“Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze 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 and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!’ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.” [1]
The noted theologian, Thomas Aquinas, visited the Vatican to call on Pope Innocent II. The Pope was counting out a large sum of money at the time Aquinas visited. Seeing Aquinas, the Pope remarked, “You see, Thomas, the church need no longer say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’” Aquinas responded, “True, Holy Father, but neither can she now say, ‘Rise up and walk.’” [2] That particular exchange occurred in the thirteenth century; it is now the twenty-first century. Churches in the west are rich, but they are not necessarily endued with spiritual power. In far too many of the churches in the western world, spirituality is reminiscent of the Pecos River at floodtide—a kilometer wide and ankle deep.
The text is treated allegorically in the message this day. The incident was real—Peter and John did heal a lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. They were accosted by the authorities because of their demonstration of power in the Name of the Risen Christ. They were threatened by the religious leaders. The lame man did reveal the mercy of the Saviour by walking and leaping in the sight of all that were present that day. However, as I read the account, I am struck by how the incident pictures contemporary church life. Join me in exploring the implications for modern Christians concerning what happened that day.
A SICK CHURCH — The Temple in Jerusalem was the outward expression of Judaism; thus, it represented the Faith of the Jewish people. As such, it was somewhat akin to the church buildings that dot the land, being found in every community. These church buildings, many now empty or converted to secular uses, stand as silent witnesses to the faith of our fathers. They picture the indominable spirit that motivated our forebears to penetrate the wilderness, carving out a home in an inhospitable land. They are not unlike the Temple in the days following the first blush of the Faith. These church buildings are not the Faith, but they serve as testament to a vibrant, powerful Faith that once thrived in our land. Now, these decaying husks remind the few that gather in them of lost power and lost vision. People gathered in these monuments to the past bemoan how bad the world has become and hard it is to be Christian in this brave new world.
There is an obvious and significant observable difference between the Christians of that first century and the followers of Christ in this twenty-first century. Those earliest followers of the Master had no Internet, there were no computers—there wasn’t even electricity delivered to their homes! Obviously, there was no YouTube, no Google, no Twitter. Their sole means of communication was by voice at intimate distances or through written letters delivered by post at the pace of feet walking along Roman roads. These early assemblies were unable to televise worship services because there was no television, nor were there any radio broadcasts.
The first assemblies didn’t even have church buildings in which they could meet! Imagine! No padded pews or carpeted altars where penitents could kneel! One wonders how these followers of the Risen Saviour even managed to worship! When the congregants gathered, there were no praise bands, no worship teams, no electronic aids to ensure that the singers could be heard above the throbbing beat of the drums, no dancers waving flags. These earliest Christians could not travel to distant countries in a day or less via jet planes, and they had no motorized vehicles to carry them and their baggage to villages and cities far removed from their support base. Yet, against all odds, these first followers of the Master were charged with turning their world upside down [see ACTS 17:6]!
Vast regions of the world—certainly, the entire Roman Empire and far beyond—heard the message of the Risen Saviour, within an incredibly short period. That first generation of believers accomplished something that has not been matched since that time. Despite the multiple aids available to contemporary churches to enable the rapid spread of the message of the Risen Christ, few modern churches are able even to approximate the impact of the ministry of those first believers. With nothing to assist them except the Spirit of the Risen Christ, those early saints fulfilled the commission which the Master delivered before ascending into Heaven: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” [MARK 16:15].
It would be easy to conclude that contemporary Christendom is sick should we view the purported churches of our Lord as a whole. Indeed, we do witness a veritable sickness! When one realizes that ultimately the churches of this present age will morph into the detestable women described as the apostate church of the final days, the initial symptoms of the malady that leads to condemnation and death are already evident. In the final vision of what the churches shall become, John wrote, “I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: ‘Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.’ And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” No wonder that the Revelator wrote of what he saw, “When I saw her, I marveled greatly” [REVELATION 17:3b-6].
Evidence of the terminal condition of the churches is apparent by even a cursory review of news items detailing the rot that has eroded the Faith in this day. A few instances will suffice to demonstrate the veracity of this charge, horrifying conscientious followers of the Christ by the audacity of their unbelief poured into the soul of those who know the Saviour. Though there may be exceptions, seminaries and Bible colleges responsible to prepare pastors and church leaders for future ministry have largely moved toward irrelevance, openly rejecting the Faith on which the schools were once founded. Whatever the product they are providing to the churches may be, it cannot be said to be Christian. The “ministers” are false teachers as Peter warned against [see 1 PETER 2:1].
