Sermon: Third Sunday of Easter
Acts 3.1-10
1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o'clock in the afternoon. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. 4 Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us." 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, "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." 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 All the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Last week, we marked a transition; from following Jesus on his journey to the cross and beyond death to life, to walking with Jesus’ followers, sent out, apostles, to proclaim the good news of Jesus,
and to be about what Jesus called them to be.
Between last week’s reading from the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and where we are today, in Jerusalem with Peter and John, something amazing has happened:
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
The disciples had been staying low,
just as Jesus had commanded them to, until the Spirit came upon them, gifting them, empowering them, and sending them on their way;
or should I say, The Way, the way Jesus sends and calls.
Peter and John have been empowered by the Spirit,
and now they carry on the prophetic power of Jesus,
not just by recounting the teachings and acts of Jesus,
but by actually participating in the power of the Holy Spirit themselves. And in the name of Jesus, carrying on Jesus’ work;
healing, teaching, bringing restoration,
and witnessing to the power and mercy and love of God in Jesus.
I sometimes wonder if the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ should be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit.’ It sure seems that all that we hear about,
all the amazing ways the Good news of Jesus spread throughout the world, of the ways people began living in new ways;
of caring for each other, of sharing what they had,
and how they began living in the promise of life forever, of forgiveness, and the freedom that comes from knowing
that they are good to go with God,
can only be made real by the Holy Spirit.
It is this Spirit, leading Peter and John to the beautiful gate of the temple, filling them with the knowledge and confidence in the power of Jesus Christ, that leads to this extraordinary scene:
And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. Peter looked intently 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 or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk."
And he took him by the right hand and raised him up;
and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.
The way we hear this, we know that it wasn’t anything that Peter and John had within them that was theirs;
it was the power of the name of Jesus that healed the lame person.
It was the power of the Spirit, the gifting of the Spirit,
that compels Peter to say, ‘Look at us!
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth stand up and walk.’
It is the confidence of the loving God
that allows Peter to reach out and grab the hand of a person
that would have been an outcast.
It is the healing power of God
that strengthens the man’s feet and ankles
and who takes lameness and turns it to walking and leaping and praise.
This last Thursday night, we watched the first round of the NFL draft, and it was a celebration, and not just of football. In the introduction to the evening, and then throughout the proceedings, one video after another, one commercial after another payed tribute and gave thanks for all the medical care givers who have been working so hard to keep us safe in the midst of this pandemic. I was so struck by all the images of medical care providers working so hard to keep us safe and well; risking so much for all of us! And, I was reminded about all the people in our midst, who are members of this congregation, who are our neighbors and friends, who work to make others well.
Dear friends, we are all called by God,
we are all given gifts of the Spirit.
In the coming weeks, we will have the chance to celebrate and give thanks for these.
But today, we give thanks to God for those, who like Peter and John, bring healing and comfort to all of us.
I know a lot of people in the medical field; nurses and certified nursing assistants, Nurse practitioners, dieticians, surgeons, doctors, administrators, chaplains . . . I almost don’t want to name the various fields of care because I risk excluding someone. Some do what they do because it is a good profession.
But most that I know do what they do because of a calling,
a compulsion to make others well, to bring healing and comfort.
Dear friends, on behalf of all of us, thank you.
We give God thanks for you.
Sisters and brothers, all of you are claimed and named children of God in Jesus’ name; and all of us are part of the same healing,
the same care-giving.
When we look out for each other, when we stay home,
we are caring for each other.
We are part of the work and calling of Jesus to love, to care,
to bring healing just as Jesus called Peter and John and the apostles.
It is a hard time, and we are hurting and grieving and afraid.
But we are loved. We are forgiven. We are part of something bigger than all of us by ourselves. We are part of the body of Christ.
The lame man, when healed in Jesus’ name, stands up,
and not just stands up, but walks,
and not just walks but leaps,
and not just leaps, but leaps in praise and worship of God.
Not a bad way to give thanks to God!
We look forward to when we can leap and dance together again, praising God for all God has given us. But for now, we can give thanks to God in every way we can.