Helping Hands
(Acts 3:1-10)
Introduction:
“There was a pastor of a small church who had a little daughter of about 6-years-old. It was near her bedtime, and she was sent to bed with a stomachache and missed her usual romp with her daddy. A few minutes later she appeared at the top of the stairs and called to her mother, ‘Mama, let me talk with Daddy.’
“‘No, my dear, not tonight. Get back in bed.’
“‘Please, Mama.’
“‘I said, no. That’s final.’
“‘Mother, I’m a very sick woman and I must see my pastor at once’” (Michael Hodgin, 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1994), 251).
The world is abounding with those who have various needs to be met; and some are more serious than others. And we’re left with the choice to either ignore those needs, or become a catalyst for positive change by extending a hand.
I want to refer back to our scripture from last week as we look at meeting the needs of others. Let’s take a look…
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!
Warren Wiersbe writes,
“In ministry, we’re called to live for others. Ministry is not just another way of making a living; it’s a wonderful opportunity for making a life, a life that’s lived for others. It’s an opportunity to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. When He was here on earth He met human needs, all kinds of needs; and He wasn’t always thanked or even appreciated” (Warren W. Wiersbe, On Being a Servant of God (Baker Books: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1993), 9).
We can relate to people’s needs in several different ways:
1. We can be blind to them and live our own lives:
Philippians 2:3-4 (NLT)
Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. [4] Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing.
When we are blind to others’ needs we are selfish. Now, I’m not trying to step on toes or hurt anybody’s feelings here, but when we make the decision to pass up an opportunity to meet the needs of another by pretending we don’t see them, we have stepped into the realm of selfishness in the most full-blown sense.
When Paul tells us to “be humble, thinking of others as better than ourselves,” we must understand what he’s saying here. First, we must understand that he is indicating that we become aware of others around us; that we open our eyes literally and figuratively to those who are in need and in want that we cross paths with everyday.
You see, the problem is, when we’re constantly looking at how things affect us only, we are unable to see the needs of those around us. I call this the ingrown dilemma.
Second, when Paul says that we need to think of others as better than ourselves, he’s not indicating that we must be self-loathing or not take care of ourselves; he is merely stating that we view others with a sense of respect and esteem. Our tendency is to want to make ourselves out to be better than we really are, and to make others out to be worse than they really are so that we come out on top in the comparison game (and let’s be honest, we’ve all played this game before!).
If we take into consideration the way that Jesus treated the outcasts of his day (those considered unworthy and unacceptable to mingle with) we see a humility that we too should be emulating. Jesus esteemed others as better than himself by the way he treated those considered unimportant in his day and age. He took on the position of a servant rather than a king (which is what he really is), and treated others with respect and unconditional love.
Jesus modeled a life that didn’t turn a blind eye to the needs around him. He jumped in with both feet as a servant, casting his eyes upon the needs of those who came across his path everyday.
2. We can take advantage of those needs to benefit ourselves:
We’ve all seen the politician who is posed at just the right time, with just the right person, for just the right photo-op. Especially during election time, presidents, senators, representatives, mayors, and the like, will go to some of the most poverty-ridden places and meet the poorest of the poor, not for the real purpose of helping to meet their needs, but rather with the ulterior motive of making themselves look good.
The same can happen with those who claim to be Christians. Giving our time and effort even at the most minimal level must always be kept in check with our motives. The sad thing is – as Christian leaders in our society – we can abuse our privileges of leadership and position to bend others to our position or way of thinking, and manipulate others to get the outcome we want. We can set the right photo-ops ourselves so that our image is solidified as a servant of the people.
The Pharisees in Jesus day did this. They worked in such a way as to hold others to the strictest interpretation of the Law, not in order to build people up and help them become better, but rather to build themselves up in position, title, and authority.
Wiersbe writes, “If we aren’t careful, we can minister in such a way that we exploit the needs of others to get ourselves recognition, position, titles, honors, and privileges. True servants of God help others whether they themselves get anything out of it or not. Their concern is only that God be glorified and people trust Christ” (On Being a Servant of God, 10).
There’s the key! True servants of God help others whether they themselves get anything out of it or not. Their concern is only that God be glorified and people trust Christ.
