"The Hands Of The Healer"

(Luke 13:10-17)

Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

INTRODUCTION:

Did you hear about the doctor who called one of his patients because her check had bounced? He said, "Mrs. Taylor, I'm sorry to tell you this, but your check just came back." "Well, so did my arthritis," she replied. And hung up. (1)

This morning we look at a passage of Scripture that deals with a very particular healing performed by Jesus. The story of this healing is only found in Luke's Gospel. That doesn't surprise me because Luke was the physician. The healings probably impressed him more than any of the other miracles. Luke was also concerned with how Jesus treated women, consequently, more women appear in Luke's Gospel than in any other. We are grateful to Luke for showing us this side of Jesus and the message of grace, love and forgiveness that he brought.

Jesus preached and taught eloquently. The words of his mouth were a blessing. But so were his hands. His words and his message brought new understanding and new life. And his hands brought healing. His hands were the strong callused hands of a carpenter. And yet they were gentle enough to invite and hold the children. Jesus had the hands of the healer.

I. CARING HANDS:

A. Jesus' hands were caring hands. Luke tells us that the woman had been bent over with her affliction for 18 years. Everyone else ignored her as she hobbled sideways into the synagogue. It took great courage, hope and faith for her to enter where she wasn't welcome. Illness, especially anything disfiguring, was believed to be a sign of God's disfavor. It was punishment for sin. Some had to have thought, "How dare she come in here?"

But not Jesus. Jesus looked at the plight of this woman and his heart was moved. He cared. He cared enough to get involved. He saw her light and he called her forward. This was a "No! No!" Women weren't allowed in the front of the synagogue, that was reserved for the men. Women, slaves and seekers had their place at the back of the synagogue where they could listen but not really participate. Jesus broke with tradition and law, reached out the hand of caring and called the woman forward.

The place grew silent with shock, amazement and even outrage. The only sound was the shuffling of this woman's feet as she inched her way forward. And what drew her? Jesus.

B. In his book, Presidential Anecdotes, Paul F. Boller, Jr. tells a popular story about Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was out riding horses with several younger men. While riding they came upon a rough-looking Kentucky frontiersman seated beside a swollen stream. The Kentuckian said nothing to the younger men as they passed, but asked Jefferson if he would help him across the stream. Jefferson consented, and the man mounted behind Jefferson for a ride across the stream.

Safely across, the man dismounted from Jefferson's horse. One of the younger men rode to the frontiersman and asked why he had let the younger men pass but had asked the older gentleman to carry him across the stream. "Wall," said the Kentuckian, "if you want to know, I'll tell you. I reckon a man carries yes or no in his face - the young chaps' faces said no - the old 'un's said yes." (2)

The woman was drawn to the "Yes" in Jesus' face and the hope in his invitation through his outstretched caring hand.

II. COMPASSIONATE HANDS:

A. Jesus' hands were also compassionate hands. Webster's Ninth Collegiate Dictionary defines the word compassion as "sympathetic consciousness of others distress together with a desire to alleviate it."

Jesus had that consciousness of this woman's distress. He could see it and how it had effected her life. He saw how it alienated her from others. And out of his compassion, he reached out and with his gentle, caring touch, healed her. He made the crooked straight. Can you imagine how she must have felt? No wonder she praised God. For the first time in 18 years she was able to stand straight and tall and could lift her head and hands toward heaven.

But Jesus got into trouble with the synagogue leader for healing this woman. You see, he dared to do it on the Sabbath. And when they objected, Jesus reminded them that they were so tied to their laws that they had lost their compassion.

B. Greyhound bus lines doesn't allow pets on their buses. So, late one night at a rural truck stop in Florida a Greyhound bus driver pulled over and kicked an 80-year-old woman off his bus. Why? She was returning home from her birthday party with her present: a puppy named Cookie.

Dogs aren't allowed on the buses and the driver refused to make an exception, leaving this poor elderly woman about 80 miles from home at 3 in the morning. A security guard summoned by the bus driver called sheriff's deputies to escort her away which added to this poor woman's fright. She said, "When the bus pulled away and I saw all those policemen I was scared. I thought they were going to put me in jail. I don't know, I was crazy with fear. I've never gone to jail."

