Tuesday, October 7th

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Tuesday, October 7

Acts 3:1-10

Now 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.

Many years ago while I was still trying to discern God’s purpose for my life, I served for a summer as an intern in an inner-city church in Pittsburgh. The church was located just across a city park from a deteriorating area that could accurately be described as “economically disadvantaged” or a “slum.”

I lived in a small apartment in the church and most mornings I would walk across that park to a small donut shop to get my breakfast. It wasn’t unusual to see men sleeping in the park, either because they were homeless or because they were sleeping off a night of drinking from the night before. It was a very sad area of the city.

One particular morning I had gone to the donut shop and was on my way back to the church when I was greeted by an African American man (this is only significant because of what happens later in the story) sitting on the steps of the church entrance.

As I got to the steps he stood up and said something like, “Hey, man, can you help me out? I need to catch a bus to go see my Mom - she’s sick - and I don’t have enough money. Can you spare a few bucks?”

I knew that it was quite likely that his story was a fabrication and that he was simply begging for money. But I could also tell from his clothes and overall demeanor that he was probably homeless and had all kinds of other needs as well. So I reached into my pocket to see what I could give him.

Now, at the time, I was receiving $25 a week as a ministry intern and had very little money myself. So when I reached into my pocket I found only coins. I pulled out everything I had and it totaled something like .86 cents. I looked at the guy and said, “Hey, I’m sorry, this is all I have...but you can have it.” And I held out my hand with the money.

He looked at me with a kind of disdain and spit out, “What are you, some kind of racist?” and he stalked off.

I remember being both a little surprised by his reaction as well as a little embarrassed that I only had .86 cents to offer him. But the truth is, he needed a lot more than my money.

The scene Luke paints for us would have been very typical for that time.

Now 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.

In the ancient world begging was a way of life for those with significant disabilities. The giving of alms to the poor was one of the ways a devout Jew could demonstrate his or her piety before God. So, evidently, this man had staked out an area at the temple where there would be maximum exposure to people moving in and out for the purposes of worshiping or offering sacrifices. Day after day he lay there and held his hand out begging for money.

Notice that Luke mentions this man was “lame from birth.” This is significant because in that time it was believed that being born with an issue like this meant that a person was cursed and they were often even cast out by their own families.

The picture, therefore, is of a man who is utterly helpless to help himself; a man whose broken condition was seen to be permanent and even deserved.

What I notice is that the man was lying at the very gate of the temple, where the Jews believed the presence of God dwelled, and yet he had settled for begging for pennies.

I think, in a way,  this man represents all of us. The Bible teaches that we are all sinners and therefore spiritually “lame.” We are all broken people. We cannot fix what is broken within us, we need someone to do that for us.

The man I met back in Pittsburgh needed far more than my .86 cents; he needed Jesus. The lame man needed more than the coins people tossed his way; he needed Jesus.

You and I need far more than we usually settle for; we. too, need Jesus.


Pastor Brian Coffey