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Hands that Heal The only time I have been in hospital as a patient was when I was ten years old. It was a generally pleasant experience, even though I was in hospital for about 8 weeks, and thereafter, visiting the hospital for physiotherapy and occupational therapy for about the next six months. At the age of ten I contracted polio, and my right side was seriously affected. It was during that time, looking back, that I first came to appreciate what the medical and nursing staff do, as a matter of course, every day - removing barriers and obstacles which prevent healing taking place. Some people like to openly acknowledge that all healing comes from God, but there are others who instead refer to it all as nature bringing about healing- and leave God out. At the age of ten I wasn’t really interested in theological or philosophical questions – I was just happy to be in good hands – and particularly the younger nice-looking nurses. About a year ago I seriously twisted my ankle – I thought I had broken it, but fortunately I hadn’t. The doctor prescribed some physiotherapy, and that was my first experience of literally “hands-on” healing. The results were rather remarkable. And within a few weeks, and regular visits, the muscles were repaired incredibly. Many of you, likewise, in various ways, have good reason to rejoice at the healing which has come your way through the healing hands of others. And some of you are personally involved in that whole field of healing and wholeness. I want to affirm and acknowledge the blessings that you bring to so many others. Early on in St. Matthew’s gospel, the writer says of Jesus that “he went throughout Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” ( Mtt.4:23). In the four gospels we have no less than 20 accounts of Jesus healing people. Some were Jews, some Gentiles. There were old and young, the blind, deaf, more than a few were paralysed – (which I can relate to) men and women. If we are in any doubt about the healing hands of Jesus we just need to read the gospels and let them speak for themselves. We don’t have to read far to see how healing the sick was one of the three major ministries of Jesus, - teaching, preaching and healing - and has continued as a ministry within the church ever since the gospel days. As Jesus laid hands on the sick for healing, so today, many churches provide an opportunity to receive the healing ministry of the Jesus. (After the 9:30am service, each Sunday, we provide an opportunity for people to receive the laying on of hands for healing.) Sometimes there is a physical healing, sometimes there doesn’t appear to be any physical healing, and I don’t know why that is the case. And I have no simple answer as to why some people are healed and others aren’t! But what I am convinced of, is that in nearly every instance I can remember, there has always been some healing of some kind – a wholeness, a wellness - that has taken place when we humble ourselves, surrender ourselves to God, and ask for His intervention in our lives. Jesus said “Whoever comes to me, I will in no wise cast out.” Jesus hands healed because they were first and foremost hands of compassion and love. And what is amazing to me, and something we should never forget, is that as we exercise compassion and care for others, so our hands, too, become healing hands. I would suggest that a physiotherapist, a nurse, a surgeon, a doctor,- in fact anyone in the healing profession who exercises their skills with compassion, is a far more effective agent of healing than one who is simply doing a job. But lets look a bit wider than the healing profession. Whether you realize it or not - You have healing hands also! When a father untangles a child from his fallen bicycle, lifts him up and gives a hug and a cuddle, that brings healing to that child. When a mother picks up her crying teething baby from the cot and strokes its head and rubs its back and smothers it with kisses - as much as it will allow – there is a healing touch. When you visit a friend, just home from hospital, and hold their hand in a way that conveys love and blessing – your hands bring healing. When you place your arm around a young mother who’s husband has just walked out, and you listen to her story without trying to tell her what to do – your hands and arms and compassion become an extension of the hands and arms of Jesus. Henri Nouwen, a talented university professor who had served at both Yale and Harvard, author of over twenty books and in the eyes of the world a success, near the end of his life chose to give it all away and instead become the principal caregiver of a profoundly retarded young man named Adam. When someone suggested that he could delegate that responsibility, Nouwen retorted, “It is I, not Adam, who gets the main benefit from our friendship.” Nouwen wrote:- . . .” Every human being has a great, yet often unknown, gift to care, to be compassionate, to become present to the other, to listen, to hear and to receive. If that gift would be set free and made available, miracles could take place. Those who really care can sit in silence with their fellowman not knowing what to say, but knowing that they should be there, can bring new life in a dying heart. Those who are not afraid to hold a hand in gratitude, to shed tears in grief, and to let a sigh of distress arise straight from the heart, can break through paralyzing boundaries and witness the birth of a new fellowship, the fellowship of the broken.” |
