Acts 3: 11-21

Our text for today is, (read together) “Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah…. (Acts 3: 19, NRSV)

Repent!  What does that word do to your soul?  It’s a preacher’s word that can be formed in the depths of the diaphragm and echoed through the sanctuary, “REPENT!” It’s a word that can be whispered in the most intimate of settings, “repent.” It’s an analytical word, “You need to repent.”  And, it is a comic’s word. Say it five times in a row and you will nearly always laugh. Repent, repent, repent, repent, repent.

This verse, “repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out…”follows a story and a sermon and both are about repentance. 

Easter has come and gone and the disciples are in Jerusalem. It is about 3 O’clock in the afternoon, the stated time for prayer. Peter and John are going into the temple for afternoon prayers.

There was a man who had been lame from birth. Every day, people would carry him to the temple and place him next to the gate called “Beautiful.”  There he would beg for alms, for handouts.  Now comes Peter and John going into the temple and he asks for help. They see him and hear him and say “Look at us.”

If you will use your imagination, you can see it. The man is sitting in the same place at the same time of day in the same way that he has sat for year after year after year. You can almost see that vacant stare in space. Holding out his cup and saying over and over again, can you help me please? But he never really makes eye contact with anyone because he has learned that nobody really wants to make eye contact with him. He wants the help and most are willing to spare a coin or two but nobody really wants to connect with this man and he has learned to avoid the connections. Everybody is more comfortable that way.

And then come Peter and John saying, “Look at us.” For the man born lame, this is the beginning of repentance. The word, metanoia, with the same root as metamorphosis, means to change. It means to change one’s mind or to change one’s behavior. Suddenly, he is invited to pay attention, to give his full attention to the matter at hand.

He had just grown accustomed to his lot in life. He had learned to numb himself to the attitudes of passing strangers as he asked for help. He had grown calluses over his heart and soul. He didn’t really feel anything any more and then, somebody said, “Look at us.”

And he did. They made contact. In some rudimentary way, their souls connected. Genuine communion, communication too place.

Now Peter says, “We don’t have any money but we’ll give you what we have.”  “Now, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, get up and walk.” And they reached out and pulled him to his feet and his ankles got a little stronger and the man, lame from birth was suddenly standing up.

We don’t have any money but we will give you what we have.  As a faith descendent of Peter and John, I wonder what it is that we have to say. I remember an old story told about two clergy types standing in the middle of an ornate and obviously costly church building. One says to the other, “No longer can we say, ‘silver and gold have we none.’” And the second replies, “Yes, but neither can we say, ‘get up and walk.’”

If we do not have enough money to fix the problems of this world and if we cannot guarantee a medical miracle for every lame person in this world, what do we have to offer?  What can we say?

The truth is that we do have some money and some money can fix some things and we can share. And I have another truth to share. Every week, I stand with some sick person and I pray that God will make them well and most of them get well. I am a firm believer in the efficacy of good medicine and I am grateful for all that medical science brings to us but I still believe that God’s Spirit is the spirit that ultimately heals. But I have also to honestly say that I sometimes pray for persons who do not get well and I have conducted the funerals of some of my unanswered prayers. So, what do we have to say?

Peter and John looked at the man and said, “In the name of Jesus, get up and walk.”  They began with “the name of Jesus.”  What can we say about the name of Jesus?

In the old days, the messenger would speak in “the name of the king.”  If he were speaking honestly, he was saying that the King’s words were coming through his lips. He was claiming the authority of the king in his announcement or pronouncement. The messenger was saying, the words are coming from my lips but this is really the king speaking.

So Peter and John were saying, the words are from our lips but this is really Jesus speaking, “get up and walk.”

As I say this, I am reminded of another story from the pages of the New Testament. The Apostle Paul reports that he had some kind of problem that he named “a thorn in the flesh.”  Some scholars think that his thorn in the flesh was a church member who was a royal pain in the neck!  Or maybe it was a group of church members!  But most scholars think that it had something to do with an illness that would not heal. And Paul prayed that the thorn would be removed. He prayed that he would be healed and I believe that he prayed in the name of Jesus.

So, you may ask, what happened?  Paul reports that he heard Jesus say to him, “My grace is sufficient to you.”  To put it plainly, Jesus said to Paul about Paul’s illness, “Live with it and I will live with you. Get a grip. Get used to it. It’s hard but I am not going to heal you. But I will give you what you need to live with it. “My grace is sufficient for you.” 

Do you remember the story of the first deacon to be martyred, Stephen?  The mob was about to murder him and the bible says that Stephen looked into the heavens and the heavens opened and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. In the midst of the worst trauma imaginable, Stephen experiences the presence and grace of God.

Or perhaps you remember the end of the Gospel of Matthew where the resurrected Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to me. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I have taught you, and lo, I will be with you to the end of the age.”

After living and dying with his own trauma, Jesus says, I will never forsake you. I will be with you. And I will give you the grace you need for the problem that you face.

Now we have something to say. The grace of Jesus will not fail. 

I have asked permission to share this story and it has been gladly given. Not long ago, I sat in a hospital room with Doris Peery and a cardiologist. Ken was sick, very very sick and the honest truth of the matter is that we fully expected him to die. As I remember it, we prayed for Ken, and as we prayed for healing, I know that I fully expected that healing would be in heaven for Ken. So we prayed for every needed grace for this time.

If you know Ken, you know that he is a stubborn man and he did not die. His aorta was torn and, much to our surprise the blood clotted at the tear and the bleeding stopped. Surgery was later done and Ken began to get well. He is not 21 anymore and he will be here if weather allows but I am here to say that Ken is here and he and Doris and I and others attribute it to the spirit of God. It sometimes happens.

I also remember Grace, a member of the First Baptist Church of Haddonfield, N.J. It was my first stop as a minister and I really didn’t know what to say or how to pray so she instructed me. She said, “God will see me through.”  If grace under pressure means anything, I saw it in her. Her courage and strength and even joy were something magnificent to behold. It is not that she avoided the pain and grief and sorrow and fear that seem to be a part of our humanity. But she also found a transcending power – God with her.

To that lame man, Peter and John said, “In the name of Jesus.”  Well a crowd gathered round to see what had happened and Peter took the opportunity to tell them. He told them about Jesus, about his crucifixion and his resurrection and he ended his sermon with these words, “Repent, therefore, and turn to God, that your sins may be wiped out and times of refreshing may come….” 

That is God’s word for today. “Repent.” Change your mind. “Turn to God.”  God is nearby. His Spirit is eager to mend your soul. The Spirit is eager to encourage and strengthen and give you the grace that you need. Turn to God.

And your sins will be forgiven. Whatever has separated you from God will be overcome and your reunion with God will begin right here and right now.

“That times of refreshing may come….”  Back in Michigan, I had a pastor friend who was far more religious than I and David would often talk about his God sightings. He would go through the day looking for signs of God’s presence and God’s grace. And lo and behold, he would always find them. He would see God’s grace in the flowering tree or in the playfulness of the squirrels or in the simple courtesy of a stranger. He saw everything good thing as a gift from God.

And I wondered, why don’t I see them?  And then the answer was as clear as the flower on the tree. I did not see because I did not look.  And when I remembered to look, I found little reminders of God’s grace and I must tell you that it is very refreshing indeed.

Repent and turn to God that your sins may be forgiven and times of refreshing may come.

Amen