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BLESSING HANDS
Hands of Jesus, Part 3
February 24, 2008 – Third Sunday in Lent
Pastor Bob Sanders
It’s good to be back with you after being away in Senegal. It’s hard to believe that just two weeks ago I was speaking to you via cell phone from the little village of Keur Makhali. Thanks for your prayers. Our team had a brief but valuable time to meet with our partners in the 17 Wolof villages that make up Lake Grove Land, see the progress they’ve made and learn about some of the struggles they’ve been through, and through it all try to discern what the Lord would have us do in the future as a congregation. God is definitely at work in Lake Grove Land, thanks to your faithfulness. We’ll have lots to share on Sunday, March 16, and I hope you’ll come to hear the team’s report.
The season of Lent is well under way and today we come to the third in a series of messages on the hands of Jesus. Humor me for a moment and take a look at your hands. Hands are fascinating, aren’t they? What do your hands tell you about yourself? Something about your age, perhaps. Or the kind of work you’ve done. Or maybe how fastidious you are (check those nails). I love the old Peanuts cartoon where Linus admires his hands and says, “These are hands that can do great things . . . hands that can write stirring books . . . hands that can perform medical miracles . . . hands that can change the world.” But when Lucy looks them over, all she can say is, “They’ve got jelly on them.”
We can learn a lot about a person by studying his or her hands. And that’s what we’re doing in this Lenten series. We’re studying Jesus by looking at his hands. The Gospels tell us quite a bit about those hands. Two weeks ago Libby showed us the willing hands of Jesus – how he chose to stretch out his hand and touch an untouchable leper. And by doing that, by placing his healthy hand on that diseased, leprous flesh, Jesus healed him not just physically but emotionally and spiritually as well. The willing hands of Jesus.
Then last week Brent preached on the strong hands of Jesus, hands that hold us and never let us go. “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish,” says Jesus, “and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). The hands of Jesus are strong enough to save us and strong enough to keep us, no matter what the crisis, no matter what the danger. Strong hands.
Today we turn to Mark’s Gospel and we see the hands of Jesus doing something rather unexpected for his time. This is one of the great stories of the New Testament, so let’s listen.
Mark 10:13-16 (TNIV)
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
As Mark chapter 10 opens Jesus is on the far side of the Jordan River. Crowds of people come to hear him teach. When we get to our story, he has just finished teaching on the sanctity of marriage when suddenly there’s an interruption, an outburst from the edge of the crowd. All heads turn to see what’s causing the commotion. It’s a group of parents (mostly mothers, I suspect) who have hiked out from their villages bringing their little children. They’ve been waiting patiently, trying to keep their kids quiet. But now as Jesus pauses, they move forward, eagerly pushing their children ahead so he can see them, maybe place his hands on them for a moment, perhaps give them his blessing.
But the disciples have other ideas. Like a bunch of linemen protecting their quarterback, they form a human barrier preventing the kids from getting to Jesus. Why? Well, this is the key to the story. See, in first century Palestine a child doesn’t count for much. A child isn’t considered cute or entitled to special care. A child was another mouth to feed, after all, and you had to feed a child for years before he/she was old enough to milk a goat or prune a vine. Children can’t contribute anything substantial to village life. They’re the least powerful and the most vulnerable. By the way, this is still the case in much of the developing world today. In parts of Africa and Asia and Central America the poorest of the poor are the children – and especially the girl-children who are often considered the least valuable. An important rabbi like Jesus shouldn’t be bothered by a bunch of ragamuffin children with dirty hair and runny noses. At least that’s how the disciples see it. How dare these mothers interrupt the Master’s important work with these worthless children?
This is one of the few times in the Gospels when Jesus gets angry. Verse 14 says when he saw what the disciples were doing “he was indignant.” Furious is more like it. Apparently Jesus could be pretty intimidating when he got upset, and this was one of those times. His eyes blaze and his voice is cold and hard as he says, “Don’t ever get between the children and me. Now step away and let them come. NOW!”
The stunned disciples move back and a moment later the children push forward. And Jesus says something even more surprising: “I tell you what – the kingdom of God belongs to ‘nobodies’ just like these. In fact, anyone who doesn’t receive the kingdom like a little child will never enter it.” By now the kids are right in front of him, but still a little intimidated because of the stern disciples. So Jesus bends down, wraps his strong arms around two or three of them, and scoops them up into his lap. Then all of them surge forward and start climbing up – grabbing his knees, pulling on his arms. The way I see it, he loses his balance and falls backwards onto the ground underneath a pile of little kids. The mothers gasp and the disciples hold their breath. But Jesus explodes in laughter and the children squeal with delight.
