By His Hands
Time to consider?
From time to time, the curtain is pulled back. The muted colors of this religious system bows its knee to a greater Glory. Historically, in various locations and seasons, this has happened. Jesus is lifted up and is clearly displayed in a way that pleases his heart.
Meanwhile, the cold hearts of religious leaders believe that only preaching the gospel will turn the Lord’s heart. If this were true, then the Baptist and other similar congregations should have been at the forefront of the next great waves of God. Odd isn’t it, that you can “follow the rules,” and still not move the Lord’s heart, could it be that our leaders are still learning, “…‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13. All our systems, rules, customs, and other human things we have created only seem to have, “muddy the waters.”
It’s been strange for me. When I have spent time in systems like the Baptist I find myself talking about the Power of God to dull ears. In the Charismatic I find myself talking about the issues of the poor, and the need to care for people. It’s taken a few miles, and decades, but there is a better understanding in my soul now, a need for balance. It’s kind of like something the creator of the Salvation Army once said, “we need a heart to God and a hand to man.”
I mean, consider this for a moment, ponder with me a wild idea. Now that the Charismatic is getting seriously rocked, and knocked around from scandals. Could this not be a better time to hit the reset button and bring in the missing elements this movement so desperately needs? Things like compassion, integrity, accountability, and true meekness? Would the lost, hurt, and lonely finally find a home? Would Elders learn to walk by examples of the heart and not a presumed theory?
Jesus… Our Example.
Jesus, our perfect model for all things is our best example of how we should conform our lives to a life of…
I left that sentence blank for you to ponder, as I am also pondering this myself. This is not about perfection, or a code to conform to, it’s a heart thing. It has been said by the uninformed, narrow-minded that we need to get back to the historical Jesus and just remove all the miracles in the Gospels as they are not relevant to who Jesus was.
The reality is if you remove them, then you will have very little left. In fact, two of the biggest story narratives in the Gospels are miracles and his heart and actions for the poor. Charismatics ignore the parts of the poor, and everyone else ignores the miracles, as a result, I think we are all blind.
So in this Substack post, and others to follow, I will take some of the things about Jesus and expand on them. Hopefully, you will ponder, consider, and reflect on them with me as we compare our lives to a man that common people love.
No Reputation
Jesus was considered a man of no reputation. Meaning he had no worldly reputation. His followers did, each one came from something worldly like Peter who told him to go away because he considered himself personally to be an evil man. There was also Mary of Magdalene, who had acquired a collection of demons, apparently from her sinful life. These people all had worldly reputations, but not Jesus.
The fact is, the hope of the world rested on the shoulders of a homeless man. Jesus had nothing in the world, so the world could not have anything in him. Because he knew the world could not stand what it does not own.
In an age of power and control, Jesus could have used his hands to destroy the powers of Rome and save his people. Yet with a move of his hands, he calms a storm.
With his hands, he could have rebuked the religious leader with a slap on the face. But he used his hands to heal.
With His hands, he could have summoned an army and destroyed Satan on the mountain. Instead, he laid his hands on people, healing them of their hearts of stone.
When confronted by religious leaders who kept the people bound by traditions. These same leaders believed him to be a fool. He could have raised his hands and crushed them under the weight of stone pillars and falling roofs. Instead, he raises his hands in his own blood and opens a door.
He could have clapped his hands and sent the crowds away. But the compassion of his heart pulled on his hands, and by his hands, he filled thousands of hungry people's stomachs.
This man of no reputation spent his early years carving and shaping dead wood into things of value with his hands. And it is by his hands we now rest as he shapes the dead hearts of the poor in spirit into friends, fit for resting at his father’s table.
In a time of control, manipulation, and dominance. In a time when many Pastors have taken classes on how to grow a ministry using the tools of the world. Modern pastoral leaders fail to comprehend that Jesus gave up his own carpenter tools. And in its place, he built a better pattern for leaders to follow. He used his hands to heal, to care, and to hold as an example to his followers today.
When no one else would touch a leper, Jesus did.
The last thing Jesus held, was nails.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
Is this not, a better reputation to build according to the nature of Jesus heart? To have a heart for the Father in heaven, and hands for the lost, hurt, and lonely? Too many have seen Jesus in one extreme or the other. Either viewing him as an angry God on earth or so mushy he would never hurt a fly.
Consider the wiring for a house for a moment. There are three wires in the common house wire that we plug all our everyday stuff into. Your black and white wire does most of the work delivering the power. But all of this is extremely dangerous if the ground wire is not properly connected.
In the past people have quickly jumped to the understanding that we need to be connected to Christ. Although technically correct, I think it does not represent the fullness of the bigger picture. I mean, if we are already connected to the power of Christ, are we therefore not grounded? No, we are not.
In that case, we should carefully consider what aspects of Christ we need to be connected to so that we may be grounded. I would like to submit the idea that one of the reasons the Charismatic, full of potential power is so dangerous is because we have failed to ground ourselves to the other aspects of Christ’s ministry… the poor.
I mean, is not the grounding of your house through a ground rod driven deeply into the earth? We are made of the dust of the earth, should not our grounding be in Christ’s compassion for the very lowest of the dust?
10. By his hands:
A crowd begged Jesus to touch a blind man.
He stuck his fingers in a deaf man’s ear.
He touched Peter’s mother-in-law and the fever ran away.
He held Jairus daughter’s hand and she came back to life.
He had laid hands on little children and babies.
And with them, he served breakfast on the shores of Galilee.
What are you using your hands for?
