Open
Hearts And Open Hands Are Marks Of Our Giving God At Work!
I saw a comedy sketch once that described the origin of the handshake. Two cavemen met, and in a sign that he held to weapon and had no intent to injure the other, the first cavemen reached out his open hand and said, "My name Og!" The second caveman likewise reached out his open right hand, gave Og a hearty handshake and said, "My name Lefty!" and promptly bopped Og with the club held behind his back!
A handshake (Lefty not withstanding!) is a good thing. I've had some good ones lately. There are handshakes that are just a quick formality, and then there are handshakes that are a handful, a handful of openness and welcome and trust and affection and care and appreciation.
Og was right, you know. A clenched fist is a sign of aggression. A handshake that offers friendship, respect and care can only be offered with the palm wide open.
One of my most memorable handshakes as a young man was with a friend named Mario Bolivar, a Cuban refugee who escaped on a raft as a young man with his mother. I met him in Portland growing up. He was heavy into the rock and drug scene of the sixties, but came to know Christ in his late twenties.
When Mario reached out to grip your hand, his fingers were splayed wide apart. He wouldn't let you just drop your hand into his. He would finagle his way into an interlocking, "fold your hands like you're about to pray" grip. Shaking hands with Mario was a true fellowship experience. In those few short seconds the two of you were all tangled together.
Kermit Wessler told me this week that he's suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome in his right hand. He's shaking with his left hand these days. There's a lot of things you can't do very well when your hand won't open up. Kermit mentioned how he's not been golfing in a while.
You can't really golf well if you keep a tight grip on the club. I've been working on a new style of swing the last few years and the big breakthrough came earlier this year when I learned to hold the club as lightly as possible, almost as if it would fly down the fairway after the ball when I swing. If you do it just right, you can drive the green on a 270 yard par four, like number five at the St. Charles Golf Course. Last Friday morning. (Yes, I made the putt for eagle!) Good things happen when you keep your grip a little loose.
I like to do a morning stretch when it's still quiet and dark and no one else is awake. I get a little tight through the night and that stretch feels good. I notice that my hands fall open after a little while. That's a good way to do morning prayers also, hands wide open. It reminds me that life with God is first of all about receiving his good gifts. I confess my sins, and with hands open to the Lord, I welcome his undeserved love. It's the only way to start the day. God is so good.
Pastor Dittmer once wrote a cheer for teens at youth gatherings called "God's a Giver Giving Gifts!" The kids shout back and forth the great gifts of God: "Families!" "Friends!" "Hope!" "Joy! "Forgiveness!" "Life!" And then they all join in the refrain: "God's a Giver Giving Gifts! Giving Gifts!"
He is, you know. It's what he does best. God is love. Love is giving.
Torry Holt is having an all-star season catching passes for the Rams. They say he has "soft hands." That's the best thing you can say about a pass catcher. I had a friend in high school who was an all-state sprinter. He played wide receiver on the football team. Jack could race right past anybody down the field, but he couldn't catch the ball. I heard the coach once say, "He's got hands like crowbars!"
Faith is like soft hands. Faith is like reaching out to hold a newborn baby. when a mother offers you her child, you get a feeling of excitement and anticipation and awe at the privilege. God offers us his Son, Jesus. We receive him with soft hands. Open hands. It's awesome. Sometimes our younger members color me pictures in church. If I'm busy shaking hands and an artist appears, everything stops. My hands get soft. That's a nice gift. You can't close your fist on a little one holding up an offering like that. That kind of gift is guaranteed to get a big, openhanded blessing from the Pastor in return.
I heard a country song title recently that I guess is a real song, although I haven't actually heard it. The title goes, "I Gave Her My Heart and a Diamond and She Clubbed Me with a Spade!" Ouch! Open hands received with a closed fist!
Jesus has given us his heart, and a crown more precious than all the diamonds in the world. Have you received his gifts with open hands? Jesus' word to us is, "I love you. I give you all the treasures of heaven, the forgiveness of sins and the promise of life everlasting. I offer it with no guarantee that you will receive it. You can reject it if you so desire. But I'll soften your hearts and open your hands if you don't send me away. Receive my good gifts!"
Maybe one definition of a Christian, an extraordinary servant, is someone with soft hands. Children of God know how to receive, and they know how to live with hands open, not clenched tightly.
This month is our annual stewardship emphasis month. The sermons will focus on that great love chapter in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13. I hope you'll take time to read it through a few times each week. The core issue in the Bible's teaching on Christian stewardship is not money. The heart of Christian stewardship is love. It's not about what our hands do with the financial gifts God has entrusted to our care. It's about hearts changed by his love, and hands that fall open to receive, and then to share in return.
Jesus didn't have any money, but he sure talked about it a lot. It's by far the number one topic in the parables. Why is that? He knows our hearts. He knows that hands that cling to the things of this world a bit too tightly are a reflection of a heart that loves the things of this earth a bit too much.
I'll be praying that God is at work in us this month, leading us all to have hearts and hands like our Father. Soft hearts. Soft hands.
The Call
I travel to Minneapolis to visit Zion in Hopkins on Thursday and Friday the 30th and 31st. Following the late service on Sunday the 2nd, I'll reserve the time before the easy access service at 12:30 to visit with anyone interested, answer your questions and receive your counsel. If you can't join me but would like to visit, give me a call. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement in this time of searching out God's will.