Jesus' Hands were Kind Hands

Prov 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; Jas 2:1-10 [11-13], 14-17; Mk 7:24-37

Jesus' hands were kind hands, doing good to all,

healing pain and sickness, blessing children small,

washing tired feet, and saving those who fall;

Jesus' hands were kind hands, doing good to all.

As a pastor in the ministry for almost 25 years, now, I have witnessed a variety of what seemed like amazing things. I have seen prayers answered. I have seen the needs of the church fulfilled in unexpected and surprising ways. And I have seen persons saved from accidents and fires and explosions. And I have witnessed the healings of persons who had what were otherwise considered to be terminal diseases.

Of course, when we think of miraculous healings and the like, we may be reminded of Oral Roberts and tent meetings and revivals. And there may be those of us who may even be somewhat skeptical about such things, knowing good Christian persons who were terminally ill who prayed and prayed for healing, but never received it. And some of us may even find ourselves explaining away the miracles – believing them to be a simply natural phenomenon. Or we may believe that purported healings of terminal diseases were really the product of a mis- diagnosis. But I would hope that we take an objective look at such things through the eyes of faith. For the teachings of Christianity and the scriptures make it very clear that miracles do, indeed, happen; that healings do take place; and that there is a definite place in the life of the church and of Christians to clear the way for such events, to pray for them, and to celebrate the miracles and healings when they occur.

Our gospel lesson for this morning talks about two healings that took place as Jesus was traveling through Galilee near the city of Tyre . And the scriptures tell us several things here. They tell us, first, that healings were not things that Jesus did in order to get attention. Secondly, they tell us that Jesus came not just for those who are religious, but also for those who may, for some reason, be outside of the Body of Christ. And, finally, these scriptures tell us that if the purpose of healings was not for getting attention, it was to liberate and enable persons to be faithful disciples of Christ.

In the past few days, most of us have been paying attention to events surrounding the life and death of Princess Diana. One of the things that caught my attention was all of the pictures that were shown on television of Diana with little children in orphanages and hospitals and schools. And quite a few of those pictures had her stooping down and giving a child a hug, or standing and holding a child and talking to it. It has been very apparent that Princess Diana did a lot of this kind of work. And many who knew her commented that it wasn't just an act that she put on.

Of course, one of the dangers in being a celebrity is that when you do something good you are accused by the skeptics of doing it for the good public relations. And, so the goodness that you do has some of the meaning taken away because of the fact that it is self-serving. It is sort of like those politicians who kiss babies during the campaign and then go hide out in Washington after they've been elected.

But, most of us can agree that Princess Diana didn't visit those orphanages, hospitals and schools for the public relations benefits. Rather, she did those things because she really cared. And she knew that her presence at those places was especially meaningful and helpful to people.

Likewise, there were those who were skeptical of the healings that Jesus did. And, so, this morning's gospel lesson starts out telling us that when Jesus was in the vicinity of Tyre , although he knew that he would be doing healings there, he did not advertise his presence. In fact, the words of our lesson were, "He did not want people to know it." Nevertheless, at the same time, he could not keep his presence a secret.

Now, what may be important here is this: Jesus did not want to become known only as a healer. For the purpose of Jesus Christ's coming into the world was for more than this. Certainly, it was for healing, but it was for more than a healing of bodily illnesses and infirmities. Indeed, God's purpose in sending the Christ into the world was to bring wholeness to creation, itself. God sent Christ into the world to heal up the fracture caused by the Fall of humanity – to destroy the chasm that separated heaven and earth. God sent Jesus Christ into the world to heal the brokenness of our world, to bring nations and people and neighbors and families together. And Jesus, being keenly aware of this, was careful so that as he came into an area people didn't announce his presence by saying, "The healer has arrived!" or "The Great Physician is in our town!". For who Jesus truly was would not ultimately and finally be revealed until after he had died on the cross and been risen from the dead. It would only be then that the world would realize what kind of Savior Jesus truly was.

So, we should be careful when we talk about and even pray for healing. For whenever we talk about or pray for healing we may be praying for something that is far bigger than any physical illness or infirmity we or someone else may have. For healing comes in a variety of ways and in a variety of levels and degrees. Ironically, it is very possible for a person to be completely healed and yet go on suffering and even dying of a physical disease. And, yet, it is possible for a person to be healed of a physical disease and yet go on suffering the effects of other kinds of devastating brokenness. And when we pray for healing, God will certainly answer our prayer in God's own time. But in answering our prayer, we must be open to the possibility that the healing may take place in unexpected and surprising ways. This, of course, is in keeping with the fact that Jesus didn't come only as a healer of illnesses and infirmities, but as the Reconciler, Redeemer, and Savior of the world.

But, not only did Jesus come for this purpose, he also came into the world to save the lost – those who might have traditionally been left out of the what was considered to be the "people of God."

One of the sins of religious people over the millennia has been that of excluding persons for a variety of reasons. For hundreds and hundreds of years Jesus' own people excluded other nations from participation in the fellowship of God's people simply because they were foreigners. And, for hundreds and hundreds of years churches have even excluded persons from the fellowship of the Body of Christ for other reasons. Sometimes it was because they were of a different race, or spoke a different language, or were of a lower class, or believed things a little differently.

Of course, Jesus came to heal this kind of brokenness, as well. Jesus' gentle hands not only healed people with leprosy and blindness. His gentle hands not only brought wholeness to those with demons and other illnesses of the mind – but his gentle hands sought to bring wholeness to the brokenness that existed between nations and religions.

