The Power and Place of Godly Touch

Good afternoon, everyone. What a joy to be together with you. Thank you very much, choir. That was magnificent. We appreciate the hard work of the Feast Coordinator and each of his staff. And being here at the Feast, it's been five years since my wife and I were last in Branson, half a decade has come and gone. And in some ways, it seems so much longer than five years, and in other ways, it's over before you know it.

But here we are in the afternoon. We have a double service today. And if you promise not to get sleepy, I promise to end on time or earlier than the usual time. So if we have an agreement with one another, did you happen to see that big, gorgeous full moon last night? We had left Branson before sunset and drove – Springfield before sunset, sorry – and drove to Branson and saw the moon on the left. And it's getting darker and the moon becoming more luminescent and more luminescent. It seemed to get larger and larger, but here we are with the 15th of the month, the full moon, and as the feast ends, it'll be the last quarter. And so we have the same cycle again and again of the first quarter full moon, last quarter new moon, and the months go by and the weeks go by. And we get a little bit older. Branson has changed a lot in five years. Some of the landmarks are the same, but others are missing and others are changed. And it's dramatic to see how that all has transpired. But wonderful to be here with you. There's the familiarity of Presley to come here and then get reacquainted, and it gets to be like home. There's a predictability of it, and that is really, really, really beneficial.

If you know anybody in Canada, they said to say hello to you. That way you can't forget anyone under those circumstances. But we have a few Canadians here this year. We usually do. And also I can give Canada a plug. If you've ever thought of going somewhere where it's not too far away and people are hospitable just like here, please consider one of the feast sites in Canada.

As a golfer in his prime, and you've probably heard of him, if you are a golfer, even if you're not a golfer, Greg Norman, who was extremely good in his prime, Greg Norman would intimidate most other professional golfers with his ice-cold nerve and his ice-cold stoicism.

And he learned his hard-nosed tactics from guess who, or whom, from his dad, from his father. Using his words, I used to see my dad getting off a plane or something, and I'd want to hug him, but he would only shake my hand. And commenting on his aloofness, his dad's aloofness, as he was going into the 1996 Masters Golf Tournament, Norman said, nobody really knows me out here. Some of them think they do, but no one really knows.

Now, after leading that particular prestigious event from the very start, Norman blew a six-shot lead in the last round, the very last round, a six-shot lead, and he lost to none other than Nick Faldo. That name hasn't been on the publicity very much, but you'll remember both Greg Norman and, of course, Nick Faldo. A writer for Sports Illustrated wrote in the December 30, 1996 issue, now as Faldo made one last thrust into Norman's heart with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole, the two of them came toward each other, Norman trying to smile, because he'd just been defeated when it looked like he had a certain wind on his hands.

And he looked at the most for a handshake from his competitor, Nick Faldo, and found himself instead in a surprisingly warm, warm embrace. And as they held that hug, held it even as both of them cried, big, full-grown, steel-nerved golfing professionals. Norman changed a little, and he commented about it the next day, and he said, I wasn't crying because I lost.

I'd lost a lot of golf tournaments before, and I'll probably lose a few more before it's all said and done. I cried because I'd never felt that from another man before. I've never had a hug like that in my entire life, and that, of course, all in public. It's a wondrous thing what a hug can do. A hug can cheer you when you're blue. A hug can say, I love you so, or I hate to see you go. This is a poem entitled, What Hugging Can Do. And that's a clue from Mr. Dobson. A hug is welcome back again, and great to see you.

Where you been? A hug can soothe a small child's pain and bring a rainbow after rain. The hug, there's just no doubt about it. We scarcely could survive without it. A hug delights in warms and charms. It must be why God gave us arms. Hugs are great for fathers and mothers, sweet for sisters, swell for brothers, and chances are your favorite aunts love them more than potted plants. Kittens crave them, puppies love them.

Molly over there, I'm sure would verify that that is true. That's the service dog on the second row. Thank you for bringing Molly. Kittens crave them, puppies love them. Heads of states are not above them. A hug can break the language barrier and make your travel so much merrier. No need to fret about your store of them.

The more you give, the more there's more of them. So stretch those arms without delay and give one a hug to someone today. But not till after services are over. First scripture for this afternoon sermon, appreciated the sermonette very much today. I'll digress here just a little bit. I've gone to California for the feast one year, many, many years ago.

And of course I saw Disneyland one year. We went to Florida many years ago, same comment. I of course went to Disney World. And the video this morning, I'm not sure how many of you had the same experience, but when that composite choir sang, I thought of California Disneyland. It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. If you've been there, you can hear the melody, as I say. It's a small, small world after all. Let's start in Genesis 33 please for this particular sermon.

For this afternoon on the first day of this wonderful 2024 feast of Tabernacles here in beautiful Branson. Genesis 33 please, verse 1, where it says, Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there he saw Esau. Breaking into this account just to set the stage, they had not seen each other for 20 years.

