The Single Greatest Gift: Sunday, March 30, 2008

This sermon is the first of four sermons based on a book by Bill Hybels, Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006). During these four weeks, our church members are meeting in Sunday night small groups in the homes of church members. We are using the Just Walk Across the Room small group curriculum produced by Willow Creek. The small group format includes four components: (1) food / fellowship time; (2) watching the Just Walk Across the Room teaching DVD; (3) group discussion; and (4) each person prays for three specific people they know who are "far from God." The four weeks will conclude with an event to invite the people we have been praying for to come to the church for an informal meeting to receive more information about our church and a brief presentation of the Gospel.

The Single Greatest Gift
Acts 3: 1 – 10.

I. Introduction.

For those of you who do not know this: I am a sports junkie. And March is the best time of the year for sports on TV. I had three teams in the NCAA tournament this year, and I filled out a tournament bracket for the first time in my life. My bracket doesn’t look so good right now, because only one of my three teams is still playing.

If you have been following the basketball games on TV, then you have seen a few commercials over and over and over. I find one of the Cadillac commercials to be very sad. There is a man driving a Cadillac and talking about all the luxurious features. But he begins the commercial with these words: “Life is just high school with money. What are the cool kids doing? What kind of cars do the cool kids drive?”

Why didn’t we leave these kinds of popularity contests behind us when we graduated from high school? The meaning of life should not be defined by the “stuff” we accumulate. Cars and houses and popular friends do not last forever. George Strait was right when he sang, “I’ve never seen a hearse with a luggage rack.” We can’t take our “stuff” with us when we leave this earth.

As Christians, we are not supposed to get caught up in the world’s pursuit of temporary things. Of course, there is nothing wrong with working for nice “stuff.” The problem is when we make accumulating “stuff” the primary focus of our lives. It’s a problem when we become “Possessed by our possessions.” Don’t let your finances and the size of your house define your character.
I would not stand up here on a Sunday morning and talk about the world’s view of possessions and popularity if I was only worried about the world. No. I fear that we as the church have allowed the world to influence us more than we have influenced the world. Of course, you know that when I say “the church,” I am not just talking about Lufkin’s First Baptist Church. I am talking about all Christians and all Christian churches, but I am also talking about First Baptist.

The culture has transformed our church more than we have transformed the culture.
Consider what churches do to attract a crowd. Sometimes churches try to look more like a three ring circus than a church, so people will come in the doors. I even know of a church in the Houston area that has a spotlight roving all over the room until it finally stops on one person. If the light stops on you, then you win an XBox 360, a flat screen TV or a new truck.

God has not called us to give away prizes! God has called to give away something infinitely more valuable. We are to give away Jesus—the single most important gift we ever received and the greatest gift we could give away.

In Acts 3, we read a story about a man who was down and out. He was looking for a handout from the disciples Peter and John. He asked for money, but they did not give him what he was looking for. They gave him something infinitely better.

Read Acts 3: 1 – 10.

There was no such thing as Disability in the First Century. There wasn’t even AFLAC supplemental insurance for folks who could no longer work for a living…

This man born lame had only one means for survival…He had to beg for money. The routine would have been the same for this man every single day. Friends or family would carry him to a place where he could be seen by many people. He would probably wear the dirtiest, filthiest, most torn clothes he could find so people passing by would feel sorry for him.

And this guy had a good spot. He sat at the gate to the Temple…On the front steps of the church…So that all the religious folks would have to step over him as they went about their daily religious routines…

The Bible tells us in verse 1, that Peter and John were walking into the Temple at their regular hour of prayer. We can assume from this statement that this was a daily activity for the disciples. Of course, if we read Acts 2: 46, we don’t have to assume anything. Luke tells us in Acts 2:46, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.”

There was nothing unusual about this day. Each day at 3:00, the disciples went into the Temple to pray. This is what all good Jewish men did in the first century. If they lived in Jerusalem, they stopped what they were doing at 3:00 so they could go to the temple. If they didn’t live in Jerusalem, they went to their local synagogue. There was nothing new or unusual about this day.

But neither was there anything new or unusual about this lame beggar. Peter and John had probably stepped over him every day for weeks. But for some reason they had never noticed him…

Maybe they were used to looking away…Or, maybe they just didn’t feel any compassion for a man in this predicament…Or, maybe they never thought they could do anything for him… Or, maybe they did what you and I do when someone walks up to our car window at a traffic signal—they looked straight ahead and pretended that no one was there.

Whatever their reasons might have been, there was something different this day…There was something that caused them to notice a lame beggar sitting on the steps of the Temple at 3:00 prayers…

I think Luke, the author of Acts, has placed this story where it is so we will make a connection between this story and the story that came before it. The story before this one was the story of the first Christian Pentecost…The day the disciples were in Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit came upon them with power…

I think that Peter and John had stepped over this man for days and weeks because they never had the power to do anything….They were not connected to the power that comes from the Holy Spirit…But when the Holy Spirit came, they had the power to do something…

And that is exactly what they did…They did something! Peter said, “Look at me. Do I look like I have any money? I am just as poor as you are. I left a lucrative career as a fisherman to become a traveling preacher. But I do have something I would like to give you. It is better than money.”

