“All our brokenness meets in the mystery of Christ’s brokenness and givenness — and becomes the miracle of abundance.”- Ann Voskamp
“I say to you, unless a grain of wheat fall into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”- John 12:24 (NIV)
In Chapter 3 (“When You Want to Exchange Your Brokenness”) of The Broken Way, Ann Voskamp explains how to live with your broken heart. You live with your broken heart by giving it away. Hence, the miracle of abundance occurs when all of your brokenness meets in the mystery of Christ’s brokenness and givenness.
Therefore, Ann explains how the paradox of death and resurrection breaks us afresh:
“unless we die, . . . surrender, unless we sacrifice, we remain alone. Lonely. But if we die, . . . surrender, if we sacrifice, that is when we experience the abundance, that is when we dance in communion. The life that yields the most — yields the most.”
As a result, Ms. Voskamp asks, will we make a commitment to Christ like He made to us- a covenant relationship? In Martin Luther’s “Treatise on Christian Liberty (1520)”, he wrote:
“By the wedding ring of faith, He [Christ] shares in the sins, death, and pains of hell which are His bride’s. . . . Here this rich and divine bridegroom Christ marries this poor, wicked harlot, redeems her from all evil, and adorns her with all His goodness.”
As Luther concludes, since Christ and the soul become one body, they hold all things in common- for better or for worse.
Today’s question: How has Christ’s brokenness and givenness enabled you to bear much fruit? Please share.
Coming Monday: the new Thanksgiving Short Meditation, “Honey that blunts the sting”
Tomorrow’s blog: “Our union with Christ”
