Repairers of the Breach

This weekend is President's Day weekend. On President's Day weekend, a three-day weekend, if we have any moment which continually becomes more and more commercialized, we will think about what these weekends are about when they're three-day weekends. But the President's Day weekend is a time when we normally reflect on the leadership of America over the last 250 years. When we conjure up such thoughts, we often think of the four figures that are on Mount Rushmore. We reflect on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, because when I was a lad, and many of you are my age, there was always Washington's birthday, the father of our country, that was a federal holiday, and Lincoln's birthday would be a state holiday.

But then, they put it all together, and we lost some dynamism there. Any time you start changing names and you start changing dates, just think about that even religiously, you start losing some meaning of what is happening. When you think of Washington and when you think of Lincoln, these are two giants. They are normally the ones that are thought to have, number one, Washington to have helped unite the country at its inception. And then we think of Lincoln, who fought and lived to keep a divided country united when it was all said and done. During this time, we think of other founding fathers, many who did become presidents, some not, some whose names are not readily on our tongue.

But they made a difference, and I would speak to that to all of you on this Sabbath afternoon. When you think about revolutions, whether it be an American Revolution, whether it be the French Revolution, whether it be the Russian Revolution, the three great revolutions of the last 200 years, you come away with some interesting thoughts about them. And to recognize that when you think about these revolutions, whether they be political or whether they be religious in nature, that divisions occur later when their energy is no longer directed towards a common foe, but to their own self-interest.

Oftentimes, you know what you desire or need to jettison from the past that we might have a future. But at times, we have differences on what that future ought to be. Again, we can see that in the American Revolution, the French, and also the Russian Revolution of 1917-1918. All human beings, of and by themselves, whether humanly, great, or small, are complex.

And they are subject to fracture due to pride and a steady dose of self-absorption. Susan and I have these conversations. We have lots of conversations. And talking back and forth. One thing that I think we come up with more and more as we live longer and longer, and perhaps have more understanding and mercy towards others, is that people are complex. Even simple people are complex. And you look at great figures in history. There's an old historical maxim that great figures oftentimes have great vices. You can see that in the history of man. You can see that in the history of those that God used, one way or the other, in Scripture.

We're all human beings. Human beings, of and by themselves, divide down. They become fractured. And what we're finding today, and one of the reasons why I'm giving this message, is we find society on an increasing slanted downslope of fracturing. I can talk about colors, and we no longer have to go to color charts. We just think of political charts. We think of red. We think of blue.

We think of what we've been through the last couple of years with the pandemic. We talk about vaxxed. We talk about non-vaxxed. And have you ever noticed that everybody's got an opinion on either side of these equations? And it makes you begin to think back to the book of Corinthians. You think of, in the book of Corinthians, there were meat-eaters. There were vegetarians. There were people that spoke tongues.

There were people that didn't speak tongues. They didn't understand one another. There were people that were married. There were people that were single. There were all sorts of breakdowns in that Corinthian church that the Apostle Paul had to deal with. The bottom line today is that we find that more and more—and I'm trying to choose my words carefully—is that we find not e Pluripus Unum from many one, but we find our American society more and more broken down into tribal groups, whether it's racially, whether it's ethnically, whether it's politically, and you just keep on going along.

I'd like you to turn with me, if you would, please, to Isaiah 58, verse 12. It's going to be kind of the cardinal scripture that I'd like to use today. Isaiah 58, verse 12. We'll read through it. It says here—let's move up a little bit just so we can capture context. Verse 10. If you extend your soul to the Hungary and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noon day. In other words, a light will come in. The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul and drought, and strengthen your bones, and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

And those from among you shall build the old waste places. You shall raise up foundations of many generations. Now, notice the rest of verse 12. And you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. I'd like to just focus on that for a moment. I'm not sure if your Bible is like mine, but I'll let you see what I see in my Bible here. It says, and you shall be called the repairer of the breach. That is capitalized in my Bible. This is not only talking about how to keep the Sabbath or keep the feast, but it projects forward.

