I walked out of my house this morning a happy man. I was able to sleep in a little bit, came downstairs to breakfast already made and my lunch already packed. My favorite tumbler was clean, and I filled it with coffee before I left. Life was great! Then I saw it. There was a note on my truck, which was parked on the street: “If you think you are going to park here, try to share the space! I live here, I don’t know about YOU!”
How dare they! This passive-aggressive act incited a crazy anger in me. They don’t own the road! I have just as much right to that spot as anyone else does. I looked all around, assuming that my assailant had been staking out my truck, waiting for this moment. An elderly Chinese woman was trimming her bushes. I assumed that she was my attacker, and I aggressively slammed my door and drove away. It’s pretty sad how little it takes to expose my brokenness.
I recently finished Unbroken, the story of Louis Zamperini. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book that caused me to be so angry at a character. If you’ve read it, you know that “The Bird” was one of the most brutal, sadistic tormentors you’ve ever heard of. And eventually, he broke Louis. And in his brokenness, Louis’ only hope was to get revenge and kill “The Bird.” He literally started making plans to hunt him down and kill him!
After Louis was saved by Jesus, his response to his tormentor dramatically changed. Louis was overcome by how much Jesus had forgiven him, and that motivated him to forgive his most terrible enemy. That’s the story of the Gospel. We ARE broken. We are broken by our sin, by our flesh, by our weakness. Jesus was broken for us in his death on the cross, but was unbroken in the resurrection. Because of this, we can be unbroken as well. We can forgive, because we’ve been forgiven. We can love, because we have been loved. We can promote peace, because we have peace with God.
My brokenness is so clear some days. It was clear this morning. A note on my truck exposed my brokenness. Praise God that Jesus was unbroken for me!
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5