The Gift of a Touch
What is it about a touch that is so important to us as humans? What makes the gift of touch so powerful? Yesterday afternoon, as Christopher Smith and Kayla Miller were married in Bryan, Texas, Kayla was visibly trembling as she spoke her vows. I watched Christopher’s hands as they held hers… his thumbs gently stroking her wrists. Her trembling disappeared and, by the time the service had ended, she was back in control again. All it took was the gift of touch.
I can remember coming home from work in Chicago one day many years ago now and being greeted by my son, Julian. He apparently saw something in my face that told of the frustration of that particular day. Without saying a word, he took my computer case from my hand and, putting it down, wrapped his arms around me and simply held me. Amazingly, the anger, the frustration, and the exhaustion that I was feeling disappeared in those few brief moments. All it took was the gift of touch.
What our two stories of healing today have in common is touch… and a connection, through touch, with Jesus Christ and his power to heal. There is very little else that these two stories share. Jairus was a wealthy and well-recognized man… a man who stood out from the crowd in this community. The woman, who is not even named, was unknown and poor… a person literally lost in the crowds that surrounded Jesus. They could not have been farther apart on the social scale of that day. And yet both of them came to Jesus, hoping for a miracle… and believing that all it would take would be a simple touch.
They both came to ask for a touch… and yet how could they ask this of Jesus… a holy man… and a rabbi? Jairus, a leader in the synagogue, came to Jesus when his daughter was ill, knowing full well that, in Jewish religious tradition, the illness of his daughter was thought to be the result of the sin of that daughter… or of Jairus himself. The Jews believed that illness was one way in which God punished those who did not obey his commands. The unnamed woman came to Jesus knowing that her illness… this uncontrolled discharge of blood… made her unclean… and that anyone who touched her would be made unclean by that contact. In the Jewish religion of that day, there were several ways in which a person could be labeled “unclean”… three of them serious enough to actually exclude that individual from society: A person who had leprosy, a person who had certain bodily discharges, and a person who had come in contact with a dead body. By the time Jesus reached Jairus’ daughter, she was dead and any contact with a dead body caused the person who made that contact to be unclean. That contamination was so powerful in the eyes of the Jewish religious community that the person who was made unclean could only be restored to purity by sacrificing a bull at the temple, in addition to completing the ritual purification by water. All the temple workers and priests who participated in this purification ceremony were made unclean until sundown simply by their participation in that ceremony. Yet the knowledge of all that was required of him to restore him to purity in the eyes of the religious leaders of the day did not deter Jesus from his mission of healing and restoring this child to life… or acknowledging the woman who had touched him in her desire to be healed.
Here is the miracle of these stories: Even though the contact that Jesus had with the unnamed woman in the street and the dead body of Jairus’ daughter should have made him unclean and unfit to be included in the ranks of the righteous… and therefore, acceptable… persons in the society of that day, what happened instead is that these individuals were restored to life in the community… the unnamed woman through the healing of her bodily discharges… and the dead daughter by her resurrection from the dead. It is almost as if the direct current of contamination… running from the unclean person to Jesus... making him unclean in his community of faith… became an alternating current, running in the opposite direction… restoring purity… cleanliness… healing… wholeness… and hope… where there was only illness… contamination… death… and despair. And all it took was the gift of a touch.
How powerful is this gift of a touch? Karl Menninger is one of those towering figures in the world of psychiatry. Born in 1893 in Topeka, Kansas, he transformed the mysterious and often despised and abusive world of mental illness into a respected medical science and established the Menninger Clinic, which has become one of the great centers of the study of the human mind. The Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas once conducted a fascinating experiment involving infants. The staff of the clinic identified a group of infants who did not cry. Crying is something that babies do instinctively, because it is their way of gaining someone’s attention. These particular infants, however, came from abusive situations. Their parents let them cry for hours on end and never responded. After a time, these babies eventually quit crying at all. It was as if they had learned that it was not worth the effort.
So the Menninger Clinic decided to conduct an experiment. They gathered together some people from retirement communities and nursing homes. Every day these people held these babies and rocked them. The object of this experiment was to see whether physical touch could get these babies to start crying again. It worked. Cradled in the arms of people who demonstrated a concern for them, these infants started crying again. All it took was the gift of touch.
The importance of touch has been demonstrated over and over again in medical research. The chemicals released in the brain when human beings are touched are necessary for our survival and physical well-being. Infants who are touched thrive, while those deprived of direct human contact grow slowly or even die. The physiology of touch has been linked to mature emotional development… superior cognitive development… and the reduction of stress in human beings. All this we know through research that has been done. But our healing stories today go beyond the realm of physical well-being and the power of human touch. Both of these stories demonstrate the power of God to change lives of individuals… a power released in a simple touch.
When the woman touched Jesus, his power went out of him to her… healing her of her disease. When he turned to find her… acknowledging her presence… and validating her faith… Jesus restored her position in that society and claimed her life for God. When Jesus touched Jairus’ daughter, he restored her life as well… giving her back to her family as a living being… and as a tangible witness to the power of God at work in this world… and claiming the life of Jairus for God. With the power of faith and a simple touch, how can we be healed and change the course of our lives… and the lives of others… in this city… in this world?
Many years ago now, Diana Ross took a song written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson and made it a blockbuster hit in 2002. The premise of the song was simple: “Reach out and touch somebody’s hand. Make this world a better place, if you can.” The sentiment in the song was so powerful that it went on to become the top advertising slogan in 2003, earning a place for AT&T in the Advertising Hall of Fame: “Reach out and touch someone.” Sometimes, when we sit and watch the evening news, the problems of this world overwhelm us. Stories of death and destruction… famine and disease… arrogance and apathy… fill our lives with the conviction that we are helpless… that, like the unnamed woman on the street… or Jairus when he heard that his daughter had died… we can do nothing to change the power of evil in this world. And yet, all that God asks of us is to have faith. As those in the crowd around him told him it was too late, Jesus said to Jairus, “Do not fear… only believe.” His message was simple: “what is impossible for mortals is possible for God.”
What is it that we need in our lives today? What would heal us and restore rightness to our world? For those around us who are discouraged by these economic times… by health issues that overwhelm them… by sorrow that has invaded and disrupted their lives… how can they find the solace they need? What would the gift of a touch do… for them… for you? What kind of hope… what kind of courage… could they find in the touch of someone who cares… and faith that God is with them… even in the darkest hours of their lives? Can we be the touch of God in the life of someone today?
In her blockbuster hit, Diana Ross sang, “Take a little time out of your busy day to give encouragement to someone who's lost the way. Or would I be talking to a stone if I asked you to share a problem that's not your own? We can change things if we start giving. Why don’t you reach out and touch somebody’s hand. If you see an old friend on the street and he’s down, remember, his shoes could fit your feet. Just try a little kindness and you’ll see, it’s something that comes very naturally. We can change things if we start giving. Why don’t you reach out and touch somebody’s hand?”
Jesus took time out of his busy day to talk to an unnamed woman on the street… a woman who had been rejected by everyone in her life for twelve years. A simple touch restored her health… a simple conversation restored the rightness of her world. Jesus took time out of his busy day to visit the home of a man grieving the illness and death of his beloved daughter… a daughter he loved so much that it drove him to his knees before the only person he believed could help him. A simple touch… and gentle word of encouragement… and the girl and her father were restored to a loving relationship. A little time… the gift of a touch… and faith in God… that is all it takes to restore rightness to a lot of things in our lives. Will you give a little time… and the gift of a touch… and a prayer to someone today in the name of Jesus Christ? “And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'” Amen.
Mark 5:21-43