By Rev. Brent Russett – Asbury Free Methodist
January 28, 2024 – Acts 3:1-10
For the last couple of weeks, we have been talking about encountering God. Last week, we talked about encountering the love of God.
If I could have one truth sink into your head and your heart, it is this: God loves you. God really loves you. In fact, God likes you. He looks at you with fondness. He looks at you with eyes of compassion. He sees all that you have ever done, and yet he still really loves you.
I meet a lot of people who don’t believe that. The impression that many people outside the church have is that God is indifferent to them. Some believe he is against them. When they think of God at all, the love of God is not the first thing that comes to their mind.
Even people inside the church often believe in their minds that God loves them, but it has never filtered down to their hearts. Some take unanswered prayer as evidence that God does not love them. Others don’t like their life, and they blame God.
If I could have one truth sink from your head to your heart – it is this: God loves you. For that to happen, you need to have an encounter with God.
But what do we do with those people who don’t know the love of God? As we have talked about in previous weeks, we cannot conjure up an encounter with God. What do we do with our friends and our neighbours who just can’t see the love or have been unable to experience the love of God?
Do you know someone who falls into this category? Maybe it is a friend or a neighbour. Maybe it is someone you work with. Whatever has happened in the past has led them to believe that God does not love them. What do we do with those kinds of people?
Come with me to the story in the third chapter of Acts.
Acts 3:1–2 (NLT)
Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2 As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple.
We don’t know the name of the lame person. We know that every day, his friends or his family would carry him to one of the temple gates. The gate called “Beautiful.” There, he would ask passersby for money.
It is not an easy job. One of my assignments when I was in the Aarow leadership program was to beg money on the street. So, I went to downtown Rideau St. with a couple of my friends, and I sat on the street for two hours, asking passers-by for money. I made a total of 25 cents. Apparently, I am underqualified to be a panhandler.
Back to our story, when people would walk by this lame man, he would do as all beggars did at that time, alms, alms, alms for the poor. People on their way to worship would give him money, which is how he paid for his meagre existence.
There was no social safety net. This is how he survived. His position outside the gates called beautiful kind of symbolize his life. He was a crippled beggar – in the shadow of a beauty that seemed to elude him.
***
I wonder what he would have answered if we asked him, “Do you believe that God loves you?” Do you know that God loves you?
Day after day, probably year after year, he came to the same place to beg. He was a fixture at that gate. We know by verses 9 and 10 that he was there so often that he was recognizable.
***
Let me give you a timeline on this. This passage probably took place two months after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
You remember how Jesus had been ministering in Israel for the three years before that. He often ministered in the temple. When they were arresting Jesus, Jesus said, “Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me”.
If you put this together, it means that Jesus had often passed by this lame man who consistently begged at the temple gate. I’m sure that this man had heard the stories of Jesus. He had heard how the lame had walked and how the cripples were healed, but Jesus had passed him by. We don’t like to think of Jesus passing anyone by. But there were a lot of people in Jerusalem who weren’t healed when Jesus was on earth.
Why did Jesus pass this man by? We don’t know. It is a mystery. I don’t know.—- I don’t know why God heals some people and not others. I don’t know why God answers some prayers yes – and not others. We don’t know, and we have to trust and live in the middle of that mystery.
But what do you think this disabled man thinks of Jesus? – He passed me by. My guess is that he would not get the goodness of God. He would not get the love of God. He would get that Jesus cares for him.
I wonder how many of us are like this lame man. We live in the shadow of the life we always wanted. But because of whatever –my marriage, my body, my job, my education, my talent, my life, I can’t do what I want to do. I can see the life I want; I just can’t get there. More than that, I’ve heard that Jesus has fixed other people’s lives, but he didn’t look at me. He seems to care about everyone else but me.
Verse 1 says Peter and John were going to the temple at about 3 o’clock to pray. Peter and John had spent time with Jesus. They had been taught by Jesus. They had witnessed the miracles of Jesus. But it wasn’t until after the resurrection that they were starting to get what Jesus was about.
