We were recently so blessed and encouraged to be welcomed by the great folks at Grand Cane Baptist Church in Shreveport, LA (Grand Cane, LA). I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to present my heart to them. Below are my sermon notes from our presentation on "Brokenness in Mission."
Blessings,
Seth
"Brokenness in Mission"
I. Why do we go to Bolivia? Simple Answer - We are broken for that nation and its people.
A. Dry ground can’t be permeated until it becomes broken. Our hearts cannot hold and absorb the love of Christ for the lost until they’ve been broken.
B. We have been given a burden for Bolivia and brokenness has become our heart’s theme in this season of transition. So, I’d like to share with you some thoughts on Brokenness using David’s 51 Psalm.
II. Psalm 51 - Background, David and Bathsheeba… There is a parallel between David’s situation with Bathsheeba and ourselves in our walk of salvation.
A. David saw Bathsheeba and lusted after her. Likewise, we see the pleasure of sin and lust after it. “The fruit was desirable…” Genesis says regarding Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden.
B. David acted on his lust. “Eve took of the fruit and ate, she and her husband.”
C. David then tried to cover his sin by making Uriah drunk and then having him killed in battle. “They made for themselves coverings of fig leaves.”
D. Then David’s heart was broken in anguish over his sin. “Woe is me” Isaiah said when he beheld God’s glory.
III. Brokenness and Action in the context of Psalm 51
A. Psalm 51:1-9
1. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgement. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than know. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.”
2. The Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin and reveals our great need for salvation. This is paramount to the believer in his mission. We must be a people who begin at conviction and repentance so that humility is present in every missions endeavor, whether across the street or across continents and oceans.
3. Before we could ever go to Bolivia, we must first have been broken in our sin. “Regard no one according to the flesh.” “In humility, consider others above yourselves.” I cannot truthfully extend grace to sinners until I realize that I am no better. I must see my sin as clearly as I see theirs. My salvation does not delete my sin - it forgives it. It does not change the fact that I am still guilty. This is why grace is so amazingly great.
B. Psalm 51:10-12
1. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and up hold me with a willing Spirit.”
2. In our need for salvation, we cannot forget the joy of our salvation which is kept with a seal of guarantee by the Holy Spirit until the day of Christ. We have joy that our gift is perfect and eternal and not dependent on us, but on Him who is faithful. I love the verse that says “It is God who works in man both to will and to do good works.” I can trust my heart to a faithful savior who will grant me the desire and will to do his work.
3. As we work in Bolivia to plant and establish churches, we must know and communicate the joy of salvation. We must have a “willing spirit” to walk and be led by the Spirit. Bolivians are very religious, but they do not know Christ. We must go with renewed spirits and clean hearts so that we can faithfully lead. Jesus said, “if the blind lead the blind, they both fall into a pit.” We must have our eyes opened so that we can be effective in our mission.
C. Psalm 51:13-15
1. “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.”
2. It is our brokenness of sin, humility of heart, and joy of salvation that will prompt us to action in declaring the goodness of our God and his mercy in Christ Jesus. “He who is forgiven much loves much.” We have surely been forgiven much, so we in turn love much, with the heart that is molded within us to conformity to Christ. Your choices will always be the result of your heart. Your actions reveal your intentions and your desires. The church labors in it’s mission because her desire is for Christ and her intention is his mission to “make disciples in all the world baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey what He has taught.” And the best part of the commission is the promise, “ye, I will be with you to the end of the age.” It is His mission not ours, so it cannot fail. We simply must be willing, in response to the grace we have received, to walk in obedience to the commission of Christ (both locally and abroad).
3. Our mission in Bolivia - and your mission wherever God has positioned you - is to make disciples. The Great Commission is not a mild suggestion. It is our purpose as a church, and will remain that way until the day of judgement. We are all on mission and all hold obligation to the grace we have received to labor earnestly for Jesus. In Bolivia, we will be planting churches through discipleship that teaches what Christ has commanded. And, just as important, teach them to teach others.
D. Psalm 51:16-17
1. “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
2. We see in the old testament and then again in reference in the new testament that our “righteous acts are like filthy rags.” There are many missionaries, pastors, and congregants who are doing lots of things - yet if their heart is not broken, submitted, and humbly dependent on Jesus, everything they do is filth. The Word of God tells us that God looks at our hearts - this is why God was so angry with his people in Isaiah, when He said, “you honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me.” God desires our hearts to be in close proximity to his, yet this cannot happen without brokenness. God gives grace to the humble but stand in opposition to the proud. We must act with humility, from a place of brokenness if we are to be successful in our obedience.
3. People tell us all the time, “It takes a special person to do what you guys are doing…You are so great to do that…I could never do something like that, your faith must be really strong.” But those statements just aren’t true. We are all called to mission and all have different places to serve. Our’s just happens to be in Bolivia. But we’ve been equipped for this. Will it be hard? Absolutely and painfully so. But obedience is often hard. In the words of Tom Hanks in the movie, A League of their Own, “It’s the hard that makes it great! If it were easy, everyone would do it!”
E. Psalm 51:18-19
1. “Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offering and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.”
2. Our prayer for the church today is likewise, “do good to your church, build up her walls, delight in her sacrifice and her worship.” Our job as Christians is to labor for Christ. We don’t just do… we submit to Him and do what is asked. We operate in a spirit of brokenness, so that we can be soft clay in his hands. An unbroken horse is pretty to look at but also pretty useless. Do we want to be unbroken horse that just serve to be seen? Or trained and equipped for mission? Action is pleasing when it is from a heart that is fully submitted to Christ and broken for his sin and for the lost. It is in brokenness and anguish that we know true joy in our salvation. Joy that brings confidence and spurs us to mission with Jesus.
3. The last thing I want to point out is God will build the walls of Jerusalem. He will build his church. “Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain.” What joy in our duty to know that the building is not dependent on us. He will build it, and our labor will be successful. You cannot fail when you are broken to his mission.
