Neither Silver Nor Gold
Text: Acts 3:1-10
July 16, 2006
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

A friend of mine used to say that his biggest fear about Heaven was that all it was going to be was a bunch of happy people sitting around in a circle singing Kumbaya. He couldn’t think of anything he less wanted to do.

When I was growing up and in Sunday School someone asked our teacher what Heaven would be like. She said it was going to be like one long Church Service that never ended. One of the kids in the class who had an often quick and sarcastic sense of humored snapped back, “I’ve been in Church Services that never seemed to end and it sounds more like the other place than Heaven.”

The teacher, of course, was totally distressed. Could you imagine her thinking, about what would ever become of such an obnoxious kid? She’d be surprised!

It is such an idealistic way that Chapter Two of Acts ends, however. The Church is going well, they are sharing everything in common, God is with them, they are growing, all is right with the world. It was almost like Ozzie and Harriet meets the early Christian Church.

But things change and the Church comes into contact with the world around it.

Peter and John go, at 3pm to pray. They are encountered by a lame beggar.

He was carried into the entrance of the Temple every day so that he could beg. Religious people, it was presumed, correctly I believe, were generous. Especially going into Worship, and most especially in public where other people could see if they were generous or not.

This clever and cynical beggar knew his audience. Those who carried him in, one might presume, were part of this. He would beg and make his living. Who could pass by a lame beggar going in to the Temple? Very few.

He saw Peter and John coming in and asked them for, as Luke puts it so nicely, alms. He probably had a great little speech, one which helped inspire guilt, as he hit both Peter and John up for cash. Silver or gold.

And Luke’s rendition of the story is, in a word, potent.

Peter looks at the man intently. Looks deeply into his eyes, and says,

“Look at us.”

It was probably an interesting scenario. The lame beggar looking up at Peter and John wondering what all of this meant and hoping, down deep, that all this staring was going to be profitable to him.

And Peter’s words ultimately, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have, I will give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth stand up and walk.”

Things go well. He gets up, walks around, praises God, and all is right with the world.

This is, at it’s core, a big deal. There had been miracles in the name of Jesus before this; but they had all been performed by Jesus. The power of Jesus, we see, is alive and well in the early Christian Church.

But there’s more that lingers here. If using the name of Jesus in the early Christian Church brought about miracles, what about Christianity over the course of time.

If you ever study church history, one of the Medieval Church’s greatest thinkers was Thomas Aquinas. According to legend Aquinas was given a tour of the Vatican by the Pope.

Now to understand this you need to know some Roman Catholic lingo. According to Roman Catholic theology the first Pope was Peter. Subsequently every Pope, who reside on the chair of Peter is referred to, in some way, as Peter.

The Pope was giving Aquinas the tour and showed the great theologian all the great treasures of the Vatican. Finally the Pope turned to Aquinas and said,

“No longer does Peter need to say, ‘I have neither silver nor gold.’”

But Aquinas’ retort was quick and frankly, brutal,

“And no longer can Peter say to the lame man, ‘Get up and walk.’”

So goes the legend which may or may not be accurate.

Sometimes, in the church, we let things get in the way of Jesus.

We sometimes let our theological discussions get in the way of Jesus. Jesus becomes way too complicated.

The pivotal moment for Peter and Jesus came in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus posed the question, “Who do they say that I am?”

Peter’s response was that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Correct answer and his faith became the rock that the Christian Church was built on.

I often think that when I was in the seminary and was asked that question what my response would be. Probably something like:

“You are the kerygmatic and didactic reality of the incarnational presence of the second person of the Godhead.”

And Jesus’ response probably would have been something like, “Who?”

Sometimes in the church we let theology get in the way of Jesus. We let politics get in the way of Jesus. We let money and stuff get in the way of Jesus. We often talk more about buildings and money and stuff than we do about Jesus in the Christian Church.

And we wonder why we can’t say to the lame man, get up and walk.

A second thing that is really potent in this story is that the lame man has an expectation of what he wants, and he receives something totally unexpected. He wants money and he is given a new life.

Sometimes when we approach God, we are not bold enough in our approach. We don’t have high expectations. Sometimes we are just too negative. This is something to think about when negative people are doing their best to rain on your parade. Remember this story the next time someone who knows nothing and cares less, tries to make your life miserable.

A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded: "Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty. You're crazy to go to Rome. So, how are you getting there?"

"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"

"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser. "That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are unattractive, and they're always late.

“So, where are you staying in Rome?"

"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome's Tiber River called Teste."

"Don't go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks it's gonna be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump, the worst hotel in the city! The rooms are small, the service is surly, and they are overpriced. So, whatcha' doing when you get there?"

" We're going to go to see the Vatican and we hope to see the Pope."

"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. "You and a million other people are trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome. "It was wonderful," explained the woman, "Not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was over booked and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot. And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million remodeling job and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city.

They, too were over booked, so they apologized and gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"

"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."

"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand, I knelt down, and he spoke a few words to me."

"Oh, really! What'd he say?" asked the hairdresser.

"He said: "Where'd you get the ugly hairdo?"

Sometimes our negativity puts is in situations where we look or are foolish.
And sometimes our negativity keeps us from having an abiding faith in God.

I would be misstating it if I said if you have faith than every miracle comes our way. Sometimes sickness kills people. Everyone some day dies. Faith isn’t always about getting the stuff we want.

But faith is always about receiving more than we can ever expect from God. We all wisely live by the premise if something sounds too good to be true, it most probably is; but, we also need to realize that when God sounds too good to be true, God truly is amazing and awesome.

Peter and John and the early Christian Church have a confrontation with the real world, a world of suffering, a world of pain, and a world of doubt. They focus on one thing and one thing alone. They focus entirely on their faith in Jesus Christ. They don’t use it for power, they don’t use it for gain, they use it to heal and to give them strength.

We can say many things about them. But there is one thing we can say about their faith. Their faith made a lame man walk.