Leap Ye Lame for Joy (3)

Acts 3:1–4:4 ESV

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.” And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

Scripture: Acts 3:1-4:4

Sermon Title: Leap Ye Lame for Joy

Brothers and sisters, can you picture these events unfolding? We aren’t talking about weeks or months going by as with Mary carrying the baby Jesus; we aren’t even talking days going by as was the time of the foot journeys of Joseph and Mary, the wisemen, and the shepherds. It’s an hour, the time of most average worship services. Here we have Peter and John, 2 of Jesus’ closest disciples; chapter 4 tells us they were ordinary and unschooled men. They weren’t rabbis, we aren’t told there’s anything that brings the paparazzi running; they’re just going up to the temple like average Jews at prayer time. The temple is probably busy, people are going about their normal routines, much like most of us do on Sunday mornings; we aren’t really expecting extraordinary things to happen. Women are gathering with each other, men are going forward, sacrifices take place, it’s loud. As you entered in the Beautiful gate, you might have noticed a man there. He doesn’t stick out like the Salvation Army bell ringers with their loud jingling, he probably doesn’t even have a sign like you might see around here. He’s lame, his feet and legs don’t work, but yet he’s there every day, there’s a group that puts so much time into bringing him here to beg. When you walked by he may have asked you for some money; maybe some of you dug into the pockets of your cloak and pulled out some pennies and nickelsgave him some, a little change that has no value to you, and offered it to him; maybe some of you said “Sorry, I’ve just got my offering”; maybe some of you ducked your head or turned away as if he wasn’t talking to you, or maybe some of you have learned to block him out completely, you don’t even realize he’s there anymore.   

All of a sudden there’s a commotion—wait a minute, no, it couldn’t be, but…you pinch yourself, it really is happening! This man that you’ve seen almost every time you’ve come to the temple lying there on the ground for as long as you can remember is jumping and singing to God! You get closer, “What happened?” you ask your fellow templegoers, “Did you catch that?” One’s jaw comes back into place just long enough to tell you “See those 2 men over there? The stockier one just commanded him to look at them. The man did, and then he told him something, put his hand down, and when the man took it, he was able to jump up!” The jaw of this man drops again in awe. “Who are these guys? I gotta get closer,” you think (maybe they can fix my ailments while they’re at it).

People of God, on this final Sunday morning of 2012, we jump over the life of Christ as written about in the gospels and take a look at just one of the miracles performed by the apostles of the early church as well as a 2 part sermon from Peter that follows. Pentecost has taken place, and now the disciples are acting upon their task of ministering and making disciples. As we look at this story, I want us to think on the theme of the power in the name of Jesus in these three aspects: the bold approach, the clingers, and the undeniable witness. 

First, the power of the name of Jesus in the bold approach, here we find Peter and John in chapter 3 verses 1 through 10. As I mentioned, they were chosen by Jesus to follow him but they weren’t extraordinary or attractive in the context of Jews. They come up to the temple on this day and are asked by the Beautiful gate Beggar, “Can I have some money?” This man has been doing this for years, not as a scam, but because God’s people are to care of the broken among them. The theologian, Matthew Henry, adds that maybe these 2 men were known for their generosity, but they probably weren’t too much different than what Scripture tells us members of the early church. Whether he knew of them or not, the text seems to imply that Peter and John knew something was about to happen for this man and so the command is given, “Look at us!” The disciples looked directly at him, giving him worth, drawing his sight to them.  We can imagine the beggar thinking, maybe it’s his lucky day, he’s about to get more than he needs, but alas, Peter says, “I don’t have money, but in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk!” Peter and John enter the temple for prayers, and end up being involved in the healing a man, bringing him to full healing; in the name of Jesus Christ. 

