Made Whole

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
Luke 6 (click the link)


I'd like to throw you a curveball today. 

I'd like for us to try an experiment in prayer.  It may or may not be the way in which you normally pray. It might initially feel a little strange or uncomfortable, but I want to ask you to give it a try to see what happens.  God can surprise us sometimes and show up in ways we don’t normally expect.

This experiment involves using our God-given imagination as we meditate upon a passage of Scripture. Rather than reading the Scriptures for information, in this experiment we will approach the passage with a heart that is seeking to make contact with God’s love and presence. We will come to Scripture trusting God’s nearness and to God’s desire to heal and transform us.

If you haven't done so already, please read the entire chapter before moving on. (No, really, stop to read the entire chapter.)

…………

Next, I'd like for you to begin your time of reflection by taking three deep breaths.  Then simply ask God as honestly as you can to speak to you this morning. 

On another Sabbath he went to the meeting place and taught. There was a man there with a crippled right hand. The religion scholars and Pharisees had their eye on Jesus to see if he would heal the man, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath infraction. He knew what they were up to and spoke to the man with the crippled hand: "Get up and stand here before us." He did. 

Then Jesus addressed them, "Let me ask you something: What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?" 

He looked around, looked each one in the eye. He said to the man, "Hold out your hand." He held it out—it was as good as new! They were beside themselves with anger, and started plotting how they might get even with him. (Luke 6:6-11, The Message)

Read the above passage slowly two times.  But don't simply read with your eyes.  As you read, try to experience this scene with your senses.  Feel the closeness of the heat and the crowd packing the town's synagogue to watch the showdown.  Listen for the angry voices of the cynical, religious people watching and waiting for Jesus to commit the slightest infraction of Sabbath law so they could pounce on him with their accusations.  Look at the unnamed man in the middle of the crowd, on this stage of high drama, playing a role he never expected—a person Luke describes only as "a man with a deformed hand." 

[Take time now to read and re-read this passage slowly.  Remember, don't just read the words, seek to experience them—place yourself in the synagogue, imagine this scene playing out right before your very eyes.] 

For a few minutes, ponder this thought quietly: YOU are the person with the deformed hand.  

Your life is marked by a withered and lifeless limb.  It wasn't always this way.  Your hand used to be a normal, healthy hand.  It used to be a hand you could feel with and touch with, a hand you could reach out to offer help or love, a hand you could flex and bend, and a strong hand you could use for work.  But now it hangs at your side limp and lifeless—a constant symbol of shame, disappointment, and disability.

What do you feel when you read these words: shame, disappointment, disability?  Do those words take you to any places of deformity or pain in your own life?  Maybe you've found yourself in the place where your own capacity to touch and feel has grown limp with disappointment.  Maybe you were in church or youth group, but you couldn't feel it—the hands that used to be lifted up in worship remained at your side, dangling and lifeless?  Join with God in examining your life. For a few minutes, listen intently to what God might say to you.  

It may seem like a really bad idea to expose your dryness or deformity right in the middle of the church, surrounded by religious people.  But that day in the synagogue, Jesus gave the man a simple command: "Stretch out your hand."  In other words, Jesus said, "Expose to me your places of dryness and weakness, your areas of deadness and deformity, your symptoms of lifelessness and loss, so I can make you whole… so I can make you new."  What a stunning invitation!  What an amazing offer of grace!  What a picture of divine love!  To God we are not props or object lessons about Sabbath law.  We are his precious creation, the objects of his deep affection.

Listen again to Jesus' words in verse 9: 

"Let me ask you something: What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?"

Before you close this time of meditation, imagine for a few minutes Jesus saying to you, "Stretch out your hand.  Stretch out your dryness and deformity.  Stretch out your shame before me, so I can make you whole—so I can make you new.  You are valuable to me."  

Take some time to journal your reflections.  If you'd like, compose a song or draw a picture expressing the amazing love displayed in this scene.  Try to record or emphasize in some way the message God spoke to your heart this morning.

WHO AM I

I am Tres Sansom and I am more than just a little weird. I really enjoy trying these sorts of prayer experiments. I grew up in a very traditional Southern Baptist Church, and it was great. But at one point in my walk with God, I began searching for something more. I began reading about other Christian traditions and became very intrigued by the prayer practices and spiritual disciplines of other streams of the Church. Many of these practices had been around since the early years of the Church, but they were new to me. They became powerful tools used by God to expand my experience with Jesus. If this intrigues you, I'd love to visit with you. Or, you might want to check out Renovare. They provide some great resources for assisting with spiritual formation and deepening your connection with God.