No Hands but Ours 3 - The Hands and Feet That Bear Scars

For the third blog in our series leading up to the SCM Autumn Gathering, 'No Hands but Ours', SCM Glasgow member Debbie White explores the sacrificial nature of discipleship:

'No hands, no feet on earth but yours’

The first thing that comes into my mind when I read this line is the scene, shortly after the resurrection of Jesus when he appears to Thomas for the first time. Jesus shows him the scars on his hands, where the nails held him to the cross.

We often say that we want to follow the example set by Jesus of caring for the poor, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and so on. This prayer of St Teresa of Avila expresses this beautifully. What we often forget, or choose to ignore, is that selfless action comes at a cost. Living in Britain, we can assume that we won’t be crucified for standing up for the rights of the oppressed, but self sacrifice is a huge part of what this prayer calls us to do. This doesn’t mean that we can never do anything for ourselves, or that we should feel guilty for indulging in a large bar of chocolate or spending time with friends, but that in order to make a real difference to the world, in order to truly be Christ’s body, hands and feet, we must be prepared to walk into uncomfortable situations. All too often it’s easy for us to occasionally donate the spare change in our pockets to charity, or to sponsor a friend to run a marathon, or even undertake some sort of challenge ourselves, but then, once that is done, our ‘good deed’ quota for the day, or week, or month, or year is complete, and we can sit back down, feeling better about ourselves for having made an effort and then forget about it, until the next time we feel inspired to do a little something.

Of course, every little helps, to steal the Tesco mantra, and I’m not for a moment suggesting that we shouldn’t be doing these small things, or even implying that I do any more than that. I’m merely challenging us all, as Jesus challenges us, and as St Teresa challenges us, to think more deeply about the way we live, and to be prepared to do those things that make us uncomfortable or cause pain to ourselves, in order to make the world that little bit better for its inhabitants, present and future.

If we want to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world, we need to remember that those hands and those feet bear scars. The scars of the crucifixion and the scars of a life lived for others. It’s not easy to fight for change, just look at the hundreds of political prisoners around the world, or those injured or killed while pushing for regime change in the Middle East. Being Christ’s hands and feet, we will undoubtedly gain our own scars in some way, but to be truly committed to bringing about change, we need to be prepared to take up these crosses.

You can book your place at our 'No Hands but Ours' event here