A Model Disciple, pt. 1 (Acts 3:1-11) | 2/13/22
Acts 3:1-11 | 2/13/22 | Will DuVal
This morning we’re continuing our walk together through the Book of Acts. Two weeks ago, we heard a model SERMON, preached by the apostle Peter at Pentecost, and 3,000 people were saved. By the way, I hadn’t noticed this until a sermon I listened to just this past week, but anyone remember how many Israelites DIED back in Exodus 32, on the day God gave Moses the LAW? 3,000 people. 2 Corinthians 3:6 – “the Law kills, but the Spirit gives life.” How cool is that connection?! But then Last week, we examined a model CHURCH, exemplified by the koinonia of the early church. And this morning, we turn our attention to the model DISCIPLE.
Props to Pastor Thad for giving me the title for this message, to keep the “model” theme going. Originally, I had planned to call this sermon “Following in Jesus’ Footsteps”. Because that’s what the model disciple DOES – a disciple strives to follow in his/her master’s footsteps. One ancient Jewish blessing went like this: “May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi” (Mishnah Aboth1:4, paraphrase).
And not just Peter and John, the apostles that we’ll read about in this story from Acts 3; but ALL of us. We are ALL still called, 2,000years later, as disciples of Jesus, to follow in his footsteps. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Lk 9:23)
How do we DO that? What does it mean to follow Jesus? Bigpicture, it means TWO things. Jesus devoted his 3½ year ministry here on earth to two things; Matthew 4:23, “[Jesus] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” Jesus came to bring people physical restoration – healing the infirmed, feeding the hungry, caring for the afflicted – and secondly, he came to offer us spiritual restoration – teaching God’s word, casting out demons, proclaiming the gospel.
So to be model disciples, to follow OUR rabbi’s example, we’ve got to look after BOTH people’s physical well-being AND their spiritualwell-being. Most churches fall off one side of the horse or the other, don’t they? There are LOTS of churches out there that run soup kitchens, and homeless shelters, and literacy and community development programs, and they care really well for people’s physical needs, but without pointing people to JESUS, all they’re REALLY doing is giving folks full bellies, a good education, and a roof over their heads on their way to HELL! But then manyof us in the evangelical church are guilty of swinging the pendulum so far in the other direction – in our reaction againstthe so-called “social gospel” – that we can preach all the doctrinewe want at folks til we’re blue in the face, but the old adageremains true: People don’t care what you KNOW til… [what?] they know you CARE. And the apostle James might rightly ask us: “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body [PHYSICALneeds], what good[b] is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (2:15-17) So we want to be “both – and” disciples, who seek both physical AND spiritual healing for others.
And we get a beautiful picture of that this morning, in Acts ch3, in the examples of Peter and John. Originally this was gonna be a two–point message. But because I managed to find EIGHTEEN SUB-points, as you see in your bulletins, and ALL of it was too good to CUT, I decided last minute to just split this sermon into two PARTS instead. So this morning, we’ll cover vv1-11 – our calling to meet physical needs; NEXT week, since I’ll be on the beach in Florida and I had already assigned Pastor Thad Acts ch4, he’s gonna skip ahead in the story, and then TWO weeks from now, God willing, we’ll go back and finish the SECOND half of ch3: our call to meet spiritual needs. But I invite you to stand with me… Acts 3:1-11
“Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.[a] 2 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. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 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!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 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. 11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s.” This is the word of the Lord… Let’s pray…
Before we dive in, I want to say a quick word about HEALING, since that’s the context of this passage.
There is really a spectrum of views in the church world TODAY on the subject of healing. From those dubbed “cessationists” – because they believe that the “miraculous” gifts of the Spirit – tongues, prophecy, and healing – were given exclusively to the 1st c. apostles and have since “ceased” to exist in the Church – all the way to “charismatic continuationists” – some of whom go so far as to say if you don’t personally manifest these gifts of the Spirit, then you are not a true believer. Now personally, I reject BOTH of those extremes. I don’t see enough evidence biblicallyfor the idea that these miraculous gifts have altogether ceased; and yet clearly the claim that every believer MUST possess everygift, or any one specific gift, is UNbiblical. This is second-tier theological issue, NOT worth dividing the church over, but cards on the table, and gun to my head, I’m probably somewhere between the “Cautious Continuationist” and the “Concentric Cessationist” position (although I don’t like EITHER of those labels) but the idea being that God worked miracles in the NT for the expressed purpose of validating and establishing the GOSPEL, and thus, “the miraculous gifts have [mostly] ceased in the mainstream church and in evangelized areas, but [still] appear [especially] in unreached areas as an aid to spreading the Gospel” (https://www.monergism.com/topics/spiritual-gifts/cessationists-view). To me, that position seems to make the best sense of BOTH the biblical evidence as WELL as the experiential evidence. Plus, that was the view of both Martin Luther and John Calvin; so I figure that’s pretty good company. 🙂
But that being said, I fully recognize that there are still people righthere, all around us in St. Louis, who have never heard the TRUE, BIBLICAL gospel! So if God wants to display His power to them by working a miracle in YOU, for HIS glory, then who am I to argue with that! No, I want to PRAY FOR that! So I want you to know, as your PASTOR, that if you get sick, and you ask me to PRAY for you, I’m not just gonna pray for “God’s will to be done”; we know His will’s gonna be done REGARDLESS of our prayers! No, I’m going to pray BOLDLY for your HEALING!