If you haven't seen a relative for 10 years, 15 years, you know what that's like. 20 years is so much more of an absence that it creates a vacuum in your life. However, in this instance, they didn't live in good terms. In fact, Esau said, next time I see you, I'll kill you. Because you stole something precious, priceless to me. You swindled me out of something that meant a great deal to me. So if you hadn't seen someone for 20 years, and you had left them on bad terms, and they said, I'll get even with you no matter what, your desire to see them again might be a little bit mixed.

And so that's what he's facing. Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there Esau was coming. And with him 400 men. That's usually not a welcoming committee. That's usually considered a war party. There's an annihilation in the works. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maid servants. He put the maid servants and their children in front.

Leah and her children in the middle, and Rachel and Joseph last. So he took his progeny and divided them in accordance to how he valued them. And the most precious ones he loved the most, although we're supposed to love all of our loved ones equally, he put them in the back so that maybe they could escape if they were attacked. Then what did he do? He crossed over before them. So he was a point man. Bowed himself to the ground how many times? Seven times. Until he came near to his brother. Well, what an interesting thing that he did. This is total submission, total contrition, obeisance the way you would acknowledge someone who is monarchy, and you yourself are a subject.

So what happens? Esau, we find in verse 4, as we read this, we're reading it as if it's happening live before our eyes. Esau ran to meet him and decked him. That's what you anticipate might have happened. And he said, now we can call it even. Esau ran to meet him and embraced him. He put his arms around him, embraced him, and fell on his neck, a synonym, but it means a little bit more affection, a little more intensity, something more lasting, more endearing. He embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him. And these two big burly men wept.

Amazing. Now, of course, it's a different culture, different time, and we react differently depending on our upbringing, depending on our culture. They wept two big burly men, and he lifted his eyes, and he saw the women and children and said, who are these with you? It's an amazing example of how two alienated brothers mended their fences. They didn't just bow to each other. They didn't just shake hands. They hugged, and they kissed, and they wept. I have with me something I'll refer to a few more times during the sermon this afternoon. It's an issue of National Geographic two years ago. Maybe if you subscribe to National Geographic, you will have received this one called The Power of Touch.

And an exceptionally well-written article, The Power of Touch, the cover reads, research reveals how our connections with each other keep us healthy. There is significance to how we reach out to one another. Remember the, I think it was a telephone commercial, reach out and touch someone. That still stays with us. We haven't heard that for a long, long time. And then inside, as the article is commenced, there's a double page which says, it was the first sensation we felt as infants, the soothing caress of others.

Now researchers are learning more about how crucial hugs and handshakes are to our health, and not only to our health, but also to our humanity. And that's only now being researched and developed and refined. Genesis 45, let's go from where we are in chapter 33, and there's any number of other examples we could have latched onto. But let's go to 45 and just interrupt, intercede, an example that we're so familiar with that serves us well as far as this sermon today is concerned.

Genesis 45, and let's start reading in verse 1. This is the account where Joseph, of course, is reacquainted and he reintersects with his brothers. Remember, he was his dad's favorite. He got that lovely coat, that none of the others got the coat of many colors. That's been a musical, as you know. And he had these dreams, and if you have dreams like that, don't tell anyone about them. Just keep them to yourself. But he just had to share his dreams with others. They called him Dream Boy as a result.

And even mom and dad were perturbed with the dreams that he had because it seems to put the rest of the family down. Well, the dream came true, didn't it? And what he envisioned came to pass, didn't it? But his brothers didn't know that. Joseph knew. Then Joseph, having seen them many times and given them provisions and tortured them a little bit in the process of giving them provisions, Joseph could not restrain himself.

After all those many encounters he had with him, he could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him. And he cried out, make everyone go out from me so no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. Eventually he revealed his true identity. It's like Superman stepping out of the phone booth and revealing who he really was. Then he says in the next verse, and he wept a man of emotion, an expression. He wept aloud, so much so that the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it.

So this was loud, it was prolonged, and the rest of the household said, what's wrong with Joseph? He's really lost it. And then Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Does my father still live? But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. They couldn't believe their eyes. Could this really be the brother we got rid of? They made him, they got a plan, said let's make him disappear. So they sold him to the Midianites and they thought he's gone. He's gone forever, he'll never bother us again, and his dreams will never come to pass because we'll get rid of him. And lo and behold, it looks like he's back.

It looks like he's back from the dead. We'll skip a few verses for the sake of time. Go to verse 12. And he's trying to convince them, no, you're not seeing an apparition. It's really your brother. Behold your eyes, he said. In the eyes of my brother Benjamin, see that it is my mouth that speaks to you, meaning up until then he was speaking to them through an interpreter who then interpreted Egyptian into Hebrew, Hebrew back into Egyptian, and now he told them I can speak Hebrew.

