Acts 3:1-10
One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. Peter looked intently 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 or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth stand up and walk.”
And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
I’m taking a one-week break from our summer sermon series, just for today. I was reading this week, and something in the reading triggered a long train of thought which led me to this reading. I’ve been thinking about it off and on all week so I decided to share it with you.
The key phrase here is, obviously, the one about giving what we’ve got. I took the reading today from the NRSV: “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” In The Message, it reads like this: “I don’t have a nickel to my name, but what I do have, I give you.”
No, this isn’t going to be a stewardship sermon where I end up gently suggesting you increase your giving – that’s not where we’re going at all. What I do want to discuss is the nature of “giving” itself.
So often when giving comes up in church it has to do with tithes and offerings – but it that really the giving that God wants from us? I understand that money is the building block of our capitalist society – I’m not anti-money – honest – it’s a useful tool. It’s just not what I want to talk about here today since I’m fairly certain that God is not a capitalist. So when we talk about giving in a God-context, what exactly is it we think God is asking for?
Peter and John were asked for help by a beggar. They freely admitted they didn’t have a nickel between them – but instead of just leaving it there and walking on by, they gave what they did have. They gave their faith and trust in Jesus’ promise that they, too, could heal – they could give health and bodily strength. The believed it, so they gave it. What they gave came from themselves.
So – what are some of the things we give that we believe God would want us to give? We give food for those who may be hungry – both through our pantry basket here and our monetary donations to the Food Pantry. We also support Plowshares in the same ways. We participate in the bag lunch program. We gather socks and underwear and necessary toiletries for Plowshares as well. In our recent fire-beset years, we’ve given to funds to support fire-victims in their recovery. Those are all ways we give what we have to those who don’t have right now. And they are all good. I’m not criticizing them, But they are all based in money, in one form or another – with the exception of the time and effort we put into the bag lunches – there we are giving a piece of ourselves.
Some people with lots of money build hospitals or fund clinics, support scholarships - all kinds of wonderful things. But what about those of us who can't do those big money things? I always suspect that when God asks us to give it’s not just money or the things money can buy that God is talking about. I suspect God wants us to give pieces of ourselves away.
What could those things be? Time would be one of the most obvious, I think. Most of us are pretty busy with our own lives. Sometimes the last thing I want is to be asked to take my time for something new. But perhaps giving my time is exactly the right thing to do. No money, just my time – to help someone else's project, to stop and talk with someone, to listen to them, let them know that someone is caring about them.
How about attention? How many needs exist around us that we don’t even notice because our attention is focused in one direction only? And how many times have we rushed on by someone because we were in a hurry? What if what they truly needed was just someone to give them a few minutes of their attention?
All through scripture God, speaking through Jesus and the prophets calls for justice – for the rights of the poor and the powerless. Do we even notice when those rights are being eroded away all around us? When medical insurance companies raise their prices while cutting services to people who need that coverage in order to physically survive or when supplemental food programs are cut do we check to see if we are still OK and then turn away? Or do we take the time and effort to write letters and make phone calls and read ballots and vote out the people who enable these iniquitous actions?
Do we care that the poor suffer a much higher rate of violence in their daily living than we do? Do we do anything to address that inequity? Do we bother to care?
These are the things God wants us to give. The money-things are good -- absolutely -- but they often only provide a temporary patch on the deeper problem. How about if we are called to address that deeper issue – and fix it?
The prophet Amos, so long ago, spoke for God when he told us:
The key phrase here is, obviously, the one about giving what we’ve got. I took the reading today from the NRSV: “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” In The Message, it reads like this: “I don’t have a nickel to my name, but what I do have, I give you.”
No, this isn’t going to be a stewardship sermon where I end up gently suggesting you increase your giving – that’s not where we’re going at all. What I do want to discuss is the nature of “giving” itself.
So often when giving comes up in church it has to do with tithes and offerings – but it that really the giving that God wants from us? I understand that money is the building block of our capitalist society – I’m not anti-money – honest – it’s a useful tool. It’s just not what I want to talk about here today since I’m fairly certain that God is not a capitalist. So when we talk about giving in a God-context, what exactly is it we think God is asking for?
Peter and John were asked for help by a beggar. They freely admitted they didn’t have a nickel between them – but instead of just leaving it there and walking on by, they gave what they did have. They gave their faith and trust in Jesus’ promise that they, too, could heal – they could give health and bodily strength. The believed it, so they gave it. What they gave came from themselves.
So – what are some of the things we give that we believe God would want us to give? We give food for those who may be hungry – both through our pantry basket here and our monetary donations to the Food Pantry. We also support Plowshares in the same ways. We participate in the bag lunch program. We gather socks and underwear and necessary toiletries for Plowshares as well. In our recent fire-beset years, we’ve given to funds to support fire-victims in their recovery. Those are all ways we give what we have to those who don’t have right now. And they are all good. I’m not criticizing them, But they are all based in money, in one form or another – with the exception of the time and effort we put into the bag lunches – there we are giving a piece of ourselves.
Some people with lots of money build hospitals or fund clinics, support scholarships - all kinds of wonderful things. But what about those of us who can't do those big money things? I always suspect that when God asks us to give it’s not just money or the things money can buy that God is talking about. I suspect God wants us to give pieces of ourselves away.
What could those things be? Time would be one of the most obvious, I think. Most of us are pretty busy with our own lives. Sometimes the last thing I want is to be asked to take my time for something new. But perhaps giving my time is exactly the right thing to do. No money, just my time – to help someone else's project, to stop and talk with someone, to listen to them, let them know that someone is caring about them.
How about attention? How many needs exist around us that we don’t even notice because our attention is focused in one direction only? And how many times have we rushed on by someone because we were in a hurry? What if what they truly needed was just someone to give them a few minutes of their attention?
All through scripture God, speaking through Jesus and the prophets calls for justice – for the rights of the poor and the powerless. Do we even notice when those rights are being eroded away all around us? When medical insurance companies raise their prices while cutting services to people who need that coverage in order to physically survive or when supplemental food programs are cut do we check to see if we are still OK and then turn away? Or do we take the time and effort to write letters and make phone calls and read ballots and vote out the people who enable these iniquitous actions?
Do we care that the poor suffer a much higher rate of violence in their daily living than we do? Do we do anything to address that inequity? Do we bother to care?
These are the things God wants us to give. The money-things are good -- absolutely -- but they often only provide a temporary patch on the deeper problem. How about if we are called to address that deeper issue – and fix it?
The prophet Amos, so long ago, spoke for God when he told us:
“I can’t stand your religious meetings.
I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes.....
Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.
What if we try taking God at God’s word? One thing I noticed – maybe for the first time – in today’s reading is that Peter didn’t just tell the beggar to “stand up and walk” and then go on his own way. Scripture says that having said this, Peter then reached out and took the man’s hand and lifted him up. He stayed around and physically helped the man to stand.
In the Letter from James, we find one of my favorite lines: If you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
Well, yes it is obvious. So what can I do about it today?
In the Letter from James, we find one of my favorite lines: If you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
Well, yes it is obvious. So what can I do about it today?
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