The bold approach of Peter and John in this setting is a matter of faith above anything else. These men had an expectation that something extraordinary could happen and could happen through them! On the one hand, we might look at the end of chapter 2 and claim that this had become the routine for the apostles, miracles weren’t even that special. On the other hand, Peter doesn’t just say walk, he calls it in the name of Jesus, recognizing that it is only possible through God.  I would daresay this type of bold approach is what many of us leave behind. Most of us, including myself, don’t come to this house today and expect miracles to be done, we don’t expect God to come here and heal those with cancer in a way that modern medicine can explain, we don’t regularly expect God to all of a sudden bring 10, 25, 100, let alone a couple thousand people into the faith as new believers in our doors. Brothers and sisters in Christ, the model of the early church apostles and lay believers reveals a radical dependence and expectancy upon the providence of God that reason tells us just isn’t practical, but I want to challenge us to consider just how powerful that name of Jesus Christ is. 

The second aspect of this passage, the clingers, come out in verses 11-16. Our text says, “While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people…came running to them.” There are 2 clingers in this passage, the templegoers as a whole who cling to the presence of Peter and John and the healed man, who appears to not be leaving their side. Wait a second, you might be thinking, the focus of this section is Peter’s message not this category you’ve made up.  I agree, the point is Peter’s sermon but I think the first part of his sermon says something to both the beggar who is holding on to Peter and John, not really sure now that he has fully functioning feet and legs where to go or what to do, and to the templegoers who have stampeded toward him and these 2 men. “Men of Israel” Peter says, the Jews, “why are you surprised?” His first point is clear, “Why do you stare as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” Peter who had disowned Jesus amidst the guards leading to his crucifixion now brings boldness and confidence in the work set before him, but not of himself, in Jesus rather! His sermon is preached that the God of the patriarchs is the same God who gave his son Jesus. “Wake up, you missed it! Not only did you miss it, but you crucified him! You disowned him! You killed who holds life, but he has been raised by God from the dead!”

The message for the templegoers is the same one that still speaks today. Don’t exalt men and women above where they should be. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m guilty of it; my friends at the seminary always joke around with me concerning my regular references in conversations, in sermons, and in papers to Christian rappers, to theologian preachers like Kevin De Young, John Calvin, and Mark Driscoll. I like these people, and I think each of you can probably think of some people that you look up to and at times may become “followers” of; these people stick out because they’re bold, they’re willing to speak their minds with passion and conviction….but they’re not God, they’re sinners. Peter and John tell that this miracle didn’t happen because of them, but out of the blessing of Jesus the Christ, who they had all seen not too long ago. Role models can be good, but let us be careful that our role models don’t become idols as it might appear is happening in the temple.     

Let’s return to the other clinger, the healed man; lest he think that it happened by chance, Peter tells him and the crowd, “by faith, this man was healed and made strong. It is in Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that complete healing has happened.” Now congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ here at 1st CRC of DeMotte, like most other churches in our denomination, we seem to be pretty challenged when it comes to letting our emotions drive our bodies in worship. Here in our historically Dutch-American village we build pews I think purposely to say “Whoops, I can’t go anywhere,” though we say it’s for efficiently fitting more people in. This man was healed though and he jumped, he walked, maybe he got into the faces of others praising God as he danced around the temple (If someone did that here, we’d probably call him either drunk or Pentecostal)…but then he realized he was a spectacle and returns to the friendly confines of his healers. Maybe he said it out loud, “How did this happen? I don’t get it.” Maybe though Peter is speaking for him, “I believed that God could do this.” By faith the text tells us, this man was healed. This man had faith that it could happen, and Peter and John had faith that this could happen. The clinger needed reassurance, and so Peter proclaims to him and to all, it is not anything in any of us lest we should boast. But in the name of JESUS and faith coming through him.

