Touch and See 4/29/12

Touch and See

Rev. Lee Ann Bryce

Community Christian Church

April 29, 2012

Today we continue exploring some of the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus.  Last week, we considered John, chapter 20, the so-called “Doubting Thomas” story.  Today we look to Luke’s gospel, picking up just after Jesus has mysteriously appeared to some of his followers  in the village of Emmaus.  They had not previously recognized Jesus.  They had spent the afternoon with a stranger whom they invited to stay for dinner.  And as they gathered round the table to share a meal, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them.  And suddenly, Luke tells us, their eyes were opened and they saw, not a stranger, but Jesus, sitting across the table from them.  He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.  They respond by jumping up and heading back to Jerusalem to share the good news with the disciples. 

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.                          Luke 24:36b-48

Touching can be as routine as a handshake or a high five.  It can be as threatening as a clenched fist.  If it is unwelcomed or inappropriate, touch can exploit; it can devastate.  Or, as the Easter account in Luke 24 describes, touching can be the means whereby the risen Lord chooses to make himself known. 

As Luke describes the events, the followers of Jesus are excitedly telling stories that perhaps Jesus isn’t dead after all when suddenly Jesus pulls his mysterious appearing act once again materializing in their midst and scaring them half to death.  They’re about ready to call in the Ghostbusters when Jesus says, Wait, it’s me.  Here, touch me.  Touch my hands and side and see for yourself.  The resurrected Christ, according to this story, is no ghost, no apparition.   He’s not the product of the disciples’ overheated imagination.  Jesus is made known to them with touch.  Jesus is touchable.

Touch was often an important component in Jesus’ ministry.  Little ones climbed into his lap.  Lepers, made outcast by their disease, were restored by his healing touch.  A woman needed only to touch the hem of his robe in order to be healed.  I John 1:1 proclaims the joyful resurrection message, “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands…”

Touch nurtures.  Before birth we were all enfolded in our mother’s womb, then nurtured by milk from her breast.  As we grew perhaps we were consoled on a parent’s shoulder, congratulated with a hug or handshake on a commencement day.  Life’s milestones are often marked by touch.  Babies who are held, hugged, and kissed develop healthier physical and emotional lives than those who receive little physical contact.  Long before a child understands anything about the meaning of love, he or she feels loved by physical touch.  Hugging and kissing a six-year-old as she leaves for school in the morning fills up her emotional love-tank, preparing him for a day of learning. In a crisis it is almost instinctive and natural to hug, at least in our culture.   In a crisis, we have a deep need to feel loved.  We cannot always change the events, but we can survive if we feel loved. 

And physical touch is a universal way of expressing all types of love. Physical touch, for example, is a powerful vehicle for communicating expressions of intimacy.  Holding hands, kissing, embracing and sexual intimacy are all ways of expressing love, physically to one’s partner.  It's easy to see that kissing, hugging, and touching would boost the tenderness in your romantic relationship. However, as we’ve noted, physical expressions of affection can strengthen all sorts of connections.

In her fascinating book The How of Happiness , Sonja Lyubomirsky discusses a study in which students were assigned to two groups. One group was the control; one group was assigned to give or receive at least five hugs each day for a month - a front-to-front, non-sexual hug, with both arms of both participants involved, and with the aim of hugging as many different people as possible. The huggers were happier.

Another study showed that women who got hugs several times a day from their husbands had lower blood pressure than those who didn't get hugged as often.  When we hug, the chemicals oxytocin and serotonin are increased and that’s why happiness is boosted.  (You never know what you’ll learn in sermon research!)  Interesting fact: in order for the flow of those chemicals to be optimized, in order to boost your mood and to promote bonding, a hug has to be held for at least 6 seconds.

Along with hugging, scientific studies show that playful and affectionate touching makes you feel closer to the people important to you. And touch is important even with strangers -- studies show that subliminal touching (touching so subtle that it's not consciously perceived) dramatically increases a person's sense of well-being and positive feelings toward you, the toucher. For example, research shows that when restaurant servers touch their customers, they increase their tips by more than 3 percent.

Expressing affection (in whatever way you express it) makes a big difference in relationships. For instance, people are 47% more likely to feel close to family members who frequently express affection than to those who rarely do so.

Now, I am fully aware that not everyone is a hugger.  I’ve no doubt that all this talk of hugging and touch is making some of you uncomfortable.  If someone stranger announces “Free hugs!” and accosts you with a big bear hug it is not likely to boost your happiness.  Let me clarify – I’m talking about human touch that is welcomed.  We all have differing levels of comfort with touch.  Touch that contributes to happiness and emotional well-being is always appropriate and welcomed.

Touch is a means by which we communicate to others the love of God.  The risen Lord continues to touch us through the touches of others, bringing acceptance, encouragement, trust, and hope.  We offer ourselves as vehicles for that love when we reach out to another offering help, companionship, tenderness, care.  And touch is a means by which we experience God’s love, as we are recipients of touch from those who care for us. 

Ours is a tactile faith.  Jesus is made known to us in the breaking of the bread that we hold in our hands. And like the disciples in Luke 24, touching is still the means whereby the risen Lord chooses to make himself known.  It’s just that today we have a different way of touching Christ than the disciples did so long ago.  We still have the body of Christ.  It’s just that it is made known to us in each other.

(Video – Reach Out and Touch, by Diana Ross; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-7qCG2_aaA)