Sermon: Reach out with hands & healing.

When I looked at the beautiful cover of the bulletin for this Sunday, and when I read the central quote from the Gospel of this Sunday morning: “Jesus took her by the hand and lifted her up…” I immediately heard and hummed the lines of the beautiful song by Diana Ross:

“Reach out and touch somebody’s hand.”

 

Do you remember it? Do you recall the lyrics? If not, I will share with you the beautiful lyrics:

Reach out and touch somebody's hand
Make this world a better place. If you can…..

Take a little time out of your busy day to give encouragement
To someone who's lost the way
We can change things if we start giving
Why don't you:

Reach out and touch somebody's hand
Make this world a better place. If you can….

If you see an old friend on the street and he's down. Remember his shoes could fit your feet
Try a little kindness you'll see
It's something that comes very naturally
We can change things if we start giving

Why don't you:
Reach out and touch somebody's hand
Make this world a better place - If you can….

 

Reach out and touch somebody’s hand, make this world a better place if you can. And we can. If we try, and we dare.

As Diana Ross sings in this song, Jesus spoke to us and showed us how to reach out and lift others up. How to reach out and take somebody’s hand and try to make this world a better place. We can try. And we should.

We can encourage, we can help, we can support, we can comfort, we can simply lend a helping hand and a comforting touch.

 

A helping hand and a healing touch.

We all need it at one point in our lives, and we all need to remember to reach out to others, when they need a helping hand or a healing touch.

Through our touch and presence, we transfer strength, courage, hope, comfort, and faith. We can lift others up too, when we offer our hands, our touch, our comfort, our words, and our presence.

The simplicity of humanity and Christianity is found in a simple touch. So many sermons and creeds of faith find their expression through our hands and our touch.

“Jesus took her by the hand and lifted her up.”

We learn from the Gospel today that Jesus did tend to Simon’s mother in law as she was sick. And later, the Gospel tells us, - as the sun was nestling for the night and leaving all the lonely, the sick, the tormented and the possess with their anxiety, their solitude, their illness, their thoughts, and their demons, - we hear that Jesus also reached out and touched.

The sick, tormented, possessed and lonely were brought to him as the darkness was closing, and he reached out, cured them, and spoke to the demons to be silent and leave.

 

Reach out with hands of Healing.

We will sing a newer hymn after the sermon, that reflects on the Gospel of hands and healing. The words are written by James Koenig in 2002, who we had the pleasure to welcome here for our Catechism Revisited last October. James Koenig wrote the lyrics to our next hymn, reflecting on our hands of healing.

 

Reach out with hands of healing

With strength and gentleness.

God’s loving plan revealing

In lives we touch and bless.

For hands that know God’s blessing

are hands that show God’s care.

And in the needs of others

 the risen Christ is there.

 

We do reach out and touch and bless. For our hands are tools of touching, reaching, and blessing. We can as the poet says: clench them as fists for hurt or open them as bowls of caress.

 

If I am a called a Christian,

I must be Christ the lord

Who gave His life to save us

The way, the truth, The World.

Who came from heavens glory,

our lord Emmanuel,

Born human, meek and lowly

That we with God might dwell.

 

Our hands of healing, our touch of blessing and our words of forgiveness and kindness, is our sign of our Christianity and humanity. If we are called A Christian, our creed and faith will be reflected in our hands, words, and touch.

 

No violent act or hatred

Can stand up to Gods word

Preach justice, truth, deliverance

and show that you have heard

That God our heavenly parent

Forgives, restores, renews,

And grant our lack of visons,

Kaleidoscopic views.

 

A kaleidoscope is that fun toy in the shape of a tube with a small hole at tend. If you look through the hole and turn the other end of the kaleidoscope, you will see wonderful colors, shapes, and patterns. So, to have or be given a kaleidoscopic view or vision, means to be given a view of wonderful colors, patterns, and differences. The quite opposites outlook that the common black and white vision of our human limited view….

 

Grow up then into Jesus

Be worthy of the name

Bring freedom to the captives

And dance shoes to the lame.

Be limitless, have courage,

You do not dance alone.

First follow in the footsteps,

Then dance around the throne.

 

This is the call to us as Christians, as congregations, as council, as church – to grow up and have the same attitude as Christ. To bring light, forgiveness, and freedom and to bring joy and dance shoes to the lonely and the lame.

 

“Jesus took her by the hand and lifted her up.”

A part of our Christian is to reach out, touch and lift. It is not to cross our arms, refrain from touching and contact and then tear down, discourage, or dismiss.

 

Next Sunday we will celebrate our Scouts. They could not attend today as they an outing. But we will celebrate our Troop 733 next Sunday – they are a vital part of our local outreach and their many helping hands and smiling faces.

Some of you might know the Boy Scout Law. It states how a scout would be…. And, it is not only for the scouts. This is how we should strife to be as we are reaching out, helping and being human first and then Christian:

 

The Boy Scout law states that a scout is:

• Trustworthy,
• Loyal,
• Helpful,
• Friendly,
• Courteous,
• Kind,
• Obedient,
• Cheerful,
• Thrifty,
• Brave,
• Clean,
• and Reverent.

These are not only good traits for a Scout – but for all of us. All these traits are reflected in how we reach out and touch others and try to make this world a better place.

Reach out and touch somebody’s hand, make this world a better place, if you can! And we can.

Amen