This could have been a terrifying ordeal for the woman. You see, she walks with a crutch and has trouble hearing and seeing. But instead, it became a story of inspiration. After getting her a sandwich and something to drink, police from five different jurisdictions teamed up to ferry her home.

"I've never seen so many people so nice with me an old lady," she said. "They gave me love, respect, attention. Love has a lot of names," she continued, "compassion, respect, friendliness." Greyhound apologized and gave her a refund. The unidentified driver, a 20-year Greyhound veteran, was suspended. (3)

All of that could have been avoided if that driver had shown a little compassion. That was one of the chief characteristics of Jesus, compassion. Most folks looked at this woman's crooked body and cringed not just at the sight of it but also at the thought of the sins that must have caused this. But not Jesus. He looked at the heavy burden he illness had caused her and with compassionate hands reached out to lift the burden by healing her.

III. ENCOURAGING HANDS:

A. Jesus had caring hands, compassionate hands and encouraging hands. This woman's healing came as an encouragement for her but also as an encouragement for all women down through time. Through this simple act of calling her forward and healing her, Jesus elevated all women. And now, every time this passage is read and the story of this healing is told, it continues to encourage anyone who is bent over from the burden of guilt or the weight of life's heavy burdens or the burdens of the past or any other burden that weighs down the heart and soul. This passage not only encourages but it calls us to be encouragers as well.

This whole idea of caring, compassion and encouragement is what drives the Stephen Ministry. It is the heart and soul of what Stephen Ministers do.

Our congregation is enrolled in Stephen Ministry, a lay care giving ministry. A ministry of compassion and encouragement. John and Macia Boggs and I have been trained as Stephen Leaders. Kay Magee and maybe some others will also be trained as Stephen Leaders. Our job is to train Stephen Ministers. Stephen Ministers are lay people like you, who are trained in how to effectively give care to those in need.

Stephen Ministers don't solve problems. They don't have to have the power to heal, like Jesus did. They don't have to be any special shape or size. All that is really needed is the caring, compassionate, encouraging sort of hands that Jesus had. And a willingness to grow in caring skills.

One person described Stephen Ministers as those who walk alongside you in a time of crisis and help you carry the load.

B. I ran across a little story that talks about caring. It seems that at the height of the segregation storm a little first grader went on her first day to a newly integrated school. After that first day her anxious mother met her at the door and asked, "How did everything go, honey?"

"Oh, Mother! You know what? A little black girl sat next to me!" The mother expected trauma, and so in fear and trepidation, but trying to ask calmly said: "And what happened?" The little girl replied, "We were both so scared that we held hands all day."

Sometimes Christian care, like Stephen Ministry, is simply that, holding hands in the face of our fears. (4)

Next Sunday night there will be an information seminar or session that we will be hosting at 7:00pm. We invite anyone who might be interested to attend.

We can be the caring compassionate, encouraging people of Christ. Not only through Stephen Ministry but in all of our ministries. Kelli Childs told Council on Ministries that Loaves and Fishes has already served 70 meals this year. Stephen Ministry is just one more way to enhance the caring ministries that are already taking place here. It's one more way to put our faith into action.

CONCLUSION:

One of the joys of the Christian life is that God chooses to use amateurs. We each represent Jesus in the world. When we bring a kind word or reach out a compassionate hand to someone else we become hope personified. Our unique gifts and contributions offer hope to those who are hurting. And the source of our hope, the source of our compassion is God in Christ, hope in the flesh. We simply become Christ's hands in the world today.

We are called to let Christ heal us and straighten up our bent over lives. And we are called to reach out as Christ did with caring, compassion and encouragement.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

____________________________________________________

1. AutoIllustrator

2. SermonWriter, August 23, Copyright, Richard Niell Donovan, 1998

3. The Associated Press 11/23. Found and adapted from Dynamic Preaching, July/Aug/Sept 1998 Vol XIII, No. 3. (Seven Worlds Publishing, Knoxville, TN) p. 39

4. Parables, Etc. (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), October 1981