"Stand Up and Walk"

Sermon Manuscript: "Stand Up and Walk"

“Stand Up and Walk”

Acts 3:1-10

January 8, 2023

 

Read Acts 3:1-10

This is the Word of the LORD.

 On the first reading of today’s Scripture lesson, it seems like a fairly simple, straight-forward healing miracle – as if there is such a thing.  And yet, because we have gone through the gospels and encountered Jesus miraculously healing people, this does not seem like anything new or special.  We get blasé reading about the power of God displayed in the midst of people.  Similarly, we can get blasé when we hear stories about the power of God displayed in our midst today.  When we take God’s power for granted, we can overlook the bigger picture and also miss the meaning of God’s activity.

If you want a contemporary illustration, let me point to this past week.  Last Monday night the Buffalo Bills were playing the Cincinnati Bengals.  Just a few minutes into the game Bills’ cornerback Damar Hamlin made a tackle on the Bengals’ wide receiver Tee Higgins.  Hamlin stood up – and then fell down immediately in cardiac arrest.  Paramedics reached him from the sidelines within ten seconds of his collapse.  For the next ten minutes they administered CPR and used an automated external defibrillator (AED).  Players from both teams circled around Hamlin and the medical team.  Announcers struggled to describe what they were seeing.  Before he was being placed on a stretcher, most of the players from both teams came off the sidelines to kneel or stand on the field near him, visibly upset and emotional about his status.  About an hour later, the game was postponed; it has subsequently been cancelled.

I draw this to your attention because of what followed.  First, players, coaches, and staff were openly kneeling in prayer on the field.  Fans were praying in the stands. Social media was filled with calls for prayer.  That is where I first learned of it: I was checking Twitter to see if the Padres had made any moves and came across this flooded feed of anguish requesting prayers for Buffalo’s #3.  We turned over to the game and caught up on the news.

Throughout the rest of this week, I saw multiple posts about how wonderful it was to see everyone praying.  On the one hand, I agree; on the other, it made me ponderous. To whom was everyone praying?  For what were they praying?  Obviously, they were praying for the healing of the player, but was that it?  As big as that healing would be, was that it?

Hold that question for a few minutes, I will return to it.

When we take God’s power for granted, we overlook the bigger picture and also miss the meaning of God’s activity.

In our text today from Acts 3, this simple healing miracle has significant ramifications for the early church in Jerusalem.  We will be talking about this one miracle for the next several weeks because the reaction to it defined the relationship of the early church to the Jerusalem community.

The encounter took place at some point soon after Pentecost.  Though things had calmed down from the uproar of that Pentecost day; the ripples were still being felt. Many people had come to know Christ as Lord and Savior.

What the lame man experienced

So, on an ordinary day, Peter and John were heading into the Temple for the mid-afternoon prayer service.  This was a regular thing for them, so it was not as if they were targeting this time to do something spectacular.  On their way into the Temple complex, they had to pass through the outer courtyards for the Gentiles, the next courtyard for women, and then the gates to the sanctuary for men.  Luke made a point of indicating that they were headed through the gate called “Beautiful.”  We do not know for sure which gate Luke meant, but most commentators speculate that it was the Nicanor gate, which was a massive structure.  It was constructed with Corinthian bronze – the only one so constructed; the rest were gilded with silver and gold.  (The point here may be that some things were more valuable than silver and gold, which the crippled man would soon discover.)

It was common for beggars to gather at the outer gates of the sanctuary.  They were ritually and socially unclean and, therefore, unable to enter the inner courts.  However, they also knew that the rabbinic tradition included three basic teaching themes: Torah, worship, and acts of kindness.  Putting themselves at the gate to the sanctuary made them attractive opportunities for kind acts by those going in or out.

This particular man was like many others.  He was described as having been crippled from birth (literally, “from his mother’s womb”).  Others had to carry him to the gate so that he could beg for support.  This is not a comfortable picture for us because we all have seen people in desperate need begging.  Unlike the skepticism with which we treat many of them – wondering if we are being conned – there was no doubt that this man was genuinely physically disabled.

Because he was blemished, he was not allowed to enter the sanctuary. He could get to the gate, look in, and wonder what it felt like to be welcomed.  Day after day, people would pick him up, place him at the gate so that he could ask for alms.  When Peter and John came by, he did ask for alms – not because he knew they were Peter and John but because they came by.  He did the same to hundreds each day.  And, yet, on this occasion, something very different took place.

1. God acted first

Peter stopped and looked at the man intently.

