FROM BROKE TO OAK
(Ideas from DISCIPLESHIP MAGAZINE: Dan S. Baty “No Hopeless Cases)
Castle Hills Christian Ch. 04-28-2002
Isaiah 61: 1-3; Mark 5:1-20
Scripture reading: Isaiah 61:1-3
Introduction:
Although I generally take Monday’s off, I arrived at the office one recent Monday, and before I got settled, in walked a stranger asking to speak to me. I immediately began to size him up by the way he looked. Well, this man wasn’t as unkempt as some needy people are. He didn’t smell bad or look drunk or high on something.
He began to tell me his troubles: His wife told him to leave and that she didn’t love him any more. His 11 year old son was crushed by his departure and he missed him terribly. He had been wandering around doing odd jobs for the past 6 weeks trying to get his head together, and now he sensed that God wanted him to return home, but he was broke and almost out of gas, could I help him? Did I have any work he could do? Could I help him figure out what had happened between him and his wife. He was completely baffled.
Through the years I’ve spoken to hundreds of folks with troubles like his. They’ve been through church after church, counselor after counselor, group after group. I can’t help but feel awkward and inadequate when I encounter hurting people. Some people’s problems seem so overwhelming and persistent that we may even wonder whether trying to help them will be a waste of time. What can we do when we encounter what often looks like a hopeless case?
1. JESUS’ ATTITUDE TOWARD BROKEN PEOPLE
The surprising truth is that those kinds of people were the centerpiece of Jesus’ ministry here on earth. Let’s look at one prime example. The man described in Mark chapter 5 was a sort of “worst-case scenario.”
• He was homeless (in fact, he lives among the caves of a cemetery).
• He was poorly dressed (in fact, he wore NO clothes!)
• He was heavily tattooed (well, he had the tattoos of that day. Scripture says he cut himself with stones)
• He lacked basic social skills (in fact, Mark records that he cried out day and night)
• He displayed violent tendencies (but he could not be subdued, even with chains)
This man was one scary dude! He didn’t look like a good candidate for inviting to Sunday School class. But look at how Jesus treated him. For one thing, Jesus did not retreat. He didn’t look the other way. He didn’t write this man off as unsalvageable. Instead, Jesus healed the broken man: physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
You see, Jesus’ attitude toward the chronically needy and the social misfits was entirely different from our natural inclinations. Near the beginning of his ministry, Jesus laid out his priorities. When we read his words in Luke 4:18-19, we see that he is quoting the scripture in Isaiah which is our text today:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Luke 4:18-19
Jesus focused his attention and energy toward the poor, the prisoners, the disabled, the outcasts. The underdogs of society were the centerpiece of His ministry. If we hope to be like Jesus Christ, we can’t overlook this central focus of his life on earth. Look at His words in Mark 2:17:
It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Mark 2:17
Now don’t get me wrong: Jesus loved the rich and powerful people too. Jesus took the time to explain salvation to Nicodemus, who was a powerful religious leader. He invited the rich young ruler to become his disciple. He healed the daughter of a wealthy Roman Centurian.
Jesus gave time and attention to everyone who came to him. But the people Jesus sought out … the ones he went out of his way to reach … were the poor and needy. He purposefully mingled with the blatantly unrighteous, the desperately sick, and the hopelessly downtrodden. And he offered them more than forgiveness, and more than salvation. He offered them transformation.
2. JESUS’ ACTIONS TOWARD BROKEN PEOPLE
In the passage from Luke, Jesus did not quote the rest of the passage from Isaiah, but reading further, we discover an inspiring picture of exactly what happens when people are touched by God’s love and power.
The Lord will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3
This is the most amazing display of God’s love and power that can be seen here on earth. God takes broken people and transforms them into “oaks of righteousness … for the display of his splendor!”