As one example of the rot within contemporary Christendom, consider the fact that the president of Union Seminary, a seminary established in 1836 on the “infallible” Word of God, rejects a literal bodily resurrection of Christ. This woman rejects the idea that God miraculously heals through prayer. She doesn’t know what happens to people after they die, and she rejects the Virgin Birth of Christ. [3] This is not a new theological position this woman has only recently adopted. She previously served as a professor of theology at Yale Divinity School and as the chair of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. [4]
Among churches in Canada, one church seems to stand out as determined to reject every tenet related to Christ and to the Word of God. That particular church has become “a laboratory of liberal theology.” [5] The result is a rapid decline of members as the denomination dropped from a high of 1.1 million members in 1964, to a membership of 436,292 members in 2014. [6] Over one-half of adherents have fled the church. This is a church that claims to adhere to biblical doctrine and yet is unable to say what the denomination believes. Consequently, the church has a series moderators that deny that Jesus is God, openly avow homosexuality, and tolerate a minister who is an avowed atheist. [7] Small wonder, then, that one woman who ministers within this denomination says, “In the 1960s and ‘70s we became embarrassed about Jesus. And so we distanced ourselves from Jesus, and the point is without Jesus there’s no point in having a church. iTunes has better music and the NDP has better policies, everything else we do now somebody else does way better. The only thing we can do is this Jesus thing.” [8]
The Anglican Church of Canada has experienced a dramatic shift toward obsolescence during the past four or five decades. The denomination has ceased publishing attendance and adherence records since 2001. In the United States, in 1970 there were about three Episcopalians (American Anglicans) for every Mormon. Today, the ratio is almost precisely reversed. Similar figures appear to hold for Canada, revealing the loss of fifty-three percent of membership during the period of 1961 to 2001. When the loss of adherents is addressed, we hear that the loss of those attending Anglican services in Canada mirror the church embracing pan sexualism, rejecting the death of Jesus for our sins, and denying the reality of eternal damnation of sinners. Replacing the Gospel with leftist political agitation laced with spirituality devoid of meaningful religion doesn’t work. [9]
The rot within Canadian Anglicanism is sufficiently detrimental that even the most famous theologian among their number, J. I. Packer, left the church early in this present century. [10] The congregation to which Packer belonged, St. John’s Shaughnessy Anglican Church in Vancouver, joined twenty-eight other parishes at that time to unite with overseas Anglican provinces, [11] part of a major exodus of conservative and evangelical congregations to groups that were more welcoming to the biblical theology to which these congregations adhered.
Evangelical churches are not free of the censure that liberalism so richly deserves. I have watched with growing horror the drift of various evangelical groups during the years of my service before the Risen Saviour. Even a cursory review of recent history would verify the reality of that drift. For a brief moment it would appear that the faithful were rousing themselves from the slumber that dulled their senses, their slumber ensuring the churches posed no threat to the wicked one. Then, after briefly bestirring themselves for one noisy crusade or another, the faithful would again settle into comfortable somnolence as they closed their eyes and drifted into unholy quietude.
Baptists that once vigorously pleaded with the lost to be saved seem to have forgotten that there is Good News to be proclaimed to all people. Pentecostals who once were adamant that their adherents should be modest in appearance and demeanour are now eager to look and act just like the world about them. Presbyterians rush to demonstrate how “woke” they are by embracing every novel liberal position that pops up on the religion scene. Charismatics who fought to restore worship to the centre of the Faith, became masters of deception as they worshipped their worship and forgot the One who is worthy of our worship. No denomination has escaped the blight and decay that insinuates itself into the fabric of righteousness. Thus, the churches that are called “evangelical” have the reputation of being alive, but they are dead.
Success has ruined the churches. Seminaries and Bible colleges train ministers to be successful rather than schooling those who are being trained for ministry in righteousness. Churches and church leaders are more concerned with the credentials of those who lead the faithful than they are concerned with their character. The Word of God demands that those who would lead the faithful must be pure, but we esteem position. Who we know is of greater value in receiving appointment to serve among the churches than is what we know of the Word, or even of the Lord. Like Pharisees of old, we love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God [see JOHN 12:43]. Jesus asked the question, and we might be well advised to ask the same question, “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God” [JOHN 5:44]? How indeed?