That was astonishing, although it was with an Egyptian accent they couldn't believe. And they're not quite sure if this Hebrew is authentic, so they had to be convinced. Behold, he said, the eyes of my brother see to it, it's my mouth that speaks to you, so you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and all that you've seen, and you shall hurry and bring my father down here because he's getting older, time is running out. Then notice what happens next, verse 14. Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and he wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. They were the full brothers. He was half-brothers with everybody else.

So with his full brother he went and embraced him, fell on his neck. It's a strange expression for us, isn't it? And then he wept, he wept on Benjamin's neck and they hugged and hugged and hugged. And thereafter that, he didn't have any more hugs than kisses left. No, it says, moreover, he kissed all of his brothers and wept over all of them, and after that his brothers talked with them.

After that they were convinced, this really is Joseph. He really has, in a sense, come back from the dead. So they didn't just bow at a distance or quickly shake hands. They hugged and they cried and they hugged and they cried. There's something to be said about the great value of that kind of sustained touching. And one of the research elements of this particular article in National Geographic says, if you want to look it up, it's on page 48, Google it, it'll be there for you. Touch. What does touch do? Touch calms the recipients of the touch. So someone is touching you or me, what does that do to us?

It calms the recipient of the touch during stressful experiences. And his brothers here at this time were highly, highly stressed. And it can reduce activation in the threat-related regions of the brain, can influence activation in the stress pathway in the nervous system, reducing levels of the stress hormones has been found to stimulate the release of oxytocin, a neutral peptide, sorry, produced in the hypothalamus, elevated levels of oxytocin are associated with increased trust, cooperative behavior, sharing with strangers, and the more effective reading of others' emotions and more constructive conflict resolution. We have a therapy dog here, Molly, who makes, I'm sure, professional visits, but you've seen therapy animals in hospitals, senior citizens' homes.

In some cases, they have miniature horses. If you've watched Dr. Pole, you've seen miniature horses that are a therapy animal. And people love to have them come in so they can pet them. And an animal likes to be touched, but a person likes to touch them. And it is a stress release mechanism. It works remarkably well. Ruth, Chapter 4, developing this just a little bit further, and then we'll go into the New Testament. Ruth, Chapter 4, a beautiful, beautiful book of the Bible on a highly charged and emotional level that is so impactful.

And every time I read it, I expect it to turn out differently, but it turns out the same, and it's predictably wonderful. Chapter 4, verse 13. We'll just get a snippet, cut and paste, as it were. So Boaz, Chapter 4, verse 13, Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. They got married, and he went into her. Remember, he was quite a bit older than her.

He went into her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. So sometimes conception comes easily. Sometimes it doesn't come easily at all. Sometimes it does not occur, and we don't know in advance what will happen. But in this case, they get married, and eventually they are blessed with a brand-new bouncing baby boy. So Boaz took Ruth, she became his wife.

He went into her. The Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, who are these women? The neighborhood women, friends. Friends and associates of hers. They said to her, blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative, and may his name be famous in Israel.

You'd think, well, they're talking about Boaz, but they're not. They're talking about the new arrival, this new, brand-new bouncing baby boy. And may he be a restorer of life and nourish beautiful description of how a grandchild affects a grandmother and a grandfather, grandparents. And may he, this new arrival, be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age. Beautiful description. I remember Mr. Armstrong, and at this time I would have been 20 years old, I think, and ambassador of Pasadena, and he was in his 90s, then 80s anyway, and he used to describe grandparents, how happy grandparents were to see their grandchildren come.

And then he would add a corollary, and they're also equally happy to see them go. And the audience laughed, as you did, and I laughed too. Sound funny? But what it means, of course, once you experience that, you know what that signifies and what the significance of that is. But it's beautiful language. And may he be to you a restorer of life, you get a new lease on life when you see a brand-new grandchild, and a nourisher of your old age, it gives you nourishment, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons has borne him.

Sons then were more valuable than daughters, and if you had seven sons, you were wealthy. But they said this one daughter-in-law is better than seven sons. You talk about a good housekeeping seal of approval. The community thought very highly of this remarkable young lady. Better than seven sons. Well, then Naomi, the grandmother, took the child, laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. Come back to that in just a minute, because verse 17 is intriguing to me. Also, the neighbor women, so the neighborhood friends that Naomi had, they gave him a name saying, there is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obed, and who did Obed become?

The father of Jesse and the father of David. So this little guy was destined to become the grandfather of King David. That's amazing as you plot the significance of this. And how come the neighbor women got to choose the name? Usually the mother and father choose the name. We don't say, neighbors, could you help me choose a name for a child? But in this situation, it was a little bit different, and it's telling. But backing up just a little bit, Naomi took the child, laid him on her bosom, and she became a nurse to him.

