“Peter said to him, ‘I have no money at all, but I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I order you to walk.’”                                                              (Acts 3:6)

When I was a child my father used to tell us a lot of Bible stories. One of his favorites was this story from Acts 3 about the healing of the paralytic. My father loved to tell Bible stories in general, and there are many great stories in the Bible. I’m not sure why this one was one of his favorites, but it was.  

Nor am I exactly sure why I remember this one story so vividly. I think it’s because of one particular line that was Dad’s favorite line: “I have no money, no silver and no gold to give you.” 

A beggar sits at the gate of a Temple. People bring him each day so he can sit there and beg. He asks for money from passers-by. On this particular day he sees two men coming. He sees something different in them. He is a seasoned veteran beggar, and he can see something in their eyes. He asks for money as they approach. 

Lo and behold, they stop. That was very rare. No one ever stopped. Mostly they would flip a coin into his receptacle without breaking stride. But not this time. Peter and John stop. “Look at us,” says Peter. The crippled man indeed does look. He looks expectantly, perhaps hoping for a generous donation. And then Peter says his line. In the King James Version it reads, “Silver and gold have I none.” 

My father loved that line. He used it a lot. “Dad, could I have some extra money for a movie?” 

“Sorry, son, silver and gold have I none.” 

“Dad, could I have some extra money for gas so I can go out tonight with some friends?” (At that point gas was about 18 cents a gallon!) 

“Sorry, son, silver and gold have I none.” 

“Dad, could I have an increase in my allowance?” 

“Sorry, son, silver and gold have I none.” 

Over and over again, he would offer those lines with a kind of wry smile on his face. 

I’ve often thought of using those lines myself on occasion. Especially with the guy who plays that awful saxophone on the Clemente Bridge after games at PNC Park. I’ve thought about it, but I have not done it. 

The story of the lame man is a colorful story. There are many stories in Acts. This one is special. Peter and John give this man something he never expected. As one writer put it, he gave the man “a Jesus jolt.” 

A few years ago airlines began to put defibrillators on airplanes. Shortly after the first one was installed, a 62-year-old man was on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles. His heart began to race wildly, and then went into spasm. His wife thought he had died. The flight attendants used the defibrillator and restored the rhythm to his heart. They “shocked him back to life.” 

Peter and John “shocked” a man into life that day at the Temple. They became what I call “apostolic paramedics.” They gave him a jolt of life-saving juice. It is a powerful moment. 

Of course, not everyone was pleased. The lame man himself was thrilled he was jumping and dancing and shouting and telling everybody he could find what had happened to him. The authorities, on the other hand, were very upset. “You two are in big trouble,” they said. You are so arrested.” They threw Peter and John in jail. The next morning they all gathered to talk to the two men, and asked the burning question, “By what power did you do this thing?” 

Listen to some lessons from this very special story. 

SOMETHING LIFE-CHANGING 

First of all, the story tells us that God has something life-changing to offer. There’s a sign at the South Hills Baptist Church on Route 19. It says, “God changes lives. Details Sunday at 11.” 

God has something life-changing to offer to each of us. A girl brought her fiancé home to meet her parents. After dinner the girl’s mother asked the father to try to find out something about the young man. So while the mother and daughter were clearing off the table, the two men went outside. “So, what are your plans?” the father asked. Replied the young man, “I’m going to be a scholar.”  

“Okay,” said the father, “but what will you do to provide a good life for my daughter?” The man again responded, “I will study, and God will provide.” 

“Okay, and what about children? How will you support children?” Again the young man replied, “Don’t worry, sir. God will provide.” The conversation continued much like this, with almost every question being answered by the statement, “God will provide.” 

Later the mother asked the father, “How did it go?” Replied the father, “He has no job and no plans. But the good news is he thinks I’m God.” 

God provides some powerful resources to our lives. Peter said, “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” Resuscitation, restoration, renewal, rebirth all come from a surge of power from Jesus. They flow toward you and me. 

The name of Jesus is important. Jesus’ name is not some trinket or some good luck charm. It’s not something you emblazon on a t-shirt or bumper stickers on a car. It’s not even as strong as a powerful shock from a heart defibrillator. 

The energy that comes from Jesus’ healing comes in a way that we cannot predict. Certainly that was true for the lame man. It comes in a word we are not necessarily expecting to hear. It comes in a transformation that cannot be mapped or planned. 

Here is a man crippled in body but also in mind and spirit. I am reasonably sure that this crippled man was full of self-pity, resentment and bitterness. He was immobilized physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Peter and John offered far more than physical healing. 

Most of us need some kind of a jolt from Jesus. Most of us need some kind of a healing touch. Most of us are partially broken or partially paralyzed, or at least partially ill at ease. Jesus’ touch does not make you richer or better-looking. It does not add years to your life…but it adds life to your years. God wants to give you a Jesus transformation in unexpected ways. 

IF YOU ARE ON THE RECEIVING END 

And when you are on the receiving end, you will rejoice in ways you never expected. The healed man went into the Temple, leaping and dancing and praising God. It was perhaps the appropriate thing to do, except that it was the hour of prayer. He literally interrupted a prayer meeting with his celebration. He did not care who saw him, or what others thought. 