James 5:14 “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him… in the name of the Lord.” As a matter of fact, as an Elder Council, at our monthly meeting just yesterday, we laid hands on and prayed over one of our members here at West Hills, for her healing. Because we believe in the power of PRAYER.
And yet we ALSO note that James doesn’t advise us to fire our physicians. LUKE, the author of Acts, was a physician. And he didn’t stop practicing medicine when he got saved, so he could just pray instead. Go to your doctor… AND pray.
Alright, SEVEN exhortations for disciples of Jesus, striving to follow in his footsteps by offering physical healing to those in need:
For starters, #1 – We need to Be AVAILABLE. (3:1)
V1: “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer”. They were at the right place, at the right time. They were exactly where a disciple SHOULD be at the “ninth hour”, the set aside time, culturally, in those days, for prayer: in the TEMPLE.
Moreover, Peter and John purposely put themselves in a positionto be BOTHERED by someone else’s needs. The Temple was the center of Jewish community life. And beggars KNEW it; so you KNEW that when you went to the Temple you were going to encounter physical needs. Just this past week, our Discipleship group was meeting at Starbucks, and we were sitting at the table with our Bibles opened and a barista came over and dropped this note on our table; it was SO cool, I just HAD to share this with you – she wrote, “It makes me feel welcome to see you guys every week… I feel like if I talk about my faith at work, I’ll be punished. Thank you for being here. Sincerely, Lonely Christian Barista.” I said, “Guys, I know Starbucks is a soulless, God-forsaken company, and I know it’s distracting to try and pray with Britney Spears blasting in the background, but THIS is why I love meeting publicly for D-group. Cuz stuff like this, relationships like this, with Emma, don’t HAPPEN if we just hide our holy huddles at the church building. We’ve got to make ourselves AVAILABLE.
How about YOU? Do you treat that person whose car broke down right in front of you on the side of the road as an inconvenience, or as an opportunity? Do we put ourselves, purposely, in positions where we KNOW we’re going to encounter physical needs? Do we cross the sidewalk, or change lanes at the stoplight, to AVOID that homeless beggar, or do we change lanes to seek him OUT? Do we go volunteer at the shelter to seek him OUT? Are we making ourselves available, to be used by God.
And I’ll give you a quick BONUS attribute of a model disciple: we need to Be ASKING God for those opportunities! The text doesn’t say it explicitly, but I bet, I just BET, that Peter and John prayedbefore they even left for the TEMPLE to go pray: “God, would you USE us today. In some way, with some ONE, to display your power and your glory and your LOVE, to someone in need.”
#2 – We need to Be ATTENTIVE. (3:2-4a)
It’s not enough to simply be available to meet others’ physical needs; we’ve got to actually NOTICE those needs when they arise around us.
V3: “Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, [the lame man] asked to receive alms.” As he no doubt had from thousandsof other passers-by that day.
But how many of them even NOTICED him? Much less RESPONDED to his request? And even the ones who did were probably quick to drop a few coins in his hand without so much as a WORD, as they hustled off to make sure they got a good seat for the worship service.
You ever hear the story about the new pastor, first week at his new church, who “Undercover Boss”-ed his congregation by disguising himself as a homeless man on the church’s front steps as everyone was walking in on Sunday. Then he stayed in costume as he stepped into the pulpit and SHARED his experience from the morning – how he’d been treated – and then he preached on Matthew 25: “ I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me…” And y’all thought MY sermons were convicting! Oooh!
