I don’t know of anyone who does not have a scar on their body. Somewhere and at sometime we received our initiation. For some, it was more painful than others. But for all of us, we can vividly remember the time, the place, and the event in which we received our distinguished honor, at least most of them. For me, and perhaps like most of you, I received many of my scars when I was a child. Here are a few of them:

• When I was very little, I had a hernia operation. I was too young to remember it but I know it happened because I can see the scar.

• When I was a little older, I had another hernia operation and this one I remember because I walked around my neighborhood, pulled open my shorts and showed all of my friends. I thought it would be cool to show the scar and the stitches. My mom promptly halted my new profession of “flashing”.

• I grew up in a neighborhood where all of the front yards connected. There were no fences or other barriers and it made it easy for us to play football. One day, in particular, I remember running with the football and getting tackled on the neighbor’s front steps. I screamed out in pain when my shin hit the corner of the bottom step, leaving me with a huge gash and a ton of blood. To this day, I can still see the scar.

• Finally, my friend Wayne and I thought it would be fun to chase my little brother around the neighborhood with darts. REAL darts. We had decided that shooting each other with BB guns was for wimps and therefore, we looked for something more extreme. So, we chased my brother and threw darts at him. One time, however, as he raised his head up from behind some steps, the dart got stuck in his head. For a split second, there was silence, until the blood began to flow. I vividly remember my brother running and screaming back to our house. Let’s just say that my mom decided to place a scar on my rear end.

Jesus has scars, and like mine and yours, they tell a story. He can tell you what it felt like to be led to the whipping post and to have His back ripped open in the most gruesome of ways. Each lash, 39 in all, were for you and for me. The “cat of nine tails” was a devastating device that left life-long scars in his physical body. The crown of thorns that was embedded into His head left some scars. The sword pierced His side. The nails were driven into His feet and into His hands. They all left scars. He did it all for you and for me.  We typically don’t talk about this until around Easter season but it should be something that we remember all year-long.

We not only have physical scars but we have emotional scars as well. And most times, the emotional scars are far more painful than the physical ones. Just as Jesus endured the pain of the physical scars for you and for me, I believe that God allows us to endure the pain of some emotional scars so that we too can help bring healing and everlasting life to those around us. We have endured the scars of divorce, depression, disappointment, and death, the scars of infidelity, abuse, neglect, and family, and the scars of addiction.

Thomas, the doubting one, had to touch the scars on Jesus in order to believe. We need to touch those around us and allow them to touch us. So many people need to see the healing power of Jesus and they need to see it in us. Sitting beside you in church, at work, on the bus, on the subway, in your carpool, and even in your home, are those who need to see and to hear about the scars you have endured and to know that there is hope in the midst of the pain. God will give you the time, the place, the strength, and the courage to do it!

And by the way, keep your shorts on and don’t throw darts!