Lame Beggars—Ac 3:11-19

Peter and John, still in Jerusalem after the Resurrection, go to the Temple.  They are being watched, certainly—all the key disciples are.  Why are Peter and John going?  Wouldn’t it be better to stay away?  Probably, but the apostles remember Jesus.  Jesus, who was killed and who rose again, went to the Temple, his Father’s house, the house of prayer.  There was risk for Jesus: he could have stayed away.  It would have been better for him if he had, by any worldly measure.  But Jesus did not measure himself by worldly standards or the ways of this world.  His disciples saw that, and now, encouraged, emboldened, strengthened by what they saw on the day of Christ’s resurrection, the disciples start to act.

Peter and John go to the Temple.  If you’re going to speak a message about faith to people who value faith, the Temple is probably a good place to do that.

Peter and John are going to pray, certainly, and they are also going in the expectation that God will show them something He wants them to do.  They step out in the expectation that God will show them an opportunity to serve, to proclaim, to share Jesus.  Those two apostles have no idea what that opportunity will be.  They just go out, in faith, believing that God will show them.

There is a beggar, a lame beggar, sitting outside.  He doesn’t go into the Temple.  He’s blemished, in that he’s lame; he’s blemished, in that he’s a beggar: he can’t bring any offering.  Whatever little money he may be given goes to get a little food.  The beggars in Houston and in Austin beg, too: “Anything helps, God bless” is the standard floppy cardboard slogan.  Giving these wrecked people money is a very bad idea.  I’ve seen far too many empty beer cans and empty bottles of cheap wine around their urban sprawl to have any inclination to give such people money.  Should you give something, then?  Yes, certainly: have bottles of water with you, or gift certificates to Subway, or clean socks.  If anything helps, then it doesn’t need to be money.

Peter and John are not wealthy men.  They aren’t even holding their own, financially.  Most people going into the Temple don’t notice the beggar.  Some pretend not to notice; I know how that looks and goes.  Others really do not see him, if you can imagine that.  He’s really invisible to them, not on their radar; I’ve seen that, too, in places like New York.  Peter and John don’t pretend not to notice the man.  “They looked straight at him” (3:4).  Peter even tells the beggar, “Look at us!” (3:4).  Now, to be noticed is, potentially, a beginning of hope.  People who have no hope live believing that no one notices them; that it wouldn’t matter if they died.  No one cares, no one would notice.  What a way to live!  Peter has just let this lame beggar know in no uncertain terms that he has been noticed.

Peter says to the man, “I have no money at all”—I told you, they are not wealthy, not even getting by—“but I give you what I have”—the lame beggar can see that Peter and John aren’t carrying bread, or meat, or cheese, or wine or even water, so if they have none of those, and if they have no money, what do they have?  What could these two strangers possibly have to give him?  How could anything they might have to give him be of any real help to him, any real use?

“[I]n the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I order you to get up and walk!” (3:6).  And he does.  Now, he isn’t restored entirely, all at once.  Peter and John lead him into the Temple, and the man holds on to Peter and John, but he is walking, even trying some jumping, wondering at the new strength in his feet and ankles.  His feet are working.  He can walk with confidence and hope now.  Physically, he is restored, but he’s not restored entirely.  It’s not just physical restoration he needs.  That formerly lame beggar needs mental restoration, emotional restoration, spiritual restoration.  He needs to be restored to a caring community.  He has experienced the power of Jesus, touching his life.  Now he needs a place where he can find out more, where he can be surrounded with support as he tries to find out more.  He needs a church.

Everybody needs church.  Where is everybody?  Everybody needs what church is really all about.  What is church really all about?  The people?  They are part of what church is really all about.  The support?  That is part of what church is really about.  A place to find out more?  This is part of what church is really about.  That formerly lame beggar himself shows us what church is really all about, as Peter and John walk with him into the Temple: that man was “praising God” (3:8).

Church is really about people supporting one another as everyone finds out more, all while praising God.  Church is really about praising God.  What reason do we have for that?  You tell me.  Better, tell one another.  Better yet, tell people who aren’t here: tell them what reason you have for praising God.

The truth of the matter is that each of us is that lame beggar.  At some point, someone, the Holy Spirit, came to each of us and said “I have no money at all”—I mean, how much cash do you think the Spirit has on Him?—“but I give you what I have,” and what the Spirit has is the power of restoration, the power of soul health, the power to bring Jesus into a life, into a situation, into hopelessness.  The power of the Spirit is redemption power, transformation power.  Jesus has that power and Jesus is that power.  Is there power in the name of Jesus; is there power in the blood?  You bet—you bet your life!

