First, we should recognize that we live a life of begging.
Fifty days after Jesus#039 death, the Holy Spirit descended, establishing the first church. Even amidst the astonishing grace of three thousand believers gathering, Peter and John still went up to the temple at the appointed time to pray. The phrase went up to the temple is in the imperfect past tense, signifying that they consistently and habitually went up to worship regardless of circumstances.
This summer, Wooridle Church experienced great grace as 3,500 people participated in domestic and international Think Trips and the Quiet Time Festival, sharing testimonies of confession and pouring out their resources and time to others. From now on, we must continue with our consistent approach to small groups, worship, and prayer times.
In today#039s passage, a man who had never been able to stand since birth begs from those entering the temple (verse 2). Born into an unwanted state, he lives doing unwanted workampmdashbegging. This mirrors our own state, cast into the world to live without God. Having spent his entire life facing away from the temple, seated before its Beautiful Gate adorned with gold and silver, he knows he cannot earn money through work. Thus, he endures the shame of begging.
The Greek word for begging carries the divine attributes of mercy, compassion, and pity. The beggar at the temple gate knew these could not come from humansampmdashand this self-knowledge is wisdom. God dislikes those who say, #039I can do it myself.#039 Begging is not inherently bad if one knows whom to ask. Asking a person is begging, but asking God the Father through promise becomes prayer. Lord, I am a cripple. I cannot rise by my own strength. Please help me. Only one who acknowledges being a cripple from birth and a sinner to the core can pray like this.
Second, we should pay attention.
When Peter and John entered the temple, a lame beggar sitting there first looked at them. Although the verb to see appears four times in the text, the original Greek uses a different word for each instance. Among these, the looked intently in verse 4 comes from the Greek atenizo, meaning not merely to see, but to observe with focused attention. Peter, along with John, looked intently at this man, crippled from birth, who had spent his entire life sitting at the temple gate begging.
#039Athenizo#039 is the word used in the Old Testament when Moses descended Mount Sinai bearing the stone tablets of the covenant, and in the New Testament when the glory of the Lord ascending to heaven was beheld. John and Peter are looking at this man as if he were God.
We tend to think God#039s glory resides only in the great, the successful, the impressive. But God#039s glory is often hidden, like a cloud obscuring the sun it requires careful observation. God#039s glory is hidden in the one beside me whom I deem useless. My life, like a crippled beggar forced to beg from others, is gazed upon by the glorious Godampmdashatenizo, meaning He looks intently. This gaze of God lifts us up.
I resented and hated my father, who begged me for money every day due to his alcoholism. I saw him as a stumbling block to my ministry. But when I came to Our Church and confronted the sin within me through the Word, realizing how great a sinner I truly was, only then could I apologize to my father. I came to see that God#039s glory was hidden even within the father I wanted to abandon.
Family is bound beside me for my sanctification, so I must watch them closely. Even when we stumble, sin, and fall, God still sees us as His children. He not only lifts us up again but also gives us the strength to lift up our neighbors.
Third, we should take his hand and lift him up in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
The lame man looks at Peter and John, thinking he might get a coin from them. Peter says, Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk, and takes his right hand.
The Beautiful Gate, a double gate overlaid with silver and gold, made one believe that entering the temple would bring silver and gold. People thought worship would bring wealth and success, but Peter raised a man in the name of Jesus of Nazarethampmdasha name that was ignored and despised.
Nazareth was the small, humble village where Jesus was born and raised. It is through Jesus Christ, who came not in beauty but in my lowest, ugliest form, that a person can rise.
Peter, a Galilean fisherman who knew the sea well, once fell into the water. Seeing the high waves, he feared and prayed, 'Lord, save me. Lord, I am perishing!' At that moment, the Lord reached out His right hand and took hold of Peter. Remembering that grace, Peter too would have grasped the hand of the crippled beggar.
The Lord, who knows our failures and pain, never lets go of our hands. Today, at this very moment, I earnestly pray that we all grasp that hand.
This is our community confession.
Last week, I visited a house where a deacon resides. This deacon, after a conflict with his wife, had been issued a restraining order. Unable to enter his own home, he lived in a state of injustice. The group members stayed by his side, helping him in even the smallest ways so he could listen to the Word well. He also heard the testimony of another deacon who had experienced the same pain, leading him to reflect on himself. This man, who had been eating alone, opened his heart at the small group#039s dining table, sharing tears and laughter together. He ultimately applied what he learned and decided to seek forgiveness from his wife. Furthermore, someone who had been unable to keep the Sabbath took the first step toward restoration this week by attending worship in person.
To us who are like cripples, unable to rise by our own strength, God reaches out His right hand and says, Get up and go into the temple. And we should not enter alone, but take the hand of someone beside us who has fallen and cannot help but stumble, lifting them up. Together, we should enter and worship through the testimony of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. May this be a week where we gaze together upon God#039s glory and extend our hands to one another.
