The guy lived a pretty miserable life. He was reduced to begging at the temple of God, ironically at the Gate called Beautiful. I wonder if he ever contemplated the ridiculousness of it all... he couldn't get welfare, couldn't sue anyone for making him crippled since birth... couldn't go anywhere without being carried by whomever cared about him most (if anyone)... and couldn't even go in to the temple to worship God. Actually, he wasn't so sure he wanted to worship the One who made his life so miserable... all this, and he was placed each day at the Gate called Beautiful! Ha, funny joke, only he was the punch line. We can only surmise that he felt completely stuck in an endless loop of hopelessness, fear, and utter frustration at his lot in life.
"Stranger, do you have any money to give a poor crippled beggar?," he would ask anyone who came near him at the gate. More than likely, most people ignored him, some were rude to him, and occasionally someone might give him a modest handout so he could eat his next meal. Talk about desperate. But then one day, his life changed in a most dramatic fashion.
In his usual way, he begged the two guys coming through the gate... but this time it was different... one of them stopped and looked him in the eyes very intently. “Look at us,!" said Peter. Then he said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
Peter didn't give the guy money - that which he thought he wanted. Nope, he gave him that which God wanted to give him - the gift of freedom, the gift of walking and running and dancing, the gift of hope. The one gift that could wholly and completely change his life!
I want to be like Peter. So full of confidence in God that I don't give people what they want... but what they most need in the depths of their soul. Money is good, and important, even necessary... but mere money doesn't accomplish what healing can do in individuals who desperately need hope. Money can buy a new school or new hospital... money can pay a missionary or dig a new well... but the personal and powerful touch of Jesus being given by (and through) one of his disciples can nevertheless transform a person's life forever.
Many of us don't have much silver or gold to give away to the needy... but all of us can breath good news into the lives of spiritually crippled people. We can help lift them out of the depths of their depression. The good news of Christ can strengthen weak legs and give hope to those who feel reduced to mere survival in a seemingly dreadful world. Of course, many invalids don't know (and don't care) that they can't walk - but nevertheless, many people do hunger and long for something new and fresh and powerful that will give them new strength. They may not know it at first... but the source of that power and strength is not found within... it's found in the touch of Christ.
So... I wonder, what does that say about the body of Christ? We are his hands and feet, right? How then can we touch people with His love? Are we willing? Are you willing? What could we do to "heal" the spiritually crippled beggars of our day? You might get your hands dirty... are you ready to do that? Are you ready to change lives? Lord, give us the confidence to believe as Peter believed... and the touch to heal our neighbor.
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