This is messianic in nature. That Jesus Christ is coming as a repairer of the breach. Anytime you see this in the Old Testament, it's a name, an attribute of Messiah. And then notice again what it says, and the restorer of streets to dwell in. The restorer of the streets is also capitalized. Messiah, the Word, the Father's Son, Jesus Christ, is a restorer of the breach. And He's a restorer of those that walk in the streets and dwell together in the streets.

Together. Now, I'm going to kind of go into a little bit of human nature drama here for a second. Per chance in your lifetime, have you ever seen somebody coming down a hallway or you're coming down a street and you decide not to walk that direction? You don't have to raise your hand. This is not wrong church for confession here. Okay, but just think that through. Have you ever dodged an opportunity to go not confront somebody that you have an issue with? But what it's saying here when Christ enters our life as the restorer of the breach to where we all dwell on the same street walking back and forth.

There's a difference.

The title of my message is simply this today, Repairers of the Breach. And today, I would like to share the example of a man, one of our founding forefathers.

And his name probably is not going to come to your mind right now, but I'm going to share it in a few minutes. I've got a hint for you. He does not have a monument towering over Washington, D.C. 555 feet high. He doesn't have a state named after him. You perhaps have never heard of this story. You perhaps are not going to have his name roll off your tongue. But nonetheless, he was a repairr of the breach. So we're going to deal with a little American history, then we're going to deal with the Bible a little bit later. I'd like to just share with you some thoughts, so we're all on the same page of what a breach is. Some definitions of breach, just to let you know, is a break, a gap, an opening, a rupture, a split, alienation, a schism. There are even more definitions, which are rich. A breaking in relationships, an estrangement, a quarrel, a broken state.

And I only looked at one source for all of those. I'm sure there's other sources of what a breach is. And this should not surprise us that we have breaches in our lives today, in our nation, in our community, in our family, at times in congregations, in times in church organizations, breaches that lead to splits. But where did it all begin? It began back in the book of Genesis. Man, by his own choice, had a breach and a rupture with God. It started with Adam and Eve. They distanced themselves from that relationship. Once you breach the relationship with God, what else comes along? Well, then you have Cain and Abel. Family. And there are dysfunctional families. And the human family is basically, to a large degree, been dysfunctional since Adam and Eve made a choice not to accept God as their father. There was a breakdown. It was dysfunctional. It is no wonder, then, the next generation of Cain and Abel, that they were dysfunctional. But beyond that, I'm going to give you a story right now, and I'd like to share it with you. I'd like to use an example out of history to illustrate what a breach is like and what can be done.

Today, we know that politics are very vitriol, very poisonous. We're just saturated morning, noon, and night, left to right, right to left. Everybody in the middle is going back and forth like this. But what we're experiencing today, to a degree, is almost light to what happened in 1800. The election between John Adams, who had been president, and Thomas Jefferson. The US presidential election of 1800 was the original red versus blue. In fact, it inaugurated a vicious exchange of words between parties that had not been matched, even to this day. It was downright brutal. Actually, this was four years after Washington had gone back to Mount Vernon. A man that is a man and was complex and full of human nature, but a figure that tried to rise above politics. Virtue was very important, at least on the surface, and drew an outward portrayal by Washington. Politics drove him back home. It was not only being noble, but he went home. He had to deal with Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson in the same room. And it wore him out. That's not what he thought that the revolution was going to be like. They had all fought against the British. They were all gallant men. They were all heroes during the Revolutionary War. But again, I want to leave a concept with you. It's not just simply what you are against together, but what you can move forward to in being together for a better and a different world. And unfortunately, different people have different visions. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were two notable heroes of the American Revolution, and now they were pitted against one another. These same men had been friends. They had come together, starting back in 1774, 1775, and had locked arms and locked hearts. That their fellow citizens might have a better world. Both were sincere. Both loved America. And yet, they mistrust one another. They wanted the same thing, but they saw it in different ways. Have you ever run into anybody like that? In your neighborhood, in your family? Do I dare say in your church? Do I dare say in our congregation here in San Diego? Jefferson, ultimately triumphed. He would be elected president. Adams would concede and recede into frustrated solitude.

How many of you are familiar with their path of reconciliation?