Every temple built by the Jewish people became a source of condemnation, became an object of worship with the passage of time. Solomon’s Temple became the downfall of the nation as Jeremiah exposed the heart of the people when he wrote, “Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD” [JEREMIAH 7:4]. The second temple was transformed into Herod’s masterpiece, and that temple would be destroyed when Titus sacked Jerusalem, just as Jesus foretold. When the disciples were praising the beauty of the temple, Jesus prophesied, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” [MARK 13:2].
And when the temple is rebuilt during the days of the Great Tribulation, that temple will be co-opted by Antichrist as an instrument of unrighteousness to compel the world to worship that man as god, just as Daniel and John prophesied [see DANIEL 9:27; REVELATION 13:1-18], and as Jesus foretold [see MATTHEW 24:15]. Just so, the great denominations always tend downward with time. Today, it is almost impossible to find one Bible school, one seminary, one Bible training facility established in the past fifty years that has not deviated significantly from the founding principles. It is difficult to find a denomination that has existed more than fifty years that has not visibly moved away from the principles that were espoused by those who first united in that movement. It is almost unimaginable that a single church that has ministered more than fifty years can be found that has not drifted far from the foundations to which the first congregants adhered. The Faith as it is practised today is not healthy.
If you imagine that I am totally negative about the Faith, I’m not. For God has consistently intervened in history to ensure that the Faith continues. When our spiritual forebears moved throughout the Roman Empire, turning the world upside down and driving the Roman eagle screaming through leaden skies, God was at work. When the flames of the Faith were dying down in Judea and North Africa, God was penetrating the European continent with the preaching the Gospel. When the fires of the Faith were growing dim in Rome, God was stirring up churches among the Valleys of Vaudois and ensuring that glowing embers were kept in Ireland. As the Waldensians and Poor Men of Lyon began to accommodate the attitudes of this dying world, the Lord was bestirring Anabaptists principles in Zurich, Switzerland and spreading into Moravia and Germany. These stirrings were being observed at the same time Reformers such as Luther, Calvin and Zwingli were shaking the Old World with the declaration that justification is by faith.
When the Reformation began to grow quiescent and content with a rise to dominance in England and the European continent, God was sending men such as John Wesley and George Whitfield to straddle an ocean in order to bring the message of the Cross to the New World. When the revival fires began to die out, God was sending bi-vocational Baptist into the wilderness, men who farmed for six days and then preached on Sunday. Alongside of these godly men were Methodist circuit riders armed with the Word of God and a hymnal who carried the message of life into the wilderness. And when the Faith of the Risen Saviour began to die out in the New World, God was stirring the hearts of godly men in Asia, men who dared believe that God is worthy of our best service and our highest praise. Today, we see God at work in Korea, in Singapore, in the great South American continent, and in the villages and towns of multiplied African cities.
While the Faith may appear sick in North America, God is raising up faithful men and women elsewhere to ensure that the knowledge of Christ the Lord is spread throughout the world. God is at work. My question to you is this, “Is God at work here? Does He work in your heart? Is He doing that powerful work that reveals Him as very God in your life?”
I confess that as I witness God at work in distant lands today, I find myself crying out, “Why not now? And why not here?” Have I become so used to the routine of daily life that I can be content to drift as do the rest of the churches? Is it not time for the faithful to arouse themselves and cry out, pleading for God’s glory to be seen among us as He longs to reveal it? Is it not time that each of us should cry out, “Oh, Lord, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. Do a new work, which is truly the old work, in my heart. Oh, God, do what You alone can do and send revival to Your people. Oh, Master, create a longing in our heart, a longing for righteousness and for Your glory to be seen in our midst. Do it today. Do it now. Amen.”
A LAME MAN — In front of the Temple, at the Beautiful Gate, a man was situated each day. Born with a congenital deformity, the man was unable to walk. Someone carried him each day so he could sit beside the gate to beg of those going into the Temple and coming out of the Temple. Perhaps those going into religious services would be penurious, but waiting outside, this man was hopeful that worshippers, as they left the services, having experienced the grace and mercy of the Living God would prove generous to an incapacitated man such as himself. Perhaps they would give some benevolence, alms to enable him to eat for another day.
All about us are people watching as we enter into the church building. These broken people were born with a spiritual deficit—they were born in sin and they are dying. Though they may be good people, though they may be nice people, they are lost. Some of them are religious, and some are oblivious to their immediate peril. Many of them will die and be separated from God throughout eternity. They are laid out before us, watching as we enter into the church building. They don’t often feel their sense of need, but their need is nevertheless real.
