You know I really wanted to subtitle this "God's Man With Us", but since I've been using the letter "p" all week I thought it would be better to hold to the alliteration we started with... and, as in the case of the judge Deborah, sometimes God chooses a woman to lead... so here we are, considering the idea of the laying on of hands as evidence of God's person with us.
At the end of the sermon we were reminded of the use of the laying on of hands as God's way of designating leadership, especially in the process of choosing a successor or demonstrating a key mentoring relationship. Pastor Sam spoke of God's selection and God's sufficiency evidenced in two successions: Moses to Joshua, and Paul to Timothy.
God's selection. God instructed Moses to publicly lay his hands on Joshua in the presence of all the people: to identify Joshua as his successor, and also to impart a measure of authority from himself to Joshua (see Numbers 27:18-23).
God's sufficiency. Paul mentions his laying on of hands as not merely an indicator of God's choosing Timothy, but also speaks of the laying on of hands in context with the resultant spirit that Paul imparted to Timothy: "... I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" (First Timothy 1:6-7, italics mine). Here again we see the implication of God being, as Pastor Sam said, "uniquely present" when there are at least two persons gathered in God's name.
In both these points I've used the word "impart", which to my recollection was not a word used in Sunday's sermon. And I think we might benefit from a deeper dive into the concept and process of impartation, but I really am reluctant to jump into that sort of a conversation because it hits too close to home for me. I'll be honest- I want it, I want to know what it feels like, but then I think of how toddlers reach for a hot stove not realizing the danger in their desire. So I'm not going into any deep water this time. However, if one of you pastors out there wants to be a guest blogger and take us, as my husband would say, "to the bottom of the ocean", please feel free!
Okay. Since I'm avoiding the ocean, here's my little comment from the shore. Impartation seems to be a distinct function of the laying on of hands. It occurs in the presence of the community, but the impartation is not for the community- it's for the individual whom God has chosen as successor: for him or her to be specially gifted and equipped/authorized by God, to carry on a work that was begun by someone else. It also seems, based on our two examples, that impartation is a means by which leaders obtain the courage necessary to carry out their assignment.
So, there we have it! I hope that you've enjoyed this week's reflections on a fascinating "basic" of our faith.
Tomorrow I'll share a testimony of my experience with the laying on hands.
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