Silver and Gold Have I None: Acts 3
Not long ago, a man came into the church begging for money to go to Croydon to get his papers sorted out. Danny was here, and as he seemed genuine, Danny prayed with him, and then went and bought him the travel card that he needed. On their return, the man said he had had no breakfast and had no food for lunch, could he have some money for food? So I said, no problem, I’ll get you some bread and things. While I was in the Hereward’s kitchen collecting a bag full of healthy things like 5 pieces of fruit, some hot cross buns and a bottle of drink, the man suddenly started waving his hands about and saying, ‘Bread is not enough, bread is not enough!’ and abruptly left the church.
Well, we know that ‘Bread is not enough!’ - that life is more than food - but what we did have to give this man was, I suspect, not what he was looking for. What do WE want out of life? If someone asked us what our greatest desire was, what would we say? [PAUSE] I remember the day that I said ‘I just want to live!’ I think it was the most heartfelt desire I have ever expressed.
Well, the crippled man in the temple wanted money – that was the outward expression of his desire. But when Peter and John were going to the temple for prayer – something they did every day – they must have sensed that this man really wanted more, and they stopped. Had they thought money was his only desire, they would have walked on, because they had none. But as it turned out, Peter and John were right. Peter, always the spokesperson, gave him a gift from Jesus – HEALING! And what did the man do with that gift? Did he say – ‘Hang on a minute – this isn’t what I asked for – I wanted money!’ No! It says that ‘He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God.’
The crippled man asked for money because he had to in order to physically live, but he had a deeper desire to know God’s power in his life – to know life to the full - because when God’s power was displayed in his life ‘in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth’, he did not complain that he had not got what he asked for. He used his healing as a motive for praising God to the full. So much so that it was made plain to the people in the temple, and ‘they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.’
The man who walked into church here was not being real in expressing his desires. He said he wanted money for certain things, but when those things were provided he still hadn’t got what he desired. Are we like that? Do we say we want something, but really what we desire is something completely different, and we are just not being real with ourselves, let alone with anyone else. Sometimes people ‘displace’ their real desires onto other things. Our ambitions just aren’t big enough! We may even ask for good things instead of God’s best!
Peter’s ambitions were huge by this time! Filled with the Spirit, He wanted everyone to know about Jesus. When he had let down the person he loved most, it was agony for him. His experience of being loved, forgiven and reinstated as one of Jesus’ chosen disciples filled him with wonder. He trusted Jesus utterly, knowing that healing was in Jesus’ hands, and all he had to do was ask for it. He trusted Jesus utterly… Who else can we trust? – There is NO ONE, for you, Lord, have the words of life!! And for Peter, one thing always led on to another, because in Jesus he was an opportunist!
How was Peter an opportunist?
No doubt the beggar became a disciple of Jesus – a Christian. It says that he held on to Peter and John. And when people saw this, they started gathering. Immediately Peter saw his opportunity to speak to those who had come to the temple to pray. And he spoke fearlessly in Jesus’ name. He took none of the credit for the healing at all. From his own personal experience he knew about denying his Lord, but that didn’t in any way soften his approach. He said,
People of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us, as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.
By this time, maybe some of them were getting offended. But then Peter goes from bad to badder!
You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life…
Peter uses shock tactics to drive his point home!
By calling Jesus the author of life, Peter is clearly saying that Jesus is God. And just as an author is the only one that can clearly state the intentions and objectives in a particular piece of writing, Jesus is the only one who knows the meaning of life. And in saying of himself that he is ‘the way, the truth and the life’, he is effectively saying that without him there is no life. To the extent that we have the Spirit of Jesus in us, the Holy Spirit – the breath of life that God breathed into people for them to become living beings – to that extent and only to that extent, are we truly alive.
From time to time I see ads for movies about zombies, but I have never actually watched one, because the thought gives me the ‘creeps’! But each time I think that without the Spirit of Jesus we are no more than walking dead – just like zombies!
Thankfully, Peter does not stop at this. The shock is not the climax – it is a tactic to get people to listen. After making clear that ‘killing the author of life’ is not the end of the story, that there are witnesses to the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead, and that by faith in him the crippled man was made strong, he says, ‘Now brothers and sisters, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your fathers…’
And with that, Peter really sticks his foot in it. How would you like to be called ignorant?! Peter effectively opens up a great divide between two groups of people. On the one hand, those that take offence at being called ignorant and will no doubt at this point be gnashing their teeth and planning how to get Peter and John arrested (which is exactly what happens immediately after Peter finishes speaking). On the other hand there are those who have already had an attack of conscience, who, confronted with a marvellous healing are ready to hear about Jesus, to accept that ignorance is perhaps a preferable way of being culpable, and to ask for forgiveness. Peter has set the scene beautifully, by eliciting strong emotions in his listeners, for the real climax. The climax is – surprise, surprise – that God has always been in CONTROL!
Repent and Turn to God!
Peter says:
‘But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.’
God loves us so much that He doesn’t stop at wiping our sins out when we repent. That is just the beginning. ‘Times of refreshing’ is about wholeness in Christ. It is the promise of the effects of turning from our sins – the more we turn from them, the more refreshed we will be – the more filled with the Spirit of Jesus. On Tuesday we were celebrating St Mark here in the evening, and one of the readings included Proverbs 15.30:
A cheerful look brings joy to the heart,
and good news gives health to (refreshes) the bones.
The best news is that God’s final word is not about death – it’s about life. Abundant life in Christ. Can you truly say that life in all its fullness is your greatest desire? Then you need to let God have the last word in Christ – because He is in control anyway! What he foretold has come to pass. The angel of the Lord tells us, just as it did the jailed apostles on their release in Acts 5.20: ‘Go, stand in the temple courts, and tell the people the full message of this new life!’ - experience it, live it and tell others about it – that is what the abundant life is all about. Give up your small ambitions!
AMEN.