Giving Glory to God
(Acts 3:1-10)
Introduction:
“A newspaper ad read: ‘Lost – One Dog. Brown hair with several bald spots. Right leg broken due to auto accident. Rear left hip hurt. Right eye missing. Left ear bitten off in a dog fight. Answers to the name, ‘Lucky’” (Michael Hodgin, 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1994), 216).
There’s definitely something in a name. As we’ll find out today Peter and John were very well aware of this. Let’s refer to our passage of scripture again today found in…
Acts 3:1-10 (NLT)
Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. [2] As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. [3] When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
[4] Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, "Look at us!" [5] The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting a gift. [6] But Peter said, "I don’t have any money for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!"
[7] Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and anklebones were healed and strengthened. [8] He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.
[9] All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. [10] When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded!
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but when we call someone by name, there are several things that come to mind about that person. We cannot disconnect the emotion from the act of speaking someone’s name. We cannot disassociate the flooding thoughts and memories of a person when we mention their name. It’s like playing a word association game… when I say “green” you say “bean.”
Peter and John understood the power of a name… especially Jesus’ name. Theologian Richard N. Longenecker writes that, “In Semitic thought, a name does not just identify or distinguish a person; it expresses the very nature of his (or her) being. Hence the power of the person is present and available in the name of the person. Peter, therefore, does not just ask the risen Jesus to heal but pronounces over the crippled beggar the name of Jesus, thereby releasing the power of Jesus (cf. 3:16; 4:10). And the power of the risen Jesus, coupled with the man’s response of faith (cf. 3:16), effects the healing” (Richard N. Longenecker, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 9 (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1981), 294).
Why didn’t Peter and John take this healing of this crippled beggar into their own hands and do this in their own power and in their own names? Why did they refer to Jesus for the healing that this beggar needed?
I say it’s because their motive wasn’t to bring glory to themselves, but rather to glorify the One who had empowered them to heal others in the first place.
Wiersbe says, “If our motive for serving is anything other than the glory of God, what we do will be only religious activity and not true Christian ministry” (Warren W. Wiersbe, On Being a Servant of God (Baker Books: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1993), 19).
So today the question presses, “How do we really know that what we’re doing is glorifying God?” I think there are three ways to understand this…
1. When people see God and not the servant, and when we’re concerned more about God’s image than our own.
Matthew 5:13-16 (NLT)
You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. [14] You are the light of the world—like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. [15] Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. [16] In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
There are those out there in Christian ministry that shine like lights to the world around them, but the light they emanate is only to glorify themselves and their good deeds. Though they may thank God verbally in the public arena, the reality is they are more concerned about getting recognition and praise for their noteworthy efforts of service and ministry.
The problem that lies within is motive. What is the motive for serving and giving yourself in ministry to others? What is the purpose for giving to others that which they need? Do we truly do it to magnify God, or is there a deeper rooted ulterior motive of seeking to gain acceptance and acknowledgment for all the work we do.
I’ve been around long enough to know a true heart of sincerity and a heart of insecurity. The true heart of sincerity works as if unto the Lord, with a spirit of humility and gratitude. The hear of insecurity works out of imagined deficiencies trying to measure up to specific ideals, constantly worrying about how they are perceived by others.
Jesus warned the disciples against this type of behavior. Listen to what he says…
Matthew 6:1-8 (NLT)
"Take care! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, because then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. [2] When you give a gift to someone in need, don’t shout about it as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I assure you, they have received all the reward they will ever get. [3] But when you give to someone, don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. [4] Give your gifts in secret, and your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.
[5] "And now about prayer. When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure you, that is all the reward they will ever get. [6] But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.
[7] "When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered only by repeating their words again and again. [8] Don’t be like them, because your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!
The Life Application Notes in the New Living Testament say, “It’s easier to do what’s right when we gain recognition and praise. To be sure our motives are not selfish we should do our good deeds quietly or in secret, with no thought of reward. Jesus says we should check our motives in three areas: generosity (Matthew 6:4), prayer (Matthew 6:6), and fasting (Matthew 6:18). Those acts should not be self-centered, but God-centered, done not to make us look good but to make God look good. The reward God promises is not material and it is never given to those who seek it. Doing something only for ourselves is not a loving sacrifice. With your next good deed, ask, ‘Would I still do this if no one would ever know I did it?’”
Another way we can know if what we are doing glorifies God is…
2. When our service produces fruit.
“A farmer one planted two fruit trees on opposite sides of his property. The one he planted to provide a hedge hide the unsightly view of an old landfill; the other to provide shade to rest under near a cool mountain stream which ran down beside his fields. As the two trees grew, both produced began to flower and bear fruit. One day the farmer decided to gather the fruit from the tree nearest his house - the one used to provide a hedge from the landfill. As he brought the fruit inside the house, he noticed that it was a little deformed, the symmetry of the fruit was not very good, but still the fruit looked edible. Later that evening, while sitting on his porch the farmer took one of the pieces of fruit for a snack. Biting into the fruit, he found it to be extremely bitter, and completely inedible. Casting the fruit aside he looked across the field to the other tree over by the mountain stream. After walking across the field, the farmer took a piece of the fruit from the other tree and bit into it. Find the fruit to be sweet and delicious he gathered several more pieces of fruit and took them to the house.
