Loving God, you heal us and redeem us and invite us into your future.  Teach us to always look to you for our direction, trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            Imagine that you have always been on the outside looking in.  You have never been part of a worshiping community.  You have never been self-sufficient or able to work for a living.  And then one day, all of that changes.  You ask a couple of people for a handout on their way into a church, and they stop and look deep into your eyes.  Then they give you something totally unexpected: healing in the name of Jesus and a welcome into the worshiping community.  It seems so surreal that you’re not sure what to do first.  Unable to contain yourself, you end up jumping up and down and praising God.  Who could have predicted such an amazing event, as everything changes in only a few minutes of time.

            From the perspective of the lame man in today’s reading, this is pretty much what happened.  His whole life, he had been crippled and thus unable to work or to provide for himself.  He had also never been allowed inside the Jerusalem Temple, as the blind and the lame were considered unsuitable to enter God’s house for worship.  The only option available to him at that time and in that culture was to beg, and so he set up shop every day in one of the best locations possible: right at the Temple gate where people would see him as they were entering.  As religious people were supposed to give alms as part of God’s covenant, he had a pretty good chance of receiving something from the faithful.

            However, it wasn’t until he received healing in the name of Jesus that he was actually able to enter the Temple and be part of the worshiping community.  The name of Jesus not only lifted him up and healed him, but also allowed him to be included in worship for the first time in his life.  While the healing was amazing and wonderful, and his initial response is to leap and praise God, can you imagine how many changes he would have had to deal with all at the same time?

            For example, how exactly do you get a job after spending your whole life begging for alms?  How well do you fit in when you’re in the Temple with others and have never learned the rituals or what you’re supposed to do there?  Some of you may have seen the Monty Python scene which has a man leaping and dancing around while calling out, “Alms for an ex-leper!  Alms for an ex-leper!”  Of course, when somebody questions him about this, he lets them know that it was Jesus who had healed him.  And then he continues on his way, still asking people for alms.

            As funny as the scene is, it also shows some insight on their part.  What is somebody supposed to do when they are healed after a lifetime of dependance on others?  One would hope that perhaps the man in today’s reading put his faith in Jesus and became part of the community of believers, but we aren’t actually told what happens afterwards.  However, all of this does raise an interesting question for us: So you’ve experienced healing in the name of Jesus and inclusion in the community of faith.  What do you do next?

            It is an important question because so many of us are creatures of habit.  Even when something truly amazing happens in our lives and we experience the power of the name of Jesus, it is so easy for us just to slip back into our old habits and do exactly what we were used to doing before.  It’s a lot harder to learn a new way of being and to allow God to transform us from the inside out.

            We do, however, have some examples in those early disciples of Jesus who had either experienced healing themselves or had seen amazing things happen through the healing touch of Jesus.  We hear about Mary Magdalene who, we are told, had seven demons that Jesus had driven out.  We hear about Peter, who had watched Jesus heal his mother-in-law and who had experienced what it is like to be forgiven.  And we hear about others who are not given names who are healed and then follow Jesus.

            In most cases, these people end up striving to pass on that same gift of healing and inclusion to others.  If we stop and think for a moment about Peter and John in today’s reading, for them the question is only slightly different: So you’ve had a powerful spiritual experience.  What do you do next?  In their case, they had seen Jesus arrested and abused and crucified.  They had seen him dead and buried.  However, they had also encountered the risen Jesus, who had eaten with them and spoken with them and had invited them to touch him in order to see that he really was alive.  They had received forgiveness and the peace of Christ from Jesus and had watched him ascend into heaven.  And then, only recently, they had received the promised gift of the Holy Spirit.

            One of the things that is most striking in this healing story from Acts is that it follows pretty much the same pattern as many of the healing stories involving Jesus.  The ill person and the healer meet.  The person’s condition is described in order to show that healing will be difficult.  A healing action and words are described.  The healing occurs, and then there is proof of healing.  Finally, the witnesses are amazed. (Workingpreacher.org)

            The story is told in this way in order to make it clear that Peter and John are continuing to do what Jesus did.  While they could have stayed in a secluded place where it is safe and reveled in the joy of the Holy Spirit, instead they are out among the people, carrying the name of Jesus with them, and passing on Jesus’ power to save and to heal wherever it is needed.  They are using both word and deed in order to share the good news of the risen Christ.

            And so, whether you identify more with the one who is in need of healing or with the disciples who are being asked for help, the power of the name of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit are there for you.  In fact, they are not only there for you, but for all those whom you might encounter, for the ministry of Jesus continues through us.  This is both a challenge and a privilege, but where God guides, God provides.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Easter 3 (NL 2)                                     Acts 3:1-10

April 10, 2016

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2016 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved