Maxine Wright of Bremen, Georgia, collects angel figurines. She also collects stories. Here's one about one of her angels. "One day as I was dusting, I discovered that one of my figurines had been broken; the same one that my granddaughter Jessica had been looking at the day before. Unknown to grandma, she accidentally dropped the little angel. Picking it up Jessica was horrified to see one of the wings had been broken off. Without saying a word she put it back in its place. The next day, finding the broken angel, for some reason I didn't throw it away. Instead I began to think back to the mistakes (accidents) I'd made in my life; bad decisions and judgments, harsh words spoken to loved ones (words that could never be taken back), paths I wished I'd never gone down. And I recalled how it was always somebody else's fault, not mine." Looking at that little angel, at the broken wing, Maxine Wright had a revelation.

The broken angel reminded her that God, our heavenly Father, long ago made the same decision. Upon their fall into sin, God chose not to throw Adam and Eve away. Instead, He chose to send His Son Jesus, who came down and loaded onto Himself all our brokenness – sin. Then bearing our sin to the cross He, Himself was broken that we might be restored. This work of restoration our Lord began in baptism and will continue through life until the Day of Resurrection when the "Good work He began in Christ Jesus, will be brought to perfection" Philippians 1.6.

Until that day, Maxine writes, "I can now look at each new day with hope and purpose. I can face life with a smile. I can serve Him. In doing that, I can teach others that their lives can also be changed. You can learn to see the beauty around you and be a vessel of the Lord. After all, God never throws away the pieces of a broken vessel." Looking down at her broken angel Maxine realized why she never threw it away. A day or so later Jessica came over. Grandma hugged her and told her not to worry about it. It was just a ‘thing' and it could be replaced.

Long ago Isaiah wrote, "A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until He brings justice to victory." Question: What is more feeble than a cracked reed or barely flickering wick? Answer: A broken sinner. And so . . . think about that the next time you find yourself dealing with a fellow member of the greatest of all collections . . . the Body of Christ. Jesus went about restoring, healing, and strengthening the very same. God reckons as useless none of these; for them, the broken of the world Christ has won the victory! And that's Good News. And if you agree and happen to actually read this . . . I'd appreciate hearing from you.

Pastor Kelly Mitteis