What does that mean? What is it talking about? I'd like to cite National Geographic again, June 2022, and this is page 41. It's a two-page spread. You can't see it, but I'll hold it up in case you can. And there's no close-up on the camera, no numbers on the screen, nothing okay.

But it's a beautiful two-page spread, and it shows a young woman at a hospital in New Delhi in the Safdar Jung hospital, and she's holding two newborn children, that is twins, and she's holding them on her bosom, on her chest. They're not hers, they're her sister's. And she is convalescing or recuperating, and the auntie is holding them.

And this, according to this particular article, is described as kangaroo care, which may be a term familiar to you, or may not be familiar to you. It was not familiar to me. I think of kangaroos as marsupial, so I don't quite totally see the connection, but it's sort of a pouch. And what they are finding here, WHO has said, as they studied what's happening in the New Delhi hospital, several hospitals in Africa, that when a newborn arrives, the sooner it's given skin-to-skin contact with its mother or a surrogate, the longer it lives, the better it lives, the healthier it lives.

And if mom isn't available, a sister can do. Or someone else who can be skin-to-skin, they used to say, well, you should wait a couple of days till the baby stabilizes, and only for just a short time, they say, do it immediately these days, depending on the school of thought, and do it for hours and hours, because it strengthens an infant. WHO says that this were followed, it could save 150,000 lives a year, in particular with preemies.

There's that healing value and medically proven, according to National Geographic. We're thinking about, and that's exactly what we see here in this wonderful book of Ruth. Naomi took the child, laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. Let's switch gears here a little bit, brethren, and go to the Gospels, and read about some of the examples out of the life and times of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

And as you turn to Matthew 8, let me ask you, as you turn to Matthew 8, which will be our first scripture, how tactile was Jesus Christ of Nazareth? How tactile was our Savior, in terms of how He conducted His ministry? Did He touch others? Did He allow others to touch Him? Did He relate to others when He came to physical contact? We say of some people, well, they're touchy-feely, and by that we mean, well, they're excessively touchy-feely.

But what was Jesus like in that regard? Let's look over His shoulder, as it were, and see how He conducted Himself. Matthew 8, verse 1. Matthew chapter 8, verse 1. When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. Multitudes, most of us haven't had this problem, but people try really hard to become famous. They come really hard to become idols in Hollywood.

And then when they have a multitude in His following, they try to get rid of it, but they work really hard to get it, and then they try to be anonymous. He had great multitudes following Him. Multitudes wear a person down. Sometimes He needs you to get away, and even Jesus needed to get away occasionally. But nevertheless, behold, the leper came. And this leper was what we would call today marginalized.

He was not a part of mainstream society. Living as a leper then was very difficult. Behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean. This was a demonstration of faith by action. And then what did Jesus do? Jesus put out His hand and touched Him.

You weren't supposed to touch a leper. If you touched someone unclean, you became an unclean person. And then you had to go through all kinds of remedial action. Ordinarily, this would not be and should not be done. Jesus put out His hand, touched Him, saying, I am willing, be cleansed. And immediately His leprosy was cleansed. He was miraculously healed, astonishing, wonderful, breathtaking. And Jesus said to Him, See that you tell no one, but go your way. Show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them. This was no easy order because He had to travel to do this all the way to Jerusalem, pay for a sacrifice.

It took time and money. But let's look at just one more example in the same chapter by reading verses 14 and 15. Now, when Jesus had come into Peter's house, this will be familiar to us. He's visiting Peter by going to his home. What did he notice? He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. I find that intriguing because I think, well, people back then didn't get sick because they didn't have bad food, they exercised more, there was no carbon pollution, they didn't have any chemicals like we had on our...

But did you find there's a lot of sickness? Jesus healed a lot of people of a lot of maladies. She had a fever. He then went to touch her. We see verse 15, how did He handle her sickness? He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and served them. We don't know what part of the body Jesus touched when He healed the leper, but in this case, it gives us a detail that He touched her hand. Ordinarily, when I'm anointed, and occasionally I'm anointed as well, maybe you're anointed as well, maybe recently you were, and the minister will put a dab of oil on my forehead, and put his hands, the minister's will, on my forehead or head.

And in some instances, I've been healed immediately, in other instances a lot later, and in some instances, not at all, but it depends on the circumstances. In this case, He touched her hand and healed her. When you see someone who's sick, you go to the hospital, maybe it's a loved one, they're lying in bed, maybe they're in ER, maybe they're in life support, and you go see them.

Maybe this has happened to you recently. Instinctively, don't we, most of us, touch that person's hand, reach out and touch their hand, and hope that they can feel it, or touch their shoulder, or touch their arm, and make some kind of a physical connection with that individual. I remember visiting a lady in Calgary one year, she was a senior, and she had gone through some really tough times in her treatment.

