The Disciple's First Healing Transcript

Jesus told his disciples that they would receive the Spirit and that everything that they had seen him do they would be able to do, and do even greater. He had told them to wait in Jerusalem until the gift of the Spirit, and then they would go from Jerusalem into all of Judea, to Samaria and around the world. Jesus both gave them a mission and everything they needed to accomplish it, of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, his resurrection, and what that means that death had been conquered, that sin had been destroyed, that there was a new way of living and it was available to them through Jesus Christ. That relationship that had been broken between God and humanity had been restored and now could be traversed, could be carried out by each and every person through Christ, could be carried out by each and every person through Christ. This story that we have just read from the book of Acts is the first healing that the disciples do after that mission is given, after Jesus tells them that they were going to do amazing things, after the Holy Spirit is given. We see Peter and John walking into the temple. It's about three o'clock in the afternoon, the scripture says and they're going, and there was a man who had been brought there from birth so he could ask for help. He was crippled from birth and he needed to rely on the kindness and giving of strangers in order to survive. Now we hope and pray that he did make it into the temple to pray sometimes, at least a little bit. But there are some ways of reading the Old Testament to say, because he was crippled from birth he could not go into the temple at all and so the gateway could be as far as he ever got. And he was sitting there and he had to beg for help as the people passed by. I love the irony, I love the beauty of, uh, the man who was crippled from birth asking for help. At the beautiful gate, the one that draws attention, the one that people know for its looks and for its splendor as they enter into the temple, sat this man who many would see as not beautiful, who many would see as an example of the world gone wrong that many would see and ask could see. What did he do, or what did his parents do wrong to cause his crippledness? Underneath the gate of beauty, just as the entrance of the temple where he may not have been able to cross, he is crying out to people going in for prayer. 

Now, any of us who have walked wherever there is, those who are poor, those who need to beg for their sustenance and their survival we know what it's like to be that crowd walking through the gate. Sometimes we take a quick glance and we at least notice the person. Sometimes we try to look away, hoping that if we don't make eye contact they won't ask us. Sometimes, when they ask us, we're conflicted. Should we give it to them? Should we give them what they ask for? Should we share of our money? Do we not carry any money so that we can truthfully say I don't have anything for you? 

So many times the people that ask and the people that beg get ignored or unseen. They're seen as less than they're seen as broken. They're seen as less worthy. And humanity hasn't changed much the way we are today and the way we interact with one another today. It's not woefully different than what it was then, and I'm sure there's people that pass by this man, just like many of us pass by those in poverty today. And so when Peter stops and he looks at the man intently, and, depending on the translation, it's either he stopped and he stared at the man, which is kind of awkward. What I like is the translation that he said. He looked at them intently as if to gauge what was going on, as if to gauge what he was going to do next. He says to the man look at me. Now the man has been acknowledged. 

He looks up at Peter from where he is sitting on his mat, expecting to be given something. There are those people that pass through the temple gate that help this man. So he expects that somebody would stop and take notice of him Generally means that what's going to happen next is that he will receive a gift that will help him eat, help him live and help him go about and survive until the next day where he is at the temple again asking people again to notice him. He looks up at Peter and he's hopeful. Where his expectation is that he's going to receive some money. Now the thing about Peter is I don't know if he knows what he's going to do next and I don't know if what he's about to do, if he knows it's going to work. This is that first healing. After the gift of Pentecost, he turns to the man the man looking up at him and he says Gold and silver? I have not, but what I do have, I give you. Maybe he's thinking well, he doesn't have silver or food, maybe he's got food, maybe he's got something else he's going to give me. He's talked to me. At least he's acknowledged my existence, he acknowledges that I'm here. That's a step in the right direction. 

Over so many that probably pass through the gate, peter says in the name of Jesus Christ, healed. This is a powerful statement because he just doesn't say you are healed and get up. He says in the name of Jesus Christ, you are healed. He invokes the name and the power of Christ because he trusts in Christ. He doesn't waver, he doesn't waffle because it's his own power. He doesn't think well, am I strong enough to do this? Am I strong enough? Do I have the power to bring about this healing? Do I have the power to do what I'm about to speak? It is not by his power, and so it isn't about his weakness. It is about God's strength through Jesus Christ and what Jesus has promised the disciples that they would be able to do. And so what Peter has is an intent trust in the promises of God. It is so powerful that he makes a bold statement to the man on this mat who has been crippled from birth Get up, rise up, take my hand and stand. Can you imagine that kind of understanding that it is not you doing it but Christ at work in you to boldly claim? Now many of us would wonder okay, well, what if it didn't work? What if he did all of that and it didn't heal the man? After all, am I saying that we should all go out into the hospitals, to the rehab centers, to those who are hurting, those who are lame, those who are broken, and say get up and walk, get up and walk. 

