HOPE FOR ALL OF US: #1 Hope For The Afflicted

By Dr. Gilbert W. Stafford
Scripture: Mark 3:13-15

AN AFFLICTED MAN FROM CANADA

Henri Nouwen is a Roman Catholic priest. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame, at Yale, and at Harvard. Several years ago he decided to leave academic life to join a community for the mentally handicapped. Called Daybreak, it is located near Toronto, Canada. After going to Daybreak, Nouwen was invited to address a conference on Christian leadership in Washington, D.C. For some reason he could not make peace with going alone, as is normally the case. He felt compelled to take with him one of the handicapped persons from Daybreak. His choice was Bill Van Buren who, during the days before the trip, excitedly talked about their doing the conference together. Nouwen always affirmed Bill’s way of referring to their trip, but he wasn’t quite sure what it meant for them to do the conference together. Bill certainly was no public speaker.

In his book, entitled In the Name of Jesus, Nouwen tells about what happened in Washington. At the beginning of his address, Nouwen introduced Bill who was sitting on the front row. But when Nouwen started reading his manuscript, Bill got up and stood behind him. Each time Nouwen finished a page, Bill came forward, took the page and put it upside down on a small table nearby. That unusual procedure broke the ice; the audience relaxed and knew that this was a different kind of presentation. When Nouwen got to one point in his address, Bill interrupted to tell the audience that he had heard that part before. Later when Nouwen told them about something which happened regularly at Daybreak, Bill again interrupted to assure them that Nouwen was indeed telling the truth about life at Daybreak. Each time Bill interrupted there was appreciative, affirmative laughter from the audience.

Following the applause at the end of the address, Bill asked Nouwen if he could say something. Yes, he could. Though he had great difficulty forming his words, Bill told the audience that he was there because Henri had wanted him to come, and that he was very glad to be present; then he thanked them and quit.

“Did you like my speech?” Bill asked Nouwen. Of course, he did.

At the reception which followed, Bill, with great confidence circulated, without Nouwen, among the guests, for more than an hour. The next morning he went from table to table, cup of coffee in hand, to say good-bye to his new-found friends.

On the flight back to Toronto, as the two were talking about the experience, Bill’s comment was the same, “We did it together, didn’t we?”1

Henri Nouwen gave Bill confidence and hope, by inviting him to join his mission to Washington. 
WHAT JESUS DOES FOR US

That is what Jesus the Christ does for us. He invites us to join his mission, and thereby gives us confidence and hope in the midst of our afflictions whatever they are. Bill was afflicted with a mental handicap. Others of us may be afflicted with a physical impairment or with a social stigma. Being a minority race where one lives is often an affliction. Being the wrong gender in one’s preferred job market may be an affliction. Having family responsibilities which are overly burdensome may be an affliction. Not having enough money to pay one’s bills is an affliction. In American society presently, to be over 50 is considered by many to be an affliction. Not so long ago, a 45 year old professional was lamenting that employers in his line of work often refuse to employ people over 50; in fact, they are discarding everyone who is over that age as quickly as possible in order to replace them with young blood. “And I’m only five years away from the discard age,” he said. I mention all of these categories to remind you that afflictions come in many different forms.

What Henri Nouwen did for Bill Van Buren is precisely what Jesus Christ did for his disciples. He invited them to go on mission with him. Mark 3:13-15 says that Jesus “went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him, And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons.”2

Jesus chose, and still chooses, persons to participate with him in his mission to the world. If we may put it this way, we, like Bill, can stand at the podium with Jesus, so to speak, and take care of the pages. We may interrupt, so to speak, in order to affirm that what he teaches is true. It makes us glad to be on mission with him, and when all is said and done, we are able to say, “We did it together, didn’t we?”

The original circle of Jesus’ disciples was a circle of hope because he had invited them to go on mission with him. They did it together.

My friend, whatever your affliction, Jesus still comes your way, inviting you to go on mission with him. He wants even you, regardless of the nature of your affliction. It does not matter whether it is a mental handicap, a physical ailment, a social stigma, a family burden, a sense of failure, or whatever—regardless, Jesus wants you to accompany him on his mission to the world. He chooses you to participate in what he is doing for good in the world.

