AN UNPREACHED SERMON (191)
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Surely there can be no more mesmerising, satisfying and relaxing programme on TV than “The Repair Shop”? From the idyllic photography, gentle music and heart moving stories of the guests, it never fails to transfix and draw in the viewer. It has been described as “a workshop of dreams where damaged and broken heirlooms are brought back to life”. The aspect of the show that fascinates me most is the expertise, patience and sense of co-operation so evident in the team doing the various repairs. The team’s meticulous attention to detail is compulsive viewing. Set in the countryside village of Singleton in West Sussex, the filming takes place at the Weald and Downland Living Museum. In stark contrast to so much else appearing on our screens, here is one programme with the good-feel factor.
I’m almost tempted to describe it is as spiritually uplifting. It certainly demonstrates the importance of repair and restoration, not just for cherished family heirlooms, but for broken lives and apparent lost hopes. This is the very business that our God is involved in and the reason Christ came into the world, and why the Holy Spirit is ceaselessly at work in human lives. “We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:10). But the Bible verse the programme often brings to my mind as I watch is a verse from the prophet Isaiah; it just seems to fit the programme to a tee.
“Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in” (Isaiah 58:12 ESV). The words are recorded by Isaiah, but the speaker in this chapter is God Himself.
Just as each visitor who appears on the TV show has a story to tell and a memory to share, so here in Isaiah 58 there is a sorry tale of past failure and a hope that things can be put right and mended. To understand what God is promising through His mouthpiece Isaiah, there are several things needed to get the big picture.
THE BACKGROUND.
After King Solomon’s wonderful reign, the power fell into the hands of his wayward son Rehoboam. He was unlike his father in so many ways. He thought nothing of looking after the rich and exploiting the poor with increased taxes. He had little respect for women and was very cutting with his tongue. He ended up polarising the nation until there was a major split among the Twelve Tribes.
• Ten tribes in the North (still known as Israel) who were eventually overridden by the Assyrians
• Two tribes in the South (becoming known as Judah) who were overcome by the Babylonians and eventually taken into exile. They sang about it in the words, “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign, strange land?” (Psalm 137:4).
In all this political and religious upheaval, people wanted answers and looked to the prophet Isaiah for answers. They wanted him to repair things and bring about some kind of restoration.
THE PROCESS
In the Repair Shop programme the team don’t just make a beeline for the broken object and start restoring it. They take time to look at it in detail and usually to dismantle it. Then, with all the pieces spread out before them, they seem to think their way into the heart of what needs to be done.
It's the same approach taken by Isaiah in relation to mending the nation. The people had assumed that all they needed to do was increase their religious observances and rituals; throwing in a bit of fasting for good measure (58:2, 3). But it has to be bluntly pointed out that they are going about things wrong and with the wrong attitude (58:4, 13). The repair work has to go much deeper (58:6-10). Much more than a superficial lick of paint will be needed to put things right – but it can happen (58:8, 11, 12).
THE OUTCOME.
When things are done properly in line with how God wants, then success can be guaranteed and the wonderful promise comes into its own (Isa 58:12).
These are the very things we long to see in our society and world.
• Ruined things rebuilt
• Foundations laid for generations to come
• Breaches where the enemy gains access filled in
• Streets that are livable in once more
It is an enormous task God is asking of the people, but like all such endeavours it begins at the personal level. Jesus recognised that at the start of His preaching ministry when He announced that He had been sent “to heal the broken-hearted”.
Many of the people who present with their treasured object on the programme are deeply affected by the accident that has caused it to shatter or fall into disrepair. It has touched them at deep levels.
It is similar to what happens to us when it first dawns on us that Jesus not only understands the broken-hearted but can heal them. Every believer can know that they are ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven. It’s amazing what God can do with broken homes, broken health, broken hopes and broken hearts.
John Masefield has a poem about a man found guilty against the state; and to make matters worse, against his own mother. But, as usual in Masefield verse, there is hope.
“God who gave His mercies takes His mercies,
And God who gives beginnings gives the end;
I dread my death, but ‘tis the end of curses,
A rest for broken things, things too broke too mend”.
When Jesus left the carpenter’s shop, where He had been making things all his working life, He opened a repair shop. Very deliberately, I think, He chose a passage from the prophet Isaiah for His first sermon. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound...they shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations, they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many nations” (Isaiah 61:1-4). That repair shop has never been out of business!
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