Listen to Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of this passage.

 The man went into the Temple with (Peter and John), walking back and forth, dancing and praising God. Everybody there… rubbed their eyes, astonished, scarcely believing what they were seeing. The man threw his arms around Peter and John, ecstatic.

I believe God has given meaning and quality to my life on this earth. Life is a gift. I try to remember that every morning in my prayers. Every morning one of the first things I do is to splash water on my face and say to myself—usually out loud—“I am baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God.” 

Then when I walk outside for 30 or 40 minutes on many mornings, I gesture a lot. I offer prayers of thanksgiving. I lift my arms in the air when no one is looking. I don’t dance or shout, but I do quieter things. God has given life to my years. When I think about that, I can only rejoice. 

I may not interrupt a prayer meeting to tell everyone. But it does create unexpected responses in me. 

A SHIFT IN THE STORY 

But now consider a shift in the story. Look at it through a different set of eyes. Look at it now through the eyes of the man who was healed, but through the eyes of Peter and John. I believe God wants to provide transformation through you and me. Sometimes I am the lame man needing transformation. Sometimes I am Peter and John, who offer healing in Jesus’ name. Sometimes you are Peter and John, offer healing in Jesus’ name. 

This story says to me we have much to offer as believers and as a community of faith. As those who know a risen Lord of life, as those who have experienced something fresh and new in Jesus, as those who know the power of Jesus’ earthly teaching, we have much to offer. 

We may have the capacity to give money. Kingdom money can do a lot of good. Kingdom money goes farther than any other money on the face of this earth. Material giving can do a world of good. But we have a lot more to give as well. We can give money and we can give other gifts. 

There’s a story about a couple who went to Las Vegas on one of those irresistible travel offers. They got caught up in the excitement of the slot machines. Sometimes they played the roulette wheel or blackjack. After each session they would return to their hotel room about $100 poorer. After one rest respite, the husband was set to go again. Whereupon his wife said to him, “Oh honey, I’m too tired to go back right now. Why not just send them a $100 check?” 

Sometimes a check is the right thing to do. Sometimes God empowers us for a whole lot more. 

It’s a little bit like the Pastor’s Fund of this church. Sometimes money is the most helpful thing to do. But sometimes it’s more helpful to give a series of counseling sessions with the Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute. And sometimes it’s more important and more helpful to give Giant Eagle certificates so we’re sure the children get the food and milk that they need. And sometimes it’s necessary to provide financial counseling. And sometimes it means a scholarship to one of our summer camps or to an Emmaus Walk weekend. Often the results go far beyond the value of the money. That’s the nature of God’s way through us. 

But the “key” again is always what we do in Jesus’ name. 

I have perhaps an overly simplistic view of recent history in the United States. In the 1960s when I was just beginning my ministry, we had a lot of social programs and we had the war on poverty. A lot of government programs were in place. The government initiatives were good, but they were without faith content. We had neglected our spiritual moorings. 

Then in the 1970s and 80s there was something called the “Jesus movement.” It was very inward, very personal, and very individualistic. There were fewer social programs. 

More recently we have begun to understand the vital balance that is necessary. We today have something called “faith-based initiatives” and there are faith-based organizations (FBOs). That’s the way the energy of God is released. 

We at this church are a faith-based organization. We have work camps, a Christian counseling center, a faith-based childcare center, and a faith-based adult day care center. In a few weeks we may be building a Habitat for Humanity house out in the back parking lot as part of our summer mission work. 

Across the country there are growing numbers of faith-based organizations. Many cities have “shalom zones” where they fight poverty and try to stop gang wars. There are drug and alcohol treatment facilities that are faith-based. There are peace advocate organizations that are faith-based. Faith-based organizations—this is the way to do Kingdom work from now on. 

We began our first study of controversial issues with Adam Hamilton’s book this past Wednesday night. The issue was church and state. Adam Hamilton writes in his book, “The church does not need the state; but the state desperately needs the church.” 

Power is released through us in Jesus’ name. Peter says, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, take my hand, rise and walk.” 

Sometimes we give money, empowered by the spirit of generosity. And sometimes we give energy and other gifts, empowered by the spirit of love. But we are those who can do it. Once you have received the life-lifting power of Jesus (as John and Peter had), you simply want to share it as fully as possible. 

I invite you to place yourself somewhere in this story today. Place yourself where you most belong. Years ago there was an experiential Bible study using this passage as the basic reference point. Participants in the Bible study were asked to address several questions in a journal.

• Am I the lame man begging to be noticed?
• Am I crippled by other things and just don’t know it?
• Am I sensing a surge or a jolt of Divine energy for the first time?
• Am I ready to dance and leap and sing, praising God?
• Am I called to give of myself to lift others in some way?

Where do you see yourself in the story? Where can you plug in your own life most meaningfully? At what point can you say, “Here I am, Lord. Lead me where I most need to go, and I will be hugely grateful.”