundaries. People, both young and old, are breaking themselves and breaking others all over the place. Kids are having kids, who don't parent their kids, which leads to having more kids, who are all jacked up. And don't misunderstand me. This happens in every home - white, black, yellow, whatever.

And then I begin to thing about the long term effects. What about when this generation gets older? We can barely care for the younger brokenness; what about the older? What about when people get too old to walk or talk or bathe or eat. Sure, they breathe, but they are nothing more than a liability. Who will care? A nurse will, but she costs money. Who will pay? The government will, but it costs money. Again, who will pay? And, is money enough? When will we wake up?

How dark must it get before we see that there is no remedy - this bone will not heal. The brokenness is 'sin-deep' and cannot be touched by philanthropy, government vouchers, stamps, free health care, tea-party meetings, and whatever else we try to stir up. Rush won't help. Neither will O'Reilly. There is only one Voice that can mend this fracture. It is the Voice that spoke life into a dead man (Jn 11). It is the same Voice that spoke light out of darkness and creation out of formlessness and 'voidness'.

I have no profound message this morning. Everything is all jacked up. I am longing for heaven more. Passages in Scripture that speak of our 'inheritance' and 'the new heavens and the new earth' are coming with so much more weight than ever before. And the only thing I can say is, only Christ, only Christ, only Christ will finally satisfy. I too, am all jacked up.

Until that great Day, I will point jacked up people (just like me) in His direction. He may not pay their electric bill and He may not make the mold go away. But He has paid the sin bill, and He can make the Wrath of God go away. And yes, He does satisfy so deeply, that He makes the pain of this world cause us to long for glory so much more. He does have the ability to change our expectations -which is a soothing experience. Our hope of final satisfaction, of not being jacked up anymore, is found in glory - In Christ the hope of glory (Col 1).

And as the darkness seems to pervade this life - I rest in that I have, and can share, THE LIFE, the LIGHT of the world. Jesus Christ. It is only by His wounds that we are healed. And according to His promise we must wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Pet 3:13).