Peter reached down to the beggar, held his hand and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth—Walk.” I want you to notice a couple of things about what can happen to you when you are connected to the Power of God…

II. Power of God Transforms Lives.

Two lives were transformed in this story: the lame beggar and Peter…

1. Man lame from birth experienced both a physical transformation and a spiritual transformation.

2. Peter experienced a spiritual transformation.

The physical change that took place in the lame man is obvious. When Peter commanded him to stand and walk, the man stood up and walked. But that is not the only thing he did. He started jumping and running…And one other thing. He was also continually praising God. Notice that he did not praise Peter and John. He praised God. In other words, he knew that God was responsible for this miracle.

Some people suggest that since this man lived in Jerusalem, he had probably heard about the miracles Jesus performed. People just like this man had come face to face with Jesus and were healed of their disability. But not this man. Perhaps he had tried to come to Jesus, but was unable as a result of his disability. Now, it was Jesus who had healed him.

Later in this Acts 3: 16, Peter told the gathered crowd that this man had been healed by faith in Jesus. This is not simply a physical miracle. It was both physical and spiritual.

It is important to note that the ancient world attributed every disease and disability to the presence of evil. In our contemporary world, we would never associate physical disability to sin. We attribute it to genetics or biology. Therefore, this appears to be a physical solution. Yet, in the eyes of the religious people of the first century, this man was lame as a result of his own sinfulness or—since he was lame from birth—the sins of his parents. Again, this causes us to think of this miracle in spiritual terms. Peter did not heal this man. Jesus healed him! Jesus gave him a spiritual solution to his physical problems.

Peter also was transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit in his life. For some reason, Peter had ignored this man every day as he entered the temple at 3:00 to pray. But now that Peter had the Holy Spirit in him, it was different. He noticed a fellow human being in need. AND…This is the most important part…Peter saw this man as another person who would be better off if he had Jesus in his life.

How do you think of other people? I know what you say you believe. You say that you believe everyone would be better if they knew Jesus like you know Jesus. But is that how you live your life? When you drive into your driveway at home and your neighbor is mowing the grass next door…Do you think he or she would have a better life if they knew Jesus? When you buy a cup of coffee at a coffee shop or a gas station…Do you think the person taking your money would have a better life if they knew Jesus? What about your boss at work? He makes more money than you make. He takes better vacations than you take. But, would he be a better person if he knew Jesus?

That is a hard question to answer. I know you believe other people need Jesus in their lives. But do you make the effort to introduce other people to Jesus?

For the man in our story today, it is obvious how he needed Jesus. He needed to be healed! But what about the people we know who seem perfectly happy without Jesus? There are some preachers who will say that it is impossible to be happy without Jesus. And, I suppose there is part of me that believes that as well. But, I know a lot of people who seem to live happy and fulfilled lives without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

One obvious answer is eternal life. I believe in a real heaven and a real hell. Life does not end at the grave. For those who place their faith in Jesus and give him control of their lives, heaven awaits. For those who do not place their faith and lives in Jesus, hell awaits.

In addition to eternal life, I also believe in abundant life. That is Christian language for the hope and help Jesus provides us as long as we live on this earth. If you can imagine this with me, imagine a husband and wife riding in a sports car. The man is in the driver’s seat, and the woman is sitting right next to him. The man has his right arm around his wife and he is waving to all his friends with his left arm. He has NO HANDS ON THE STEERING WHEEL.

Everything is perfect and happy…as long as the road is straight. But how will they manage when the road becomes rough or curvy? The rough and curvy times are the times when we most need the hope and help only Jesus can provide.[1] In my personal experience and in my experience walking with many of you through rough and curvy times, this is when our faith in Jesus sustains us!


III. Power of God Is Never Hidden.

The first thing I want you to notice about the power of God is the way Peter could not keep it hidden. When God is at work in our lives, people will notice it. No matter what God does—whether it is big or small—everyone knows God is the one who did it. Not Peter. Not John. Not even the man born lame. God did it, and everyone saw.

Several places in the New Testament we read about a battle between flesh and spirit. Early pagans thought this was a battle raging inside every human being. Flesh was understood as evil, and spirit was understood as good. Live by the spirit, and you can save yourself. Live by the flesh, and you will be just like everyone else.

In a Christian understanding, this is not an internal battle. It is an external battle. At the moment of salvation, God places his Holy Spirit within each of us. The Holy Spirit begins immediately convicting us of sin and convincing us of righteousness. But at the same time, the world begins its work on us through temptation and appeals to our popularity. We have to choose. Will we let the culture around us transform us? Or will we let God’s Holy Spirit transform us?

If we keep walking past people in our lives without ever showing them the power of God in our lives, then the world is winning. But, if we have the power of God, which cannot be hidden…If we truly believe that we have experienced something through Jesus that everyone else needs in their lives…If Jesus is the greatest gift we have ever received and we want to share that with others…THEN the Spirit of God is winning.


IV. Conclusion.

There is an ancient story about Saint Thomas Aquinas. It is told that Aquinas once visited Pope Innocent II in the Pope’s treasury room. The Pope was surrounded by treasures and was actually counting his money when Aquinas arrived. The Pope said, “You see, Thomas, the church can no longer say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’” Thomas replied, “True, Holy Father, but neither can she say, ‘Rise and walk.’”[2]

Do you believe that Jesus still changes lives? Do you believe that your faith in Jesus is something everyone needs?

[1] Lee Strobel, Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary: How to reach friends and family who avoid God and the church. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993). This is Lee Strobel’s illustration about his life before he became a Christian.
[2] F.F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1988), pp. 77 – 78.