In HOPE

  In HOPE 6.28                                  back to home                        David Timms

The Current Series

The shape of the Lord's Supper provides a model and outline for our own Christian journey.

Jesustook some bread, and after blessing it He broke it; and gave it to them.... (Mark 14.22)

Welcome this week to Part 3 in this series.

Back Issues

Back issues of "In HOPE" (for 2005 and 2006) can now be accessed from www.hiu.edu/inhope/ .  Special thanks to Zaya Tserendondov for setting up this archive and managing it.

Hope International University
Fullerton, CA 92831

 

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed...."  (2 Corinthians 4.8-9)

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Broken

The New Testament uses at least 14 different verbs to mean "break." How fitting. Even in English we have a range of terms: crush, break, tear, split, shatter, burst, rend, etc. This variety of words helps reflect the myriad of ways we get hurt in life.

None of us like it - the broken heart, the crushed spirit, the bruised feelings, or the tortured soul. Who would choose brokenness? But we all experience it.

We wreak some of the havoc on ourselves. Other harm comes by the hands and choices of others. It seems inescapable, and our distress often drives us to lash out at others or isolate ourselves from them. Affliction typically provokes retaliation, and more conflict.

Of course, some brokenness defies all explanation: the miscarriage, a hidden tumor, an unexpected depression, or the natural disaster. Our lives are broken so often and in so many ways. The only remaining question is: How shall we survive?

How can Paul's declaration in 2 Corinthians 4.8-9 (above) become our confident testimony?

In the hands of Jesus, brokenness shifts from danger to opportunity. The very things that threaten to destroy us, can become the basis for hope and life.

When Jesus took the bread and blessed it, he also had to break it before he could give it. The Lord's Supper, as it outlines our lives, reminds us that brokenness becomes the prerequisite to meaningful ministry. The deepest touch comes from the wounded healer.

We want to resist failure, weakness, and brokenness. But, paradoxically, in the hands of Christ they give birth to hope, strength, and wholeness. So, we endure the breaking with full confidence that we are the Chosen and Blessed (see parts 1 and 2 of this series). And what we consider broken, he considers prepared.

We need not be crushed, despairing, forsaken, or destroyed when Christ acts as the host in our lives.

In HOPE -

David

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For back issues of "In HOPE" (2005, 2006) go to http://www.hiu.edu/inhope/.

David Timms serves in the Graduate Ministry Department at Hope International University in Fullerton, California. "In HOPE", however, is not an official publication of the University and the views expressed are not necessarily those of the Administrators or Board of the institution. "In HOPE" has been a regular e-publication since January, 2001.