What Does It Mean?
Mark says, “he took the children in his arms placed his hands on them and blessed them.” I want us to think about these hands of blessing by asking three questions. First, what does it mean to be blessed? Second, what does this blessing look like in the real world? And third, where do we find Jesus’ hands of blessing at work today? What does it mean? What does it look like? Where do we find it?
First, what does it mean to be blessed? To understand it we have to look at the Old Testament meaning behind it. The main Hebrew word for blessing is made up of three consonants: b-r-k, and it’s pronounced barak. Yes, you’re right. It’s the root word for Barack Obama’s first name. Barak means blessing. Hard to believe if you’re part of Hillary Clinton’s campaign these days, but there it is. In the Hebrew language words tend to have very concrete meanings. Take, for example, our word “discouraged.” In English it’s an abstract word. But not in Hebrew. In Hebrew the word for discouraged is “his countenance fell.” It’s much more concrete. You can see it: his face fell.
Likewise this Hebrew word barak literally means “to bow down.” So for example in Psalm 103:1 it says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name.” The word for “bless” is barak. To bless the Lord means to bow down before the Lord in worship, to recognize who he is, to bow down in honor of his glory and grace.
And this is also the word that’s used in the most famous blessing of the Bible – the blessing of Aaron we read a moment ago in Numbers 6:
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
“The Lord bless you…” In Hebrew it’s barak and it literally means, “The Lord stoop down to you and take you in his arms.” It’s what you see in the beautiful statue in the courtyard – the statue of Jesus and the child given in memory of five-year-old Michael Grimm. That’s such a marvelous picture of what Jesus does when he blesses us. He comes to us. He finds us and stoops down to us. His face shines upon us. He smiles at us. He reaches out his arms to welcome us.
That’s what those Jewish mamas wanted when they brought their little girls and boys to Jesus. That’s what all the moms and dads here today want when we bring our kids to him (whether our kids are four or forty-four years old). We want him to stoop down and look in their faces. We want him to touch them and pray for them, each one by name. The disciples thought it a waste of time. But for Jesus, nothing is more important. “Let the little children come to me,” he said, “and do not hinder them.” And he took them in his arms, laid his hands on them and blessed them.
What Does It Look Like?
Our Lord Jesus wants to bless children. That’s what this story tells us. And that leads to our second question: what does that blessing look like in the real world? What does it look like for the children of Senegal, many of them hungry and begging in the streets? What does it mean for the AIDS orphaned children of Zambia? For the girl-children caught in the sex trade of Cambodia and Thailand? For the desperately needy children of Honduras? And for the children here at home, especially the children in our own state without access to adequate health care? Let me describe it briefly by mentioning just four aspects of this blessing.
First, the blessing of Jesus has to be for every child. I like how World Vision puts it. Their vision statement begins with these words: For every child, life it all its fullness. For every child. It reminds us that the children in Keur Makhali, Senegal and Siabaswe, Zambia and the slums of Honduras are as important, as valued, as precious in his sight as the children of Lake Oswego, West Linn, and Tigard. It means the girl child wherever she is stands on equal ground with the boy child. None are left out or set aside. The blessing is for every child: life in all its fullness.
Second, the blessing of Jesus means protection from harm. At one point in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus spoke directly to parents. He said, “If your son or daughter asks you for bread, you wouldn’t give them a stone. Or if they asked for a fish give them a snake.” Our job as parents and those who care for children is to give them bread, not rocks. Fish, not snakes. Too many children in the world today are being given dangerous stones and poisonous snakes. Exploited and abused in the sex trade. Drugged and armed as child soldiers. Shackled and enslaved in sweatshops. To be blessed means to be protected and nurtured, not exploited and used.
Third, the blessing means children get the chance to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and to respond in him in faith. It means they’re given the chance to learn about Jesus, and to experience his saving grace. This is the great goal in raising our own children and in our sponsor children and in all the children of our partnerships: to see them come to personal faith in Christ and discover their own belovedness in God’s sight, to find their place in his family of faith.
