Good Morning Friends,
Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco portrays God reaching to touch Adam with his finger as an act of creation itself and indeed the giving of life. Then there is the image of Thomas touching Jesus’s wounds in the painting, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, by Caravaggio. But do not be hard on Thomas. The situation may have justified the action, even the touching of wounds. Countless modern paintings depict angels touching people in their pain and wounds too. The point is that touch has always been central to our spiritual life but has gotten more confusing of late. You see, the word touch conveys a lot of different meanings and in more recent years a negative one. To be touched can mean to be a bit crazy. Yes, it is a touchy subject in more than one way. But in the Bible, I think the connotation of touch is a bit saner and is one of healing and power. It is like experiencing a little bit of heaven to fill the void in our hearts. It is as a “thin space” in our experience that opens up for us to experience God. In the Bible, this touch of heaven brings a clarity of communication. It is the universal language spoken in the place we all hope to experience. When Jesus was touched by a woman washing his feet with her hair there was a clarity of communication. She did not have to utter a word. When Jesus was touched by a woman and power went out of him healing her, it was clear what had happened. When Jesus healed a leper, the communication was with a touch first then with words to back up the action. So, perhaps we are to hold each other’s hand on the subject. Perhaps we are meant to dream of a church that touches our soul and sends us into the world to make disciples of Jesus Christ having him speak through us while holding our hand and walking with us. Touch is to be a little of heaven on earth…nearer than we might think. But maybe before we seek to transform the world, we first need to get in touch with our emotions not so much clouded with the past but in looking forward to the future God has planned for us. Thinking of this we ask today’s question, so, How Would The Opening Up of Heaven Touch You?
Scripture: Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you.”
Genesis 28:10-22a (NRSV)
On that day, says the Lord, you will call me, ‘My husband’, and no longer will you call me, ‘My Baal’. For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will take you for my wife for ever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord. On that day I will answer, says the Lord, I will answer the heavens and they shall answer the earth; and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel;
Hosea 2:16-22 (NRSV)
While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.
Matthew 9:18-26 (NRSV)
Message: In marketing there is a goal of seven touches. And indeed, in the Bible there are many examples,but somehow Jesus only needed one touch. So, let us contemplate some of those instances of Jesus touching and healing against the backdrop of heaven opening into our world through the life of the Messiah. There are several instances in the Bible of healings and many where someone sees heaven open, and they all relate to Jesus. Healing and heaven are intertwined in prophecy as a sign of the Kingdom coming in the life of the Messiah. Today’s scriptures look at examples of each, one in the dream of Jacob and a couple in the healing of a young girl and an older woman. As with the baptism of Christ and the stoning of Stephen, the person describing the healing events has a vision that accords some greater divine reality and understanding of Jesus as Messiah and how Jesus goes about healing and opening the possibility of heaven for us all. In the story of Jacob, as with the stoning of Stephen and the Baptism of Christ and the transfiguration and resurrection we get glimpses of this new reality. Jacob says, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Such is the nature of faith and of miraculous healings…a little bit of heaven on earth. Such is the nature of Jesus both divine and human. Such can be the nature of our lives and this day realizing that is all is a gift offered by Jesus. Enjoy the freedom and glorify God too.
And So, the presence of the I AM in a spiritual sense is the house of God, and we are to be touched intellectually, emotionally as well as spiritually as the experience is opened up to us. And as this gate of heaven in the reality of Christ unfolds it hopefully brings us to the conclusion that Jesus bridges both realms. Here in the person of Jesus the rules are changed in the hope that someday we all will be healed to life in abundance as our minds, bodies, and souls. We are to open the door and wake up to a divine purpose not so much connected to a place but to the person of Jesus so that Biblical faith is not subverted by culture. The easy course of action for any people is to acculturate themselves to the people around them. That is what the Hebrews did when they entered Palestine. They saw that the indigenous people worshiped the Baals on every hilltop. They themselves began to indulge themselves in the fertility cults. They failed to evangelize the culture with a Biblical faith. The thin place of heaven was available to them as it is available to us today. It is nearer than we might think. We all have a choice on this day. So, touch the lives of others with the love of God. Move forward with God and help open up the healing of the nations, so we might worship without distraction, serve without exhaustion, fellowship without fear, learn without fatigue and rest without boredom.
Pray we wake up to realize that Jesus is the Gate of Heaven. Pray we discover a wise way to bring our doubts to a place that transforms them. Pray we get a glimpse of God and the Word speaking and the Holy Spirit active in the celebration of our lives. Pray that the Gate of Heaven opens for us and floods us with blessing after blessing including ultimately a place that Jesus has prepared for us. Praythe Word made flesh touches our hearts in an individual and personal way. Praywe are cleaned by the touch of Jesus.Pray we keep in touch with the Great Physician of us all. Pray Jesus touches our hearts with the Glory of God and His purifying Spirit. Pray we are touched by the plight of others and moved to compassion.Praythat we share the gift of touch with those who need a healing hand. Pray the Holy Spirit through the Word caress us with a comfort and hope of God’s love. Pray we are touched by grace and extend it to others. Pray we experience love’s touch through kindness both given and received. Pray we get the point that Jesus not only wants us to be touched but to stay in touch with the reality of heaven. Pray we reach out and touch each other in love because we are divided and need to become whole and healed.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 