The Lame Beggar

 Acts 3:1-10

1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

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This is the story. 

This is the Gospel. 

But as I think of this story and revel in the hope that it springs up within me, I can’t help but wonder the confusion that we would have if the story were to continue like this: 

“... And in the weeks to come, the man would continue to go to the temple. Living in the high that came with his conversion. He would recall that moment often; that moment that Peter had taken him by the hand, and by the name of Jesus, had declared he was new. 

Everyday, as he entered the gate called Beautiful, he would walk by the place that he once laid. He would remember the life he once lived as a lame beggar, and would praise God for the newness of life he now lived. As the months went by, his days were filled with remembrance and praise. With dancing and singing. Living in the testimony of his conversion; telling everyone of what Jesus had done for him. 

But one day, late at night, as he hummed the tune of his favorite hymn, he walked by himself to the temple. As he walked through the streets, he heard a passing whisper “I wonder if he is embarrassed to walk the streets of the people he once begged in front of.” 

In that moment a familiar feeling arose within him. It was the feeling of shame he once felt as he was carried and placed in front of the temple gates. He started to recall the way he once lived: a beggar. Desperate and in need. Paralyzed. Unable to walk into the Beautiful gate. 

As he continued in his walk to the temple, the whispers he had heard in the dark began to build within him. Eventually, he turned around. With the feeling of shame overwhelming him, he decided not to go to the temple. The days that followed were full of that all too familiar feeling. 

After days of sitting in the shame of his past life, he finally decided that his only option was to go back. Back to sitting on his mat outside of the temple gates.

And so, this man, who had been healed, began to live like he was sick again. 

His legs that had been revived, acted as though they were paralyzed. 

And his heart that had been made alive, began to live as though it was dead.

This man that had been made a Son of God, began to live like an orphan. There was a spot for him at the table, but he begged for food. There was a place for him in the house of God, but he made his bed on the ground.” 

How do you feel? 

Confused? 

Convicted? 

If you said yes to either, please know- you're not alone. 

Because oh, have I been guilty time and time again of living like an orphan when I have been adopted into sonship…

And when I think of the times I chose an orphan spirit, it makes me recall the words of Paul the apostle, 

“I don't understand why I act the way that I do. I don't do the good I want to do, and I do the evil I hate…. I want to do what is good but I don't do it. I don't do the good that I want to do. I do the evil that I don't want to do… it is the sin living in me that does it.” 

I don't want to live like an orphan. 

I don't want to live like a beggar. 

I don't want to live paralyzed in fear. 

But sometimes, I do it anyway. 

Sometimes, I go back to my mat of sin outside of the temple walls. 

Aren't we all guilty of living apart from the life that Christ died for? 

We trade perfect love for momentary pleasure, and take a glass half full when He has offered us an overflowing fountain of grace. 

But why? Why do we go back? 

Well the answer is simple. 

We have an enemy. 

We are in a war. 

The moment that we declared Jesus as our Lord and Savior, there was a target placed on our back, and a mourning in the Kingdom of darkness. War has been waged, and the tactics of the enemy are to attack our Sonship. 

He has found that if he can convince us that we never truly were healed, he can make us live sick. He has carefully crafted a scheme that makes us believe that the blood was not enough to cover us, and that the cross is for those who live perfectly…. 

But let me act as Peter in this story, and grab and shake the shoulders of the deceived, and say that, In Jesus name you are more than a conqueror! 

The only thing that the enemy can do is try to convince us. 

But the beauty of walking in the Spirit is that we have the power to choose obedience, even when it is hard. We have been equipped with the armor of our God for the war that wages against us. 

So let us live inside of the temple walls! 

Let us dance in the presence of the Lord with the new legs that he has given us!

Let us serve him with the life he has died for. 

Let us throw our mat into the fire and never return to our old self. 

Let us take the thoughts that come from the whispers in the darkness captive, and make them obedient to Christ. 

The enemy cannot undo what Christ has done. 

The cross is finished. 

The end is written. 

It is done