She was getting radiation in early years of radiation, before it had been finely tuned, and they cooked some of the insides of her body, in the process of not protecting the extra radiation rays. And she wanted to have her feet rubbed. So, well, I can do that, and rub her feet, and then, you know, if a nurse comes in and says, what are you doing?

She asked me to, I'm sorry. But she found that her feet were hurting, and if you had your feet hurt, someone can rub them, and it takes away the pain, neuropathy, it may be, who knows what. But she found that of value. The photograph, I'll come back to this again, it's the power of touch, and the individual who is featured here, you can't see it, but there's a quote from her on the inside cover.

Davina James Stewart cuddles three-month-old daughter Harper, and she said, my life has been, I really like the way this is phrased, my life has been pockets of love, my life has been pockets of love, and touch is one way of passing the love along. A life has been pockets of love, and touch is one way of passing the love along. And sometimes you experience that, where somebody comes up to you and just puts their hand on your shoulder, and expresses their care and concern, affection for you. Mark chapter 10, looking at another example from the ministry of our Savior Jesus Christ, this is equally familiar, maybe a little bit more familiar to us.

Mark chapter 10 verse 13, where it says, then they brought little children to Him. I ask you the question, who's they? It doesn't say who, it says, then they, they brought little children to Him. I always wondered, who's the they? Maybe parents, maybe grandparents, guardians, let's say. Then they brought little children to Him, and there's an objective, that He might touch them.

It isn't that they came scampering in, playing hide and go seek, and tag, and knocked over a couple of their disciples, and then there's a swirl of debris, and then everything comes to a screeching halt like the little rascals. This is all done very carefully, there's planning, there's respect, there's courtesy. Then they brought not medium-sized children, not big children, little children to Him for an objective, that He might touch them.

But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. They interceded and said, do you have an appointment? He's a busy man. You can't just come in here unannounced like this. So they were interfering for Him, and we can understand that. But when Jesus saw it, He was what? Greatly displeased, greatly, not mildly, not moderately, greatly displeased. And He said to them, let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them, for such is the kingdom of God.

And it's in one of our hymnals, a song in one of our hymnals, beautiful, beautiful hymn in our hymnal. Verse 50, He goes on to say, here's our takeaway. Surely say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, a well-behaved, compliant, responsive little child, does not receive it as a little child will by no means enter it, and will stop at verse 16.

I love this verse. And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them. It's beautiful language. He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.

Jesus took time, unscheduled time to be with little children, and their parents, He lifted up these little kiddles, held them in His arms, laid hands on them, and of course blessed them as requested. He was comfortable with children, enough to cuddle them. I marvel at some individuals who are bachelors, who have never been with children much, maybe they didn't have siblings when they were growing up, and yet they can be comfortable with children, lift them, hold them, give them back, hold them, give them back.

Other times I've seen, well, this person doesn't have a lot of experience because they'll pick up a child and hold them arm's length. And just to be sure, nothing goes wrong, because you look at a factor that requires experience. But Jesus obviously was comfortable with children, spent time with children, enjoyed children, used them as a good example. I want to refer to one more example from National Geographic, and this has to do with a research project that went back to the 1950s, where psychologists were saying that children should not be mollycoddled.

You shouldn't spend too much time hugging children, holding children, caressing children, because this is going to make them soft. It's going to make them too dependent. So you should try to toughen them up a little bit, because that will be better for their development. A recent study in the 1950s, fairly recent, I suppose, by a certain professor or psychologist, Harry Harlow, he used rhesus monkeys, rhesus macaque monkeys, and he created for them two pseudo-mothers, one out of a sort of a cage, and he put two sources of milk on a somewhat looking like mother monkey, and then on another representation of a maternal figure for these baby monkeys, a board was sort of a face on the top of it, but the board was covered with terrycloth.

So terrycloth, pseudo-mom didn't give any milk. The cage mom gave milk. What did the babies do? They had to teach themselves how to nurse. They got some milk, and once they got some milk from the wire cage mom, they went to the terrycloth mom and held on to her and put their arms around her. How does a little monkey know to do that? It needs touch. It needs something pleasant to hold on to. One of my favorite sports coats, I haven't had one for years, was a corduroy coat, and you could feel the corduroy on it.

You had a corduroy garment, you'd think, oh, that has such a nice feel to it. There's something to be said about a garment that has some feel to it as you touch it. It's an amazing thing. Matthew 17. Jesus touched, held, and appreciated, and encouraged, and acknowledged little children. They could intrude. They didn't have to have a prior appointment. He valued them. He used them as a good example.

Matthew 17. Matthew 17, verses 1 through 8, please, brethren. Matthew 17, verses 1 through 8. Now, after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother, led them on a high mountain by themselves. This, according to some commentators, was on the slopes of Mount Herman. Mount Herman was 10,000 feet above sea level. So he took Peter, James, and John, his brother, led them up on a high mountain.

