Today's passage is Acts19:8-20. Paul opened his own school of theology and taught for two years. During his time in Ephesus, God did many miracles through him. Handkerchiefs that touched him were used to heal the sick and drive out evil spirits. So effective was his ministry of exorcism that even non-believers used the name of Jesus to drive out spirits but because of their unbelief the spirits sometimes attacked them. As these things became known, God's name rose in esteem. Believers openly confessed their sins. Ex-sorcerers converted and burned their books of sorcery, which furthered spread the good news and increased the number of believers.
God used Paul as his own handkerchief. Through Paul's teaching, through his exorcism, through his baptism of the Holy Spirit, through his prayers and laying on of hands, God spread this message of hope and salvation.
And because people saw God's special anointing of Paul, they touched him with handkerchiefs to bring God's healing to others.
It may seem a little superstitious but it's a first step for new believers.
When Paul leaves Ephesus, the people will have to do it on their own with God's help, just as Paul did.
They themselves had to become the handkerchiefs.
That's my role too. I am a handkerchief of God. So, how have I been one?
I visited my sick mother at Christmas and helped massage her ailing body and pray for her. Her health improved.
Last Friday, I spent three hours in traffic going to visit friend in the mental hospital.
He needed to sign a paper agreeing to his medical care for another six months or else he could not stay.
His wife is in a nursing home down south, his sister in law is in the hospital with a serious condition, and his son is in Germany.
Because I had cared for him before, I was the only one to go persuade him to sign the paper. It took an hour.
In the end I had to print his name so he could see it and sign below it.
There is a lesson in that which I am still meditating on.
Yesterday my wife and I visited his sister in law in the hospital and prayed for her.
I held her hand and prayed.
No instant healing for her but, surprisingly, I felt like I'd received a healing.
On Monday, I talked to my problem teacher.
I prayed beforehand, referring to that day's QT passage.
I had made notes to refer to during our conversation, but I had no deep trust in them.
My prayer was for the Holy Spirit to guide my words, my questions and the direction of our talk.
And, praise God, he did!
I finally learned more about the teacher.
When I said that I could see his suffering, he confessed his struggle and hardship at my school.
He told me his story of how God had called him to be a teacher and about his previous teaching experience.
I gave him an unvarnished picture of how he had failed to teach at my school.
Then I shared my story of teaching failure and hardship, some of which I'd shared with him last year.
I told him that suffering was the blessing and we needed to praise God in that suffering and look for what the Lord was telling us.
He confessed that he hadn't been himself since coming to my school and his friends and sister had repeatedly commented on it.
Then I held his hand and we prayed for God's mercy and healing and guidance.
Our talk and prayer confirmed for him the decision he had been struggling towards for a long time, which is to leave my school.
He confessed that he had come for the wrong reasons but couldn't admit it until that moment.
Because his face brightened, his eyes cleared and he stood straighter, I knew a healing had occurred.
He had decided to take the scary step of trusting in God again, which he had not been doing for many years.
Lord, let me be your handkerchief to others, to bring the good news of listening, of prayer, of touching hands, of the hope in your promises to us. Let me not neglect your care for others but always to be willing to go with your Word.