Fourth, the blessing means a future with hope. It means growing up with access to clean water, adequate health care, healthy food, and quality education. It means the chance to reach full stride, to grow up into a healthy, productive adult. The blessing comes full circle when the child grows to be a blessing to still others. Some of you will remember a few years ago when we had Moses Pule speak to our church. Moses grew up a sponsor child in Kenya, was given the chance to go to school and pursue his dreams. He’s now a minister of the Gospel, and a blessing to many around the world. One of the first sponsor children of this church in Senegal is now one of the brightest students in the university there, and in a few years might be working with World Vision to help other sponsor children. Blessed to be a blessing. A future with hope.
Life in all its fullness for every child, protection from harm, the chance to hear the Gospel, and a future with hope. Put them together and you get a glimpse what Jesus has in mind when he blesses children. It’s both spiritual and practical. It’s the whole Gospel. And it’s what we’re all called to be about.
Where Do We Find Them?
Which leads to our final question: Where do we find Jesus’ hands today? You may remember the story Phil Yancey tells in one of his books: how after World War II some German students volunteered to help rebuild a cathedral in England, one of many casualties of the Luftwaffe bombings. As the work progressed, debate broke out on how to best restore a large statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched and bearing the familiar inscription, “Come Unto Me.” Careful patching could repair all damage to the statue except for Christ’s hands, which had been destroyed by bomb fragments. Should they attempt the delicate task of reshaping those hands? Finally the workers reached a decision that stands today. The statue of Jesus has no hands, and the inscription now reads: “Christ has no hands but ours.”
No hands but ours. I thought of that when we were in Senegal. We were in the village of Tonghur to take part in the dedication of a new school classroom – one of several classrooms your financial gifts have helped make possible. The villagers of Tonghur are so grateful to you, their partners, for this school and what it means to their kids. There was dancing and drumming, singing and speeches as we moved from the rickety old classroom made of sticks and millet stalks into the beautiful new one made of concrete and steel.
And as the ceremony ended I stood in the classroom surrounded by 40 or 50 bright-eyed school children. Each one wanted to touch my hand, because I represent you. So I began reaching out to as many as I could, holding each little hand for a moment, looking the boy or girl in the face and praying the words we heard in Numbers 6: “The Lord bless and keep you,” I said. Over and over and over. “The Lord bless and keep you.” It was a powerful time. So much hope. So much blessing.
But not everything works so well. In Keur Makhali attendance in the schools has dropped off, largely because the boys aren’t there. When we asked why not, we learned to our horror that the village marabout (religious teacher) had sent the boys into the nearby city of Bambey to become talibees – street beggars. The rains were poor this last year and the millet harvest was lost. These are people who live from season to season, without much in the way of food reserves so hunger has begun to appear. The boys were sent to beg on the streets and scrounge the dumps for food. A number of their parents are unhappy, but the pressure to go along with the marabout is great.
When we met with the leaders of the Lake Grove Federation we promised we would do our best to help with the hunger situation. But then we said, “We’re concerned about the boys. They need to come home and get back into school. Otherwise, all we’ve accomplished in the partnership could be lost. We know things are hard, but we urge you to bring your sons back home.” It was little risky, something we’ve never had to do before. But once we said it many of the parents in the room started applauding. Sometimes being Christ’s hands means being an advocate for children – speaking up for the little ones, the least powerful, the most vulnerable, whether they’re in West Africa or Southeast Asia or downtown Portland.
Where do we find the hands of Jesus blessing children these days? Well, lots of places. But I can tell you this: Lake Grove Presbyterian is full of them. In this congregation we find the hands of Jesus working in our families and in our sponsorships, in our ministries right here and in our partnerships around the world. Humor me one more time and hold up your hands . . .
. . . if you are a parent or grandparent raising a child.
. . . if you have a sponsor child somewhere else in the world you support and pray for.
. . . if you’ve helped Habitat for Humanity build safe and decent housing for the families of children in our own area.
. . . if you are a teacher or an administrator in our public schools.
. . . if you are a Sunday School teacher or volunteer in our youth ministry.
. . . if you are a doctor or nurse in a medical center that helps treat and heal sick children.
Hold up your hands and keep them up. Now put your hands together and let’s praise God with our applause for these hands of blessing.
Jesus took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. Will you continue to let him have your hands to bring his blessing to the children of the world? Let’s pray.
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