That's quite a bit of a hike. And here he was transformed before them. This was a stupendous experience. He was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun. His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them and talking with him. And I look at this and think, how did he know that they were Moses and Elijah? That is, those who were with him. How did Peter, James, and John know it was Moses and Elijah? They weren't wearing name tags, don't think.

They didn't have name tags with them. So I'm assuming they said, well, hi, Moses. Hi, Elijah. And they thus knew, okay, Jesus acknowledged them as Moses and Elijah. Therefore, it must be Moses and Elijah. Peter answered and said, Jesus, Lord, is it good for us to be here with you? Let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. I often wonder, why? Why did they offer to make three tabernacles at this particular time? One for Moses, one for Elijah, one for the Lord. One commentator says, could have been Feast of Tabernacle season.

Maybe it was Feast of Tabernacle season. And they thought, well, let's make tabernacles for everybody and see to it that we are seasonal. We are thematic. Now, while he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, and that voice said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased to hear him. And when the disciples heard it, how did they react? They fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. I find that's my best defense mechanism as well. Unconsciousness. In fact, faint.

The problem goes away. This was sensory overload. When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. And what did Jesus do? He didn't say, come on, fell a snap out of it. Jesus came and touched them and said, arise and do not be afraid. He reassured them. He touched them and he touched all of them. Did he do it sequentially? He doesn't say how he did it, but he touched them, to reassure them, to calm them down, to show them everything was fine.

Now, I must add as a corollary that not all touching is good, because if you're thinking in the back of your mind, wait a minute now. Not all touching is good, correct. Not all touching is good. And so we have to teach our children the difference between good touching and bad touching and in between touching even, because in this day and age, it's an evil world. And what did not used to happen at one time does happen today.

So not all touching is good. I agree with you and we have to be sure that we street-proof our children accordingly. Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. Leave the gospels and look at the early New Testament church and see how they functioned. Acts 20 is a very touching account because it describes the elders' conference where the Ephesian elders were summoned to a minister's conference, almost at what seems to be an impromptu minister's conference. And then it concludes. And we'll read about the conclusion in chapter 20, verse 36. And when he had said these things, after he had discussed all these important elements of the church with them covered in chapter 20, what did he do?

What did they do? He knelt down and prayed with them all. Ordinarily, we don't kneel down in public. When we pray, as we will later today, to conclude, we'll stand, we'll bow our heads. And at home, when we ask the blessing on the meal, we'll be sitting down, we'll bow our heads. And rarely do we kneel down unless it's in private. I will mention that in a few of the council voter meetings when I served on the council of elders for a number of years, when circumstances became very serious.

I remember Robin Weber, who was chairman in those days, would ask us sitting around the boardroom table at the Cincinnati office, okay, gentlemen, let's pull our chairs back and let's kneel down on the floor and pray about this. Ordinarily, we would pray sitting down or standing up.

But in this instance, a time or two, we actually kneel down and prayed because the situation was so severe or serious. So in this case, they kneel down together. Then they all wept freely, they'll back up. And when he said these things, he knelt down and he prayed with them all. And what did they do? Those who were with him, then they all wept with great restraint.

They wept freely, different culture, different time. They didn't hold back. And sometimes you can't hold back. I have memories of the Feast of Tabernacles, 1966, Squaw Valley. The feast concludes, as we say, and God be with you till we meet again. And people are crying freely because we didn't know how many of us would be back the following year. And we had far to go distances to drive.

People cried freely in those days. They all wept freely. And what else did they do? They fell on Paul's neck and kissed him. So a lot of affection, touching, transference of their feelings for one another, sorrowing, most of all, for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship. They didn't say goodbye. They went to the dock with him.

When my mother would have visitors come to our home and I was a kid growing up and somebody came from our hometown, which was maybe 500 people, she never said goodbye at the front door or back door. She always walked them halfway back to where they lived. Or at least part of the way back. And they'd say, okay, goodbye.

And that was just a custom or a practice. Mr. Sakeley, Mario Sakeley, many of you know who he is, describes how when he and his wife moved away from Santiago de Chile to California, half the church showed up to say goodbye at the airport. Half the congregation, of course, most of them were relatives, he said. But in any case, all these people showed up at the airport in order to say goodbye. Because it's difficult to say goodbye under those circumstances, particularly if you think we'll not see each other again, not in this lifetime. Because that's what they thought. And they accompanied him to the ship. Verse 1 of chapter 21.

Now it came to pass that when we had departed from them and set sail, running a straight course, we came to cause the following day to Rhodes and from there to Patara. A footnote in New King James Study Bible for departed says, it could also be rendered, instead of just the term that they departed from them. Paul departed from them could also be rendered after tearing ourselves away from them. Tearing ourselves away. Haven't you had that experience sometimes? You're having to say goodbye to your mom or dad or a close relative.

