Made to Make a Difference: Acts 3
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 7/3/2011
This series is inspired by and portions adapted from Max Lucado’s Out Live Your Life.
The very first followers of Jesus weren’t what you might expect. None of them had any seminary training. They didn’t belong to the religious elite or sit at the tables of governors and kings. They were common folk. Most of them had blue collars and calloused hands, and there’s no evidence that Jesus choose them because they were smarter or nicer than the guy next door. The one thing they had going for them was the willingness to take a step when Jesus said, “Follow me.” If you think you fit that description, then congratulations. God changes the world through ordinary folks like you.
In Acts 2, we witness the origins of a globe-changing movement called Christianity. This movement was propelled along by ordinary men and women who relied on the power of the Holy Spirit, who related to the people in a way they could understand, and who continually pointed the world to Jesus—the author and originator of it all. They knew that their lives mattered and that they were made to make a difference.
As we reach the third chapter of the book of Acts, it begins with the compelling story of events surrounding a seemingly insignificant beggar outside the temple gates. Let me read this story in entirety before we move on:
One day Peter and John went to the Temple at three o'clock, the time set each day for the afternoon prayer service. There, at the Temple gate called Beautiful Gate, was a man who had been crippled all his life. Every day he was carried to this gate to beg for money from the people going into the Temple. The man saw Peter and John going into the Temple and asked them for money. Peter and John looked straight at him and said, "Look at us!" The man looked at them, thinking they were going to give him some money. But Peter said, "I don't have any silver or gold, but I do have something else I can give you. By the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, stand up and walk!" Then Peter took the man's right hand and lifted him up. Immediately the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk. He went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God. All the people recognized him as the crippled man who always sat by the Beautiful Gate begging for money. Now they saw this same man walking and praising God, and they were amazed. They wondered how this could happen. (Acts 3:1-10 NCV)
Here in this brief narrative of early church life, we discover three more practical principles that will help us live our lives in such a way that the world will be glad we did. The first of these life-applicable lessons is to share the work.
• SHARE THE WORK
That’s what Peter and John did. Notice the first phrase of that first verse again: “Peter and John were going up together to the temple” (Acts 3:1 HCSB). Peter and John were practicing what preschoolers call the buddy system. In fact, all of the early Christians made teamwork a principle for everyday living. It’s a lesson they learned months earlier from Jesus himself. Back in Luke 10, he sent his followers out in pairs to all the towns and places he was planning to visit.
The Jerusalem church was a hodgepodge of believers from a variety of backgrounds, with different personalities, and sometimes conflicting opinions, yet they found a way to work together. They understood that none of us can do alone what all of us can do together. And because they did, lives were changed.
And as you and I learn from them, the same will happen.
This weekend 15 people from our church traveled more than 350 miles to Joplin, Missouri to help families displaced by the F5 tornado that wreaked destruction a few weeks ago. As well-intentioned as our volunteers are, they wouldn’t even know where to begin if we weren’t partnering with College Heights Christian Church. By God’s hand they were spared from the devastation of the tornado, and you can see why. Through good management and decisive action, College Heights has transformed their church campus into a distribution center for tornado victims—receiving, sorting and distributing donations, feeding thousands of people, and organizing teams to clean debris and rebuild homes. Volunteers from all over the mid-west have partnered together in the name of Jesus to make a difference—to literally change the landscape of the city of Joplin. None of us can do alone, what all of us can do together.
The same is true on a global scale. Many of us are heartbroken by the distressing times in which we live. War, famine, and disease run rampant through many parts of the world. Thousands of children die every day from preventable diseases and malnutrition. Alone, there isn’t anything you or I can do about it. But by partnering with organizations like World Vision or Samaritan’s Purse, we can help bring life-changing basics like nutritious food, clean water, healthcare, and education to needy children all around the world. A mere 2% of the world’s grain would be enough, if shared, to feed everyone on the planet. American Christians alone have the wherewithal to house every orphan in the world.
No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. And when we do, statements such as these will be read more often: “The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need” (Acts 4:33-35 NLT).
They worked together to take care of each other. Our only hope is to work together. The first lesson we learn here in Acts 3 is—share the work. The second is—see the wound.
• SEE THE WOUND
As Peter and John approached the Temple, they passed through a great garlanded gate. The gate was called Beautiful. The man sitting beside it was anything but.
