Object Lesson for Adults: July 22
The Power of Touch
Mark 6:30-34, 53-55
Touch is important in our lives right from the start.
New parents react instinctively when their child breathes its first breath. They swoop their newborn into a loving embrace.
Touch continues to be among the most powerful senses.
Here is a video of how the sense of touch is immediately embraced by very young children. It shows a baby, barely old enough to walk, looking at a magazine. This child approaches the magazine as if it were an iPad, touching the images waiting in vain for a response.
The common form of greeting and agreement, the handshake, grows from our need to touch. In ancient days the outreached hand was a way of saying, “Look, I am not armed. I am your friend.”
The power of touch is central to this story in Mark.
The apostles (sounds like there was a good number of them) have returned from their 2×2 mission trips. It’s time for debriefing! They attempt to hold a retreat.
A couple of weeks ago, the Gospel was about one woman who stole Jesus’ healing power by touching his garment with faith. Jesus responded.
Now the word is out. People far and wide have heard about Jesus.
Everyone is clamoring to touch Jesus. They are carrying their ailing loved ones across the rocky, hilly countryside to get near enough to Jesus to touch him.
Touch is important in our world. Sometimes, when words fail, a hand on the shoulder or a sudden embrace comes to our rescue.
We find comfort in a kind touch. We are repulsed when the sense of touch is abused.
We long to be touched, to be connected to one another, to be connected to God. Think about that today as we pass the peace. When we touch someone, it should mean something.