"The Power of Hands"

A sermon preached by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp at Edgemont Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) based on Revelation 22:1-7.

Someone once said, “The greatest tool for ministry is our hands!” This week, at Vacation Bible School, we have talked a great deal about the power of hands – both God’s hands and our hands.
You see, our hands can be used to build up or tear down, lift up or knock down; they can be used to console or to hurt; we can open our hands in giving or clench them in greed; they can be instruments of healing or as weapons, they can be used to comfort or to seduce; our hands can become a means of grace or a means of disgrace. Our hands are not just tools for ministry, but they can become the very hands of God that reach out to the needs of those around us. Indeed, we cannot underestimate the power of our hands!
And this past week we focused on the power of our hands and God’s hands. And interestingly enough, this corresponded with the theme of our General Assembly. The scripture for this year’s assembly was taken from Revelation 22, where John pictures the New Jerusalem, God's holy city of the redeemed, for which God and Christ provide eternal light and life. The model for the New Jerusalem was a vision by the prophet Ezekiel during Israel's exile in Babylon.
And it seems as though the Bible has made a full circle. You may recall that in the book of Genesis, there was a beautiful place, where, there were two trees. One was the tree of life, the fruit of which offered life – eternal life! The other was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And except for a symbolic reference in the book of Ezekiel we do not hear again about the tree of life until we come to the book of Revelation, in which the Spirit of Christ says to the congregation of Ephesus, “To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.” Then, finally, in the last chapter of Revelation the tree is shown as fully accessible. It has different fruits every month, and its leaves are for the healing of the nations. That tree yields whatever “fruit” is needed to meet any need bountifully, and all people, of every nation, may find healing in it. But through the General Assembly we were reminded that our hands become the very leaves of that tree here and now. And that it is through us – through our hands that God’s healing and wholeness become real in our world today and offers a foretaste of that which is to come.
And this was the reminder of Vacation Bible School this past week, as we learned that Jesus gives us the power to be thankful, to help others, to be courageous and to encourage, to have new life and to evangelize.
The first night, we learned that Jesus gives us the power to be thankful. And we focused on the story of ten lepers whom Jesus healed in Luke’s gospel. It is interesting that all ten lepers were healed, but only one of them came back to Jesus, knelt before him and expressed his gratitude for the healing he received. Now, we can assume that the other nine were grateful. Needless to say, they had been healed from a horrific, demoralizing and debilitating disease. A disease that had left them an outcast - that had cut them off physically and spiritually, emotionally and socially from society. Certainly, all of them were overjoyed and filled with gladness that their lives were spared, that their health was restored, and that they could now reenter society, return to their homes and families and live a normal life. However, only one of them returned to say “thank you,” and he expressed his thanks not only verbally but also in action - by literally prostrating himself before Jesus and worshiping him. And we were reminded that it is with our hands folded in prayer that we express to God our gratitude. For someone said: “to think is to thank!” And how true that is!
The second night we learned that Jesus gives us the power to help others. And we focused on the story of Jesus healing the blind man.
Without a doubt, Jesus was intimate. His ministry included literally reaching out to touch the outcaste of society. And certainly this healing recorded in the Gospel of John, along with many others, shows his intimacy. Jesus mingles his own saliva with the soil. It is almost as if Jesus reenacts that first trembling moment of creation when God breathed the breath of life into that which God had formed from the soil of the earth. In the Book of Genesis we are reminded of our origin – that we are a part of the earth and a part of God. And John reminds us that recreation – that new life comes from Christ.
Then Jesus instructed the blind man to go to the Pool of Siloam. Keep in mind, it was Hezekiah who had a tunnel cut through rock to transport water into the city of Jerusalem to the Pool of Siloam. But this pool becomes a wonderful typology of Christ our Spiritual Pool in whom we find Living Water.
As Christians we are called to be ministers of healing and wholeness in a fragmented world. All around us we see the need for healing. All around us is fragmentation – brokenness, there are broken relationships and churches, families and friendships. All around us we see injustice and poverty, disease and loneliness, fear and doubt. And as a people who have experienced the very touch of God are we are called to be ministers of reconciliation and healing and we do this, by reaching out and touching others.
The third night we learned that Jesus gives us both the power of courage that we might encourage, and we looked at the story of Peter’s walking on water.
