In a small French country town during World War II, there was a beautiful marble statue of Jesus with his hands outstretched, standing in the courtyard of a church. One day a bomb struck too close, and the statue was destroyed. After the battle was over; the citizens of the village decided to find the pieces of their beloved statue and reconstruct it. Although it was not a work of art by a famous sculptor like Michelangelo, it was part of their lives and they loved it. And so they gathered the broken pieces and reconstructed it. The scars caused by the bomb made the statue even more beautiful. But there was a problem: They could not find the hands of the statue. One of them said in a sad voice: “You cannot have a Christ without hands for that is no Christ at all. We know Jesus had scars on his hands, but He cannot be without hands. We need a new statue.” Then someone else came along with another idea with which they all agreed. A brass plate was attached to the base of the statue which reads: “I HAVE NO HANDS BUT YOUR HANDS.”
Years later someone saw that statue and its inscription and wrote these lines:
“I have no hands but your hands to do my work today.
I have no feet but your feet to lead men on the way.
I have no tongue but your tongue to tell men how I died.
I have no help but your help to bring men to God’s side.”
In the Bible we read about the life of Jesus when He was among the people. We read how He loved people, how He healed the sick and how blind people could see again. He fed large crowds of people. He had a passion for the poor and those who were in prison. He even raised people from the dead. Jesus is not, as He was 2000 years ago, with us in the body, anymore. Paul wrote that we are now the body of Christ. 1 Cor 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. God calls all those who belong to Him, together, his body. We are members (or parts) of his body.
Don’t feel discouraged if you cannot do the wonders Jesus did. He gives us the means for and knowledge about things which we can do. He asks us to be kind to people, to help the people in need, to attend to the sick and to talk to people so that they become followers of Jesus. Jesus said: Matt 28:19-20 “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples.”.
Jesus loves his children and has so much faith in them that He entrusted his work to them. When we accept Christ as our Saviour, we become part of Christ’s body. From that moment on we are his hands, his feet, and his voice for doing his work in a broken world.
Dear God, in many ways we do things which are against your will for us. And yet, You make us your children when we accept your forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Thank you that You trust us enough to do your work in this world. Amen
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