Harvester Church

Preached by Apostle Aje Pelser
Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town.

“Kintsugi is a Japanese art form in which breaks and repairs are treated as part of the object’s history. Broken ceramics are carefully mended by artisans with a lacquer resin mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum. The repairs are visible — yet somehow beautiful. Kintsugi means “golden joinery” in Japanese.”

‘Kintsukuroi’ means “to repair with gold”. When a ceramic pot or bowl would break, the artisan would put the pieces together again using gold or silver lacquer to create something stronger, more beautiful, then it was before. The breaking is not something to hide. It does not mean that the work of art is ruined or without value because it is different than what was planned. Kintsukuroi is a way of living that embraces every flaw and imperfection. Every crack is part of the history of the object and it becomes more beautiful, precisely because it had been broken. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/luminous-things/201510/resilience-growth-kintsukuroi

Values of a Broken Heart
1. The Lord is near those who are broken-hearted
Psa 34:17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
Psa 34:18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Psa 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.

Hebrew word for Broken is H7665 shâbar
BDB Definition:
1) to break, break in pieces
1a1) break, break in or down, rend violently, wreck, crush, quench
1a2) to break, rupture (figuratively)
1b1) to be broken, be maimed, be crippled, be wrecked
1b2) to be broken, be crushed (figuratively)
1c) to shatter, break
1d) to cause to break out, bring to the birth
1e) to be broken, be shattered

What breaks your heart?
Have you felt shattered lately?
What feels crippled in your emotions?
What part of you is maimed, wrecked or crushed?
God is near you right now to comfort and mend you with His gold to increase your value. The word of your testimony that overcomes the accuser in your life, becomes a valuable history that increases your spiritual status and in turn encourages other broken vessels to endure and follow the same process of mending by the great artisan that loves you and gave Himself for you.

2. God does not despise our Brokenness
Psa_51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.

The Hebrew word for Contrite is H1794 dâkâh
BDB Definition:
1) to crush, be crushed, be contrite, be broken
1a) to be crushed, collapse
1b) to be crushed, be contrite, be broken
1c1) to crush down
1c2) to crush to pieces

3. Broken Spirits need to be mended to sustain you
Pro_18:14 The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit?

Broken cisterns hold no water and creates a need for the Potter to mend them
Jer_2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

4. The Spirit of God seeks that which is lost and broken.
That same spirit is in us and is helping us reach out to the broken and the cost at any cost. When you acknowledge your brokenness you access the mending process of God and His Kintsukuroi starts in you!
Eze_34:16 “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”

5. The Rock breaks our hard hearts
Mat_21:44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

6. Jesus is anointed to heal the broken-hearted
Luk 4:17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
Luk 4:18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED;
Luk 4:19 TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

7. Jesus was broken too – you are in good company
1Co_11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

8. Our faith is the gold that mends our broken hearts and makes them stronger and more valuable. It speaks of our final rewards for faithfulness.
1Pe 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
1Pe 1:7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Rev 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
Rev_4:4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.

Photo by Michael Fenton