Okay, a few. Well, you're going to even get to know more right now, but it is so powerful I want to share it with you. Most of you will not be familiar with the name I'm about to share with you. His name is Benjamin Rush, and he's right in the middle of it. Dr. Benjamin Rush had once been one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence. It was his constant and persistent behind-the-scenes letters to both men that they finally melted their animosity and allowed them to come to peaceful terms. Hear me through this. His consistent and persistent writing of letters both to Jefferson and Adam that melted. It's not always like a dynamic spring thaw, but over time, it would take three years. He started writing them in 1809, then in 1810, and then in 1811. It is only then that the final animosity melted away. Rush's efforts finally took hold with his letter on December 16, 1811 to John Adams. This is 11 years after the big election of 1800. I'd like to share it with you. I'll try to read it with some interest. It won't go long. Sometimes when I read Susan letters or things, I say, this will be about two minutes. Stay with me. She says she appreciates that. So this will not be long. This is a letter by a fellow American, dear friends. One of our founding fathers. Two founding fathers had, in a sense, had been so near and dear during the time of being against something that they drifted away, though. They drifted away, and they weren't even speaking to one another. Benjamin Rush, December 16, 1811. And now, my dear friend, permit me again to suggest to you to receive the olive branch, which thus far has been offered to you by the hand of the man who still loves you, fellow laborers in erecting the great fabric of American independence, fellow laborers of gratitude and affection, of posterity, and fellow passengers in a stage that must shortly convey you both into the presence of a judge, with whom the forgiveness and the love of enemies is the condition of acceptance. Embrace. Embrace each other. Bedue your letters of reconciliation with tears of affection and joy. Bury in silence all the causes of your separation. Recollect that explanations may be proper between lovers, but are never so between divided friends. Were I near you, I would put a pen into your hand and guide it while it composed the following short address to Mr. Jefferson, friend and fellow laborer, and the cause of liberty and independence of our common country. I salute you with the most cordial good wishes for health and happiness, John Adams. And happiness, John Adams. That's what he would have wanted Thomas Jefferson to write. So what happened with that one? You ask. Adams would only come to terms with his pride, and would be the first to write. You have to recognize opposites often attract in moments. Happens in marriage. Happens in life. Here is this tall, intellectual, Virginian who lived up on the mountain, Monticello.

A disciple of the Enlightenment. And then here is this rumpled little old bald man who was a firestorm. He was a Yankee Puritan. Susan comes out of a Yankee Puritan stock. So I can say he was a Yankee Puritan. He was feisty. He could get disagreeable.

And after the country is founded, then you have the Napoleonic era coming up. Jefferson is leaning towards France. Adams is leaning towards England. And you have what? You have fireworks that are about to begin. I have a question for you as we look at this. I was thinking about it when I was writing this down this morning. Oh, that Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr had a Dr. Rush. Again, two major figures of the American Revolution and what came right afterwards. Oh, if they had had a Benjamin Rush in their lives. Maybe Hamilton would not have died on the banks of the Hudson.

Was Benjamin Rush a peacemaker? Was he a repairer of the breach? What about us today? W-I-I-F-M. A transmitter that's always, what's in it for me? Today we have red states, we have blue states, we have vaxxed, we have non-vaxxed. As I said before, you go back to the book of Corinthians and it can kind of give you a peacock color of all the different divisions that can separate us and pull us apart. Push us apart rather than together. So the big question comes down to this. In a world of reds and blues and purples, I'm not going to ask you what your color is. But I am going to ask you a simple question. What colors your heart? What fills your heart when you see division? When you see a breach? When you're not ready to step in? This is what we want to talk about. We want to talk about an antidote to the virus of separation. As we press people into cages of our own satisfaction and keep them there. And don't deal with them. Don't intersect with them. And let life go by. I gave a message recently, and I brought out the great sermon by Philip Brooks back in the middle 1800s, where he addresses his congregation. And he reminds them simply this. The time is short. And he was speaking to a well-heeled urban audience that came every week in their Sunday best as we come together in our Sabbath best. And he told them the time is short. And if only you knew you had today, oh, how you would go towards one another, how you would embrace one another, how you would make a difference.