They had been through the passion week. They had heard the crowds turn against Jesus. They were there when Jesus was arrested. In the middle of this, Peter had denied Jesus. And Jesus was crucified. He was dead and was buried.
I don’t know if you can put yourself in the post crucifixion pre- resurrection spot. But it is a place where most of us have to travel through. Peter and John had spent the last three years of their lives with Jesus. They had lived with Jesus, walked with Jesus, ate with Jesus, and been taught by Jesus. Jesus was the centre of their lives. And now he was gone. I am sure that John felt abandoned. It wasn’t Jesus’ fault, he would have thought, but nevertheless, he is gone. He has abandoned me. Peter was even worse, “I have abandoned him.” “Even though I said I wouldn’t – when push came to shove – I denied him.”
Feeling abandoned by God, knowing that you have abandoned God. That post-crucifixion pre-resurrection place – that dark night of the soul, is a valley that many of us must journey through. And these men did.
It was Friday, but Sunday’s a coming. Sunday came, and that sense of being abandoned was replaced by wonder and joy and amazement. That sense of shame of abandonment was replaced by mission – go feed my sheep, is what Jesus told Peter.
But even then, they didn’t get it fully. They asked,”Is it now that you are going to set up your own kingdom, overthrow those pesky Romans, and take your rightful place as king?” And Jesus said no, “I am going to leave; I want you to wait and to pray. You still don’t get it yet.”
Jesus ascended into heaven, and day after day, they prayed. Day after day, they waited. Have you ever had God say wait? It’s not easy, but what else do you do.
But 10 days later, on the day of Pentecost, they were filled with the Spirit, and they got it. Peter stood up and preached repentance and belief for the forgiveness of sins. They finally understood the kingdom of God.
Now, they are walking to the temple. They see this lame man, and the disabled man sees them.
Acts 3:3–6 (NLT)
3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
Here are people who have been with Jesus. They have walked through the dark night of the soul. They have met the risen Christ. They have waited on the Lord. They have been filled with the Spirit. Listen to what they are saying – Look at us – we don’t have money, but we will give you what we have.
This man didn’t encounter God’s love directly – he encountered it through people who had been with Jesus.
There are times in all our lives when it seems extremely hard to connect with God, and in those times, the way we encounter the love of God is through the people of God. These are people who have encountered God and say, “What I have, I give to you.”
If we are going to be a church where people encounter the love of God, then part of what that means is that we need to become people who are willing to give what they have received from God.
I know a number of you have been in the post-crucifixion, pre-resurrection spot. You have come through the dark night of the soul. I know that you have met with the risen Christ. I know you spend time waiting on God, and God’s spirit is in you. We need you to say to those around you, “What I have, I give to you.”
I have watched people who were mired so deep in grief that they could not see God. The words of the funeral rung hollow. But one of these kinds of people came along and offered them the gift of their presence and, in doing so, offered God’s presence through them. “What I have, I give to you.”
I have watched as people, who were mired so deep in darkness just couldn’t reach out and pray for themselves – I have watched as other people have responded to God’s prompting and prayed intensely for that person. It was the right thing at the right time. They encountered God through other people’s prayers. “What I have, I give to you.”
I have seen in my own life people doing practical acts of kindness. In their expressing their love that way, I knew God’s love. They gave their time and their energy. They said, “What I have, I give to you.” – and I encountered the love of God.
My first year of ministry was a very difficult year. I was the pastor of a very small church in Bruce Mines on the North Shores of Lake Huron. The church was threatening to split. I was 22 years old, a solo pastor who didn’t have a clue what he was doing.
I was single and going through both an emotional and spiritual crisis that threatened to take me out of ministry. Near the end of that first year, I hit bottom. I was wondering where God was. I was wondering if God had abandoned me. I was wondering if I could keep on doing ministry. I wondered if I was fit for ministry.
There was an older woman in that congregation. Her name was Gertrude Shaw. On a morning when I was feeling particularly down, Mrs. Shaw came down to my place and gave me an envelope. She said, I was praying, and I believe God would have me give this to you.
She left and I opened the envelope and in it was a cheque for a hundred dollars. That was a time when $100 meant something. But more than the money, the expression of God’s love that came through that gift was worth more than the gift itself. God still remembered me. She said, “What I have, I give to you.”
What is it that God has given you that you could give someone else to demonstrate God’s love to them? Maybe you could take someone out to Coutts for coffee. Maybe you could write someone a letter of encouragement. Maybe you could deliver a bag of Groceries to someone who can’t afford them. Maybe you could pray for someone and let them know that you are. Maybe you have a talent that someone needs – but can’t afford. Maybe you know someone who needs to hear the good news about Jesus – and you could share it with them. Maybe you know someone who needs an invite to church. – you know it takes you out of your comfort zone. But you say, “What I have I give to you.”
****
You may not think that you have much to offer to God. But remember when God came to Moses in the burning bush. God said to Moses, “What is that in your hand?” Moses answered a staff. It was just an ordinary shepherd’s staff. But with that staff, God parted the Red Sea, he brought water out of the rock. God has a way of taking the ordinary and doing His extraordinary work with it. What is that in your hand – will you say, “What I have I give to you?”
Part of our calling as a church is to be a place where people encounter the love of God. My hope is that as we worship God, people will, as they often do, encounter the Spirit of God – and they will have this direct encounter with God. We see that over and over again. But this also needs to be a place where they encounter God’s love through the people of God. We need to be a people who are willing to say, “What I have, I give to you.”
Acts 3:6–8 (NLT)
6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
7 Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk!
The power of God healed him, and Peter helped him up, and the man jumped to his feet. Isn’t that how God often works. The power of God ministered through a person who has walked with God in cooperation with a person who needs to encounter God.
Now, this person who Jesus walked by became a person who encountered Jesus through Peter and John. The Spirit of God worked through them because they were willing to say – what I have, I give to you.
Are you willing to be God’s person? Are you willing to be the kind of person who can express God’s love for God? Are you willing to say, “What I have, I give to you?”
Now, I am not an apostle – not many are. I do not have the ability to command a miracle or a healing. But I have noticed that God is willing to work through ordinary people. Often, the power of God is ministered through a person who has walked with God in cooperation with a person who needs to encounter God.
Maybe you have been through grief, and can minister to a person walking through grief. Maybe you have been through a particular kind of challenge, and God brings another person who is in the middle of that same challenge. What is that in your hand? It is often some challenging experience that God has brought you through. You get the opportunity to say such as I have, I give to you.
I remember talking to someone who had lost someone close to them. They said, “I couldn’t pray. I didn’t know how to connect with God. I couldn’t feel God’s love for me. I wasn’t even sure that he did love me.” But I experienced the love of God through the love of others. People were there for me. Through that, I came to know that God was there for me.
That is how God often works. He shows up through his people. People encounter God through the people of God. My question to you is, “Will you help people encounter God through you?”
Sermon Questions – Acts 3:1-10
Introduction
1. What are you giving thanks for today?
2. What are you praying about this week?
Digging in
3. Read Acts 3:1-10. What is one thing that stands out to you about this passage?
4. Read verses 1-2. What does this tell us about the man who was lame?
5. What do you think about the idea that Jesus passed by this lame person a number of times as he entered the temple and yet never healed him? Have you ever known someone who felt that Jesus had passed them by? Have you ever felt that way?
6. Read verses 3-6. How did the lame man encounter Jesus? What does this tell us about how some people will encounter Jesus?
7. Peter and John said, “What I have, I give to you.” What are some of the things that we have that we could give to people in need?
8. Read verses 6-8. What is the process of this man being healed?
9. The sermon talked about “The power of God ministered through a person who has walked with God in cooperation with a person who needs to encounter God.” Why is each one of these steps important.
10. What are some ways that we can live this out this passage?