The LCA Provides This Sermon Edited for Lay-Reading, with Thanks to the Original Author s11

The LCA provides this sermon edited for lay-reading, with thanks to the original author.

Easter 3, Year B Acts 3:12-19

Wouldn’t it be easier if the risen Jesus appeared in person to everyone so they’d have to believe: like he appeared to the disciples, and especially to Thomas? But then, if one follows this thought through, a month or so later a person might begin to have some doubts. Does the risen Jesus then have to appear again physically so the person can believe? How many times would Jesus have to appear physically to a person? Seven times, or seventy times seven times?

Even then someone might suggest, “It is an evil spirit dressed up as Jesus. How do you know it is Jesus – and not someone else?”

Would Jesus have to come every day, so a person could be sure? Or if he didn’t come some days, would that mean there is something wrong with you? Had you maybe upset him so that he stayed away?

If Jesus appeared physically in this church at a certain time each day, think of the long queue of to see him! And think of the money we could raise if we only charged for admission and may for a cuppa and a couple of biscuits as they got hungry waiting to see him. This Church would be a sensation!

In the first Scripture reading for today something sensational has happened. The day started out normal enough. Some people carried a cripple to the main gate that led into the Temple. They did this every day. It was a key spot for a cripple to be seen, just outside the house of God. It would surely touch people’s hearts and lead them to reach into their pockets to give a donation to the cripple. At about three o’clock in the afternoon - a special time for prayers - Peter and John arrive at the Temple.

2 There at the Beautiful Gate, as it was called, was a man who had been lame all his life. Every day he was carried to the gate to beg for money from the people who were going into the Temple.3 When he saw Peter and John going in, he begged them to give him something.4 They looked straight at him, and Peter said, Look at us!5 So he looked at them, expecting to get something from them.6 But Peter said to him, I have no money at all, but I give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I order you to get up and walk!7 Then he took him by his right hand and helped him up. At once the man's feet and ankles became strong;8 he jumped up, stood on his feet, and started walking around. Then he went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God.9 The people there saw him walking and praising God,10 and when they recognized him as the beggar who had sat at the Beautiful Gate, they were all surprised and amazed at what had happened to him.

11 As the man held on to Peter and John in Solomon's Porch, as it was called, the people were amazed and ran to them.12 When Peter saw the people, he said to them,

1 “ Fellow Israelites, why are you surprised at this, and why do you stare at us? Do you think that it was by means of our own power or godliness that we made this man walk?” (Acts 3:2-12) GNB

What a sensation! A couple of miracle workers! They aren’t just great doctors who say, “Here is an exercise programme to strengthen your legs and after some months you might be able to begin to take a few steps.” Nor do they suggest some special surgery: nothing like that at all. There is instant healing! What a sensation. Peter and John could have it made! They could be set up for life.

Peter, the one who had denied Jesus three times, speaks up. “Why do you stare at us? Do you think it was by means of our own power or godliness that we made this man walk?” “No way!” he assures them. “God did this sensational healing through Jesus. It was Jesus alone. Certainly not because John and I are such pious and holy people.” Peter focuses their attention on Jesus, the one they crucified. “You killed the one who leads to life!”

The Jesus who comes to you and me in the Scriptures is the one who was crucified. He was nailed to the cross and killed. That is not the act of a false spirit, or a deceiver. If one wants to see if Jesus is real – if God is working through Jesus – then look at Jesus on the cross. There we see the love of Jesus for you and me. Jesus sees us as spiritual cripples, and in love he goes to the cross. He gives us all he has: His life.

We aren’t told what later happened to the cripple who was healed at the Temple gate. Maybe he went on to have a long and happy life? One would hope he became a disciple of Jesus for the rest of his time on earth. We aren’t told, because the main focus of the Bible is on Jesus. Jesus is the centre of the Scriptures: the one who was crucified for you and me. If we want to see the real Jesus each day, then we look at the cross and see his love for each one of us, and his care for our future.

The first time Jesus came, sensational miracles happened. These miracles are reported in the scriptures to show us who Jesus is, so we can trust him. So we can rely on him for a new life. Jesus didn’t come into this world so we could all have a few more years added on to our time here on this earth. Jesus came so we could be reunited with our heavenly Father, become one of God’s family, and live forever. In verse 21 Peter tells the crowd: “Jesus must remain in heaven until the time comes for all things to be made new!”

When we each see Jesus personally with our own eyes, it will be in a new dimension of life we can scarcely begin to imagine now. It will be a new age when there will be no cripples, no sickness, no aging or dying, no hunger or thirst, no tears.

We experience the Christian life on two levels, and both come from God. There is our life on this earth, which is temporary. God shares in it too, in Jesus, so it is a special time. Then there is the ‘new life’, we sometimes call ‘eternal life’. Eternal life begins here in this world. The new life is programmed into us the way a new life is programmed into a seed. When we look at the seed we

2 see only the outer shell. It might look insignificant and maybe even look like its dead. But from this seed the new life comes. The new plant and the flowers look nothing like the seed.

The Holy Spirit sows the seed of Jesus Christ in our ordinary bodies. The Jesus seed sprouts, and comes into bloom in the resurrection. One holds onto Jesus now in anticipation of the resurrection to eternal life. A sensation only God can work in us human beings.

We can be crippled, ill and sick, and have this secret seed inside, ready to burst out like a most beautiful flower. When we see Jesus with our own eyes, everything will be new. Revelations 21 verse four describes the new life: “He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared. Then the one who sits on the throne said, ‘And now I make all things new.’”

For now, Jesus remains in heaven until the time comes for all things to be made new. Where Jesus is, all things are new. As new as a flower in the garden that comes from an ordinary looking seed. Our hope rests safely in Jesus: not in money, or shares or gold bullion. Not even in perfect health. We live in hope for the new life God creates through Jesus: a sensational change that only God can work in us. Then we shall see Jesus face to face - the same Jesus who was crucified for you and me.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.