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The book of Acts was written by Luke
who also wrote the gospel of Luke and was the only Gentile or non-Jew to write a
book in the Bible. Luke had a unique writing style that was vogue by his continued
repetition of the word certain. Of the 195 passages of scripture containing this
word, 101 of them were written by Luke.
A few examples of this: A certain Priest named Zacharias; And
it came to pass on a certain day
there met him a man out of the city; And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus; a certain blind man sat by the wayside begging; And here in the
text Luke tells the story of a certain
man, who was lame from his mother’s womb; that was carried, whom they laid daily
at the gate of the Temple to ask alms of those that went in.
If this man had lived today, instead
of being called lame he might have been called handicap, or disabled, or for a better
choice of words, physically challenged, now that’s a good way of putting it, isn’t
it? If he lived today, instead of being carried from place to place, he might have
gotten around in a wheelchair which would have given him mobility as well as a sense
of independence. Then when he grew tired of wheeling himself around in his wheelchair,
he would have been able to ride busses which have been made accessible to the disabled,
transporting him anywhere he wanted to go. And since panhandling and begging people
to give them some spare change has it’s own set of problems, largely because people
today are very careful not to give away their spare change.
We look at the person, analyze their
situation, and then make a judgement call. I’m not going to do it, no not today,
I’m not giving that beggar one thin dime. He or she is not going to buy no dope
and no booze with my money. Who made you a judge over anyone? Even the Bible warns
us against such posture; Judge not it says, that ye be not judged. So why cut off
your blessings by judging someone else’s situation. Whatever you have, God has blessed you to have. And just like
He blesses you to have, your blessings
can be cut off, and if that happens, you and the person whom you judged could be
fighting each other next week, over which street corner is better to stand on and
beg for some spare change.
If God has blessed you to have something to give, give it from the heart
and your blessing won’t be cut off.. If the man in the text, would have lived today,
he might have qualified for employment through one of the many agencies designed
to assist the disabled find work; so that he might have become self sufficient.
And if everything else failed, he might have been eligible to received welfare or
disability income to help him get by.
But he lived in a time when the only
way for him to get around was to wait for someone who had the time to physically
pick him up carry him where he wanted to go. There were no agencies which could
assist him find a jobs that he could do despite his disability. There was no welfare
or any type of income he could apply for to help sustain himself because of his
disability. So the only recourse available, to help make his ends meet, was to appeal
to the sympathy of the general public and beg for money.
What would happen is, someone would
carry him from home and drop him off somewhere that they figured the begging would
be easy. So everyday day he’d be dropped off at the gates of the Temple to beg for
his living. And to aid in his appeal for money, a sign might have been placed around
his neck, which might have read, give money, I haven’t eaten bread nor drank any
water for three day and three nights.
Luke tells us here in the text, that
the two preachers Peter and John went up together into the Temple at the hour of
prayer, being the ninth hour or 3:00 in the afternoon. And a certain man who was
lame from his mother’s womb was carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the
Temple, which is called beautiful to ask alms (to beg) of them that entered into
the Temple. Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the Temple asked an alms.
And Peter fastening his eyes upon him with John said look on us. And he gave heed
unto them expecting to receive something from them.
What is going on is that God has given the preacher the answer to
those whose lives have a question. The question of the lame man life, is there any
hope for his helpless situation? One thing is that he is in the right place at the
right time. He’s at the Church that’s the right place. It is the hour of prayer,
that’s the right time. The Bible called the time the hour of prayer. As powerful
as prayer is, the smallest crowd to assemble in the sanctuary is at prayer meeting.
Musicals, large crowd, Church picnic, large crowd, Pastors luncheon, large crowd,
11:00 o’clock worship, large crowd, prayer meeting, the crowd dwindles down to a
faithful few.
Prayer is essential, it’s the key
to the kingdom, it’s the way we talk to God,
I used to hear mama say, “I’ve got a telephone in my bosom, and I can call Him up anytime. When it’s praying time,
it’s the right time. This lame man is at the right place at the right time. But
is there any hope for his helpless situation? Many have come into the Church and
have gone back home without any evidence of change at all. This is true in many
cases, because the one who came to Church, came and did not expect to receive anything
from the Lord. And since you did not
expect to receive anything, you should not be disappointed that you didn’t. Some
of us come looking and expecting to receive something for God.
We need peace for our troubled minds.
Our minds can become troubled, especially when a powerful figure and political activist
is dethroned because of his own immorality. Our minds can become troubled when we
see one political party turn over the reigns to another political party. You knew
what to expect from the old, but you don’t know what to expect from the new. Our
mind can become troubled when we read in the paper or watch on the news that there’s
a shortage of electricity and your house might be put in the dark even though you
paid your electric bill. Not only do we need peace for our troubled minds, we also
need strength for our journey.
The body grows old, it gets weak,
and it gets tired. There are some things that we can do to help maintain it, like
eating right, getting plenty of rest, and exercise regularly. This helps us look
and feel better, but does not stop us from getting old and dying. But when you know
for yourself that you’ve been born again. When you know that God is walking with you and you’re walking
with Him. Let come what may, you know
that He is watching over you. When you
come to Church expect to receive something from the Lord. Peter said to him Silver and Gold have I none but such as I have
give I thee, In the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth rise up and walk.
He was expecting to receive something,
but he received more than he expected. God
used the preacher to give him the message that changed his life. He wanted Peter
and John to give him some money. Their purpose was not to give the man what he wanted,
because giving him what he wanted would have kept him helpless and in his hopeless
situation. It was time for him to stand on his feet, and be accountable for himself.
Maybe you don’t understand what that means. Grandpa and Grandma may have had good
religion, Papa and Mama may have had good religion, Brother and Sister may have
had good religion. But none of that religion will ever rub off on you. You have
to be accountable, and know God for yourself.
As I hurry on to a close, the Bible tells us that there have been some other
people who were helpless and in a hopeless situation. They had to depend on loved
one and acquaintances to do for them, because they could do nothing for themselves.
And ain’t it funny how quickly loved ones and acquaintances can get tired of fooling
with you. They get so tired sometimes that the only way for them to get any rest
is to drop you off somewhere. You may not have thought about it, but all of you
life somebody has been dropping you off some where. And when they drop you off,
they’re never in a hurry to come pick you. They know that you won’t be going anywhere
until they say so. Like that man who had been sick for thirty eight years, somebody
dropped him off at the healing water, but didn’t get back in time to help him into
the water. That little old lady who had the issue of blood for twelve long years,
trusted in the doctor to heal her body but when her money got low, they dropped
her off of their appointment list. And don’t for get about that widow woman’s son
they were on their way to drop him off at the cemetery. And somewhere in your life,
you’ve been dropped off somewhere. Maybe someone dropped you off at school; maybe
they dropped you off at work; maybe it was at the hospital. And there just might
be someone here who has never been dropped off anywhere.
Well if you keep on living, one of these days you’re going to get old. And
when you get old, somebody is going to drop you off somewhere. It might be at a
hospital; or maybe a nursing home, And if you never get dropped off at a hospital,
and if you never get dropped off at a nursing home; you will be dropped off at the
cemetery. But I stopped by to tell you That when others drop you off, there is one
who will pick you up. His name is Jesus.