Get Up and Walk

Introduction: Carriers Who Need Carrying

May I place your attention on Acts 3:2 “A man who was lame from birth was being carried...”

Johanna Mansfield Sullivan is the name of the woman who used her struggles to empower others.

At 5 years old, she contracted trachoma, a bacterial eye disease that led to painful infections that left her nearly blind.

At 8 years old, her mother died from tuberculosis, and her father abandoned the child after 2 years, because he could not raise them alone.

She and her younger brother were sent to an almshouse, where he would die four months later.

For 14 years, she endured unsuccessful eye operations until she finally had an operation that would improve her sight.

During this time, she earned a degree from the Perkins School for the Blind—graduating as valedictorian of her class.

Anne, as she was affectionately known, used her struggles as motivation to help others. Her expertise was discovered by Arthur Keller, who had a seven year old daughter, Helen Keller who was stricken by an illness that would leave her deaf and blind. Arthur hired Anne as Helen’s teacher, and their relationship grew into a lifelong companionship that would last for over 49 years.

Through Anne’s assistance, Helen went on to become a published author, lecturer, and advocate for the deaf and blind. I don’t think you all heard me. A woman who was deaf and blind from 19 months was able to talk and share her message throughout the world, because she had someone to support her. Anne Sullivan was Helen Keller’s carrier—the person that held her up.

This story is unique…a bit of a fairly tale, if you will. Because not everyone is able to find such a reliable companion as Anne Sullivan as our passage demonstrates.

What do you do when you find yourself being supported by someone who needs support themselves?

You see this is the determining factor that distinguishes Helen Keller’s story from the stories of so many others. Anne Sullivan had gone through the struggle of developing strength so she could support others who faced similar situations. However, many of us have allowed others to carry us when those carrying us needed to be carried themselves.

We’ve allowed some friends to carry us who needed to be carried themselves.

We’ve been in relationships with people we thought could carry us, but…

We’ve been a part of churches that tried to carry us, but discovered even the church could not properly serve our need.

What happens when your carrier needs a…carrier?

This is what we find in our text today. In Acts 3:2 stated, “A man who was lame from birth was being carried there [but] He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple.”

Being carried by carriers who need to be carried because:

They will only carry you as far as they can go. And however far that is, it’s never far enough. For some of us our current situation is not a reflection of our own inability, but the inability and limitations of those we have allowed to carry us. (Acts 3:2 “A man who was lame from birth was being carried there. He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple.”)

They determine your occupation. Notice, how the text describes the lame man as a begger. (Acts 3:2 “A man who was lame from birth was being carried there. He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple.”)

They define your desire. The lame man only wanted money, because he was placed by the gate to beg. Sometimes we want nothing, because those who carry us cannot see beyond their own limitations. (Acts 3:3 “When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked for money.”)

Sometimes, we have to cut off the carriers who need carrying.

The Deliverance

The miracle that this lame man received is not based on anything he did. He was too blinded by his carriers and lameness. This miracle was strictly on Jesus, because it did not require any faith, confession, or profession. Some things in life come simply from the goodness of God.

Sometimes, we did not even have the faith and desire to ask God for what He gave us, but because God is good, He gave us what we never thought to ask and what never knew we should desire.

We see this in Acts 3:4–7 “Peter, along with John, looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.” So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them. But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong.”

Truth is, we all need friends like Peter and John. They are not the kind of friends who will carry us. They are the kind of friends that will tell us “get up and walk.”

The Message About Jesus

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