I have a New Testament story for you today from the book of Matthew, chapter eight, the first three verses. This text describes Jesus on one of His travels. And remember, when Jesus travels He's not alone. There is a huge crowd with Him. There are people to do the cooking, the carrying, the worrying and community relations. There's a pile of journalists and news photographers. It's a busy crowd.

"When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him, and a man with leprosy came and knelt before him."

Get this picture. This is a man who is terminally ill with leprosy. The law demands that he live in the mountains and that whenever he sees other people, he shout, "Unclean!" so that nobody will come close and catch leprosy from him. That's what they believed was possible. Instead, this fellow covers his head with a cloth and manages to get into the middle of the crowd, right to Jesus' feet. Then, all of a sudden, he uncovers his head and everybody shouts, "Ah! Unclean!" as they run away in terror. They don't want to be anywhere close to this guy.

But Jesus stands still. Fearless. The man looks up to Him, and says, "Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean."

Now, this quiet conversation happens while everybody around is shouting, "Unclean! Get away! Jesus, watch out!"

You see, if you touch an unclean leper, you also become unclean. Everyone is warning Jesus of the danger. Does Jesus say, "Take two steps back and, alright, I'm willing. You can go ahead and be clean now," and then hug him after he is heaqled?

No. In fact, one of the most wonderful things I know about God is that He hugs us when we are still unclean—His enemies. Jesus simply reached out his hand and touched the man. He didn't heal him and then touch him. He touched him while he was unclean, and then He said, "I'm willing. Be clean!"

Everybody around began to cheer, for the unclean had obviously become clean, whole, healthy, complete.

What I love best about that story is that Jesus reached out to touch the leper and changed his life simply with His touch of acceptance and love. I love a God who has a "long arm of love."

One of my favorite hats is an ugly 25-yr-old hunk of leather. I bought it from Scott Blum, a student at the Christian college where I was teaching. One day he came into my office and said, "Dick, I want to sell you my hat." It was Scott's favorite hand-made hat.

"What are you going to do with the money?" I asked

"I'm going to go as a missionary to Ethiopia, and I'm collecting dollars to do make it possible for me to go."

Of course, I paid him a more than ten bucks for the hat.

Over the years, Brenda and I have enjoyed a friendship with Scott and his wife, Cathy. Scott is an automobile mechanic. Cathy is a nurse. They've served God in Ethiopia, in Chad and in Kenya, each time reaching out and touching the lives of others with their abilities as medical workers and with Scott's unique ability to fix anything that has a motor.

Scott's hat hangs in my study, a reminder that my job is to reach out and touch with acceptance, with love, with admiration, with talent and with friendship. Scott and Cathy have been good examples for our family, and I hope their lives inspire you also.

Every day I pray that our lives will be ones where our hands are always reaching out to touch others with acceptance and love. No, our touches cannot heal of leprosy, but they go a long way toward giving others courage, energy and hope each day. Like Jesus, you and I can be known as the ones "with the long arms of love."

—Dick Duerksen