Peter and John would have passed the test though. Listen to how THEY responded to this poor, lame beggar; v4: But “Peter directed his GAZE at him, as did John”. They were attentive to this man’s need. This wasn’t an inconvenience; it was an opportunity, to minister, to someone hurting.
I wonder how many needs – physical, emotional, spiritual needs – around US go unmet because we’re just too busy, too caught up in our OWN lives to even notice.
A young man shoots up a school… a young girl tragically takes her own life; people say, “We had no IDEA he was even struggling, she was hurting.”
Or it could be as simple as a friend texting you, calling you, but for the third time this week – no agenda; just wants to talk – and if you’re honest, you’re starting to get a little annoyed; Like, “I don’t really have time for this”. But if we’d take another minute and LISTEN – REALLY listen – between the lines of what she’s saying and NOT saying, we’d realize that she’s just LONELY. She just really needs a FRIEND right now.
You know what made Jesus so special? It wasn’t just the miracles, the healings; it was how DEEPLY he paid ATTENTION to everyone around him. But especially those who were hurting. The broken. He noticed them, even when others overlooked them. And he didn’t JUST notice them; Jesus was…
#3 – [Be] AFFECTIONATE toward them. (3:4b) He was compassionate, and tender. NINE times, the Gospel authors tell us that Jesus looked on those around him with “compassion”. The Greek word – splanchnízomai – literally means, “to be moved all the way down to your BOWELS”. THAT’S how deeply Jesus cared for people. And his disciples will follow in his footsteps.
This is my FAVORITE part of this whole passage, not even the miracle itself, but v4b: “And Peter directed his gaze at [the man], as did John, and they said, “Look at us.”
Imagine it: How many people that day in the Temple, crossed the sidewalk to avoid this man?
The really GOOD Christians stopped just long enough to dig some spare change out of their pockets.
But Peter and John don’t just look down at him; they CROUCHdown, they get down on his level, and they invite this poor, lame beggar to LIFT his weary eyes, and “Look up at US”. He feels so much SHAME, from having to beg, so unworthy, that his eyes haven’t even left the ground all day long. But they say, “Hey, hey… Look at us.”
They make EYE contact with him. They make him feel like a HUMAN again, for the first time in God knows how long. They restore his DIGNITY.
In Matthew ch8, “a leper came to [Jesus] and knelt before him, and said, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and TOUCHED him”. And for the LEPER, that was probably miracle ENOUGH. The fact that someone SAWhim, LOVED him, cared for him enough to risk LEPROSY just to show him a little compassion.
Brothers and sisters, if we want to help people the way JESUS helped them, first we’ve got to SEE people the way Jesus sawthem.
Do you see your LGBTQ neighbor as an abhorrent apostate, or as a confused, broken but still beautiful, made-in-God’s-image HUMAN in need of healing?
Do you see the immigrant, the refugee, as a leech, mooching off my tax dollars, or as a PERSON. I’m not TALKING about politics right now; I’m talking about PERSONHOOD. I don’t care WHAT you think about the Border Wall or how you think people OUGHT to come into this country; I’m talking about how you treat them once they DO, regardless. Are they a person, or a leech?
Do we see the unwed, unexpected teenage mother as a MONSTER for even considering aborting her baby, or as a scared, lost, desperate PERSON.
AND do we see her unborn BABY as an inconvenient clump of cells, or as a fragile, vulnerable, tenuous but no less INVALUABLE, precious human life.
“When JESUS saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were… like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt 9:36)
Brothers and sisters: people who are lost and hurting don’t need our judgment; what they REALLY need, is to know the Good Shepherd. His LOVE, His affection, for them. DESPITE their sin. That while they were YET sinners, Christ died for them.
#4 – We must Be ALTRUISTIC. (3:5-6a) “unselfishly concerned for and devoted to the welfare of others”
We read in vv5-6: “And [the beggar] fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I DO have, I give to you.”
I told you: I believe that God still heals through our PRAYERS today, but notice: Peter doesn’t PRAY here. He doesn’t say, “Listen man, I’ve got no money for ya, but I can go check with GOD to see if HE wants to heal you; hang tight for just a minute…” No – this is “name it and claim it” type stuff, from Peter here. But I believe that God GAVE that power, uniquely, to the first century apostles, for the initial establishment of the gospel and the 1st c. Church, to name-drop Jesus and CLAIM healing for others IN his name – “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” NO ONEtoday has that power. Benny Hinn, and Todd White, and every other self-professed “faith healer” out there, is full of crap. If you come to ME, asking for prayer for healing, I’m not gonna name it and claim it; I’m gonna PRAY. Cuz only GOD has the power to heal you.
