29 July 2010 Devotion for Today "Silver and Gold Have I None" Acts 3: 1-10

 
 

Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

 6Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. (Acts 3:1-10)

 
 

Earlier this week we visited our son who is temporarily stationed in New Orleans with the Coast Guard. We were staying with him at his hotel, which is right on the corner of Bourbon and Canal Streets. Unfortunately, while Bourbon Street in that city is definitely alive, its reputation is much deserved. Sin and dereliction was everywhere, and certainly not a street you would want to walk down at night. Occasionally, beggars will sit at the street corners or even in the ditch and ask for spare change. One that I saw was a wounded war veteran whose leg had been blown off in the recent war in Iraq. It was a heart breaking scene. As I spoke with him, tears welled in my eyes as I thought of the sacrifice he had made for our country and then to come home to a life on the streets. When he returned in January, 2006, he found that his home had been destroyed in the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and that his wife and children had left him. To cope with the misery of the years, he turned to alcohol and drugs. As I opened my wallet I was stunned to find I had no cash- not even a dime was to be found in my pocket. Sure I had debit cards and credit cards in my wallet but I was not about to part with any of those. It did not occur to me to go to a nearby ATM machine and withdraw a little bit of cash to give him. Then I thought of Peter and John as they stood over the man begging by the Temple gate in Jerusalem. They responded, "Silver and gold have we none, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk." Peter and John were well aware of this man who sat in this one place for years. Everybody knew him, but up until then, nothing had been done about him since they all assumed all the beggar wanted was other people's money. But Peter and John refused to think that way. They urged him to look at them and then prayed for him to walk- and he did!

 
 

I'll be honest, I stopped short at that point. All I did was to apologize and tell the beggar I had no money. I felt utterly helpless, but why? Did I really believe I could help him? Better yet, did I honestly believe Jesus could help him? Because I did not expect that God could cause the beggar to grow a new leg and follow what happened to the man in the Bible story above, I said nothing more and went on my way. To me, that was harder than confronting the man in the first place. I know what some of you are thinking right now. Some of you may be thinking, "you probably did him a favor by not giving him any money, since he would have probably spent it on alcohol, anyway!" Yes, that thought occurred to me also, and shame on me for thinking that; for what a judgmental spirit I struggled with, confronting that desperate vision of humanity before me. The very least I could have done is to pray for him, which I did not do because I felt too embarrassed to do so- in the likelihood of not seeing the man healed. All I could do is to choke back tears and say, "Sir, I don't have what I would like to give you, but I want you to know that God loves you." The words sounded so hollow and lame as I struggled for a better response. The encountered showed not how sick and hurting that man was, but how sick and sorry my faith was!

 
 

"That's alright, mister, don't worry about it," he said. "You have a nice day!" He pulled a brown bag with a bottle inside to his lips and I turned and walked away. But as I sit and reflect on that scene this morning, and as I no longer chastise myself, I still can't decide who to feel sorrier for, the wounded derelict veteran or myself? True, silver and gold I did not have, but I could have shared the hope and love of Jesus. Who was I to think what this man did not need to hear? Was I thinking too much of myself, rather than what this man needed? When we shrink back from situations like these, we deny God the opportunity to work to demonstrate His power. Perhaps the man might not have grown a leg or walked, but he could have gotten saved, or at the very least, found the strength to live on with hope for one more day. In spite of my lame demonstration of faith that day, perhaps he did. But the point is, who was I to deny what only God could do?

 
 

Admittedly that day was not a high point in my walk with the Lord, but it taught me several things- mainly that God has empowered me to be used by Him in every situation, and not just the ones that I choose. And God is in control of the circumstances of the encounters that I have, not me. Only God can predict the outcomes of those circumstances to bring glory to Himself.

 
 

Today let us not deny what only God can do. May He give us the faith to see beyond the obvious at least to trust Him with our limitations and meager resources. Bring glory to Him today as you trust Him in this.

 
 

Have a blessed day!