They have their arms around your neck and you say you're trying to loosen their arms from around your neck, saying I have to go on this, the plane, I miss the bus. I have to say goodbye. And my father in law used to say, who attended here as we would leave. And he wasn't sure how long we would be before we came again. He would say, this is an expression for this part of the country.

I'm sure I wish you could stay longer. Instead of, well, I thought you'd never leave. I wish you could stay longer would be an expression that he would use instead of please, please, please don't go. Remember, remember Virginia Satir. Does that name mean anything to you? She was a famed family therapist on the university level in both the United States and Alberta at the University of Calgary.

She has written a number of books like People Making and a few others in which she gauges the importance and value of hugging. And she has the following formula. And I'm not sure if it's verifiable, but she says when it comes to thriving and being in good health psychologically, we need four hugs a day for survival. So count them. Did I get my hug today from your spouse or your closest?

Four hugs a day just for survival. And you need eight hugs a day for maintenance. So just for maintenance, you have to have eight hugs a day and for growth, 12 hugs a day. Now, where can you prove that? I have no idea. Four hugs a day for survival, eight hugs a day for maintenance, 12 hugs a day for growth. If your spouse hugs you a lot, do you say to your parents and your youngster, do you say, okay, I'm not already.

That's eight. I don't need any more than eight. Well, you've got to have 12. Okay. We don't get tired of that kind of demonstration of affection and reinforcement of our care for one another. Four hugs a day for survival, eight hugs a day for maintenance, 12 hugs a day for growth, according to Virginia Satir.

First Corinthians 16. We're on our home stretch for this afternoon's sermon. I see that you're all very alert, not sleepy, very much in some instances. And so, well, I'll keep my end of the bargain too here. First Corinthians, Chapter 16. This is familiar to us. First Corinthians, Chapter 16. And let's start reading in Verse 19. The churches of Asia greet you. Possibly the seven churches described in Revelation 2 and 3.

We know them. We have them memorized probably. They could go rattle through them. The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord with a church that is in their house. They had a church in their house, a house church. It's called, and some of you may be similarly hosting a house church where you are, where maybe every second Sabbath or once a Sabbath per month. Once a Sabbath per month, the congregation is tiny enough or small enough where your house is large enough that they meet in your home.

So the churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily, not casually or indifferently, heartily in the Lord with the church that is in their house. And all the brethren greet you. As brethren, genuine brethren, if we find out someone is from somewhere, we'll say, please say hi to people over there from all of us over here.

We do say greetings to each other often, regularly, invariably, really. Now greet one another, it says here, how? With a holy kiss. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I can tell you a story of a senior some years ago in the Monroe, it could have been Jackson, Mississippi.

I think it was the Monroe congregation in which a senior lady said, and she was engaged to a senior gentleman, that the gentleman wanted to kiss her. And she said, no, we're not married yet. And then he quoted the scripture and she said, I don't think that applies. And so she asked, does it apply? Greet one another with a holy kiss. And I said, well, I think he has something more romantic in mind actually.

So we discounted that application of scripture. But eventually they got married and then that was not applicable as much.

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

Not a romantic kiss or a casual kiss. This was supposed to be a genuinely holy greeting. And today we would apply it to greet one another with a holy handshake or a holy hug or a holy fist bump.

Christians in the early New Testament church greeted fellow Christians with a kiss on the cheek.

And some cultures do that more than others. Some cultures have a kiss on both cheeks.

Italians, Russians and others kiss on both cheeks. And for Russians, it's men.

So that is permissible and beneficial depending on culture and comfort level. Because some people don't want to be kissed on the cheek unless they're Italian. Are you Italian or you're Russian? But it's a matter of then gauging comfort level and propriety. We cannot use this as a license to miscue. And it's something that we can if we're not careful. First Peter chapter five.

First Peter chapter five, something similar but slightly different. And it reinforces the point, as you will see. First Peter chapter five, we'll start reading in verse 13.

First Peter chapter five, verse 13. She, first Peter chapter five verse 13. She and she is a reference to a local congregation. He's using cryptic language, code words as it were. She who was in Babylon. Could have been the literal Babylon, could have been Rome. But he's doing this to defeat Roman censors.

She who was in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you. The whole congregation saying hello, as does Mark my son. Then he adds, greet one another with a kiss of love. Instead of a holy kiss, it says to modify her, a kiss of love. So a kiss exchange then today and equivalent is not just a holy kiss, it's a kiss of love. It's a nagape, a God level type of expression of affection and appreciation and consideration.

I had an experience I wanted to share with you and some of you have had a similar experience of being at my mother's funeral.

