Children loved to hear the invitation to gather “in the front” of the sanctuary
during worship. They scrambled up the aisles to gather around as I sat on the
altar steps. The adults in their pews also were eager to listen in to the
Scripture story I was about to tell. As the children pressed in from every
side, I suddenly, but quite gently, felt someone’s hands on my shoulder. They
were warm, firm, caring . . . and small. I glanced over to see
four-year-old Caroline, standing behind me, listening, and loving me. It was,
after all, a place to stand, and to see. Did she know, could she
understand, that she was caring for me?
When was the last
time someone put hands on your shoulders? A parent saying, “I’m proud of you!”
A teacher saying, “I know you can do it!” It seems we should grow out of the need
for such hands. But we don’t.
How often our
shoulders tense with worrisome burdens of people depending upon our words, our
organizational skills, our “doing.” Being a responsible, dependable adult is a
joy. But we also continue to need affirming, empathizing caring hands on our
shoulders.
Christians may
think of Lent as a time of giving up pleasures, of self-sacrifice, or of not
giving in to temptations. But even such focus on self, rather than on
Christ, may be one of three temptations. First is to believe that “I am able;
therefore, I only am able.” The second is, “I am the most able; others
will not do the job as well.” Thereby we cut ourselves off from the gifts of
the community. The third is, “I must care for everyone.” I try to be the omnipresent
parent, the omniscient teacher, and finally omnipotent. But who am I to play
God?
We need the
suffering servant, Jesus. At the very moment when our belief in ourselves which
is self-trust, self-sufficiency, pride, or despair, is exposed, Christ already
is there to love and sustain. Sometimes Jesus nourishes in surprising,
spontaneous ways and sometimes through ongoing ministering servants in our
lives.
The God who made
us the capable people we are and gave us all those responsibilities, wants to
love and care, guide and fill us with Christ’s servant self. God’s hands are
gentle and steadying. Sometimes they may feel like small hands, but they are
always big enough.
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