We think of this week, if you read the e-news out of Pasadena. A gentleman probably had a lot of time ahead. A gentleman that I knew on the council. The council reporter worked with me when I was on the council as chairman.

Twenty years younger than I am. Now no longer for now. But wait till tomorrow. The time is short. We find ourselves so often get into enemy formations. The them versus us. Except we like us better because, well, that's us. What's really interesting in this ageless scheme of all of this, of the them versus us, it's a tragedy of division and separation that goes all the way back again to Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel. So let's take a look at this. Let's go to Matthew 5. Matthew 5.

And what we're going to come into is the Constitution of the Kingdom. We talk about the Declaration of Independence. Fascinating document. We can talk about the genius of the Constitution that was put together with thoughts of Rome and Greece and the Judeo-Christian ethic. All inculcated in it, but it doesn't get any better than the Sermon on the Mount. This is our Constitution. This is our map as we walk towards the Kingdom of God. And notice what it says here in verse 9.

They shall be called the sons of God. That's our calling, to be a repairer of breaches. Breaches sometimes that we didn't start. I didn't start this one.

But it is our job to finish. And if it does not finish, it is our job to do our best to make it finish. That's not human nature. Human nature is always like this. It never really advances much out of kindergarten. This is the PowerPoint. You don't want to miss it. Remember in kindergarten?

And you didn't want to quit until you had your hand on top. You wanted to conquer. You wanted to be right. I don't know if girls do that. I'm looking at your faces. It sounds like so caveman. But that's what we did. Come with me to Matthew 6 and verse 8. We're not to be like that. What Jesus did is He was bringing a heavenly counterculture that is foreign to humanity. Counter to what is natural for us. And notice in Matthew 6 and verse 8, don't be like that. You don't have to be on top. Therefore, do not be like them. For your father knows the things that you have need of him before you ask him. Don't be like the culture around you. The culture of get. The culture of pride. The culture of I will never say that I am sorry because they are wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Right, right, right. Let's go back to Matthew 5 for a moment. Notice what it says here.

Jesus says, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but a lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. And it says, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. I have a question for you. I just read to you a little bit of a letter that Dr. Rush sent to Jefferson. But it was after a long, prolonged series of lighting matches over three different years. Lighting a match, and the darkness of the relationship between two founding fathers, two men that had been presidents of the United States, two men of much greater intellectual capacity and ability than me. Maybe not you, but me. And yet they had an issue. And he kept on being a light and reminding them that, you say that you are Christians, and your time is short. Your time is short. And you're going to meet a judge. You're going to meet a maker. And you know this is not how he would want you to be. The time is short. And what will you do? So, we look at that. Again, the question is simply this. Dr. Rush, and now go home tonight, Declaration of Independence, and say, oh, that's one of those names there. Now I know who it is. My simple question is this. Was he like a purifying speck of salt in a decaying relationship? You know, he put salt into meat, or more so, in days gone by. To keep it preserved, to keep it whole, to keep it going. Was he like a beacon of light in what appeared to be one deep cavern of the heart? That the hurt. And sometimes the hurt of others, what they heard others say about them during the election of 1800, or leading up to it. The hurt, the hurt of those that they thought were friends at one time, but now vilifying them, now spreading rumors about them, now gossiping about them. As it says in the Proverbs, that, whispers do separate friends. Hmm. One thing that we know about Dr. Rush, he did not get stuck with labels or colors, but allowed his own heart to be colored by the ink of God, and to be able to spread that around. How does this relate to you and me, in the time that we have left? I'm going to focus more on the Bible now. I'd like you to go with me, and we just recently had this, and I think our Zoom study, but join me if you would in the book of Esther. In the book of Esther.

Ezra and E.M.I.A. Esther. I'm reminding myself.

And join me if you would, in Esther 4, verses 13-14. One of the great, famous scriptures that leaps out, in a sense, screams out of the black and white of ink on our books. And Mordecai told them to answer Esther.

