On Monday a friend gave me a ride on his fishing boat to a nearby area of SVG for an afternoon of relaxation. It was a fun time capped off by a very cool rainbow pic.
I got home around 5:00…..
and by 6:30 the shouting started nearby.
As is often the case, an argument started at a nearby rum shop. This happens a lot on holidays because people will drink for a lot of the day, and then in the evening tempers flare. The one Monday was a bit more serious because one person started throwing glass bottles at the other, which could result in serious injury.
After the drama had calmed down (I didn’t get involved) it struck me how a place with such physical beauty can also be filled with such brokenness. And this isn’t just a problem with SVG. The fact is we experience beauty and brokenness almost every day…sometimes a few hours apart!
While frustrating, both the beauty and brokenness have the same purpose….
to create a longing for Christ’s return
The beauty of life is a “sneak peak” of what life will be when Christ comes to restore it. Honestly this is even a flawed picture of the true beauty, but this glimpse through things like beautiful sunsets, or rainbows whets our appetite for the New Heaven and New Earth.
The brokenness also points us towards Christ’s return because each of us realize the world doesn’t work the way it does. But hearing people shout profanities and throw bottles at one another is a painful reminder.
So through the beauty and brokenness we say with John “even so come Lord Jesus.”
But what do we do till the Lord does return?
We bring the beauty of the Gospel into the brokenness.
It’s easy to stay away from the brokenness because it is messy. But the longer we refuse the enter into those sinful situations with the Gospel, the longer they remain there! Interestingly they know their way of doing things is broken. Those people just don’t know how to escape.
Which is why we must continually shine the light of the Gospel into the deepest darkness and proclaim God’s truth confidently.
About a half-hour after the drama ended my phone rang. It was a man involved in the situation, he wasn’t throwing bottles or the aggressor, but was doing some of the shouting.
One of his first words were “Pastor John, I messed up.”
We talked for a while about what had happened, what he could have done differently, and how to make sure that mistake never happens again. The next morning we talked about his mistake face to face.
In that moment the man knew he was messed up so he didn’t need to be reminded of his brokenness. Instead, he needed someone to bring love and healing into the brockenness.
We long for the day when there is no more brokenness
but till that day we keep bringing the beauty of the Gospel into it
Johnhwilburn.org 