It isn’t just a handshake.

“I really like the church.  I like traditional worship and the pastor had a firm handshake.”   What a strange combination of comments from the visitor card.  Well, maybe not the first two items.  After all, it is a pretty church.  Our building committee did a great job of remodeling it.  If that visitor was referring to the people, then again I’m not surprised by that comment.  Ascension is a very welcoming and friendly group of people, and they are genuinely happy when we have new faces in worship.  The traditional worship comment is not entirely unexpected because, well, that is what we aim for.  That’s not to say we don’t have variety in our orders of service and in our music, but that variety takes place in the context of worship that is strong on substance:  confession and absolution, songs and hymns with content, a strong emphasis on the proclamation of the Word, etc.

It’s that “firm handshake” thing that just seemed to stand out.  It got me thinking, what did that young man take away from that handshake that seemed worth mentioning?  Maybe the answer to that lies in what I learned about shaking hands growing up in a tight-knit farming community right here in Michigan.  Stay with me here...

As a farmer’s son I was often along with Dad when he was out making arrangements for things with neighboring farmers.  For example, when it was getting close to harvest time we would go see Mr. Spaeth who owned a combine.  An agreement would be reached between the two men about when he would bring in the harvest and for how much.  Tattered pocket calendars would appear from overall pockets and the dates would be written in.  Then came the handshake.  Two honest men looking each in the eye and shaking on the agreement.  No formal contract needed.  They shook hands in a way that said they both meant what they said, they each bound themselves to the other by their word and their integrity to keep the agreement they’d made.  I saw that at the John Deere dealer, the feed mill, at Farm Bureau meetings and at the hardware store.  There was integrity, commitment, and geniality in that handshake. 

It must have left a lasting impression.  When I was pastoring a large urban church years ago, I had a seasoned citizen (also of farm stock) tell me that he appreciated my handshake as we greeted one another after worship because, as he put it, “You shake hands like you mean it.”  I hope that’s what our young visitor sensed in it the other day.   If so, he got it right.  I was glad to meet him and glad that he was there to hear the gospel of his Savior and mine.

Meaning what you say and letting your word be your bond is a very Biblical concept.  In his Sermon on the Mount, as Jesus was explaining to his disciples what it means to be his disciple, he said this:  “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”   (Matthew 5:37)  That’s the kind of disciple Jesus has called us to be in the world:  honest and clear.  Keep your word.  Act with integrity and honor.  Do that in the small every day stuff, in business dealings, on the golf course, at school, and everywhere.  Do it in the really big and important stuff.  Do it because it’s right and because it honors Jesus.  But do it mindful that that integrity will really matter when we look the world in the eye and tell them honestly and clearly that sin damns us all.  And it will matter when tell them that Jesus redeemed us all with his suffering and death. So engage with the people in your world.  Look them in the eye.  Shake hands like you mean it.  It really is more than just a handshake.