When the World Breaks

The Surprising Hope and Subversive Promises in the Teachings of Jesus

By: Jason Adam Miller

Narrated by: Jason Adam Miller

In this groundbreaking book, Pastor Jason Adam Miller re-examines the Beatitudes—eight paradoxes found in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount—and points to a whole new way to find hope in the midst of suffering.

If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that the world is broken. The world we thought we knew vanished, and so many of us are now struggling to make sense of a world that’s not what we thought it was.

This book is about what happens when the fundamental picture we had relied on–our sense of how everything holds together–falls apart. For some, this moment comes when a global pandemic upends our security. For others, it’s a partner leaving, or a terrible diagnosis, or the death of a loved one. Many of us have felt our worlds breaking when long-held beliefs about God or faith slipped through our hands. Whether the details are global or personal, the experience is the same: you discover that the framing reality you were living in has fractured.

But here’s the good news: The world has been breaking for as long as we can remember. We've been here before, which means we can turn to ancient, perennial wisdom to help us sort through these urgent problems. In When the World Breaks, Jason Adam Miller explores the possibilities for hope hidden in the paradoxes Jesus spoke when he taught the eight blessings–often called the Beatitudes–recorded in the beginning of Matthew chapter 5. These strange blessings name our experiences of suffering and are built on a particular kind of hope. This book is a meditation on those teachings as a transformative way forward when we suffer.

Lyrically written, theologically rich, and supremely accessible, When the World Breaks reveals an unexpected way to look at these familiar verses, giving listeners hope that God is with them in their suffering, and helping them become the kind of people who can put things back together.

©2022 Jason A Miller (P)2022 Worthy Books

Critic reviews

"Jason’s words are the antidote we need right now, a meaningful offering beyond cynicism & apathy… An absolutely beautiful book.”—Shauna Niequist, New York Times Bestselling author of I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet

"I deeply loved this book. Not only is Jason Miller one of my favorite pastors I’ve ever known, now I have to add him to my list of favorite authors. An important book for our current cultural conversation."—Scott Erickson, author of Honest Advent and Say Yes

"For a long time, words of Jesus have seemed to be held hostage by people determined to make them complicated and confusing. What this book does is make those words simple and beautiful and hopeful again. This book is absolutely necessary for anyone who is tired of an overly complicated Jesus and ready for a little hope.”—Brit Barron, author of Worth It

Beautifully written and deeply needed.

Miller gives us a vision forward for when the world as we know falls apart. Beautifully written and deeply needed, this book is a life-giving resource for all.

…these reflections on the blessings will bring healing.

Cannot recommend this enough to anyone who feels like the walking wounded after enduring these last few years. It’s a vulnerable account of what each of the promises of Jesus can look like in modern life.

Beautiful

Jason’s perspective on the beatitudes is just fantastic. His heart is true and sure and Van mobile and this is a wonderful read to open your understanding.

Beautiful

Great story and so much insight in this book. Enjoyed the emotions throughout, like you yourself is in the story.

Beautiful message lovingly delivered

I love this interpretation of the beatitudes. If your world has broken and you worry that your hurt is indicative of your inadequacy or God’s distance from you, this book is here to provide some much needed relief.

A total miss and worldly view of the Beatitudes

I received this book from a person who attends the church Jason pastors. I listened to the book several times, first with an open mind and open heart. Next, I listened to the book and compared it to with what I have been taught and what I recently researched. I will say Jason' s book encouraged me to delve deeper into the beatitudes and learned more about it than I thought I would but not from his interpretation.

Jason initially states, "The world is breaking" which is the only statement I agree with him on. Discord and trouble are commonplace. None of this was God’s original plan for humanity. We fell from our original position in the Garden of Eden. We now live in a fallen world, and all creation “groans” under the consequences of our sin. Romans 8:22- The world will not be whole again until Jesus' thousand year reign on this earth. You will NEVER find happiness in this broken world. If you are risen with Christ seek those things which are above, set not your affections on this earth. Col 3:2.


Jason talks about his feelings throughout this book and HIS interpretations of the Beatitudes relating those interpretations to this world, but when a person belongs to the world so they speak from the world's viewpoint, and the world listens to them, 1 John 4:5. in Romans 12:2, Paul stated, "Do not conform to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Jesus' point of the sermon is to know REAL BLESSEDNESS, REAL HAPPINESS, REAL JOY, REAL GLADNESS, and GENUINE DIVINE REWARD.

Jason states the Beatitudes are not moral lessons for the kind of person God wants to bless or that they are not specifically for Christians at all, but the sermon on the mount was for Jesus' disciples and not the multitudes. Jesus wanted Christians to know they could never please God on their own; in your flesh, and to live the sermon on the mount is only possible as you know Jesus.

The foundation of the Beatitudes is that heaven has invaded earth, God's victory over sin, death, brokenness and despair is here. Also, Jason separates each Beatitude when Jesus meant for each to build on each other, building on the foundation to belong to the Kingdom. Jesus is in the business of providing people with happiness, unfortunately not everyone believes or understands that... Hopefully Jason will come to understand the true meaning behind Jesus' sermon on the mount.