As part of my internship with 14th Street Church in Holland, I work with a ministry in Benton Harbor. In my trips there, I’ve met Tokyo, a guy who lives in the house owned by 4Front Ministries. Tokyo has a past, but he’s a changed man and he loves the Bible. He will quote short verses all day, and tell you how applicable they are for daily life. One of his favorite statements is “You just gotta call it.” What he means is that we, as believers, have the ability to call for miracles, to call for healings, for change, for God to work in extraordinary ways. While Tokyo can seem a little crazy at times and hard to understand, one of the biggest truths he sees coming out of Scripture can be seen here. These are ordinary men doing extraordinary things because they had faith and the expectancy that they could happen. Why does Tokyo believe this? Because he sees the power of God, he sees that there is something about that name of Jesus that today is still life changing and life transforming. Brothers and sisters, I want a faith like that, I want a faith that I can go into a hospital room to someone struggling and say be healed and truly believe it will happen. I want a faith that I can walk into a marriage counseling session with two people considering divorce, say be reconciled in the Lord and truly believe they will stay together. It’s scary to think about, because it’s not normal. Praise God for the advances that have been made in medicine, but the reason why we have so many levels and specializations, the reason why we have prenuptials and low expectancies about marriages and commitments in and out of the church is because we have faith smaller than even mustard seeds that God can still be at work. There’s a little thing called common sense that the world has donated to the church’s identity; we have taken that and called it God’s purpose and will, what it’s done though I think is limit what we believe God can actually do. People of God, I want to challenge us to have the kind of faith by which extraordinary things are boldly expected as ordinary through faith in the name of Jesus Christ.

The final aspect which shines through passage in verse 17 through chapter 4 verse 4 and makes way for hope is that of the undeniable witness. The story begins with a joyous miracle, lends itself to a sermon which some contend is anti-Semitic, against the Jews, but then Peter puts it all in perspective. He identifies himself with them as a fellow Israelite, claims they acted in ignorance with their leaders when Jesus was there, but then he tells them it had to happen; not only did it have to happen, but God did them to fulfill the prophecies of old in this manner. It isn’t about you! With this in mind, repent, turn to the God through the power of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Remember Moses, your most revered servant of old, he said this had to happen and that you wouldn’t listen; Samuel and all the prophets who have gone before prophesied about your inability to hear. But take hope in the covenant made with Abraham. These Jews, who didn’t recognize Jesus when he walked among them, who thought that something great must be in Peter and John, all of a sudden are being worked in by the Spirit to realize and understand what they had heard and been taught all along. They are the covenant people who have had a Messiah come as one of them who died rejected of them so that they may experience redemption! They aren’t a people that God has forgotten about in the context of a Greco-Roman empire, but rather all things had to happen that they would experience his faithfulness and be blessed by the mission of God! Our reading went into the opening verses of chapter 4 where we see Peter and John being taken away because of their preaching of Jesus, and specifically his resurrection to life, and the day ends with the number of male believers growing to 5000. The witness to Jesus Christ in action and in preaching is undeniable to his people! Not only is it undeniable to those who have been called, but if you go further into chapter 4, we find the apostles let go the next day because they could not deny that a miracle had been done, that it was impacting the people, and they couldn’t punish them because everyone was attributing the act to God.    

People, both Christians and non-believers, throughout history have tried to explain God. This has led some to believe that because we can comprehend the idea of “God”-a deity, then there must be one, others have taken up the belief of that which is called “God” is merely a social concept which society looks up to and has formed with what they need or desire. I’ll avoid going too far into philosophy because I don’t always understand it, but what we can gather from Scripture is that God does indeed exist because of the work of the Spirit. Many of us worry like Moses that we cannot speak about our faith to those around us because we don’t have the right language or ability to speak. Others of us might worry that we’ll sound foolish and not have all the answers. Our fear gets in the way of spreading the good news. The truth of the matter as we see it here and elsewhere in Scripture is that the good news is undeniable if done in the name of Jesus; it does not depend on our strength or oratory skills or even confidence, if we are willing to offer ourselves, God is willing to do immeasureably more than we ask, imagine, or expect. The witness of the gospel message, the witness to grace that is found in all of Scripture and history with its climax in the God-man Jesus Christ is foolishness, yet God makes paths that it may be proven undeniable. 

           My sincere hope, brothers and sisters in Christ, is that we would boldly be willing to tell others, “Look at us!” that we would be willing, in faith, to take the hand which reaches down in hope. I pray brothers and sisters that we would cling to the good news of Jesus Christ, recognizing that we have shared in the crucifixion but also that God intended all things to happen that the prophesies would be fulfilled. I pray brothers and sisters that you would believe that the witness of God in Christ is undeniable, that the name of Jesus speaks as strong now as it did back then, and that our hope as the covenant people of God would never leave that foundation of covenant hope that is first for the Jews and then for all of us. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.