I was not yet in the Faith, I had not yet placed my faith in the Risen Saviour, when I observed an event that nearly turned me away from pursuing Christ. I had been injured while working with a pipe-fitting crew on the Houston Ship Channel. The injury was sufficiently severe that I would no longer be able to continue working in that field. Consequently, I chose to return to medical school, working toward my doctorate in biochemistry.
I chose to move to Dallas, where I would enroll in a course of study at the Southwestern Medical School in that city. While off work, Lynda and I had attended a revival meeting at a Baptist Church in South Houston. We were searching for answers to some serious questions, and our search continued when we moved to Dallas, leading us to seek out a church. On the first Sunday we attended services at a large church in the Oak Cliff section of the city, we were treated to a guest speaker. He was a substitute for a substitute. The pastor of the congregation was on holiday and the professor from Southwestern Seminary who was scheduled to speak was trapped in Vail, Colorado by a snowstorm. So, a student from a seminary spoke that day.
I can’t say that his message was memorable until he got to the application. He told, what to me at that time, was a shocking story of religious malfeasance. He told of driving past that church building a couple of weeks before he spoke there. As he drove past, he noticed a little child, a black girl, who had fallen off her bicycle and skinned her knee. He pulled over to see if he could help, but before he could get out of his car, he noticed the steady stream of “worshippers” entering the building. Without exception the worshippers hurried past the little girl sitting on the steps, crying, and holding her knee. He watched and noted that not a single “worshipper” stopped to help the little girl. They were far too intent on worshipping their god to show compassion to a child who was obviously injured.
The visiting preacher then charged the congregation to whom he spoke that morning with hypocrisy. They were professed lovers of the God of love, but they had no love for a child who was of the wrong colour, a little girl who was not dressed in fancy clothes as they were. He charged the congregation with spiritual malfeasance.
At the time, I wore an Afro. I was wearing faded blue jeans and a well-worn sweatshirt. It was the early seventies, and it was apparent that I did not come from within that congregation of well-dressed people. Following the service a man approached us. It was obvious we didn’t belong there, but he made his way to us, introduced himself as a deacon of the congregation and asked the normal pleasantries. I responded to his query, informing him that I was a student at the medical school and that we were visiting churches in hope of finding one that met our needs.
At this, the deacon apologised for the message we had heard. He assured me that their pastor wasn’t nearly that negative and that he preached a positive message. Having only recently turned aside from a virulent form of Marxism, I responded in firm tones, “If you have to apologise for that message, then we have no place here. We heard the truth from the pulpit today, and it would seem you are in need of hearing that same truth.” With that, I turned, and we left, never to return to that assembly.
No doubt I was overly judgemental in my condemnation of that deacon’s words. I was not yet a follower of the Risen Saviour; at best, I was a seeker, one being prompted by the Spirit of God to search for the truth. Perhaps you consider that I was harsh in my criticism, but you need to know that the church was situated in one of the older parts of the Oak Cliff section of the city, and that particular part of the city was visibly impoverished compared to other areas within that section of the city. And yet, it appeared there was no one present that day who was from that section of the city. All present that morning were well-dressed—the women perfectly coiffed and the men clean shaven and sporting fine suits. The congregation was clearly not representative of the community. It was much like a congregation I briefly pastored in the Lower Mainland some years after this event. The people would travel in from the suburbs to “their church,” but they were less than enthusiastic about the scruffy people who lived nearby, people who tried to come to “their church.”
I might have considered that congregation aberrant, an exception to what the churches are in our world. However, I’ve ministered among the churches long enough to understand that this situation was anything but exceptional. Even here in the north, I witnessed an incident when a woman of another race came forward during a church service seeking to unite with the congregation. She had a testimony of grace in her life and she requested baptism. Wouldn’t any member of an evangelical congregation rejoice at such an occurrence?
However, that afternoon, two of the leading lights in the church asked that I meet them at the church office. These two ladies objected to this woman’s presence among us. “She would be more comfortable in another congregation,” they declared. When I questioned these two sisters more closely, their primary objection was that the woman was native. She wouldn’t fit in, they had decided.
I had only been present at that particular congregation for a brief time. I realized that if I didn’t put my foot down quickly it would be a continuing battle. I staked my tenure on my willingness to honour God by accepting whomever He sent to us regardless of race or social status. I thanked these two “charter members” for their concern and assured them that the woman was welcome among us. Moreover, I pointed out that they had ample opportunity to object publicly earlier in the day, but they had chosen not to do so. Therefore, I informed them that I was not going to do their dirty work while they silently stood behind the curtains and manipulated my wife’s husband.