He couldn’t walk. Instead he dragged himself through the dirty on his knees. He spent his days sitting outside the Temple gate, begging for money as Yahweh-worshippers entered and exited the Temple. Peter and John were among them.
The needy man, saw the two apostles, lifted his voice, and begged for a donation. Peter and John didn’t actually have any money, but they stopped anyway and, the Bible says, “Peter looked straight at him, as did John” (Act 3:4 NIV). Another translation says, “Peter and John looked at him intently” (NLT). That phrase captured my attention.
How long had it been, I wonder, since anyone had looked this fellow square in the face? It’s hard to look suffering in the face, isn’t it? Wouldn’t we rather turn away? Stare in a different direction? Fix our gaze on fairer objects? Wouldn’t we rather live in our own little world?
I noticed an unusual phenomenon a while back. It started appearing on banners, bumper stickers and billboards. Nearly everywhere I looked, I saw the same message: Start Seeing Motorcycles. At first, I thought what a peculiar thing to display on your rear bumper. But statistics show that 80-90% of motorcycle accidents involving another vehicle happen because the driver of the car simply didn’t see the motorcycle. It’s not that motorcyclists clad themselves in camouflage; rather, other drivers just aren’t really looking for them.
I think we need a billboard and banner campaign that says: Start Seeing People.
There is something fundamentally good about taking time to see a person.
A certain Pharisee named Simon once criticized Jesus for showing kindness to a woman of questionable character. In response, Jesus said, “Do you see this woman?” (Luke 7:44). Simon didn’t. He saw a floozy, a streetwalker, a tramp; but he didn’t see the woman. What do we see when see the figures standing at the intersection with cardboard signs? Or the news clips of children in refugee camps? Or the reports of the 1.75 billion people who live on less than $1.25 a day?
What do we see? I know what Jesus saw. The Bible says, “When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36 NCV). The word compassion literally means “to be moved as to one’s bowels…” In other words, to be kicked in the gut. Jesus looked harassed and helpless humanity right in the face and felt it in his gut.
Let’s determine to be like Jesus; like Peter and John. Let’s be the people who stop at the gate. No hurrying passed or turning away. Let’s look at the face, until we see the person. Share the work. See the wound. And finally, serve the weak.
• SERVE THE WEAK
As the two apostles approached the man, Peter could have said to himself, “Since I don’t have any silver or gold, I’ll just mind my own business.” But he didn’t; instead he said, “I don't have any silver or gold, but I do have something else I can give you. By the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, stand up and walk!” (Acts 3:6 NCV). Then Peter reach out his hand and helped the man get back on his feet.
An honest look led to a helping hand.
You and I may not have the miraculous power that Peter possessed, but we still have the power to help those who are hurting. How many times have you seen someone who could use a little help getting back on his feet? When you or I lend a helping hand in the name of Jesus, it makes a difference for time and for eternity.
Jesus’ little brother, James, wrote, “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?” (James 2:14-16 NLT).
Serving people in need is putting faith in action.
Warren Wiersbe once told the story of a Christian lady who often visited a retirement home near her house. One day she noticed a lonely man sitting, staring at his dinner tray. In a kindly manner she asked, “Is something wrong?”
The man snapped back at her in a heavy accent, “Is something wrong!? Yes, something is wrong! I am a Jew, and I cannot eat this food!”
“What would you like to have?” she asked.
“I would like a bowl of hot soup!”
She went home and prepared the soup and, after getting permission from the office, took it to the man. In the following weeks, she often visited him and brought him the kind of food he enjoyed and eventually she led him to faith in Christ.
Yes, even serving a bowl of hot soup can make a difference and change a life!
Conclusion
Share the work. See the wound. Serve the weak. Could this be God’s strategy for human hurt? First, kind eyes meet desperate ones. Next, strong hands help weak ones. Then, the miracle of God. We do our small part, he does his big part, and life at the Beautiful Gate begins to be just that—beautiful.
Invitation
As our worship team comes forward to lead us in our next song, I want to invite you to open your eyes this week. Wherever you go, whoever you may encounter; it all starts with an honest look and a helping hand. Let’s be the ones who stop at the gate, who reach out our hands, and make a difference in the name Jesus.
