We are living in the days of the apostles again. We are the early Church all over again -- or, more precisely, we live in a similar spiritual environment in which the Church first grew. What do I mean? I don't say this because of miracles and prophecies being fulfilled in the same way they were back then. Nor because sin is so prevalent and accepted, even as it was in the Roman Empire. Nor do I say it because we, like the 5,000 plus who grew to millions and millions, are waiting eagerly and expecting Jesus to come back soon.
No, we are living in the days of the apostles again because just as the message of a crucified, risen Messiah was so new and misunderstood then, so it is now. Just as only a minority knew and believed that the Christ had come, so now few people have really heard about Jesus or truly believe in him. And as in the days of Peter and Paul, people are awaiting a Messiah: a financial Christ, a political messiah, and a savior from whatever ails them. In this post-Christian era in which we live and work, the text for today is dynamic and alive. It's a simple message, but is that not what the apostles preached back then?
What we need is the boldness of Peter to say three things as he seizes their moment of wonder: 1) Don't look at us (v. 12); 2) Look at God and his Son (vv. 13-18); 3) Look at yourself (vv. 17,19).
Why did Peter stand up and say all this? He said it because a spectacular miracle had just occurred right outside the temple. A man no longer begged there for money; now he was jumping and shouting for joy. No longer did the people of the city look on him with pity, but with wide-eyed amazement. He was no longer crippled, but his feet and ankles were strong. He was healed and he was clinging to Peter and John. Peter says:
Don't Look At Us
After seeing this undeniable miracle and its result, the people, even as today always looking for miracles and heroes, came running to them looking for what else these two men with such great power could do. "Don't look at us," said Peter, "we didn't do anything!"
Later on in Acts, Simon the sorcerer did the same thing after he became a Christian. He thought he could buy the ability to impart the Holy Spirit to people. Peter had to tell him, "Don't look at us -- it is a gift from God!" And Paul encountered the same human adoration when he and Barnabas also healed a crippled man. The priest of the pagan temple honoring Zeus was all set to offer sacrifices until Paul told them, "Don't look at us!"
Even when God uses us to do great exploits in his kingdom this should be our attitude. It's not me. It's Jesus! Jumbo the elephant and Flick the flea were long-time great friends. They often walked and chatted together. Actually, they were inseparable. One day they were walking along a back-country road when they came to a flimsy wooden bridge that spanned a deep gorge. They walked across, the little bridge swaying and creaking under the weight of the elephant. When they were across, the flea asked his big friend, "Did you notice how we shook that bridge?"
Even as powerful as Paul was, he was confident of this: "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God" (2 Corinthians 3:5). I love juxtaposing these two verses as I quote them to myself each morning in the shower: "Apart from God I can do nothing!" yet "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
"Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? We work for Jesus!"
Look At The Son
Look at the names humble Peter and John used to describe their Master in our text: God's servant, Holy and Righteous One, Author of Life, and God's Christ. Far short of promoting themselves, they lifted up Jesus' name and gave us names which describe his purpose and beauty. Peter and John didn't try to impress their listeners, they just spoke the truth about Jesus. "He's not dead anymore. His Father said, 'Get up, arise!' And he did. It is his resurrected power that enabled us to be conduits for the miracle you just viewed. Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?"
Our entire ministry, all our talking, all our planning -- and any bragging we do -- must lift up Jesus. More than that, our whole lives should be lived as if we are Jesus-with-skin-on! A little boy about ten years old was standing before a shoe store on Broadway in New York City, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. It was December. A lady approached the boy and said, "My little fellow, why are you looking so earnestly in that window?" "I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes," was the boy's reply. The lady took him by the hand and went into the store and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. Then she asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her. She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with a towel. By this time the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes, and tying up the remaining socks, gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, "No doubt, my little fellow, you feel more comfortable now?"
As she turned to go, the astonished lad caught her by the hand, and looking up in her face, with tears in his eyes, answered the question with these words, "Are you God's wife?"