James Earl Massey, premier preacher of the 20th century, and one of my predecessors on this program, often says, “I will not allow anybody else or anything else define who I am.” Dr. Massey knows that he has been chosen by the Lord to participate in the divine mission to the world, and that is good enough for him.

Are you allowing your affliction to define who you are? Jesus wants to give you a new identity . Just as Bill Van Buren no longer is identified primarily as one of Daybreak’s mentally handicapped men, but as a man on mission with Henri Nouwen, even so Jesus will give you a new identity. Your identity is no longer “Afflicted One,” your new identity is “Partner with Jesus.” He has chosen you as his partner in mission.

Notice, also, that our text says that Jesus appointed the twelve “to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons.” That is a three-fold ministry, to which we are called.

CALLED TO BE WITH JESUS 

First, Jesus wants you, regardless of the nature of your affliction, simply to be with him. Remember the visit which Jesus made to the home of Mary and Martha in Bethany. Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying” (Luke 10:39), but Martha “was distracted by her many tasks” (verse 40). When Martha complained to Jesus about what Mary was doing, Jesus told her that Mary had made the better choice.

Jesus calls us not first of all to be busy, but to sit at his feet. And, he does not discount us because of our affliction. He desires to have each of us, regardless of our status in life, to sit at his feet and to listen to him.

CALLED TO SHARE WITH OTHERS 

Second, Jesus calls us, regardless of the nature of our affliction, to share the good things of God with others. According to our text, the twelve were sent out to proclaim the message of Jesus.

We, too, have a story to tell. It is about the difference Jesus makes. Some of the most powerful messages I have ever heard about Jesus have come from the mouths not of orators but of simple folks who were very nervous about being up front anywhere. They had a story to tell. It was about Jesus and his love.

CALLED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

And the third part of the ministry to which Jesus calls us, regardless of the nature of our affliction, is this: He wants us to make a difference in the lives of others. Our text says that Jesus appointed the twelve “to have authority to cast out demons.” You say, “But I can’t do that.” Wait a minute. Maybe you already to it but don’t know it. A demon is a force which works against Christ’s will and way. Think of those forces that work against what Christ wants. Think of the demon named hopelessness. Hopelessness works to destroy everything that Christ seeks to bring about. Whenever you become Christ’s ambassador of hope you thereby have the authority to cast out the demon of hopelessness.

In the conference in Washington, Henri and Bill introduced sparkle, joy, delight, hope. By doing so they cast out that which was drab. They cast out boredom. They cast out monotony. They cast out hopelessness.

You, too, my friend, regardless of your affliction, are called by Jesus to cast out demons just like Henri and Bill cast out demons in Washington.

CHOOSING TO JOURNEY WITH JESUS 

The question is whether you are willing to make the journey with Jesus. I call your attention to what verse 13 of our text says. It says that Jesus “called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him” (emphasis mine). He did not make them come. They had to decide to come. Neither did Henri Nouwen make Bill go to Washington with him. It was a completely volitional decision on Bill’s part.

So with you. Afflicted though you are, when Jesus appoints you to join forces with him, it remains for you to say the yes of faith. That is the first step toward finding the hope that Jesus has to offer you, afflicted though you may be.

Are you willing to take the journey with Jesus? Taking that journey with Jesus will bring hope. No longer will your name be Afflicted One. Your name now will be Partner with Jesus. In that partnership is hope, hope and more hope. O. S. Marden once put it this way: “There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow.”

PRAYER 
Let us pray:

Gracious Lord, we are grateful that you have not left us unattended in the barren corridors of hopelessness. Come to us in our prisons of affliction. Lead us out so that with you we may find hope and a new identity. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.

1 Henri J. M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus (New York: Crossroads, 1989), pp. 1-7 and 75-81.
2 New Revised Standard version used here and throughout.

Script 2579 (GWS)
June 2, 1996
SERIES: HOPE FOR ALL OF US
1. Hope for the Afflicted
Scripture: Mark 3:13-15