“The fruit was greatly affected by the nutrition of the root. Just as the tree grew by the landfill to be bitter, and the tree by the stream produced sweet fruit, so the Christian has a choice. He can either put down his roots into the soil of the landfill of fleshly pursuits, or into the cool refreshing stream of the person of Jesus Christ. We must understand that the root bears the fruit. The fruit of the Christian is the outward evidence of the inward motivation” (Two Fruit Trees – Different Fruit, (http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=587).
Jesus talked to his disciples about bearing fruit. Listen to what he told them…
John 15:1-8 (NLT)
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. [2] He cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. [3] You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you. [4] Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me.
[5] "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. [6] Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. [7] But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! [8] My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father.
We were created to glorify God. Our lives should be a living testimony to the grace, the mercy, and the love of Christ that has set us free from the bondage of our old life; the bondage of a life that was solely and completely lived for self.
When we live life in close relationship with God we become streams of living water to the rest of the world around us; we become nourishment and life to a dead and dying world.
The fruit we bear is an indication that our roots are firmly planted in the furrowed and fertile soil of the God of all creation – the God who gives everlasting life, and life abundant. Good fruit is a mark of a life lived for God.
The last indicator that what we’re doing is bringing glory to God is…
3. When the enemy opposes what we’re doing.
James 4:7 (NLT)
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.
The enemy hates to see us succeed. He hates to see us connected to God, and he hates to see God using us to reach others with love and mercy. When we’re doing the right thing, life can become more difficult. We may experience more opposition, more problems, and sometimes, maybe even more heartache.
I’m sure we’ve all questioned God when it seems that we’re getting hit from all sides. We may say, “God why are you allowing this to happen to me? I’ve followed you faithfully, and have devoted my life to you. Why is life so hard now?”
Jesus reminds us that “the thief” (that is, “the enemy”) comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but He tags on to the end of this verse that He (Jesus) came to give us life more abundantly.
Jesus never said that we would be exempt from experiencing sorrow and pain, and even opposition. He did, however, promise us abundant life. And the reality is, no matter our circumstances or life situations we can have complete joy as long as we find our rest in Him.
But we must remember to stay on our guard, and remain alert. When we become laxed in our behavior and standards – when we let our guard down – we become susceptible to traps that the enemy sets.
1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.
Conclusion:
“In Ernest Gordon’s true account of life in a World War II Japanese prison camp, Through the Valley of the Kwai, there is a story that never fails to move me. It is about a man who through giving it all away literally transformed a whole camp of soldiers. The man’s name was Angus McGillivray. Angus was a Scottish prisoner in one of the camps filled with Americans, Australians, and Britons who had helped build the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai. The camp had become an ugly situation. A dog-eat-dog mentality had set in. Allies would literally steal from each other and cheat each other; men would sleep on their packs and yet have them stolen from under their heads. Survival was everything. The law of the jungle prevailed...until the news of Angus McGillivray’s death spread throughout the camp. Rumors spread in the wake of his death. No one could believe big Angus had succumbed. He was strong, one of those whom they had expected to be the last to die. Actually, it wasn’t the fact of his death that shocked the men, but the reason he died. Finally they pieced together the true story.
“The Argylls (Scottish soldiers) took their buddy system very seriously. Their buddy was called their ‘mucker,’ and these Argylls believed that is was literally up to each of them to make sure their ‘mucker’ survived. Angus’s mucker, though, was dying, and everyone had given up on him, everyone, of course, but Angus.
“He had made up his mind that his friend would not die. Someone had stolen his mucker’s blanket. So Angus gave him his own, telling his mucker that he had ‘just come across an extra one.’”
“Likewise, every mealtime, Angus would get his rations and take them to his friend, stand over him and force him to eat them, again stating that he was able to get ‘extra food.’ Angus was going to do anything and everything to see that his buddy got what he needed to recover.
“But as Angus’s mucker began to recover, Angus collapsed, slumped over, and died. The doctors discovered that he had died of starvation complicated by exhaustion. He had been giving of his own food and shelter. He had given everything he had—even his very life. The ramifications of his acts of love and unselfishness had a startling impact on the compound. ‘Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15:12).
“As word circulated of the reason for Angus McGillivray’s death, the feel of the camp began to change. Suddenly, men began to focus on their mates, their friends, and humanity of living beyond survival, of giving oneself away. They began to pool their talents—one was a violin maker, another an orchestra leader, another a cabinet maker, another a professor. Soon the camp had an orchestra full of homemade instruments and a church called the ‘Church Without Walls’ that was so powerful, so compelling, that even the Japanese guards attended. The men began a university, a hospital, and a library system. The place was transformed; an all but smothered love revived all because one man named Angus gave all he had for his friend. For many of those men this turnaround meant survival. What happened is an awesome illustration of the potential unleashed when one person actually gives it all away” (Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, (Word Books Publisher: Nashville, Tennessee, 1987) 146-147).
A life that is lived in selfless humility brings glory to God.
So what about you today? Are you glorifying God in your life? When people see you do they see God living in you, or are you the dominant expression they see. Are you more concerned about God’s image being magnified, or are you more concerned about your own image? Are you bearing fruit – the kind of fruit that brings life and nourishment to the starving world around us? And finally, are you experiencing opposition. When we’re doing the right thing, we usually experience some sort of opposition.
I think we do well to remember…
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NLT)
Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, you must do all for the glory of God.