For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place. But you and your father's house will perish. Yet, who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? How does this relate to you and to me? We often talk about, in speaking to our Heavenly Father, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. The kingdom is not simply something that is in the future. It is past, it is present, it is future, it is all because God is all. And we have said that we are citizens of the kingdom. Our citizenship is in heaven at this time. I want you to think of it this way, and we've had these discussions recently on our Zoom studies, that we are image bearers. And therefore, think of it this way, that we are kingdom bearers. We are kingdom bearers. We are to be like Jesus Christ, who is the king of that kingdom, and to treat matters as He would. As He would once say to an audience, who then is neighbor? You and I, in one sense, if I can put it this way, friends, is we have been called to be kingdom bearers. One person at a time. One heart at a time. Oh, I'm going to back up. And sometimes, one difficult heart, every so often, that just bugs us. And we don't know what to do with it. That's why we're giving this message. Let's look at a wonderful kingdom bearer, just as an example. It's not Dr. Rush, at this point, in the Bible, at this point. Join me if you would in the book of Acts. In the book of Acts, join me if you would in Acts 9.

In Acts 9, and let's pick up the thought in verse 26.

Saul is coming to town.

And notice what his reception was like in Jerusalem. And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples. But they were all afraid of him, and for reason and for cause, absolutely, knowing the story, and did not believe that he was at a cypole. So it's like this. Have you ever just seen the birth of a bunch of pups or little kittens? They're by the mother. They're trying to feed off the mother, but there's this one runt that keeps on getting kicked out. It just gets pushed out. It gets pushed out. That little runt keeps on trying to get up there, but it just gets pushed out with a paw. It gets pushed out with a leg. And like, you're not welcome. Well, that's how it was with Paul. Here, he had given his life now over to the risen Christ that he had met personally. And it was so hot to handle that up north that he came down south to be in Jerusalem. And here are the Jesus followers, the ones that have seen Jesus resurrected, seen miracle after miracle after miracle, but they don't believe that he's a disciple. There is a breach in the movement of what God wants to happen in the first century A.D. It's called Paul for a purpose. Verse 27, But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out.

Barnabas, as it mentions in chapters ahead of that, that he was given a nickname. Just as Simon was given the nickname of Peter, Saul would later on become Paul. We have a gentleman. Have you ever heard of Joseph? Who's Joseph?

Who's Joseph?

Diane, you have your hand up. I know you have your lips moving. Go ahead. Barnabas, he's given a nickname. Barnabas is his nickname. His mother probably named him Joseph. That's what he was used to. But he was recognized as a son of comfort. In the same word that is used for comfort, there is paracletus. He was a Holy Spirit man, because God gives us His Spirit to comfort us. And that, but, is dynamic in the Bible.

It changed the history of the church.

He was a kingdom-bringer and allowed Saul to come through the front door in Jerusalem and meet his fellow disciples. Isn't that exciting? Wow!

Because Barnabas did not get stuck on the past, but was able to see a future for every human being. That even happened later with the big battle over John Mark.

John Mark, for one reason or another, and were not to fly on the wall, and you know I don't like to go too far and travel with the flies on the wall, we were not there. But there was a major disagreement over John Mark, who was a relative of Barnabas. But that divided the team of Paul and Barnabas up at that point. No, blood is thick. Blood is thicker than water. And they split for the moment.

See, Barnabas had this knack of not settling for the pastor of what somebody has done. He saw what God might do with them in the future. Are you like that? Or do we just freeze frame people? Remember when we were kids and we take a mosquito, or this may be a boy thing, a mosquito or a butterfly, and we'd pin them up and they'd dry out?

You say, boy, I'm sure glad I didn't know Robin when he was a boy. Okay. Anyway, that was in San Diego County. But he had a different vision. It wasn't what people had done. It's what they might do for God. You look at the example of John Mark. It's such an exciting story to look at that. I want my eyes to fall on a verse here. If you'll just excuse me for a moment. Maybe you're going to have to excuse me totally. I'm looking for this verse. Join me, if you would, in 2 Timothy 4.11.

