Sunday: Broken Bread and Poured-out Wine
Oswald Chambers has said that we are to become “broken bread and poured-out wine” for others. What do you think he means by this?
All through the Bible there are examples of people who were “broken” to serve others. Moses was called to endure unending waves of gossip and criticism as he led people to the Promised Land. Joseph was called to a journey that involved betrayal and imprisonment as he was brought to a position of service in Egypt.
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In each case, God permitted the situations in order that His people’s lives could become theaters of His grace and care, not only for themselves but for the good of others, as well. God may use us in the same way. It is easy to feel angry or hurt in such situations. But as we noted yesterday, meekness is the God-given ability to endure such things “with patience and without resentment.”
Read Ezekiel 24:15-27. What’s happening here? Why was Ezekiel put through this crucible?
In Ezekiel 24:24 God says, “Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD” (NIV). Through Ezekiel’s example, the people of Israel were going to be convicted of the truth about who God was, the Sovereign Lord — and they would see this truth as they experienced the fulfillment of the prophecy that Ezekiel’s life was symbolizing and the suffering that he had faced. Who knows how many people will see “the Sovereign LORD” through us in our own broken places, as well?
| Sooner or later life itself breaks us all. What has been your experience with being broken? What lessons have you learned? How can your own broken soul be used by the Lord to help other people? |
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Under the 'sinless' reality that Adam and Eve were originally created, learning was not associated with pain. And it was God's desire and plan that this was the way things were to always be for humanity. Unfortunately, when Adam and Eve 'fell' into sin/lawlessness via exchanging self-renouncing for self-seeking/indulging (Genesis 3:6), things changed dramatically for the worse. Because we are all now born with Adam and Eve's tendency to self-seeking (Romans 5:12-14; Psalm 51:5), we are captive to (Ephesians 2:1-3) our 'toxic and terminal' default state that needs to be broken in order for us to come to the point where we 'see' it for what it is (because sin is inherently deceptive). This is the background understanding that helps us understand Matthew 21:44.
Unless our attraction to self-seeking is broken to the point that we abandon self-seeking and instead submit to being rebuilt with a new heart that is motivated by self-renouncing love, we will remain in our toxic and terminal condition and consequently "perish" (John 3:3-6, 16; 2 Peter 3:9).
I agree.
Humility is not a veneer that you put on the outside. If you have ever read Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, you will have met Uriah Heep who was always mentioning his 'umbleness. The serious problem with Uriah was that he was a scheming manipulative person who used humbleness as a ploy to control others.
The moment you start telling people (or allow them to believe) that you are humble the veneer peels away and your true self is revealed.
Nowadays a lot of furniture is made out of what we call chipboard covered with a thin veneer of real wood. ome of us buy the veneered furniture simply because we cannot afford the real timber furniture. (I know this because I went looking for a piece of furniture today and I quickly realised that I only had a chipboard budget) Sometimes it is very hard to tell that furniture is chipboard. It is hidden by the veneer. But if the veneered furniture is bumped or scratched, then the cheap chipboard shows through.
Humility is not a veneer. It is a solid core value. Bumping and scratching may leave a mark but all you will see is solid timber, not flakey chipboard.
Humilty is based on love:
I did have gone through a broken state these past 2 years. I wasn't even totally "rebuilt" and I realized I was already being used to help others going through, somehow, the same thing! It might sound self-centered, but my grief have brought more faith to me, and perhaps to some of my family members involved. My daughter, at the age of 13, decided to go to this 7th day Aventist Internship for Teens! What a blessing! Thus, I see that my sorrow was God's way to place me (and others) on different and marvelous NEW TRACKS.
God is WONDERFUL! And to HIM all GLORY! Because in my grief I learnt (still learning) to depend completely on HIM, and to be THANKFUL IN ALL THINGS, no matter if they are good or, at first, painful! Being thankful for the opportunity of waking up TODAY is already a blessing! Being thankful is my duty! Because I owe everything to JESUS, the One Who gave His life for me, although I do not deserve it!
God makes my pain to be my healing! And sometimes (with a little cold feeling in my stomach) I think "what else would I have to go through, Lord? Because I need to be "fixed" all the time!"
May the Lord have mercy, and my body be burned, but my spirit to be ready to meet my Savior! That's what I really wish! I want to spend eternity closer to my Creator, I do not wish this world here... but while I am here, may my life to be totally under His CONTROL!
Yes indeed a humble and contrite heart is reviving. Isaiah 57:15. Thank you JC for your testimony it is encouraging for me and I trust for many others.
I'm not seeing the connection with the title of Sundays lesson and the fall of Jerusalem. Except that after the ruin of Isreal they were, broken and bleeding? They were hardly humble during that process.
The connection is not the fall of Jerusalem. The point is these people thought they had God all figured out. They had the “Truth”: God would never allow Jerusalem to be sacked because his temple was in Jerusalem. It was “their stronghold, their joy and glory.”
In the face of the “Truth”, Ezekiel’s anguish mirrors that of God regarding this hardhearted people. That is the point.
The takeaway is this: Do we think we have God all figured out? Do we think we have the “Truth”? Perhaps, God has a message for us and we need to have another think.
Someone said that Justification and Sanctification are both virtues that are found only in the "sinless and flawless Jesus." And while I agree about this fact about Jesus however, for us, Justification was secured at Calvary by Jesus spilled blood 2,000 plus or minus years ago and we cannot add or subtract anything from it or for it one single iota. And as far as Sanctification for us, this is our "Lifetime Work," and we can never equal its flawless perfection this side of Jesus Second Coming at all.
Amen Maurice. The same goes for Christianity in general. Beware of the Christian who tells everyone he is one. Real Christian character shaped by the power of God, shows itself.
I disagree with this, Jim Williams, because what exactly is a Christian? A Christian is simply someone who has accepted Jesus as his or her Saviour period! And that is why Jesus Himself went on to counsel us to "not judge." Only He knows who is truly His follower or not.
I think it is very important that we understand what meekness is, but also what is not. How many times has the call to meekness been used to silence the victims of oppression and to make them feel their cry for justice was ungodly? Wicked people have abused the rights of others and demanded they take the abuse with a smile. That is not meekness. The lesson authors have defined meekness as “enduring injury with patience and without resentment.” I want to add that meekness must be for good and for God. True meekness requires great strength.
In the lesson’s definition, we have the keywords “patience… without resentment”. Patience has an element of waiting. You wait because you have hope that, in time, something worth waiting for will occur. Enduring injury with patience means one does not give in to hopelessness. Meekness is not resignation. Meekness is without resentment. Resentment gives way to bitterness, anger, and fear. If we are “humble” because of fear, we are not meek.
Learning meekness from the examples given in our lesson today, we see that Joseph lived in hope even as a slave and prisoner; that is why he worked diligently despite his circumstances. He showed great personal strength and integrity. He shuns the wickedness of Potiphar’s wife for the glory of God and shows magnanimous grace for the good of his family. Moses’ meekness lay in his placing the glory of God’s name and the welfare of God’s people above his own.
I think God wanted Ezekiel to be a living example of a spiritual reality. Losing a loved one is something that is profound and painful: God’s temple is as precious to him and to the Israelites as Ezekiel’s wife was to Ezekiel. Still, God was willing to destroy his own temple to eventually redeem his people.