Acts 3:1-10

“What I Have I Give You”

April 30, 2006

2006 is the Year of Invitation for Maynard Avenue Church—the year we focus not just on celebrating, but also on sharing Christ’s love and acceptance of all. Leadership Council has pledged “to be a church where the atmosphere is to invite other enthusiastically.” We want to pray for courage to share our faith and tell how much Jesus means to us, we intend to identify and overcome those things that hold us back from doing so. It is the Year of Invitation!

I suppose, however, that our year of invitation has got interrupted by a change of pastors. All of a sudden we’re thinking less about inviting others and more about saying goodbye, and then hello. All of a sudden we’re not quite sure what sort of preaching and worship we’d be inviting someone to take part in.

Of course, if you read the Gospel of Luke and its sequel, the Book of Acts, the disciples also have a mission. Several times Jesus has told them, I send you out to heal and to proclaim the kingdom of God. And though they were slow learners, they were gradually, little by little, starting to get it. But then their mission was interrupted. It was interrupted by the sudden and violent death of Jesus, which they did not understand. And their grieving was interrupted by the empty tomb and Jesus’ return from death, which they did not understand. And that joy was interrupted by his leaving them again to ascend into heaven, which they did not understand. By that time the wheels have pretty well come off their mission. At the start of the Book of Acts, they’re not out healing and proclaiming the kingdom of God. They’re hiding out, licking their wounds, praying for something, though they weren’t even quite sure what to pray for.

When suddenly there came the Holy Spirit, which they did not understand, and they began to share about Jesus in ways they didn’t know they had in them. And the church just exploded! The number of believers went from 120 to over 3000 in one day. And in just a few years the good news about Jesus traveled from Jerusalem through Syria, throughout Turkey, over to Macedonia and down through Greece, and finally even to Rome itself. Maybe an interruption is not such a bad thing after all!

Today’s reading is the disciples’ first act of evangelism after Pentecost, and it involves what I call a “Miracle Word.” One afternoon Peter and John are going to the temple for church. Some people have brought a man with a birth defect of some kind, a man who can’t walk, and they set him at the temple gate so he could beg from folks while they still had church on their mind. It was about as good a social welfare system as they had in that day. So the man shook his cup at Peter and John, hoping to get a buck or two. Instead they stared at him and Peter said, “Look here. I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ, stand up and walk!” And you know . . . he did. Peter spoke a Miracle Word.

Before we get to that, though, we need to make sure we don’t misunderstand this scripture. Some people have used this scripture as a reason (‘excuse’ is more like it) not to help the poor. They like to quote the Bible as they pass by beggars: “Silver and gold have I none . . . “ “Silver and gold have I none.”

There are two problems with that, however. First of all, Peter and John really didn’t have any money. The disciples were poor to start with, and what money they did have, they’d given away. So when Peter and John told the lame man they didn’t have any silver or gold, they didn’t mean they’d left their wallet at home or that they didn’t have any small bills. They meant that they really didn’t have any money. How about you?

And the second problem with quoting “Silver and gold have I none” to avoid helping the poor is that it’s just half of what Peter said. He went on to say, “But what I do have, I give you.” Let’s see. What do I have? car keys, credit card, an hour of my time, my faith in Jesus Christ. You know, it’s looking easier all the time just to hand the poor guy a fiver.

“We don’t have any money,” Peter told the lame man, “but what I do have I give you.” And he proceeded to speak to him a Miracle Word: In the name of Jesus Christ, stand up and walk.

I cannot claim to have spoken a Miracle Word like that one. However, one of the great gifts already being given to me as I prepare to say farewell to this church, is that some of you have recalled to me specific words I have spoken at some critical moment in your life. A visit I made when you were at the end of your rope, a tribute I paid your loved one at a funeral, a word of encouragement that helped you believe you could do some new thing. I have to admit that often I don’t have any memory of saying those words. But to you at that moment they were Miracle Words, like “Stand up and walk.” And you have remembered them, in some cases, over the span of ten years or longer.

I do not say that to boast in any way. Certainly as your pastor I have been privileged to walk with you through life’s deepest sorrows and to celebrate with you life’s greatest joys, and in the midst of those events I have been blessed to say a good word from time to time. But in general, I haven’t done or said anything that anybody else wouldn’t have said as well or better. Sure, there is something special about the role of pastor. But you all say Miracle Words. Every word of hope to the discouraged, every word of comfort to the troubled, every word of invitation in the name of Jesus Christ is a powerful word, a miracle word. You may not remember saying it. The other person may not always remember hearing it. But never underestimate the power of a word shared in the name of Christ.

Peter and John didn’t have much, by worldly standards. “I have no silver or gold,” Peter told that lame man, but then he went on: “But what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ . . .”

What I do have I give you . . . Which begs the question, “What do you have?” What do you have to offer someone in the name of Jesus Christ? Oh, I can just see everyone looking down at their feet and saying, “Nuthin.’ I ain’t got nuthin’.” But you’ve got to get over that false modesty, that low spiritual self-esteem, that laziness or whatever it is. God gives good gifts to every person, a rich and wonderful diversity of gifts. And the gifts God has given you aren’t for you—those gifts are for you to share with others. Let me tell just a few of the things I’ve seen going on around here:

· What do you have? Some people have a place in their home and in their heart for a child, maybe more than one. Through adoption and foster care, all kinds of families say, “Well, I may not have much, but you, child, can share my whole my whole life.” It can be heartbreaking, life-changing work—all in the name of Jesus Christ.

· What do you have? I have watched one of our church’s children at school silently stand next to another child who was being teased and bullied. She didn’t say anything; she couldn’t stop the mistreatment. But at least that poor boy knew he wasn’t alone—in the name of Jesus Christ.

· During our Lenten sermon and study series, I heard at least one person resolve to say the magic words in a relationship that had tormented her for years: I forgive you. Miracle Words indeed. And you can offer them, in the name of Jesus Christ.

· What do you have? On Easter some of you brought family or special friends with you to worship—grown children, brothers and sisters, parents, who knows what all. Now I know, I know—they may come just once a year to make you happy or to get you off their back. I know. But they also may just hear the song, the prayer, the word, shake the hand, cry the tear—that will turn their soul to God. And all you said was, “Won’t you come—in the name of Jesus Christ.”

The Year of Invitation can be interrupted, I suppose. But in the end, the Holy Spirit will have its way. Old pastor, new pastor or no pastor at all—we have Miracle Words to speak, my friends. The Word is itching to get out, out gifts are longing to be shared. I don’t have any silver or gold, Peter said, but what I do have I give you. So it may not be silver or gold that you have (and if it is, please see me right after worship), but if it isn’t, what do you have? What do you have to offer someone, in the name of Jesus Christ? It’s not a word until you speak it. It’s not a gift until you give it. And whatever it is, it’s all in the name of Jesus Christ.