But here’s the really interesting thing about OUR calling to meet physical needs today: BECAUSE we no longer have that unique, apostolic, spiritual gift of healing, YOU AND I might rightly INVERT what Peter says here; we might say to the lame beggar that WEmeet on the street corner today: “I don’t possess the miraculous gift of healing, but what I DO have, is silver and gold.” God HASgiven me the ability to help cover your medical bills. And “What I DO have, I give to you.”
What has God given you, that He wants you to altruistically give away to help others?
Abbe Keen, uses her gifts as a chiropractor to bring physical healing to those who otherwise couldn’t afford treatment, down at Bridge of Hope.
Kelly Henderlong, uses her gifts as a substitute teacher to teach literacy to underprivileged kids through Hope Education.
Amanda Fullerton, uses her gift of cooking, to make dinner for those recovering from the hospital.
Bryan Arvison, uses his gifts in finance to work with folks who struggle to manage money well.
The list, the examples, go on and on – SO MANY of you give ABOVE AND BEYOND of YOUR OWN silver and gold, to this church, to bring not only spiritual healing, through our ministry of the GOSPEL, but PHYSICAL healing, to meet REAL, this-side-of-eternity needs in the lives of those around us.
You help the widow here at West Hills make her rent payment.
You help the woman abandoned by her husband afford the counseling she needs.
You help purchase cars for missionaries overseas.
And on behalf of ALL the folks, whose physical needs you help meet, MYSELF included – cuz Y’ALL feed my KIDS! – I say, “Thank you”. Thank you for being the model disciples that so many of you here at West Hills are, who week after week, with your hands, your minds, your gifts, AND your checkbooks, you say right along with Peter and John here: “What I DO have I give to you”. Thank you for your altruistic generosity.
#5 – We should Be ANCILLARY. (3:6b) Ancillary. The alliterative synonyms just get more and more arcane. 🙂 But ancillarymeans “subordinate or secondary; serving only to assist”.
Listen to how Peter exercises his unique, apostolic gift of healing in v6b: He declares, “What I DO have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
Peter doesn’t say, “By the power invested in ME, now everybody watch what I can do!” Even Peter knew that HE didn’t possess, intrinsically, the power to heal ANYONE; it had to be JESUS’ power flowing THROUGH him. If we skip ahead to v12, we’ll see 2 weeks from now, when others SEE the lame man dancing around, and everyone in the Temple loses their MIND over this miracle, and they all start crowding around Peter like he’s some kind of CELEBRITY, Peter’s gonna say, ““Men of Israel…. why do you stare at US, as though by our OWN power or piety we have made him walk?” No, Peter knew that he was totally subordinate to, dependent on, simply serving to “assist” JESUS. We have NOpower of our own; ANY power that we’ve got is derivative; it is derived from our connection to JESUS. Who said in John 15, “Iam the Vine; you’re just the branches; abide in me, cuz APARTfrom me, you can do… [WHAT?] NOTHING”; it’s got to be GOD’S power at work IN and THROUGH us.
Now, if that was true for PETER, how much more so for us today. I’ll be honest: if I was Peter, I’d probably be tempted to believe the hype. If I miraculously healed someone, and the whole Temple had just rushed up on me like I was Joe Burrow and I’d just thrown the game-winning Hail Mary touchdown pass to win the Super Bowl (let’s hope I’m prophetic) but I think I’d be tempted to let it go to my head and start thinking I was hot stuff.
But friends, when God, in His GRACE, decides to USE us, to let us play just the tiniest part in accomplishing his own Sovereign, good purposes for someone else’s life – He doesn’t NEED us; God allows us to play just a small role in meeting others’ needs cuz He LOVES us, and He gets JOY from including us in the beautiful, redemptive, restorative, Kingdom work He’s doing all around us in the world. Remember, we’re the ones who BROKE it with our sin in the FIRST place! And he doesn’t even NEED our help. It’s like when my 2 year old son spills the entire gallon of milk all over the kitchen counter and the floor and the appliances – I don’t NEED his help to clean it up. As a matter of fact, I could do it FAR more efficiently and effectively working by myself. But I let him help – “HELP” – not just as a punishment, but so that he gets the joy that only comes from doing good, meaningful work. Ephesians 2:10 says God “CREATED us for good works.” But don’t forget that image: when it comes to what WE bring to the table, we’re just 2-year olds “helping” clean up milk we spilled in the first place. We don’t pat ourselves on the back. We point them to JESUS!
