Alms

"Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, 'Look at us.' And he fixed his attention on them expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, 'I have no silver and gold but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!...And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God'" [Acts 3:1-6, 8]

For my MW Acts class, I just finished reading this story/chapter in the book of Acts. As I read through again, combing it for details to answer some homework questions, I paused as I re-read these first six verses. A couple of things jumped out to me that I hadn't noticed the first time, parallels which I saw between myself and the cripple (maybe God is trying to tell me something? I've been noticing a lot of parallels between myself and the cripples of the Bible lately... haha). The phrase "from birth" had been small enough for me to skim right over in the past. This time, however, I was reminded of Ephesians 2:1-3, which reads, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." We are by nature children of wrath--just like this man was lame from birth.

Once noticing this, I also noticed what this man who was lame from birth was doing--asking for alms. And how often did he do this? Daily. Clearly, this is not a long term solution. And yet, for this man and for us, without Christ's power in our lives, we have to live off the spare change of the world. We have to live off whatever we can get for ourselves--whatever goodness we can muster, whatever love we can create, whatever joy we can grasp at. And yet, none of it makes any difference. In the same way that alms could do nothing to heal this man's legs, our "moral" deeds will do nothing to purify our sinful souls. The problem isn't addressed by the correct solution.

And then along come Peter and John, who have and are willing to share the truth and the power that this man needs, and what is his (initial) response? "He fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them." Wow.

Though this man did not know that the men who were speaking with him could offer both a permanent and full solution to his problem (a la Hebrews 10:14)--that is, Jesus Christ--I wonder sometimes if I come to Christ and ask for alms. In fact, I know I do. I come to Him and I ask for Him to take away some one or other inconvenient sin, or something that makes me look bad to other people, without really wanting the full healing--not wanting to see my heart actually changed, or not wanting to actually have to go through the process of healing. I want a quick fix to my problem, but the problem with quick fixes is they are fleeting and don't really address my real need--to be purified from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14). As long as I continue looking to Christ and asking for alms--for the superficial, temporary solution to my brokenness--I will never be healed, because I can not save myself. Thankfully, however, our LORD extends grace even when we come to Him asking for something less than His full sanctifying power working in us to form Him in us. Peter and John take after their Master when they say, "I have no silver or gold but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!"

I hope that next time I see brokenness in my life, I can come in faith to Christ and ask for His healing. But, at the least, I hope the next time I ask for alms and receive healing instead that I will respond with the same joy this man did, with "walking and leaping and praising God". "And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). Praise God that whether or not we necessarily ask for it, He will bring our sanctification and perfection to completion in His power and grace through the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. :)