HOLDING HANDS
A sermon by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk
Harundale Presbyterian Church
Text: “I will put my trust in him.”
First
Second
“Tony Campolo tells the story about the late Mike Yaconelli, who told the story about a deacon in his church who wasn’t deaking. He just didn’t do what he was supposed to do as a deacon. One day he said to the deacon, ‘I have a group of young people who go the old folks home and put on a worship service once a month. Would you drive them to the old folks home and at least do that?’ The deacon agreed.
“The first Sunday the deacon was at the old folks home, he was in the back with his arms folded as the kids were doing their thing up front. All of a sudden, someone was tugging at his arm. He looked down, and here was this old man in a wheelchair. He took hold of the old man’s hand and the old man held his hand all during the service. The next month that was repeated. The man in the wheelchair came and held the hand of the deacon. The next month, the next month, and the next month.
“Then the old man wasn’t there. The deacon inquired and he was told, ‘Oh, he’s down the hall, right hand side, third door. He’s dying. He’s unconscious, but if you want to go down and pray over his body that’s all right.’ The deacon went and there were tubes and wires hanging out all over the place. The deacon took the man’s hand and prayed that God would receive the man, that God would bring this man from this life into the next and give him eternal blessings.
“As soon as he finished the prayer, the old man squeezed the deacon’s hand and the deacon knew that he had been heard. He was so moved by this that tears began to run down his cheeks. He stumbled out of the room and as he did so he bumped into a woman. She said, ‘He’s been waiting for you. He said that he didn’t want to die until he had the chance to hold the hand of Jesus one more time.’ The deacon was amazed at this. He said, ‘what do you mean?’
“She said, ‘Well, my father would say that once a month Jesus came to this place. He would take my hand and he would hold my hand for a whole hour. I don’t want to die until I have the chance to hold the hand of Jesus one more time.’” (Homiletics/ December 2004, Page 70)
That’s what Hebrews is talking about this morning, a very human Jesus who wants to hold our hand. The author goes on about how this Jesus shared the same flesh and blood as we do, the same death that we do, the same suffering that we do, all that because, “Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God…Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.” As the Beatles sang some years ago, “just let me hold your hand.”
That’s what we’ve been doing these past sixteen years; we’ve been holding one another’s hands. Earlier in the passage the author tells how, “I will put my trust in him.” I told the Presbytery on the occasion of their recognizing my retirement that one of the greatest gifts a pastor can receive is the trust of his or her congregation. I mentioned it again at my retirement dinner that your trust is the greatest gift you could have given me. You trusted your children to wrestle with me at Tuesday’s Kids for Christ. You trusted me to enter your homes and have prayers with you. You trusted me to take Communion to the shut-ins. You trusted me to visit you in hospital, to hold your hands and to have prayers with you. You trusted me to marry you, baptize your children, lay your loved ones to their eternal rest and to walk this journey with you.
“Just a few
Christmas Eves ago, Pastor Thomas Tewell was preparing to lead worship at the
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in
“Gazing out over the sanctuary, the man said, ‘Look at all these happy families. If I hadn’t messed up so badly, I’d still have a family, too. I’m going to get out of here and go have a drink.’ With just a minute to go before the Christmas Eve service, there was no time for a counseling session. So, thinking fast, Tewell ushered the man into a nearby room and then walked to the front of the sanctuary to make an announcement.
“’Friends,’ he said to the congregation, ‘we’re going to start worship in just a minute. But first I need to ask, ‘Are there any friends of Bill W. here?’ Tewell knew that Bill W. was the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, and that any recovering alcoholic would consider himself or herself a friend of Bill W. He went on to say to the gathered crowd, ‘There is a man here who is feeling very discouraged, and could use the support of a friend. If you could offer some help, please come with me now.’
“First, a
woman got up. Then a man got up, then another
and another and another. Tewell had no
idea that he had so many recovering alcoholics in his congregation! Soon, a whole crowd had gathered in the room
by the sanctuary, and they spent that Christmas Eve holding hands with a brother
who was struggling with his desire to drink.
Tewell says that there was hardly anyone left in the sanctuary for the
worship service. But he knew that
sometimes we need a fellow sufferer to lead us on the path to salvation.”
(Homileticsonline,com.
And that’s what we’ve been to one another, fellow sufferers holding hands with one another, journeying along the path to salvation. Christ would have wanted it no other way and I thank you for the journey. It’s been a good ride!
Thanks be to God,
Amen