Later, when these two women initiated a whisper campaign against this same woman through their relatives, I quickly strangled that attempt by publicly reminding the congregation that we do not accept gossip. If someone had a complaint against a member, they were under Scriptural injunction to go to the one in whom they were offended, seeking reconciliation. If they were unsuccessful in securing reconciliation, they were to take two or three witnesses with them to attempt to be reconciled. If that effort was unsuccessful, then, and only after working at bringing about reconciliation, were they to take their concern to the congregation. The congregation would take appropriate action if such were required [see MATTHEW 18:15-20]. The issue is to be reconciliation, and not punishment.
Our world is filled with spiritually crippled people—many littering the ground leading to the church. People surrounding us are wounded emotionally, spiritually, and, yes, even physically. The congregation of the righteous is responsible to seek out those who are wounded; we are charged with bringing these wounded souls to the Faith so that the Saviour may heal them, making them whole. Isn’t this what we are taught in Scripture. Didn’t Jesus teach us that, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” [LUKE 19:10].
Didn’t Jesus rebuke the Pharisees when He said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” [MATTHEW 9:12-13]. If we fail to show mercy to those who are wounded, we are no better than Pharisees. If we understand that the Pharisees who heard Jesus that day were condemned by His words, then are we not condemned because of our callused attitude toward the lost?
Isn’t this the point of the parable Jesus told concerning self-righteous people who didn’t want to soil their hands with the presence of sinners? The parable Jesus told was as follows. “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet’” [LUKE 14:16-24]. The Master commanded His servants to bring in the poor, the wounded, the outcasts to fill His banquet hall. Just so, we who serve Him as His followers in this day must be compassionate toward those who are wounded in our world.
I have always been stirred by Jesus’ attitude toward the crowds that pressed around Him. Levi noted of Jesus, “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” [MATTHEW 9:36]. When you see the crowds, how do you see them? Jesus saw them as “harassed and helpless.” He saw the crowds as vulnerable, susceptible to attack by the lions and wolves. The sheep might have been belligerent, lowering their heads and butting this way and that, but without a shepherd, they were unable to defend themselves. As the wolves and the lions circled them, they wore themselves out running to this side of the field before turning and running full-tilt to the other side of the field. They were unable to find the green pastures in which they could fill their bellies and then rest in order to digest what they had eaten. They didn’t know where the still waters were that would allow them to quench their thirst. They needed a shepherd.
If I have no compassion for the broken humanity that is tossed and turned by the currents of this world, then I cannot claim to act as one who was rescued by the Master. If my heart is not broken for the wounded of this world, then I need to ask how I have known of the Saviour without being changed. How is it possible that I know Jesus and walk with Him and yet have no compassion? Without concern for broken humanity, I may have a profession—I may profess Christ, but I have no possession—I do not possess His life. And that is a dreadful condition, for it exposes me as a hypocrite.
TWO BROKE PREACHERS — Since I have been drawing a comparison of the principals included in the account before us with the present, “the preachers” referenced must surely speak of us who believe. The preachers speak of followers of the Christ who serve Him and who seek His glory. Liberal Christendom, and that tragically includes a growing number of churches that superficially appear to be evangelical in practise, argues that they see the physical need of humanity and want to do something. Almost always, the “something” seeks to address the physical aspects of life—perhaps seeking to alleviate hunger, or perhaps providing shelter, or perhaps attempting to address poverty in sweeping terms. I suggest that the desire to do something, the desire that is expressed preferentially by liberal Christendom rather than endeavouring to declare the message of life, reveals the decaying façade of a faith that once characterised western society. Churches and denominations that were once vibrant with the faith of Christ the Lord are nothing more than a shrivelled, blasted husk today. They live off the legacy of faithful people who have long since departed from this life.
The greater tragedy is that this desire to do something hides a dark reality of people pretending to be righteous when they are actually surrendered to evil. No doubt some will take umbrage at what appears to be such a broad, sweeping censure of the gospel of things. However, consider that it will be impossible to provide what is required to relieve the physical need of society. There is too much poverty, too much illness, too much need. Have we never read the words Jesus spoke when the disciples complained because a woman honoured the Master with an ostentatious display of generosity? Jesus rebuked His disciples, saying, “You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me” [MATTHEW 26:11]. To be certain, the faithful are to be compassionate, seeking to minister to those in need, but we must never allow this effort to supersede the requirement of addressing the eternal needs of those who are dying in our world.
