“Offering What We Have”
Acts 3:1-10
It began with a plea for money and ended with dancing. In between is the story of the
first response by the first Christians to the first person they met outside their faith community.
Peter and John are about to enter the Temple area in Jerusalem. Like the other initial
followers of Jesus, they were Jews and continued to practice the rhythms of that faith even as
they committed their lives to Christ. On this particular day, they are going to the time of prayer
that occurred at 3 p.m. As they draw near, a man who has been unable to walk since birth is
carried in. More specifically, he is placed at one of the gates that led to the Temple Mount, but
cannot enter. Certainly, his physical limitations would have made it a challenge, but Jewish law
forbid it as well. “No one who has a blemish shall draw near,” it decreed “one who is blind or
lame…or a limb too long, or one who has a broken foot or a broken hand.” (Leviticus 21:17-18) .
The man sees Peter and John at the gate and asks them for money. He is looking down as
he makes his request and the two disciples stare intently and say “Look at us.” Luke writes “He
fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. ‘I have no silver or gold,’
Peter goes on, “’but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and
walk.’” Peter helps the man rise to his feet and his ankles and legs are immediately restored. The
man begins to walk and leap, praising God. The people recognize him as the one who sat outside
the gate asking for money and they are filled with wonder at what has happened.
Next Sunday, we will focus on Peter’s speech to the crowd when he explains what has
occurred and what it means, but on this day we stop at the point of the healing itself. That scene
offers all kinds of themes that we could explore: of our role still in reaching those who are
outside the faith community, of the wondrous things that can occur when we first take the time to
see human need, or those times when unexpected outcomes emerge that can only be attributed to
the power of Christ. All of those lessons and more can be found in those events from long ago.
Yet for me it is the transformation of one man and how it happened that grabbed my
attention; one who started that encounter unable to walk and begging for money yet who at the
end was virtually dancing in the Temple. That dramatic change came about through the healing
Christ brought to be sure, but it was moved along by a believer offering what he had to share.
And that kind of response by one of the first Christians remains the call of the church still.
As there’s a timeless quality to the situation that faced Peter and John. Walk down the
sidewalk or pull up to a major intersection in any large city of our country today and you can
encounter persons seeking money, too. I don’t know about you, but whenever I meet such
individuals there is often a kind of discomfort within me. My response in such times is mixed
and one particularly notable occasion evoked a very different reaction than the one Peter offered.
Some of you will recall me telling the story of the day twenty-one years ago when my
family and I were in Chicago. The occasion for the trip was my graduation from McCormick
Theological Seminary and the conferring of its Doctor of Ministry degree. My mother had
accompanied us for on the trip, too, and we all had great fun exploring that city together.
After commencement, I was driving our group back to the hotel. As we pulled off Lake
Shore Drive, I saw a man standing outside a car with its flashers going. I slowed down on the
ramp and cautiously rolled down my window. "I'm in a real jam, Mister," he said. "I'm out of gas
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and out of money. Can you just give me 29 cents to help?" The amount of his request tells you
how long ago it was! Still, I hesitated and with my family in the car, felt protective of them as
well. As I pondered his meager request, the driver behind us blew the horn for I was blocking the
exit from that busy thoroughfare. That added stress cemented my decision as I said to the man
"I'm sorry. I can't help." The man threw his hands up in disgust and we drove on.
For the next few seconds, we drove in silence while I silently second-guessed my
response. I certainly had the money. Seated on the back seat was a diploma—my second degree
in ministry no less--and yet I had not offered assistance. My internal questions soon became
public as my then six-year-old son asked, “Why didn't you give him any money, Dad?" "I'm
wondering the same thing," I replied. "I would have given him 100 pennies if I'd had my
money,” he continued. “If I had known he was going to need help, I would have brought my
wallet." I can still feel the guilt that washed over me then and will confess it’s probably the
residue of that emotion which leads me to note how the next day he spent those 100 pennies and
a few more on a book entitled Amazing Crocodiles and Other Reptiles. Still in that moment, it
was he who was ready to help and not his preacher father as clearly I had not offered what I had.
One man in the first century received a very different response for when Peter said “I
have no silver or gold” he was speaking the truth. Just prior to this scene Luke told of how the
earliest Christians shared all of their resources with each another, selling their possessions and
distributing the proceeds. While the Scriptural record suggests that such a shared financial
pattern didn’t last for long in the early church, at the moment of his encounter in the Temple it
seems reasonable to conclude Peter truly did not have any money to offer.
Yet he did have something else. “I have no silver or gold” he replied, “but what I have I
give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth stand up and walk.” With Peter’s assistance,
the man “stood and began to walk,” Luke records “and he entered the temple with them.” Almost
lost in the miracle of restored health is that the man was able to enter the Temple for the first
time in his life. He could join his fellow Jews in their time of prayer; something he had never
been able to do. He was “walking and leaping and praising God,” because of what Peter offered.
How about you? What is it that you have to offer? While most of us would be reluctant to
claim Jesus’ healing power on behalf of another as did Peter, there is much we have to give. As
we have the ability to invite others to join us in this house of worship. We have the ability to
welcome persons when they take us up on that offer and ensure that they experience our
hospitality. We have the ability to look directly at those seeking help and break down the walls
that often separate human beings. We have the financial treasures necessary to help others who
are hurting and the ability to truly listen to persons in their times of pain. We have as our guests
today, members of the Doylestown community who offered what they had in service to our
country in times of war and as a nation we remember this weekend those who gave the ultimate
gift for freedom. We all have something to offer and what that encounter in the Temple of the
first century demonstrates is that amazing things can happen when those gifts come together.
Several months ago, I received an email from a member of our church who had been
active in helping a fellow member named Rosemary who needed to be in a nursing care facility.
The hope was she could be admitted to Neshaminy Manor in Warrington. This member was in
the Emergency Room of Doylestown Hospital with Rosemary when it became apparent that
something had to change in her living situation. It was there that a succession of events began.
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“The ER nurse was asking who I was,” the member wrote “and I said part of Rosemary’s
church community all of whom have loved and cared for her for over 30 years…she asked what
church [and] at the DPC response she said ‘you all have an amazing church. I am so impressed
by the many things you do! My granddaughter went to Building Blocks a number of years ago...
Her social worker Amy…the same question, my same response…’I remember all of you from
when Rosemary was here before…what a wonderful congregation.’ Her psychologist …his same
question, my same response…’That kind of care is unheard of in this day and age!’
[Then] yesterday at Neshaminy Manor,” the member went on ”the admissions officer,
who was pretty negative in the beginning [about the possibility of an available room], turned
around at hearing how the church has supported Rosemary, as when the substitute person…came
in and [the admissions officer] was describing the case to her, DPC was part of her explanation.
[It was then that the substitute] spoke of the care [her sister-in-law had received from this church
following the death of her brother weeks earlier] and she was the tipping point to admit
Rosemary. So just wanted you all to know that all the caring that DPC provides does ‘get
around’ and it has indeed taken ‘a village…DPC’s village’ to minister to Rosemary all these
years.” (email dated 2/27/16)
Offering what we have to give has always been the call of the church. It has never been a
matter of being asked to give what we don’t have, but only the talents and resources within our
grasp. It began with the first disciples on the first day that they met someone outside of their
new faith community and it continues to this day.
So I ask you again—what is it that you have to offer? It’s important to be aware of your
gifts as you never know when God will be calling you to respond—maybe even as you draw
toward or depart from a place of worship.
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