Extending a Hand in a Hands-Off World

The other day I was driving on a busy city street when it suddenly began to rain. Not a little mist, mind you, but oversized raindrops that pounded my car with a deafening roar while I put the windshield wipers on high speed.

Slowing to stop at a red light, I noticed an elderly woman trudging along the sidewalk next to the street. She had no umbrella, and the sudden downpour had caught her by surprise. Carrying a bag in her hands, and with no protection from the rain, she was getting soaked.

Immediately I decided to pull over and offer her a ride, but then just as quickly I talked myself out of it. "She doesn't know I'm a safe person," I thought, "and in this big city it would only frighten her if a stranger offered her a ride. Would I want my own mother or daughter to get into a car with a man she didn't know? Of course not!" The light turned green, and after pausing a moment, I drove away—and the old woman walked on in the rain.

The memory of it still bothers me. What kind of person drives away from someone in need? The priest and the Levite in Jesus' story about the Good Samaritan, that's who! Yet, what choice did I have? What kind of society have we become when it's considered unsafe to give and receive such a simple act of kindness?

One time Jesus "took the little children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them" (Mark 10:16). I'm sure those children never forgot the touch of the Master's hand. Yet today, in a culture polluted by child abuse and news stories about pedophile priests, a male worker in a church preschool must think twice before taking children in his arms. Such a demonstration of physical affection would likely be discouraged. Church nurseries now have elaborate check-in procedures to protect the children who attend, and many churches check with law enforcement officials to make sure potential Sunday school teachers and nursery workers have no criminal record. Unfortunately, safety precautions like these are increasingly necessary today.

Yet, the children who come to our churches and Sunday school classes still need to experience the touch of the Master's hand. For that matter, so does everyone we meet—from the well-dressed leader to the tattered-looking loner, from the white-haired senior adult to the tattooed teen. In a world starving for grace, we shouldn't push anyone away from God's banquet table.

Jesus liked the hands-on approach. He touched lepers and healed them. He washed his disciples' feet. He said, "I am the light of the world," then proved it by touching the eyes of the blind and making them see. Before he gave a sermon about the bread of life, he took bread in his hands and multiplied it so the crowd would be fed. Jesus repeatedly sacrificed his own safety and comfort for the sake of others, demonstrating a practical side of love that reached its pinnacle when he died on the cross.

Lord God, empower us to show your love—not through pious words, but through extended hands. Help us know how to reach out to a frightened, unsafe world that often pushes love away.

And Lord, even though I meant her no harm, forgive me for driving away from an old woman who was walking alone in the rain.