I am not suggesting that we must ignore the physical needs confronting us; I am cautioning that addressing the physical must not take precedence over addressing the spiritual needs of mankind. I am cautioning that addressing physical needs must not even compete with addressing the spiritual needs of broken humanity. To be certain, when Jesus sent out the Twelve, He gave them specific instructions. We read of His commission to these when Luke writes, “He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal” [LUKE 9:1-2]. To be certain, they were to exercise His power and authority over demonic powers, they were to cure diseases, but they were always to proclaim the Kingdom of God!
When the Master sent out the seventy-two, His instructions emphasized the responsibility to preach the Kingdom of God. Therefore, we read Jesus’ instruction, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town” [LUKE 10:2-12].
Peter and John, seeing the crippled man begging, instructed him to look at them. He anticipated that they were about to give him some money—money was his immediate need. Like many of us, this man was prepared to sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the temporary. Giving alms would be what the Pharisees would do. These paragons of religiosity would make a show of giving alms—giving alms would make them look good in the eyes of others. However, unlike what this crippled man was used to having happen, Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold, but I’ll give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth, walk” [ACTS 3:6 ISV]. Much like preachers in this day, the preachers had no money; however, they were entrusted with something far more precious than mere money. They had the presence of the Living Saviour impelling them to glorify His Name, delivering encouragement and hope in the midst of a world identified as discouraged and hopeless.
I must wonder if there is listening today one faithful individual who dares believe that Jesus is alive. And because that one believes Jesus lives, he or she is prepared to say to a sick and dying world, “In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” Perhaps that one will serve on the streets of one of our great cities, lifting the fallen humanity that litters the streets even while declaring that Jesus is Lord. Perhaps that man or woman will go to one of the native reserves that has plunged many into poverty of soul and a hopeless existence. There, that one will proclaim that Jesus is Master over life, shining the light of the glory of Christ into the darkness. Perhaps that individual will be sent by the Spirit of Christ to a distant land where he or she will reveal the power of God to give life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins. What I pray will happen is that God will stir one whom He has chosen to do some great work that cannot be denied by a jaded, thoughtless, uncaring world. Is that someone you?
I have no wealth to give you today, but I have something of far greater worth, something of eternal value, I offer the message of life in Christ the Lord. I offer you life in the Beloved Son of God. Believe this message. Believe on Jesus, even today. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Cited in F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI 1988) 77–78
[3] Nicholas Kristof, “Reverend, You Say the Virgin Birth Is ‘a Bizarre Claim’?” NY Times, April 20, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/20/opinion/sunday/christian-easter-serene-jones.html, accessed 9 May 2020; “Serene Jones, President of Union Theological Seminary Says She Doesn’t Believe in the Resurrection, Virgin Birth, Heaven, or Miracles,” Black Christian News Network One, April 25, 2019, https://blackchristiannews.com/2019/04/serene-jones-president-of-union-theological-seminary-says-she-doesnt-believe-in-the-resurrection-virgin-birth-heaven-or-miracles/, accessed 9 May 2020
[4] “A Discussion with Serene Jones, President of Union Theological Seminary,” Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University, May 9, 2014, https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/interviews/a-discussion-with-serene-jones-president-of-union-theological-seminary, accessed 9 May 2020
[5] Mark Tooley, “The Imploding and Very Liberal United Church of Canada,” Juicy Ecumenism, 2012/08/18, https://juicyecumenism.com/2012/08/18/the-imploding-and-very-liberal-united-church-of-canada/, accessed 10 May 2020
[6] Ibid.
[7] E.g., Kevin Flatt, “The United Church of Canada: What You Need to Know,” TGC Canadian Edition, April 23, 2018, https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-united-church-of-canada-what-you-need-to-know/, accessed 10 May 2020
[8] Charles Lewis, “The split in the United Church,” National Post, May 14, 2011, https://nationalpost.com/holy-post/the-split-in-the-united-church, accessed 10 May 2020
[9] See David W. Virtue, “The Rapidly Diminishing Anglican Church of Canada,” February 13, 2017, https://virtueonline.org/rapidly-diminishing-anglican-church-canada, accessed 11 May 2020
[10] Lillian Kwon, “Famed Theologian Quits Anglican Church of Canada,” Christian Post, April 28, 2008, https://www.christianpost.com/news/famed-theologian-quits-anglican-church-of-canada.html, accessed 11 May 2020
[11] Ibid.
