Enjoy the Silence – Day 8

Lectio Divina Reading: Matthew 12:9-13

Jesus left there and went into their synagogue,  where there was a man with a crippled hand. They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they asked him, "Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?”

Jesus answered, "If any of you has a sheep, and it falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, you will help it out of the ditch.  Surely a human being is more important than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good things on the Sabbath day."

 Then Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, "Hold out your hand." The man held out his hand, and it became well again, like the other hand.

Shame, Dissappointment, Disability -- all words familiar to the one with a shriveled hand. A hand meant for work, for love, for caring, for helping, for giving, for receiving -- now lifeless and unresponsive. Once his life was filled with optimism, strength, and purpose, now it is the source of ridicule and isolation. What amazes me is that the "sin-agog" crowd ask if it is right to help him? Can you see the "are you kidding me" look on Jesus' face? Sometimes we cannot see our own shriveled lives until Jesus comes and invites us to "stretch it out before me". What part of you life has lost it's power and passion? When I first read this passage and began to think of my own life,  I really began to think of the aging process. Sometimes whe we get older, we feel less vibrant and feel we have no more use in life. But what if Jesus was to invigorate our tired bones and give us a new passion to heal others. The older we get the more life experiences we have to share with others. Maybe our hands aren't restored to those of a sixteen year old, but they are transformed into teaching, praying, mentoring hands that change the lives of others. I pray that as I continue to age, I don't become hard and crusty by my own pride and bitterness that the world doesn't revolve around me. But if I do, I pray Jesus is gracious and says, "Stretch out before me that you may be whole again." What in your life need to be restored?