I do believe that there are people with the gift of healing out there. There are miraculous healings that happen so often Healing of heart, healing of body, healing of mind and spirit that I cannot explain. But there are also those times where it doesn't happen, also those times where healing doesn't come even though the faithful people pray for it, earnestly seeking it. So what would have happened if that were the case? Here, peter steps out in faith, trusting in Christ. He doesn't worry about will it work or will it not work. He doesn't worry about what the person will think. His eyes are only on the man in need of healing and that man's eyes are on him and so he speaks boldly, he acts boldly by reaching out his hand and lifting him up and out of that, through the miracle of the Holy Spirit, that man is healed, and not just kind of a healing of what was broken, but a full restoration of health so that the man can leap and jump around with joy, drawing attention from others. 

I said isn't that the guy that we always pass every day three o'clock? He's always out there, he's always asking for money. Isn't that him? And they recognize it as him. They're amazed by this and they want to know more. They're asking questions. We know that they're asking questions because immediately after today's passage and I do encourage you to go and read it, especially if you're doing the weekly reading plan that's on our website you'll find it is that because the people are amazed. They're willing to listen to Peter proclaim Christ, the God of Abraham, isaac and Jacob, the one who raised up Jesus Christ, the one that you had killed and rejected. He is the reason behind this, he is the purpose of its healing, he is the one at work. He is at work today, he is alive. The one who had been crucified had been raised again and the ramifications of that are widespread and they had no idea what the fullness of them was. 

A lot of us, especially in the Methodist church or more progressive forms of the faith, we kind of say okay, our deeds should be enough. We go out and we love people, we go out and serve people, we go out and give to people and they'll just know. They'll just know why we do it. And sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't, but how often does that put the attention on us? We think we're doing it for Christ. We know we're doing it for Christ and in the name of Christ. What about the person receiving it? And so we get a challenge in this passage. One is to act boldly, trusting in Christ and his promises, proclaiming Christ and speaking healing and hope into the lives of others. 

We may not heal someone who has been crippled since birth, but in the name of Christ and proclaiming the good news, we can bring a healing of wholeness, a healing when there is pain and suffering. A healing when there is brokenness. A healing when there is sin. A healing when there is loneliness. A healing when there is sin. Healing when there is loneliness. Healing when there's hopelessness. In today's world there's, in modern medicine, there's so many healings for so many ailments that people wouldn't have dreamed of two decades ago, 50 years ago, 100 years ago, 2,000 years ago. But in our world today there are so many people who are struggling, trying to understand who they are and how they belong in this world. So many struggling with loss and grief, wondering if their loved one is gone forever. So many who beat themselves up for the things that they have done, locking themselves in chains and feeling captive by the past. 

We need to hear what Paul said to the man at the temple Silver and gold I have not, but what I have I give you. And what we have is faith in Jesus Christ, the author of our salvation, the one who was nailed to a cross and died and rose again, the one who descended into hell again. And if we don't think that's enough, if we don't think that's enough, if we don't see the power and the potential for healing in our broken world that our faith in Christ has brought to ourselves and can bring to others, then what are we doing? Why are we afraid to share it? Why are we afraid to share it? Why are we afraid to let people know where our hope comes from when we have been healed, where we find our rock and our foundation. 

If it has been powerful for us and we believe and know it to be true, then how can we pass by the people who are hurting, who are lost, who are broken and not even try to say you can be healed Through my power, not through my words. 

It's not about us, it's not about our power, it's not about our strength. It's about stepping out and trusting in Christ and offering what we have received, that's been passed down to us, to those who are desperate to hear it. Will you do that? Do you do that? Do you see the pain and suffering in someone's life and say you know, I don't think I can heal that, I don't think there's anything I can do about that. But I follow one who has healed me. I've found a way to put my trust and faith in the one who has been healing people and bringing restoration. Maybe he can help Meeting them where they are, acknowledging their existence and where they are hurting, and looking them in the eye and speaking life. People in our world are desperate to hear it. They may know it, they may not, but I believe they are, and it's on us, it's on the disciples of Jesus Christ who are alive and well today, here in this place, to trust in him and to speak life.