Isn’t it amazing that this was noteworthy for Luke?  Yet, things today are not all that different than back then: it hurts to look at people desperate, needy, and asking for help.  It hurts to see people who are hurting – it knocks us out of our comfort zone. When I was attending Fuller Seminary, we lived in Arcadia, which was just east of Pasadena.  I would exit the 210 Freeway and see people with signs standing or sitting at the corner by Lake Avenue.  If the light was red, I would sit in my car uncomfortably captive, watching as the people would work the cars in front of me.  If I was one of the first cars or if there was enough time for them to make it back to me, I would avoid making eye contact and just wave them along, “no, no; I do not have anything for you.”  I remember an incredible sense of relief when a light turned green and I could just drive off.

For a few moments, the guilty thought of that needy person would stay with me.  By the time I was grabbing my books and headed to class, I had forgotten all about that person.

But that’s not what Peter did.  He did not drive by.  He stopped and looked at the man. And then, instead of avoiding eye contact, he commanded the man, “Look at us.”

Reading this reminds me of Deacon Craig, who has been the driving force and public face of Night Off The Streets (NOTS).  I have a lot of admiration for him.  When I have taken shifts, I have taken the one that ends in the morning.  I have seen Deacon Craig come in as the people are getting up and moving out for the day.  He checks in with them.  He calls them by name.  He looks at them square, even if they are averting their eyes from him.  He does the exact opposite of what I did in my car, and exactly what Peter did here.

Peter said, “Look at me.”  Focus your attention.  Filter out everything else.  Looking at someone directly is intimate. It is personal – very personal.  “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”  What Peter declared was intimate.  It was personal – very personal.  “In the name of Jesus Christ, stand up and walk.”  Peter then took the man by the hand and lifted him up.  And the man jumped, stood, and walked.

The miraculous healing transformed the man.

1. Drew the man to God; he could come from the outer courts into the sanctuary

The miracle transformed him physically.  We do not know how old the man was; yet because he had been this way since birth and was described as a man, it had to have been more than twenty years.  He had never been able to walk and had only known what it was like not being able to walk.  I cannot imagine what he must have felt when the sensation of strength was given to his legs and he was able to stand.  I cannot imagine what he must have felt when the ability to put one foot ahead of the other and move without the help of those carrying him.  The transformation would have been overwhelming.

But it did more than that: the man was transformed completely.  He would no longer be considered blemished, would no longer be ostracized from the sanctuary, separated from God, an outcast and not valuable.  Because God had made him whole – something the man could not do by himself -- he was complete and unblemished, and he would be able to enter into the temple sanctuary.

1. Led to a response of worship.

So what did he do?

The transformed man’s life began in worship.  He praised God.  Now, after a miracle like this, praising God seems like a natural response.  Further, because of what Peter has said to the man, how Peter emphasized that this happened in the name of Jesus Christ, the man praised God.  He worshiped.  Enthusiastically.  Joyfully.  Thankfully.  

Friends, worship is not boring. If it is rote, if it seems shallow and empty, I encourage you to spend the next week thinking and praying with this objective in mind: consider and name the blessings you have received in your life.  Worship is being thankful.  And more than a “I have to get the kids to write thank you letters for Christmas presents” sort of way; worship is about genuinely loving the one who has blessed you.  When you come to worship on a Sunday, are you bringing your gratitude or are you hoping that the preacher is not too dull?

     Symbolic of the early church.

While the experience of the man was powerful in itself; it also stood as a symbolic representation of the miraculous birth of the church.  Remember, Jesus acted first. Under the Old Testament law, people lived like they were lame.  They were unable to achieve righteousness on their own.  Unable to walk, unable to care for themselves, spiritually they were not able to do anything except be carried to the outskirts of the Temple . They begged for spiritual insight and grace without any real expectation of having their needs fulfilled.  The Temple was a symbol of power, but it was a symbol of power of a time past.

There’s an old story about this passage.  Thomas Aquinas went to see Pope Innocent II when the Pope was counting out a large sum of money.  The Pope said, “The church can no longer say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’  Thomas responded, “True, holy father; but neither can she now say, ‘Rise and walk.”  The awful truth is: the more we rely on our own resources – power, money, prosperity, might, popularity – the less can we say, “Rise and walk.”

     What Peter experienced.

Thus far, we have only talked about the lame man’s experience.  This story also is about Peter and John and the early church’s witness for Jesus in Jerusalem.  As I mentioned, the ripples out from this miracle are described in the next several chapters. Understandably, the miracle drew a crowd. If you read on in Chapter 3, Peter explained the meaning of the miracle, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?”  He then described how Jesus, who was crucified, had been raised and it was by his grace the man was made capable of walking.

What happened then?  In Chapter 4, Peter and John were arrested.

But let us not rush down the road too far.  Let us back up to see what happened here. As Luke wrote the story, Peter and John were just minding their own business.  They were on their way to pray, and God showed up. Note: Peter and John did not address everyone begging that day; they stopped and looked at this man.  However, pay attention to the pattern: God acted and Peter responded.  Luke did not say what Peter saw when he looked intently at the man, but he saw something that made him proclaim what God was doing.  The Holy Spirit moved in Peter and John to see God’s hand on this particular man.  It was the same pattern as Pentecost, it was the same pattern we will see in the rest of Acts: God prepared the events for the disciples to bear witness.

