Practice 11 of 13
Care for the sick and lonely
Show up.
Key points
- The practice: Show up.
- Try this week: Visit, call or text someone who is sick, grieving or alone this week.
- The good news: Jesus came close to the sick and the lonely, and he comes close to you on your hardest days.
What Jesus did and taught
The touch
A man with a skin disease comes to Jesus. By law, nobody is allowed to touch him. He may not have been touched in years.
He says, “If you want to, you can make me clean.”
Jesus reaches out and touches him.
“I want to. Be made clean.”
Mark 1:41
Find it: Mark 1:40–42
Read Mark 1:40–42
40 A leper came to him, begging him, kneeling down to him, and saying to him, “If you want to, you can make me clean.” 41 Being moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him, “I want to. Be made clean.” 42 When he had said this, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean.
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
Why it matters
Jesus went toward the people others avoided.
Being sick or alone often means being forgotten. Showing up says you’re not.
Try this week
Visit, call or text someone who is sick, grieving or alone this week.
Low-energy week? Send one “thinking of you” message.
A question to carry
Who hasn’t heard from anyone in a while?
With kids
Make a card together for someone who is sick or lonely.
A story to step inside, on FablePixels
Go deeper
The good news
Jesus came close to the sick and the lonely, and he comes close to you on your hardest days.
You don’t earn anything by doing this practice. Why it starts with grace