Broken Things

Golf fans will be watching “across the pond” this week as the world’s best gather at Royal Troon for the Open Championship. Zach Johnson, last year’s winner, just returned the Claret Jug — one of the most prized trophies in sports — after his ceremonial year with it. While the winner is expected to take care of it, the Claret Jug does not have to remain in a hermetically sealed vault and with 24-hour security. He can take it wherever he wants and it’s customary to take it as many places as possible. In fact, much has been said, written, and posted about what other champions have done with the jug, the places they’ve taken it, beverages (and food) they’ve consumed out of it, the people who’ve posed for pictures with it.

Recently I heard (second-hand, so apologies if I’ve distorted the facts) of a wonderful story reported by the Golf Channel. At some point this year, the jug accompanied Johnson to a corporate function in Minnesota. I’m not sure how, but while he was there, the base of it came off. Like it came apart, all the way off, broken, messed up. One piece became two.

Oh (no)!

Could you imagine what was running through his mind when he realized that he had broken golf’s most sacred trophy? Panic? Embarrassment? Mild hysteria?

Have you ever broken something precious? Not just something physical, think a little broader like a promise or a rule? Have you ever been the reason for a broken dream or a broken heart? Have you broken a vow or betrayed a trust? Have you ever felt the heaviness, hopelessness, and shame that comes when you realize that your actions or insensitivity or carelessness may have caused irreparable damage?

Back to Zach…

After a frantic search, Johnson actually found a highly regarded silversmith in Minnesota. So he gathered the pieces and took them to the shop with a one-in-a-million hope that the guy could fix it. While showing the damage to the man, Johnson reiterated how important it was for the item to be repaired properly and repeatedly stressed its value, but refrained from telling him what it was. None of this, however, seemed to register. (Imagine the frustration you felt when the so-called expert showed little interest and even less urgency in your emergency and then triple it.)

About the time he realized that he needed to come clean with the man in order for him to understand the magnitude of the situation, the silversmith reportedly looked at Johnson and said,

“Yes, I know. It’s the Claret Jug. I’ve worked on it before.”

It just so happened that a previous Open champion and Minnesota native (Tom Lehman) broke the darn thing almost 20 years ago and took it to the same silversmith who repaired it so well that no one even noticed the break. Imagine how comforting those words were to Johnson. Imagine how his perspective changed knowing that he brought in something of immense value but broken to someone who had seen and fixed it before.

I wonder if the silversmith was Zach’s first call. If it were me, I’d have tried Gorilla glue, looked for a how-to welding video on YouTube, or something even more boneheaded and made the situation worse.

Valued, but broken. That’s us. At some point all of us will feel crushed under the weight of the sin, sorrow, and brokenness in our lives and have this foreboding sense that the damage is irreparable. But our attempts to fix it with behavioral duct tape and Gorilla glue will just make it worse. I love these lines from Broken Things, by Julie Miller:

So beyond repair, nothing I could do
I tried to fix it myself
But it was only worse when I got through…

…Well, I heard that you make old things new
So I give these pieces up to you
If you want it, you can have my heart

After the panic or denial or failed self-improvement attempt, we bring all of our guilt, shame, and embarrassment to the Cross of Christ in hopes that He can do something with it. He can and He will. The Gospels are full of examples of Jesus’ compassion to and healing of the broken. He offers forgiveness and the promise of a new life in Him. Not just repaired, but made new.

Valued but broken. You may be there right now. In fact, you may feel that you’ve wrecked things so badly that there is no value left.

That’s not true. Take your brokenness to the Father. Confess it all to Him and ask for His forgiveness and healing.

Bring the pieces to Him and don’t worry about the mess you’ve made.

He’s seen it before.