She died at age 68. I was 30 years old at that time. So it was my spouse. We had gone to the funeral. It was in December in Saskatchewan, very cold. The burial still occurred. And I remember she was 68. I've lived here now by eight years, seven years. And she seemed very old to me then at age 68, but I was 30. And nevertheless, she was my first parent to die. My father was still alive and present. But being at the cemetery and the service had been conducted in the chapel and the burial or committal was about to take place. And her sisters were there who were still alive. And she came from a family of six sisters and three brothers. And I saw them sequentially give in to age and illness until the numbers got smaller and smaller. And felt when her sister, one of my aunts, came up to me and I'm standing by the casket. And by this time I've done quite a few funerals, but it was still difficult to lose my own parent, more difficult than I thought it would be. You can't practice for things like this. It still comes and catches you by surprise when it's your own turn. And my aunt came, my mother's sister, and put her arms around me and hugged me and gave me a kiss. And I found an infusion of strength from that. That it made a whole lot of difference to me to receive that from my aunt. And I remember my mother saying to me when I was considerably younger, hadn't left home yet, when I was talking about her sisters. And she said, one day when I'm deceased and some of my sisters are still alive, you will see what a difference it will make to have that connection still.

And how true it is. And I felt that charge, as it were. I don't think it's a superstitious feeling I had, but real strengthening I received on that day so many years ago now. Revelation chapter one, pardon me. Revelation chapter one. Here's a scripture that is a little less well known, but highly meaningful, I think. And in some ways jumps off the pages for us. Revelation chapter one, and we'll start reading in verse twelve. Then I turned to see the voice. Says here, then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned, I saw something dramatic, something astonishing. Having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the son of man clothed with the garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. So here was Jesus the Christ in heaven above wearing the attire of a high priest. And his head and hair were white like wool and his eyes were like a flame of fire. His eyes were like laser beams. A stunning appearance that he witnessed firsthand. In his feet, his feet were like fine brass, refined in a furnace. And his voice is the sound of Niagara Falls, many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth a sharp two edged sword. And his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when he appeared to the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, the awarding bears, he was even brighter than the sun at noonday. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. Good defensive posture to take. I can think, I can practice that. He can hold me in good stead. I fell at his feet as dead. An amazing thing of what happened. And then what happened? But he laid his right hand on me. I love that. He laid his right hand on me saying to me, do not be afraid. I am the first and I am the last. That's meaningful in its own way. As we come to understand the significance of that, he laid his right hand on me to reassure and to strengthen. I received the following letter from a church member back in 1992. It's written in her own hand. And I want to share this with you. For seven years, she wrote then, for seven years after breaking my neck, I had pain a lot of the time. There were blinding headaches. In the time such acute pain in other parts of my body, it made me vomit. You may have been that sick where the pain is so severe that you actually throw up. It has that effect on the body. And the body is trying to help itself in that way.

Sometimes I was confined to my reclining chair for two or three or four days at a time. That's the only way she found some solace. Seven years to the month later, I was told by a noted neurosurgeon that these... I was told by the noted neurosurgeon that there was nothing he or any doctor could do for me. I was beyond help. You have to learn. You've heard this. You have to learn to live with it. We can't do anything for you. We've tried everything there is. You have to learn to live with it. That's all we can. Those days later, I had a terrible day. I took several pain pills and was still as uncomfortable as ever. So I took a sleeping pill and finally was sleeping well. When I woke up the next morning, I felt better than I had for months. Days, then weeks went by and I was free from pain, free from pain entirely, gradually dawned on me that God had answered all of the prayers that had been offered up for me by myself, by my family, and by my spiritual family. During those years of suffering, intense suffering, I learned a lot about faith, patience, the care of most people. I also learned to end my prayers with, not my will, but thine be done. And I found that when I was ready to go to sleep, I found that when it was bedtime, I got a lot more rest if I talked to God as if He were my physical father.

And I asked Him to let me sit at His feet and to put His hand on my head as I talked. And when I did that, I could actually feel His presence.

And then I would talk to Him about whatever was on my mind, whatever I was concerned with. I still do this because I don't have nightmares, which I had ever since I was a child and they're gone. I think it must be because God wants us to need Him to be the first and the last in our thoughts every single day. So I have tried that. I find that it works, asking God, please, because of my circumstances which are severe, and I'm very, very affected by, please put your hand, as it were, on my shoulder. Put your hand on my head so I can feel your closeness and your presence. And do that for all of your people who right now are going through difficult circumstances, life-threatening circumstances. Enable them to feel your closeness, although He is not far from any one of us, itself, elsewhere. And it has made a difference for me. I copied it from her. You know that she is the one who provided it as something that worked for her. I've tried it and I find it works as well for others, I being one of them. We have here a marvelous opportunity to implement the power and the place of Godly touch. It's a gift God has given to us to grow our relationship with Him and with one another, not just during the feast, but all year round.