You know, Paul had had enough of John Mark. But you know, you give matters time and things happen. Notice at the end of Paul's writing, 2 Timothy, and you notice where it says, only Luke is with me. Get Mark! Hey, folks, this is Paul who was really upset with John Mark. But time goes by. Just as Dr. Rush kept on hammering a nail with these two giants of American history. Barnabas must have been in there somewhere. And it says, only Luke is with me. Now, he's really in a tough spot. This is not when you want an amateur or a scaredy cat that's going to run out. But now notice, only Luke is with me. Get Mark! Get him! Get Mark! Bring him with you. He's useful for your ministry. The breach was healed. The fissure was gone. The unity was there. That's what God wants us to do. To go sometimes and dare to go where no man has gone before. But not alone with the guidance of the Spirit. Let's talk about that for a moment. Whoever we might have issues with on this day where there's a breach. May God bless you and help you to have the courage of a Dr. Rush or a Barnabas. Where history might have gone one way, whether our American history or biblical history. But there is a man who dived in on the word of but. And everything changed. How do we do that for a second? I will not keep you long. Join me if you would in James 3. Notice what it says here.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits. Without partiality, without hypocrisy. And now the fruit of righteousness is sowing. You know, I need you ladies know this about sewing things. It takes a while to get the fabric and it takes a while to sew. Not always going to be just overnight. It is sown in peace by those who make peace. Peace comes from those who make peace. Blessed are the peacemakers, not the peace-hopers, not the peace-wishers. Those that recognize that Jesus Christ Himself that lives in us is the Prince of Peace. He is a restorer of the breach, Isaiah 58. He is one who makes all dwell in the same street, not in a different neighborhood. But also, again, let's go to this book of wisdom, James 1. Notice what it says. James 1, verse 4. But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete of nothing.

Patience is not only a virtue, it is a strength. It's also a gift of the Spirit. That doesn't mean to rush in. There's quite an example here. You can jot this down to Acts 18, verse 26, if you want to look at it later. Apollos, this great Hellenistic preacher from Alexandria, here were Aquila and Priscilla in the audience. They recognized that he needed a little bit more homework to do. He wasn't quite where everybody else was, even though he was obviously inspiring and intriguing. And you know what it says? Acts 18, verse 26. And you've also seen me do that in the same congregation once.

Where you take somebody and say, if you have an issue with somebody, take him aside. Take him aside.

Nobody wants to be embarrassed in a crowd. Take him aside and show him a better way.

Wisdom. Love. Treating others as we might desire to be treated ourselves. See, there's a difference. There's the next step. There's a difference in there's the next step. There's one thing to give intercessory prayer for somebody, but there's also a time in patience and in time to give intercessory communication. Perhaps like a Dr. Rush. Perhaps you know of somebody, and I do say this, tread carefully, walk softly, don't carry a big stick. But to recognize that, as it says in the Ecclesiastes, there's a time for everything. There's a time for tearing down. There's a time for building up. So be very careful as you enter. But to recognize, at times, we see this in human history, bad things happen because good people just watch. Bad things happen because good people just watch.

There's a wonderful story at the end of all of this. That is simply the last letter that Dr. Rush wrote. I might be confusing this, but the point is still the same. I don't know if it was Jefferson writing to Adams. They started writing for 15 wonderful years. I'd like you to jot down a book if you'd be so kind. I have this in my library, and I read it to Susan Aries-Sauvin, and she's read parts of it. It's called Sacred Honor. Sacred Honor. And it's by William F. Bennett. And many of the letters of the Founding Fathers are in it. It's just wonderful. It's a wonderful book of wisdom. And boy, oh, could they write in those days. The eloquence and the distinction of the language. Just incredible.

The last letter that was received was in, I believe, March of 1826.

That one of the men got from the other men. They've been writing for 15 years. What does 1826 mean to you? What it meant to the people at that time, it was the 50th year of the American Revolution. July 4th, 1826. Here are two of the Founding Fathers. And it's on that day that both of them, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two of the men that were actually on the committee, not only to draft but to edit the Declaration of Independence, died. I'm glad they didn't die alone, not fully understanding the affection of the other person. Aren't you glad? I'm glad. Who might be out there this day, this week, as God guides you and whatever lies ahead of you, to be a restorer of the breach? Might be a family member? Might be a spouse? Might be a neighbor? Might be a fellow congregant? Just think of this. For such a time as now, the kingdom has come upon you. That's not a question. That's an answer. The question is, what will you do as a disciple of Jesus Christ?