You know, the story is told of a farmer who wanted to impress his hunting buddies. So he went out and bought the smartest, most expensive hunting dog he could find. He trained this dog to do things no other dog on earth could do - impossible feats that would surely amaze anyone. Then he invited his neighbors to go duck hunting with him. After a long patient wait in the boat a group of ducks flew over and the hunters were able to shoot a few of them down. Several ducks fell in the water. The farmer looked at the dog and said, "Go get ‘em!" The dog leaped out of the boat, walked on the water, and picked up a bird and returned to the boat. As soon as he dropped the duck in the boat he trotted off across the water again and grabbed another duck and brought it back to the boat. The owner kind of swelled up with pride as his dog walked across the water and retrieved each of the birds one by one. Kind of smugly, he looked at one of his buddies and asked, "Do you notice anything unusual about my dog?” One of them sat back and rubbed his chin and thought about it for a little while and finally said, “Yeah, come to think of it, I do! That stupid dog doesn’t know how to swim does he?” But, you know, many people give Peter the same reaction. Instead of recognizing that he was the only disciple who even got out of the boat, he’s criticized for his lack of faith.
I am a fan of NPR, and one of my favorite shows is the Diane Rehm Show. This past week she interviewed Melanie Gideon, the author of The Slippery Year, which tells the story of a happily married woman who offers a light-hearted but honest take on growing older, getting wiser, and what it takes to rediscover a passion for life. During the interview, the point was made by a caller that we are a society that is taking fewer and fewer risks. It seems that we are always trying to make things safer. For example, compare a playground to a one 20 years ago, the long medal slide is now plastic and short; the swings are shorter; the monkey bars are lower and the merry-go-rounds are disappearing. We might be getting safer, but we are sacrificing some fun. And the same is true of our faith. We might be safer, but we are sacrificing blessings. We are oftentimes afraid to get out of the boat. We stay within the comfort and security of the boat, instead of step out on faith knowing that the hand of God will both lead us and lift us. This is what Peter learned, and he carried this into his ministry. And certainly this is what we must learn – the power of God both gives us the courage to step out on faith and also to encourage one another. God has lifted us up so that we might lift up and encourage others.
And then, finally, we looked at the stories of Easter and Pentecost, and were reminded that Jesus gives us the power of new life and the power to evangelize!
We talked about the greatest proof of the resurrection of Christ is the personality transformation of the disciples. John Scott wrote: “It was the resurrection that transformed Peter’s fear into courage; Thomas’ doubt into belief; James’ rejection into acceptance. It was the resurrection that changed the Jewish remnant into the Christian Church. It was the resurrection that changed Saul the Pharisee into Paul the apostle, and turned his persecuting into preaching.” The power of the resurrection brings new life and transformation to our lives and this transformation gives us the power to evangelize!
Richard Hamm, former general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), offers a wonderful metaphor of the Spirit of God in his book 20/20: A Vision for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He compares the Spirit of God to electricity. Just as electricity is conductive, so is the Spirit. Once the current gets generated, it flows out in every direction bringing energy and power to everything it touches or encounters. By God’s grace we are filled with the Spirit and, through our relationships, it spreads to others, and from them to others until the whole community comes alive with the spark of God’s grace and love. It is contagious! Electricity cools our homes, while at the same time, heating our ovens. It’s not selective. It plays a major role in just about everything we do. The same electrical current that runs our appliances, keeps us comfortable and manages our information technology. Electricity is at the heart of so much of what we do. It’s what makes possible so many of the inventions and gadgets we’ve come to depend on. It’s so versatile.
What electricity is to our daily lives. God’s Spirit to our spiritual lives! God’s Spirit gives us the power to: Be Thankful. To Help Others. To Lift Up and Encourage. New Life and Evangelize.
Renowned preacher and author, Fred Craddock talks about how the Church has a tendency to only view Easter and Pentecost as nouns – or events which occurred in the life of Jesus and the Early Church. But we should also see Easter and Pentecost as adjectives. Easter and Pentecost are not days we commemorate or celebrate - they are things to celebrate! The great events of Easter and Pentecost didn’t stop some 2,000 years ago Jesus rising from the dead and Peter preaching and 3,000 joining the church. That was only the beginning. The Spirit of Easter and Pentecost continues to live on, and it must be live out and experienced!
I want to close with a wonderful reminder: I was hungry and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger. I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel in the cellar and prayed for my release. I was naked, and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance. I was sick, and you knelt and thanked God for your health. I was homeless, and you preached to me the spiritual shelter of the love of God. I was lonely, and you left me alone to pray for me. You seem so holy, so close to God, but I’m still so hungry, lonely and cold. Indeed, let us not underestimate the power of God’s hands and our hands. And so, may we pray, “Lord, take my hands…”