3. We can know about them but do nothing:
No other story can illustrate this point better than the story that Jesus told an expert in religious law who was testing Jesus. Listen to what he says…
Luke 10:25-37 (NLT)
One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: "Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?"
[26] Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?"
[27] The man answered, " ’You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ "
[28] "Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!"
[29] The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
[30] Jesus replied with an illustration: "A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes and money, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
[31] "By chance a Jewish priest came along; but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. [32] A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
[33] "Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt deep pity. [34] Kneeling beside him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. [35] The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. ’If his bill runs higher than that,’ he said, ’I’ll pay the difference the next time I am here.’
[36] "Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked.
[37] The man replied, "The one who showed him mercy."
Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."
We will never be able to meet the needs of the whole world; even Jesus reminded us that the poor will always be among us. However, what he was saying to the expert in religious law (and so he speaks to us today) is, as Wiersbe states, that we should never be thankful for a reason (or an excuse) to escape responsibility, and we must guard against the kind of professionalism that leads to a hard heart” (On Being a Servant of God, 10).
4. We can put grace in the heart so that lives are changed and problems are really solved:
Again, we are not to be manufacturers of divine resources, we are to be distributors of them. God didn’t call us forth with the purpose to pull stuff out of thin air, in our own power and strength. He provides us with all the resources we’ll ever need to minister effectively His grace and mercy to a world full of people with needs and problems.
Wiersbe says that, “The best thing we can do for people is not to solve their problems for them but so relate them to God’s grace that they will be enabled to solve their problems and not repeat them” (On Being a Servant of God, 11).
True rehabilitation occurs when we provide people with the tools and the resources to solve their own problems, but it also requires that we walk along side of them helping them to walk; taking them by the hand, if need be, so that they can find the richness of God’s grace to be a life-changing force in their own lives.
There was a time when Peter said to Jesus, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get out of it?” Like Peter, we’ve all had times when we once said, “Okay, Jesus, look, I’ve given up everything in order to follow you… those CDs with the questionable lyrics, my colorful language, my need to gossip, my bitterness and resentment, my need to always be right, my prideful attitude… But as he matured in his relationship with Christ his tune started to change. As he talks to the man beside the gate called “Beautiful” at the entrance to the Temple, Peter says, “I’ll give you what I have.” And if we’re not careful we miss something very significant in the next verse. After he tells the man to get up and walk, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, he does a very important thing – he takes the man by the hand to help him up!
Never before had this man experienced anyone taking him by the hand to give him something like this. This was a hand of grace which extended far beyond the reaches of eternity and into the loving heart of God. This hand that Peter extended was the healing hand of Christ reaching out to touch the broken body of a man who never knew the sensation of walking. This hand that Peter extended would be forever etched into the mind of this man who was lame from birth as the hand who met a lifelong need for healing and wholeness.
Conclusion:
“A Thanksgiving Day editorial in the newspaper told of a school teacher who asked her first graders to draw a picture of something they were thankful for. She thought of how little these children from pour neighborhoods actually had to be thankful for. But she knew that most of them would draw pictures of turkeys on tables with food. The teacher was taken aback with the picture Douglas handed in… a simple childishly drawn hand.
“But whose hand? This class was captivated by the abstract image. ‘I think it must be the hand of God that brings us food,’ said one child. ‘A farmer,’ said another, ‘because he grows the turkeys.’ Finally when the others were back at work the teacher bent over Douglas’s desk and asked whose hand it was. ‘It’s your hand, Teacher,’ he mumbled.
“She recalled that frequently at recess she had taken Douglas, a scrubby forlorn child, by the hand. She often did that with the children. But it meant so much to Douglas. ‘Perhaps this is everyone’s Thanksgiving, not for the material things given to us, but for the chance, in whatever small way, to give to others,’ she thought” (Author Unknown, Stories from the Heart (Multnomah Books: Sisters, Oregon, 1996), 52).
Are you blind to others’ needs? Do you just pass them by? Do you take advantage of others who are despairing; those who can’t help themselves and are wandering aimlessly without direction? Are you a person who sees the needs of others, but views the task to great, and so rather than helping you become numb and inactive to the plight of others situations.
Or do you extend your hand? Is the picture that people draw in their minds the picture of the hand that you lend in order to lift them out of the muck and mire of life’s problems?
May the hand that you lend, and the human needs that you meet, bring glory to God!