And now a very interesting thing happens in the Temple.  People start crowding around.  People start gathering.  They have heard something has just happened, something is happening.  Is something happening here, beloved?  Is something happening at Bethel?  You tell me.  Better, tell each other.  Better still, tell people who aren’t here, but who could be.  Where is everybody?

Think about this, too.  This restoration, this healing, the praising God, did not happen because of the Temple.  It wasn’t about the location, the building.  The action isn’t there.  The Temple, after all, is where Jesus had been rejected by the religious elite, those who thought they knew all about God, those who were very sure that what God was doing and what God was all about was the very thing the religious elite was doing, they very things the religious elite were all about.

The action, sisters and brothers, is really happening where the name of Jesus is being proclaimed, the apostles’ word, the Word of God.  I’ve been to churches where things were proclaimed, so kindly, but what was being proclaimed wasn’t the name of Jesus.  I always left sad and confused, feeling a little aimless and depressed.

Jesus’ witness Peter speaks to these people who have witnessed this act of power.  He explains to these witnesses what it is they have just witnessed.  It isn’t any power of Peter or John.  You and I, we don’t have power.  We are powerless; that doesn’t sound so encouraging, but we have to get to reality before we can find real encouragement and real hope.  It’s not what we are doing for God or on behalf of God, as though God couldn’t act for Himself.  It’s not we who self-generate power and then we who choose to put that self-generated power into service for God.  It is God who acts, through us.  God’s power.  God’s choice.  God is using us for His purposes.  His main purpose for us is to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ.  That name heals.  That name restores.  That name brings hope, gives hope.  You are living proof, living testimony of all this.

Peter is very clear—what you all have just seen does not come from us, by any virtue or holiness unique to us.  What you have just seen and now know to be true, you who do not trust in Jesus Christ, you who reject Jesus Christ, you who preferred that the authorities free a convicted, condemned murderer rather than set Jesus free—the power of God in Jesus Christ is what you have just seen happen and now know to be true.

What God promised long ago, God is now fulfilling.  God “has given divine glory to His Servant Jesus” (3:13).  Beloved, it is good to hold onto promises, to treasure them among our most valuable possessions.  God has made some staggering promises to those who have faith in Jesus Christ.  And as we have faith in Jesus Christ, we are also experiencing the fulfillment, in our own lives, of promises God has made.  If the promises we cherish are so very valuable, how much more the promises we are seeing fulfilled!

All those gathered people to whom Peter is speaking had a part in killing Jesus.  Those who have no faith in Jesus put him to death.  For those without faith, it is as if Jesus is dead.  How can Jesus be living to someone who does not believe?

Peter tells them, “You killed the one who leads to life” (3:15).  Because you did not believe he is the one who leads to life.  Because you did not want to be lead to life: not that life, anyway.  Because you wanted something else, another way, your own way.  Peter adds, “but God raised him from death” (3:15).  This affirms God’s way.  This affirms that God’s way is Jesus Christ.  This affirms that God’s Yes! overrules your No!  I think that’s Good News, because there is a lot of No! out there.  People are saying No! all the time.  Friends say No!  Neighbors say No!  Loved ones say No!  God’s yes overrules their no.  His grace overrules their sin.  His love overrules their fear and doubt.  We have every reason to hope that God will give them the power to walk, even as He gave it to us.  We are witnesses, just like Peter and John.  We are witnesses, just like that crowd that, though they did not believe, could not deny what they have seen for themselves.  We are witnesses, like that lame beggar.  Truly, we are each of us that lame beggar.  The power of Jesus’ name gives us strength, healing, hope, and faith, so that, through him, we can now walk with confidence and hope.

Peter is right about this, too.  Most people who reject Jesus aren’t rejecting him from hatred of Jesus or hatred of God.  Most people are rejecting him from ignorance.  They haven’t thought about Jesus or God.  They don’t often or ever think about such matters.  They don’t know how to perceive God at work in their lives.  No one has spoken with them about him, and they haven’t had any reason or encouragement to try to find out for themselves.  They have heard his name mentioned.  They may know he said some things and did some stuff, and that some people say some things about him.  They don’t understand.  They don’t want to understand.  They don’t see any reason to understand.  They understand about convicted, condemned murderers.  They understand about lame beggars who nobody sees.

And here is where Peter and John share the same message Jesus proclaimed after he came up and out of the waters, after he returned from forty days of trial in the wilderness among the savage animals: “repent, then, and turn to God so that He will forgive your sins” (3:19).  This is the message of Jesus, this is the apostolic message.  This is God’s Word, for them; He sends you, to proclaim it.  Do, please, proclaim it.  The real action, beloved, happens where the name of Jesus is proclaimed.  Get in on the action.

To the God of all grace, who calls you to share God’s eternal glory in union with Christ, be the power forever!