You can have my heart, though it isn't new,
It's been used and broken, and only comes in blue,
It's been down a long road, and it got dirty along the way,
If I give it to you, will you make it clean and wash the shame away?
You can have my heart, if you don't mind broken things,
You can have my life; you don't mind these tears,
Well, I heard that you make old things new, so I give these pieces all to you,
If you want it, you can have my heart.
So beyond repair, nothing I could do,
I tried to fix it myself, but it was only worse when I got through,
Then you walk right into my darkness and you speak words so sweet,
And you hold me like a child, 'til my frozen tears fall at your feet.
You can have my heart, if you don't mind broken things,
You can have my life if you don't mind these tears,
Well, I heard that you make old things new, so I give these pieces up to you,
If you want it, you can have my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so_VRTb-HWQ
Broken things, we all have our own stories, lasting pain, tear-filled testimonies and excruciating experiences. The depth of pain we’ve suffered when we’ve been broken is driven deep into the core of whom, and what we are. Missing children, years and relationships lost to addictions of every kind, a lost love, untimely deaths, tragic endings. We’ve suffered, oh yes we’ve suffered indeed. Almost always a broken heart is tied directly to another, to a relationship, to a love. Broken hearts never mend completely, regardless what we’ve been told - you know it, and I know it. Just examine your heart today, see the tiny and not so tiny cracks that run through it like a roadmap of your past. Our brokenness isn’t always caused by another, although we love to point a finger of blame. Lots of broken things in our lives we’ve created our self, and to add to the mess, many around us suffer because of our brokenness.
Broken things, hearts, will, health, marriage, relationship with your child, with your parent, with reality, with yourself, with God. These or something similar most certainly affect all of us in one manner or another. Broken lives aren’t relegated to the homeless shelters and rehab centers, or reality TV, oh no. The fanciest suburbs in American hide away many a broken soul. The biggest churches in the land are chocked full of folks crying out in anguish, yet the one sitting beside them in the pew is relatively unaware of what their neighbor is dealing with. A forced smile takes care of that - a nod, a handshake, a reassuring; “fine, everything is fine, how bout you?” Pressing downward the tears and shattered feelings that are so ready to explode from within. Drug addiction, alcoholism, hatred, racism, greed, envy, religion, self-inflicting wounds of every sort has taken control of so many lives in our communities. Yes, even our own at times.
We can all sing along with Julie, we can all first-handedly feel the pain and sorrow in her song, for it is oh so very real to us. Let’s admit the hard truth of the matter, were either broken right now, we’ve been broken in the past and it still affects us in some way, or we’ll be broken in the future and we’ll struggle as to how to handle it. There’s no denying it - nary a one of us can forever avoid the Humpty-Dumpty syndrome; it’s simply a part of living.
Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall;
Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses
And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again!
Though all the good doctors, pharmaceutical companies, therapist, preachers, King’s horses, as well as King’s men try desperately to put us back together again, they/we fail.
I don’t know about you, but there’s been more than one occasion where I’ve tried to “fix” myself. There’s been more than once I’ve tried to pull myself up by the britches leg, tidy up the room, sweep the hurt under the rug, and put on an; “I’m over it now let’s move on” kinda front.” Yet, sooner or later the façade would eventually crumble and out pours the brokenness all over again. Improperly dealing with broken things in our lives is what powers the wheels that create the ever-revolving cycles we go through over and over again. Like a dog wrapping itself around a tree with its chain. Sooner or later we’re pinned to the tree and we can’t figure out what’s going on, or how to get out of the mess we’ve created for ourselves.
We try desperately, and with great earnest to fix ourselves, yet tragically we fail each and every-time. We’re not the first people to do this. Oh no, the history of mankind is filled with examples of folks trying to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again, we’re just the latest. Remember the woman in the Bible with the bleeding condition who for twelve years had spent everything she had on healings of every sort. Sounds so familiar to the stories we hear of today from the lives of friends, relatives and strangers. Well actually the 8th Chapter of the Gospel of Luke is filled with examples of many broken things - some a little more subtle that others. How many can you find?
40 On the other side of the lake the crowds welcomed Jesus, because they had been waiting for him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a leader of the local synagogue, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come home with him. 42 His only daughter,[a] who was about twelve years old, was dying.
As Jesus went with him, he was surrounded by the crowds. 43 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding,[b] and she could find no cure. 44 Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.
45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” 47 When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. 48 “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
49 While he was still speaking to her, a messenger arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. He told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”
50 But when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith, and she will be healed.”
51 When they arrived at the house, Jesus wouldn’t let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, James, and the little girl’s father and mother. 52 The house was filled with people weeping and wailing, but he said, “Stop the weeping! She isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”
53 But the crowd laughed at him because they all knew she had died. 54 Then Jesus took her by the hand and said in a loud voice, “My child, get up!” 55 And at that moment her life[c] returned, and she immediately stood up! Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat
Whether you’re broken from living with a long-lasting disease, the recent news you have cancer, the untimely death of a loved one, a sad ending to a love that was supposed to last a lifetime, or simply from the uncertainty of who is truly Lord over your life, – this I know; broken things can only be fixed at one place, at the feet of Jesus. He truly can make all things new again - bodies, lives, hearts of love, marriages, relationships, purpose, ministries, and much, much more. He is truly the restorer of peace, health, emotional soundness, all of our Humpty-Dumptiness. We just have to stop denying we’re broken, quit trying to fix ourselves and let Him do what He wants to do for us. Julie and Buddy acknowledge this with their words;
So beyond repair, nothing I could do,
I tried to fix it myself, but it was only worse when I got through,
Then you walk right into my darkness and you speak words so sweet,
And you hold me like a child, 'til my frozen tears fall at your feet.
Dear Lord, we come to you asking that you walk into the darkness of the lives of those that are broken today, those that have tried so hard to fix themselves, those that are at the point of giving up simply because the pain is too severe and their hope has been lost. Lord we ask you to touch their lives, to take them in your arms and hold them like a child, til their / our frozen tears fall at your feet. Restore us Oh Lord, give us hope renewed - fix our brokenness, please. Amen Doug
