Acts 3:1-7
3 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the
hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a
certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at
the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who
entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple,
asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on
him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.”
5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from
them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and
gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he
took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and
ankle bones received strength.
It is one thing to have had your strength and the use of
your limbs, to at one time to have had the needful and desirable substance and
then lose it, because at least you would have a point of reference to look upon,
and remember how good it was.
If you were brought up in the church and you had experienced
the presence of the Holy Spirit and at least in some measure you had felt the peace
of God and experienced some measure of Joy, you are a blessed person, because
somewhere in you there is a God consciousness. Like the person who had their sight and then
lost it, or had their hearing and then lost it because at least you have the
memory of how good it used to be. You can
remember how beautiful a sunrise can be and you know the soothing sound of the
rain falling on a roof.
But that is not the case when someone has been born
lame. Their life has been on long
nightmare of rejection, abuse, deception, and confusion. Like an orphan for example, many have grown up
with no father in the home and no real mother to nurture them. They seek substances or relationships to fill
the gap in their life that has been left empty, a gap that was intended to
filled by God’s Holy Spirit. They often
jump from one abusive relationship to another.
When they do have a good one they run from it because it is unfamiliar
to them. Their life becomes a series of
continual disappointments. They usually
have no reference to discern true love so they continue to live in hopelessness
and often become dependent on substances and other things to try and find true
happiness.
They were not taken to church and taught about the love of
God and a many times they have come to believe that church is for weak people
and Jesus is just a crutch. They have no
point of reference and they cannot look backwards or forwards and see that
there is hope because they have no idea what hope is. And they are all around us, just outside the
church, “lame at the gate.”
A gate is just a door, it is a movable barrier in a fence or
wall, a portal to something, an entrance a hinged barrier used to close an
opening in a wall or fence. An open gate
signifies admission and acceptance, but a closed gate signifies refusal and
rejection. Too many times churches are guilty
of putting a wall where God intends for us to put a door.
The text says this gate was called beautiful. The most beautiful thing in this world is the
church fulfilling its destiny, filling the need of the hour, being whatever is
needed to whoever needs it. Bringing
food to the hungry, praying for the sick, visiting those in nursing homes and
prisons, or simply inviting someone to church.
We are what we were called to be when we are an open door for those in
need.
But too often we are guilty of keeping the gate closed, of
turning our churches into social clubs when God called us to be lighthouses,
and of “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.” We are called beautiful but at times we are not
living up to our name.
To one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation Jesus
said, “I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being
alive—but you are dead.”
The first thing we must ask ourselves as God’s people, and
it’s a difficult question to ask, but we have got to ask it, are we truly
beautiful? Are we fulfilling our
calling? Are we driving towards our
destiny? Are we striving to reach the
goal for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus? Are we meeting the great physical and
spiritual needs of the hour, or are we just called beautiful?
The second question the church needs to ask is, who calls us
beautiful? Is it an adjective that we
have conferred upon ourselves? Did we
decide that we are beautiful because we have a nice big church, great music, gifted
musicians, great programs and an anointed pastor? Is it because we have great youth
ministries? Is it the size of our
offerings? Is it because we speak in tongues,
and feel the Holy Spirit?
If we really want know whether we as individuals, or
corporately as the body of believers are beautiful or not, we have to determine
if our gate is open or closed. Are we
like Jesus, beckoning the lost to “come?”
The Church members were first called Christians at Antioch and they were
called Christians because they were acting like Christ, and that’s beautiful!
The Church should be functioning in the character, in the
authority, and in power of Jesus Christ, or we are in danger of claiming to be
alive when we are really dead. We should
be functioning in the power of the Holy Ghost and doing what is impossible to
do in our own names and character, in the character and name of Jesus Christ.
Peter took the lame man by the hand and lifted him up, he
told him that he might be financially unable to help him, he has nothing of his
own to offer, but he has one thing that can change the man’s circumstances, the
name of Jesus. Praise God!
We might not have the biggest church building in our area,
our finances might not be overflowing with alms for the poor, we might drive
beat up old cars instead of BMW’s and Cadillac’s, but we have at our disposal
the ability to speak the name of God’s son and to see the sick healed and the
broken made whole. But not if we close
the gate.
This is the Church in action, lifting people up, raising
people’s spirits, giving them value, hope and a purpose, bringing people out of
the brokenness and destruction of sin, and the emptiness of life without Jesus.
It says in this passage that Peter took him by the “right”
hand. Reference to the right hand in
scripture always speaks of acceptance, it speaks of authority, and it is the place
of honor. (Jesus sits at the right hand of the father)
This means that Peter accepted him and raised him from a
place of dishonor to a place of honor, from a place of weakness to a place of
strength. The true beauty of the gate
beautiful was not it’s appearance but that it was a place where the suffering
and less fortunate could go and expect to receive some measure of benevolence
from those who entered.
I am worried that our focus has shifted, and we are more enamored
today with the beauty of a thing than the reason for which it exists. Our focus shouldn’t be on how awesome our
building is, or how good we can sing, or can we preach, or can we have church,
but are we reflecting the image of His Son Jesus and do our lives touch people
with the transforming power of His name.
Are we occupying enemy territory and making a difference in
this world or just occupying space?
I am concerned today that there is a world that is lame at
the gate and we are too busy enjoying ourselves and the “things” around us to
notice.
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