And so our gospel lesson for this morning tells us that a Greek woman came to Jesus and asked him to heal her little girl who she said had a demon. Of course, Jesus saw this as an opportunity to talk about how the Gospel was meant for all persons. And when the woman confessed that she was willing to accept even a small morsel of God's grace, even from a Jewish rabbi – Jesus told her to go home; that her daughter had been liberated from her brokenness of mind.

There is an old story of how during the war a soldier died and his two soldier friends desperately wanted to give him a decent burial. They found a cemetery in a nearby village. It happened to be a Roman Catholic cemetery and the dead man had been a Protestant. When the two friends found the priest in charge of the burial grounds, they requested permission to bury their friend, but the priest refused because the man had not been a Catholic. When the priest saw their disappointment, he explained that they could bury their friend outside the fence. This was done. Later, they returned to visit the grave but couldn't find it. Their search led them back to the priest and, of course, they asked him what had happened to the grave. The priest told them that during the night he was unable to sleep because he had made them bury their friend outside the fence. So he got up and moved the fence to include the dead soldier. In Christ, God has "moved the fence" to include the undeserving and the outsiders.

Certainly, this is one of the things we who have been a part of the church for many years need to continually remember. There are those just outside these doors who sometimes do feel excluded. Of course, we don't do it on purpose. But, often, it just happens maybe because we forget that as disciples of Christ we are sent forth to minister. For too long many Christians have assumed that if a person wanted to be a part of the church, all they had to do was come to church on Sunday morning. So, our ministry has been a passive one – relying upon the presence of a stately building that sits neatly along the street – inviting those who pass by to stop in to worship. But that doesn't work as well as you and me going forth as disciples of Christ into the community, one by one, caring about people, telling people about Jesus, and inviting them to be a part of the Body of Christ.

Invitational evangelism is what it's called. It doesn't come naturally. It certainly isn't passive. Rather, it demands something of us, perhaps even a plan to start something new, perhaps to go visiting around the neighborhood of the church to make some new friends and acquaintances. Or it may require perhaps the start of a bible study, or an exercise class, or a parenting class, or study on missions, or a focus on healing group, or a 12 point group, here or in a home nearby. But, Jesus wants us to be open and inviting to persons who until now have been excluded from our presence. And we need to constantly ask God for creative ways for this to take place.

But, there's more that our gospel lesson for this morning tells us. Not only did Jesus come as the Healer and Reconciler and Savior for all the world, but he did it for a purpose. He saves us and reconciles us and heals us to enable us to tell others about the gospel.

There is the true story of how a woman and her sister had been Christmas shopping and were speeding along the freeway on their way home. The woman's three year old daughter was in the backseat by herself. As the two women in the front seat were busily chatting the back door of the car suddenly opened with a terrifying whistle of wind and a sickening muffled sound. Quickly they turned and saw that the child had fallen out of the car and was tumbling along the freeway.

Talk about panic! The mother slammed on the brakes and pulled the car to a wrenching stop, jumped out and ran full speed back toward the child. When they arrived at her motionless body, they noticed something strange. All of the traffic was stopped, lined up like a parking lot just behind her body. The child had not been hit by a car. In fact, the car that would have hit her was stopped just a few feet short of her. Miracle number one!

A truck driver jumpted down out of his cab and was bending over the girl as they arrived at the scene. He said, "She's still alive. Let's get her to a hospital quickly. There's one nearby." He picked up the child, they all got into his large truck, and sped off to the nearby hospital. The child was unconscious, but still breathing. Miracle number two!

When they arrived at the hospital, they rushed into the emergency room and the doctors immediately began to check her vital signs. The room was hushed. Finally the doctor spoke. "Well, other than the fact that she is unconscious and scraped, she appears to be in good shape. I don't see any broken bones. Her blood pressure is good. Her heart is fine. So far, so god." No apparent gross damage. She was only bruised and skinned from her tumble along the freeway. Miracle number three!

Then the mother bent over her child.	Her eyes were full of tears and her heart was filled with gratitude for such a set of miracles. Suddenly, without warning, the child's eyes opened, she looked up at her mother and said, "Mommy, you know, I wasn't afraid." Startled, the mother said, "Oh, what do you mean?"

"Well," she said, "while I was lying on the road waiting for you to get back to me—I wasn't afraid, because I looked up, and right there I saw Jesus holding back the traffic with his arms outstretched."

Miracle after miracle—and every miracle true!

When you think about it, what may be most significant about a story like this is not that the miracles happened, but that God is glorified because of the telling of the story. The little child glorified God by telling the story about Jesus holding out his arms. And I glorify God by repeating the story this morning. And we glorify God by telling others about the wonderful things that God has done for us.

It is the telling that is important! Otherwise, the miracle might as well not have happened! When God does something wonderful for us, we are obliged to respond by telling the story. And we can tell that story in a variety of ways, allowing Christ to use us, to take our hands, to be instruments of God's peace.

This past week, another great person of charity also died. Mother Theresa was certainly one who's whole life was an instrument of peace, whose hands were daily working for Jesus. In the coming days, as we and the rest of the world experience yet another celebrity funeral, we might be thinking of the words of the rest of the song whose words I started this sermon with this morning:

Take my hands, Lord Jesus, let them work for you;

Make them strong and gentle, kind in all I do.

Let me watch you, Jesus, till I'm gentle too,

Till my hands are kind hands, quick to work for you.

Amen.