The church is not passive.  The church is not a social institution, it is a living movement.  We are called to look, see, and tell.  In lives of worship, opportunities will come to witness and proclaim God’s grace in the name of Jesus Christ.  Peter made no claim that he personally had the power to heal; rather, he was declaring something in the name of Jesus Christ.  The same is true for us. God prepares events in which we can bear witness.  We have stories to tell. If we look intently – that is, with eyes looking to see what God is doing – we have a witness to share.

If you take up the challenge to spend the next week thinking and praying focused on remembering God’s blessings (and making a list), I encourage you to take it one step farther: tell someone else about something you remembered.  Tell another Christian, tell a non-Christian – it does not make any difference to me. Just tell someone about the goodness of God. 

     Significance of “the name.”

Peter commanded the man to stand up and walk “in the name of Jesus Christ.”  In our world today, we have lost the significance of “Jesus’ name.”  Our culture is not receptive to hearing things “in Jesus’ name.”

Ultimately, that the man was healed “in the name of Jesus Christ” was the meaning, the bigger picture, of why this episode was so important.  Peter was acting as Christ’s representative.  He was not claiming any special privilege or power in himself.

This is why my ponderous reaction to the calls for prayer for Damar Hamlin.  I am glad with everyone else that he seems to be recovering, but it is fascinating to note how quickly the public attention has turned away from God.  Kudos are being given to the medical team at the stadium and the team at the hospital – and rightly so.  But note the subtle move in the narrative that has taken place: on Friday, Hamlin’s doctors were asked, “Have you felt the prayers?”

Knight: "Yeah, we have.  It’s been very powerful.  We’ve been surrounded by a great, I think, we keep using the word ‘team.’  And that, by Dr. Pritts and I being able to get to know this amazing family, and this amazing organization, of in a matter of 48 hours having friends and having family, of the hugs and the tears that have already been shed, just by the progress that’s been made.  But then looking outside. I mean, all I have to do is look over my left shoulder and I see vigils and posters and well-wishers and the food that has showed up at the hospital, for the support, for the family and for the emergency department and for the surgical ICU team, the support that’s been done to the family.

"Damar’s family is wonderful.  They’ve been right here; they’ve been great throughout the entire stay.  And so, have we felt it?  Yeah, it doesn’t take long to look outside and see the lights, the blue and the red, around the city of Cincinnati.  The support from local restaurants.  The support from the fans and just people who are concerned.  So, yes, it’s been very powerful.[1]"

So – was everyone praying to the doctors?  Was everyone praying for the doctors?  If so, to whom?  To whom are all these prayers addressed?  Please understand, I am not picking on the doctor for the response in a press conference about Hamlin’s medical condition – the change came in the question: “did you feel the prayers?”  The narrative moved from helplessness and appealing to God to this sense that our prayers were the doctors’ power, that our actions made the difference, that somehow this national coming together made the universe smile favorably on Damar Hamlin. 

We can pray at football games; just not like Tim Tebow.  Remember the furor when he bent a knee in prayer as a player for the Denver Broncos?  Praying as a Christian – praying in the name of Jesus Christ – is too divisive, too exclusive.  We want to have a broader understanding and tolerance for different perspectives.  We want the result, so let the doctrine go.  You pray. I will pray.  Whatever it takes for us to get what we want, that is what is good.  Is that really the message here?

No, for those with eyes to see, the bigger meaning is the power and glory of God revealed.

Take a step back from the situation: that we have the medical expertise for the teams on the field to respond so quickly – where and how did that happen?  That we have the equipment and materials needed – how were those developed?  Would any of that exist without God’s direction and revelation?

Peter’s statement sums up his testimony: “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”  The church is the revealed power of Jesus Christ.  The church has no power but the power of its witness to Jesus Christ.

     Conclusion

As disciples who have seen the power of God displayed, we are no longer lame and incapable of following Jesus.  “Stand up and walk.”  As the church, we are to go forward, with eyes to see what God is doing and to proclaim the goodness of God in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

So go forward from this place – taking time to remember God’s blessing, looking to see where God is working now, and prepared to bear witness to others, and praising God – the one who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever.

Amen

Questions

1. Does it matter to whom you pray?  If so, why and how do you know?
2. Will you spend the next week thinking and praying with this objective in mind: consider and name the blessings you have received in your life?  Will you tell someone else about one?
3. What do we see God is doing now?

 

[1] https://www.yahoo.com/sports/heres-damar-hamlins-doctors-said-001558040.html