Giving our lives away to serve hurting people who God calls us to love is the LEAST we can do for all that He has done for us, in Christ.
We are ancillary. And yet, because of who our FATHER is…
#6 – We should Be AUDACIOUS. (3:7) “Extremely BOLD”.
V7: Peter said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise upand walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up” – just imagine the BOLDNESS that took! It’s one thing to PRAY for someone’s healing; it’s a whole ‘nother thing to grab their hand and pull ‘em up off the ground! Cuz if this guy can’t stand up, if you misheard God’s voice and God DIDN’T heal him, now you’re just embarrassing this poor guy – you’re actually gonna look like a huge JERK for picking on him – and oh by the way, you’ve just lost ALL your credibility, that gospel you were preaching yesterday on Pentecost about Jesus’ resurrection power; who’s believing it NOW?!
But Peter doesn’t even bat an eye. No second-guessing, no hesitation. Just “Get up and WALK” Jesus said, “ if you have faith like a [single] grain of a mustard seed, you will [move] mountains” (Matt 17:20). I reckon since even PETER’S not moving mountains, his faith must be the size of like a microscopic hair ON the tiny grain of mustard seed, and compared to the bold faith that hedisplays here, MY faith must be like a single protein molecule, onthe microscopic hair, on the seed.
Point being, I need to pray, WE need to pray, for more BOLDNESS, in our faith, and in our faith-fulness, to minister to others.
How might God be calling YOU, this morning, to BOLDLY serve Him, and others? We’ve got at least TWO couples – in their 20’s – here at West Hills, who have in just the past MONTH approached Polly and I to discuss ADOPTION. Friends, that is a BOLD step. In a world that says, “Don’t even THINK about getting married til your 30’s; sow your wild oats! And then for GOD’S sake; delay KIDS as long as you biologically can; savor your FREEDOM!” To say, “Actually, I’m gonna fork out tens of thousands of dollars to raise someone ELSE’S child as my own, because I believe so strongly that every child deserves a good home and because I take so seriously God’s calling to make disciples who will in turnmake disciples for the glory of God, and I believe raising kids is the very BEST way I can do that. I will GLADLY give away the “best years of my life” to parenting others’ kids as my own. That’s bold.
What is God calling YOU to?
Lastly, #7 – if we’re gonna meet physical needs, we’re gonna have to Be ACCEPTING. (3:8-11) We have to ACCEPT people AS people, not as projects.
I LOVE the picture we’re left with here in vv8-11, of this man “leaping up… and entering the temple with [Peter and John]… praising God.” I’m struck by the fact that he was WITH them. V11 says, “he clung to Peter and John” – he wouldn’t let GO of them; not because he couldn’t walk on his own any more, but because he’s so EXCITED… so GRATEFUL…!
And guess what: Peter and JOHN were so excited FOR him, they were so joyful WITH him, that they just let him go on clinging.
You know, it’s one thing to give up your Saturday to go serve at the soup kitchen, and stand behind the counter at a distance and scoop the soup and scrub the dishes and drive home and feel really good about helping people. But what about sitting down WITH the folks you’re serving and eating a meal TOGETHER. That’s different. Cuz what if they CLING? What if they ask you for money? Or for a ride to the Salvation Army, all the way across town? What if their SMELL clings to you – did you know that homelessness has its own distinctive smell – if you can’t close your eyes right now and smell it, you might not have spent enough time around folks with serious physical needs.
I’ve come to realize over the years that despite our preconceived notions and stereotypes, MOST people don’t just want a handout. They don’t want to feel like a charity case. They want someone who CARES about them, who ACCEPTS them, warts and all, smells and all. Someone who doesn’t just see them as a means to an end, to get their gold star, Christian merit badge. Someone who won’t just serve soup TO them, but who’ll eat soup WITHthem.
You know, Jesus was called, by the good, religious people of Hisday, a “friend of SINNERS” (Lk 7:34). HE knew what the homeless smelled like. HE knew what prostitutes dressed like. HE knew what addicts acted like. Because Jesus was FRIENDS with them. Are we?
The ONLY way we will be, is if we accept the truth that we are really no DIFFERENT than they are. That we’re ALL just sinners in need of a Savior. And those of us who have received help, eternalhelp, from Jesus, when we were otherwise utterly help-LESS and HOPE-less, dead in our sins, we ought to be the most help-FULL, servant-hearted, disciples there are. May it be so. Let’s pray.