Let’s look back at Jesus encounter with the broken man of Mark chapter 5. After he had been healed, this very grateful man begged to travel with Jesus. Instead, Jesus gave him an important mission:
Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19
And look at the results when the man who was “broke” became an “oak.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Mark 6:20
The term Decapolis refers to a 10-city-region. This man single-handedly spread the good news about Christ to 10 cities! God transformed him from a hopeless derelict to a missionary for Christ. I wonder how many missions boards would have picked him out as a good candidate for the mission field…
3. OUR RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD BROKEN PEOPLE
We tend to look at people with overwhelming problems and think of them as more of an “liability” than an “asset” in the Kingdom of God. This is understandable, because humanly speaking, we are limited to sizing up people by their outward appearance. We can only see divine potential in someone with chronic problems if we look through eyes of faith.
It is only through seeing people from God’s perspective that we can see the hidden potential in broken people. It helps if you take time to remember what you have seen of God’s transforming power. How has God worked in your own life? How has he turned your weaknesses into strengths? How have you seen God transform the lives of others?
When I think of lives with “hidden potential,” one person who comes to mind is Steve Spencer. Many of you know Steve. He served on staff here for a time. Steve is a wonderful Christian man who served as a pastor for many years. If you’ve ever heard his testimony, you know that years ago before his conversion, a youth minister came up to him in a Dairy Queen to talk to him about Jesus Christ. At that time, Steve was a long-haired drummer in a rock band. From outward appearance, he didn’t look much like a future Christian Pastor. But that youth minister who witnessed to him saw past appearance to the hidden potential.
Sometimes a person’s transformation from broke to oak is not as obvious as in the case of Steve. We need spiritual eyes to see things from God’s perspective. I think of a man many of you in our congregation remember, Olin Selover. He was a man who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia after serving as a veteran of the Viet Nam war.
It was fairly obvious that Olen had mental problems, but it also became clear that he had a strong faith in God, a tender heart of compassion and generosity for other hurting people, and a friendly manner that enabled him to talk freely with anyone and everyone. I started out thinking that we were doing him a favor by being kind to him as a member of this church.
Eventually, I discovered that he was a bigger asset here than most of us realized. His friendliness was contagious. He helped newcomers to feel welcomed. He gave generously to other needy people and tithed a straight 10% of his gross disability pay. When ever he got paid, he brought it with him to church in cash and gave it to me the minute he arrived. (I put it in the plate in an envelope with his name on it.)
At his funeral, I remember the testimonies of people who were affected by his life. He had a much bigger impact on people than I had ever realized. Despite serious mental illness, Olin had given his heart to God. And God was able to transform Olin from “broke” into “an oak of righteousness … for the display of his splendor!”
Olin taught me some lessons about the true value of the people we are often prone to discount as “hopeless cases.” Not only can God transform these people by bestowing a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair, but God specializes in showing his all-surpassing power through these very people. We remember Paul’s words concerning the way God uses the weak and lowly people of the earth to reveal his love, compassion, and power:
“We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” II Corinthians 4:7
Let’s face it, we are all just “jars of clay”; not a one of us amounts to much in the final tally on our own. But God has chosen simple jars of clay to hold his precious treasure. And the very ones we are inclined to reject first, are the ones God chooses first.
Remember the guy who walked into my office on that Monday with problems? Somehow, God gave me a different set of eyes to see him with. I decided to spend time with him and to help him, not only with his immediate need to get home, but with his expressed need to figure out what was going on with his wife, and his desire to be a good dad for his son.
In the end, I felt that I had actually done some good for a person who was worth the effort. I’ll never know the end of that story in this life because he doesn’t live here. But I couldn’t help but detect a hint of that “broke to oak” transformation that day, and a feeling that legitimate ministry had happened of the kind that makes a preacher feel that his work is not in vain.
Conclusion:
Who knows but what God’s intention for us as a church is to reach out and “preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, release for the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” If we faithfully reach out to the ones others around us often ignore and reject, however subtly, we may very well enjoy the fulfilling vision of God bestowing on them:
• a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
• the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
• a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair
• and calling them “Oaks of righteousness” (God’s planting for the display of His splendor.)
That seems to me like a worthwhile ministry, and I believe that this is what outreach is all about. I wonder how many of the “broke” are really “oaks of righteousness” in disguise. Consider the joy of participating in that kind of miraculous transformation!
