Look at Us

I John 3:1-7

1See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

4Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7Little children, let know one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God

Acts 3:1-19

1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. 2And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. 3When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. 4Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said “Look at us.” 5And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” 7And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9All the people saw him walking and praising God, 10and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

11While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished. 12When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

17And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God.

“Look at us.”

The temple had its busy moments and its duller times. The crowds were constantly waxing and waning throughout the day, coming to pray, to bring offerings, to spend time with the faithful. It was the center of Jewish culture, and a powerful reminder of the grandness of God. The gates, courtyards, and porticos were architectural statements of faith.

One day, at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon, “...a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple.” Surrounded by all the splendor of the temple, laying at the Beautiful Gate, would-be worshipers had to pass by a man asking them for money to support himself. There’s no work in a farming society for a man who has been lame since birth. There’s no trade in the marketplace for a man who cannot stand at a workbench. His only option is to lay at the Beautiful Gate, hoping that the monument to faith in which he lay would inspire kindness from passers-by, and they would share some of what they had earned from their own work. More often than not, they ignored him, either by walking on by or dropping coins in his cup without ever looking at him.

“Look at us.”

The church has its high-holy days and its low Sundays. Our attendance waxes and wanes throughout the weeks, coming to worship God, grow in faith, and show God’s love to everyone. Our church building is the gathering place for our community of faith, and is kind of the unofficial convention center for the city of Lowell. The architecture and furnishings attest to a history of faithfulness to the mission of God in and around our family of faith.

Sundays, at the hour of prayer, at 10:30 in the morning, we gather in this large room that we make holy by worshipping our holy God. Surrounded by our history and by the faithfulness it shows, gathered in this beautiful sanctuary, we’ve realize that things aren’t they way they used to be. What used to be comfortable elbow room in the pews has become gaps in the worshipping body. What used to be “raise what you can, I’ll cover the rest,” has become “raise what you can, and we’ll figure out if we can make it work.” The world has changed around us, and we from time to time we feel a little lame. Our option is to gather in this beautiful sanctuary, hoping that this monument to our faithful history will inspire passers-by to become visitors, regular worshippers, and members.

“Look at us.”

A voice from the crowd. A Galilean accent. Two of them. Standing together. Looking intently at him. Different from the others. Poor like him, but demanding his attention like the rich folks who gave so they could look good in front of their other rich friends. “He fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.”

Peter heals him. Or, more correctly, Peter is the instrument through which God heals the man. “Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God.” Ordinarily, a deed of power like a healing is meant to establish the credentials of a prophet. We can make a big to-do about how the prophet accomplished the healing, but, as one of our lunch bunchers said when we looked at this passage, the mechanics of the miracle are not what’s important. Peter is the instrument, but God makes the music. God works through Peter and John to heal this man who had been lame since birth.

The crowd catches up with Peter and John in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico,” and Peter wisely moves their attention from the disciples to the Master. “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” This is not about how great the disciples are, or how reverent and holy they are. This was an act of God. Rather than establishing Peter and John as great prophets, this act of God points to the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter’s sermon tells the gathered crowds who Jesus is, and what has happened. “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.” He tells them what he has seen, speaking boldly because he’s focused on God, not himself.

He’s also not an outsider scolding those who have done wrong. “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors.” Peter is an Israelite speaking to Israelites, and the rejection he speaks of is the same as his own denial of Christ. When he says “You Israelites,” he’s not fussing, he’s saying “Look at us.”

“Look at us.”

We are the Presbyterian Church of Lowell, we have seen what God can do through a downtown church in a small town. We’ve seen conflict resolved, splits reconciled, and lives changed. We’ve seen challenges overcome, and wounded hearts made whole, and missions brought to fruition in love. “To this we are witnesses.” We have seen the hands of Christ in the loving embrace as one church member comforts another who is grieving. We have seen the face of God in a smiling brother or sister in Christ who asks if they can help us bear our burden. We have felt the presence of the Holy Spirit among us, stirring our hearts in worship. “To this we are witnesses.”

“Look at us.”

There have been moments when we, like the crowd whom Peter calls “friends,” and their rulers, have acted in ignorance, sure. There are some chapters of our history when we don’t come off looking great, but God was at work there as well. Just as the Israelites are the instrument through which “God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets,” God is at work through us constantly, even when we do not see what God is up to. Even when we act out of ignorance, rather than” the faith that is through Jesus.” God is with us still, loving us and urging us forward according to his will.

“Look at us.”

Then man who had been lame since birth looked expectantly at Peter and John, expecting to receive something from them. He did not expect his whole world the be changed, and to be freed from what had kept him from entering the temple on his own his whole life. The Israelites who saw him healed ran together to Peter and John in the portico, expecting a new teaching from a new prophet. Instead they got a new way to live the promise, one that was born of the love of God rather than from obligation to a temple built by their king.

I wonder if Peter and John came here, to us, would we look at them to give us more of what we expected? More resources to experience God in the same old way? I think I’d rather they remind us who God is, and that God is the one who is doing great things in the world, pouring out his power upon his people, granting them wisdom and courage to go out into the world and to be the Church of Jesus Christ, even though that will mean experiencing faith in new ways.

In those days, we will no longer say “Look at us,” we will say “Look at what God can do through us."