Outstretched Hands

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7-12 ESV).

I know that talking about “outstretched hands” in our day of personal distancing and the real danger of spreading COVID-19 seems to be inappropriate. However, it is a topic that we should consider as we move through this season of Lent. However, there is a real sense of the importance of understanding this image in light of the work of Christ through his death, burial, and resurrection. Our reason for celebration during this season is based completely in the reaching out of God through Christ to each of us. John Calvin noted that we are moved to repentance not by the threat of God’s law but by the promise of his grace. The threat of the law will only make us run from God, unless we know that he will receive us when we turn back to him in repentance. I’ll never forget a story told by Robert Schuller. He was invited on a mission trip to the tropical jungles of the Amazon. A missionary had been working with a tribe that had a great fear of Caucasians, having had little positive contact with them. Schuller and the missionary worked their way deeper and deeper into the jungle with no sighting of this reclusive tribe. “Where are they?” Schuller asked. The missionary replied, “They’re all around us, but they won’t come out until they know it’s safe.” Finally, the travelers arrived at a clearing. The missionary said, “Here’s what you have to do. Sit on the ground, stretch out your hands, and smile.” So that’s what Schuller did. For what seemed hours, he sat and smiled with outstretched hands. At last, a single native crept silently out of the jungle and shyly touched his hand. It was the beginning of a movement toward grace that has flourished over the decades. Of course, I’m not suggesting that you go to the Walmart parking lot and sit with outstretched hands waiting for people to come to you. However, even in our day, there are ways to symbolically show your desire to connect with others. It requires open, inviting hands extended to others through what we say and do. On the cross, God, in effect, stretched out his hands and smiled, showing that he loves us. Demonstrate that love for others in all that you do!