Look At Yourself
When we've taken the focus off of us and put it on the One who died for all, then we can rightly tell all listeners to look inside themselves and see what God is saying to them. Peter didn't just tell his listeners to consider doing so; he made them do it. And he wasn't really gentle about it. He displayed early church boldness to confront the people with their sin. He minced no words when he said: You disowned Jesus. You killed Life. Then Peter gave three exhibits whom the people despised or looked down upon. He said, "They are more righteous than you." Exhibit one is Pilate. Yes, he gets the public blame and his name is even in the historic Apostle's Creed, but he's better than you are. You disowned God's Son before Pilate, "though he had decided to let him go!" You used him as a scapegoat, men of Israel, but not anymore. All the guilt is yours. Look at you -- you're more guilty than despicable Pilate!
But wait, there's more: Exhibit two is murderous Barabbas who was freed from condemnation instead of Jesus. And you, men of Israel, asked for him. "You disowned the Holy and Righteous one and asked that a murderer be released to you. How could you?" Peter grieves. You set a filthy insurrectionist free and casually murdered the Christ. Look at yourself -- you're worse than Barabbas!
Peter wasn't done with his scathing rebuke. He held up one more exhibit to show the people how far they had strayed. Exhibit three: Peter points to the man just healed. It is by faith in the name of Jesus that he is well; faith in Jesus is why this man is walking around. He has something you don't have and you need it. You're crippled in your spirit. Only Jesus can heal you too, but you must trust in him. Look at yourself -- will you believe like this high stepping, dancing man?
The story is told of a little girl whose mother planned to celebrate her fifth birthday by impressing all the relatives. The mother dressed her daughter in her Sunday best and said, "Now here is what I want you to do. You're going to sing a song." When it was time for the little girl to sing, her mother said, "Honey, what are you going to do?" The child said, "Nothing." The mother found a convenient spot to pinch her and said, "Weren't you going to sing?" The child said, "No." The angry mother took the child upstairs and shut her in a closet. About a half an hour later the mother went up and said, "What are you doing up here?" The child said, "I've been having a great time. I've been spitting on your clothes. I've been spitting on your shoes. I've been spitting on your walls. I've been spitting on the carpet. Now I'm waiting for some more spit."
Look inside yourself and you will find ignorance and lack of knowledge. Peter is bold in addressing sin, yet like the Savior, he also is bold in extending mercy. You might be ignorant and guilty, but there is hope. You might be rebellious and scornful, but there's hope. You might even love to spit. Look at the cross you built and filled. Look at what your sin did and there find forgiveness if you will but turn to God. The very things you are guilty of are why Jesus died.
Our text says that your sins will be wiped out! What good news! No more washing our hands like Pilate. No more Barabbas guilt. And the healed man's faith is lacking no longer. Do you know what it means for sins to be wiped out? It doesn't mean it was crumpled up and thrown away. Wiped out does not mean saved in a file only God can find on his computer. Sin is not even burned in a fire where only ashes remain. When Jesus died on the cross and when we are forgiven at Baptism or on our faith birthday, it's as if our sins, which were written in black on an erasable memo board, are forever erased with no shadows or residue remaining. It's a brand new board! What Peter's hearers thought of was the precursor to the modern kitchen's memo board. In those day's scribes wrote on papyrus and the ink used had no acid in it. Therefore it did not sink into the papyrus, like our modern ink does. One could simply take a sponge and wipe it away. Colossians 2:13-14 says, "He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross."
Who do you know that is ignorant to the claims and truth of Jesus? There are plenty in this day of the apostles renewed. Ignorance is not an excuse, but it does give us a beautiful opportunity to tell others the truth. As the airplane was filling with passengers before takeoff, a lady saw a vacant seat beside a preacher. "Is this seat saved?" she asked. "I don't know," he replied, "but I am. Sit down and let me tell you about it." It's not me. It's Jesus! And you need him!