May 22, 2000

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June 18 Lesson

Jesus' job description is our job description ___Acts 3:1-10 ___1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer--at 3 in the afternoon. 2Now a man crippled 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. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. ___6Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they 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.

___By Dan Martin
___There is a story that has circulated for years. It concerns a very prominent urban church of another denomination that had two signs on its sanctuary, going and coming.
___As the worshiper entered the sanctuary, a sign above the door said: "Through these doors enter the people of God to worship."
___As the worshiper left the sanctuary after worship, there was another sign. "Through these doors go the people to engage the world."
___I have heard the story with minor variations and did not personally see the signs, but I like what it says.
___As I have visited Baptist churches across the years, sometimes on the Sunday morning bulletin are the words: "Enter to worship, depart to serve."
___I like that too.

___A wonderful picture of the church.
___As the second chapter of Acts ends, Luke paints an exciting picture of the new-born church. It is an inspiring picture: The believers lived in wonderful harmony, according to Eugene Peterson's translation. They held everything in common, they gave what they had, and the needs of every person were met.
___Theirs was a fellowship of love. They ate together, they prayed together, they listened to the teaching of the disciples.
___Peterson's translation tells us, "Every meal was a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God."
___It is a warm and wonderful picture of the first church--one mind, one heart, one spirit.

___Luke makes a contrast.
___It is no error that Luke gives us this warm, comfortable and supportive picture as the backdrop for our Scripture. It is from this energized and worshipful atmosphere that two of the disciples--Peter and John--come forth to engage the world.
___It would have been very easy to just stay there. After all, people were joining, the fellowship was wonderful, they were celebrating. It was joyful. They had small groups--Sunday School and home Bible studies. They had big church.
___They were like some Baptist churches in the booming suburbs. All they have to do is open the doors, and the people flock in.
___It would have been very easy to just stay put.
___Often the reason Christians fail to go outside their walls is because they are having such a good time with each other. They are comfortable with each other, they like each other (for the most part) and have no real need or desire to reach out to anybody else.
___As I visit churches, I see people standing in the aisles after worship, having a great time visiting, catching up on the news, hearing what is going on. And strangers often are ignored and forgotten.
___The people do not intend to ignore the visitors, and most church people would be surprised if they were called unfriendly. They are having such a really grand time with each other that they never pay attention to anybody else.

___But we have to reach out.
___It is no mistake Luke places the two accounts side by side: The fellowship of the church; the challenge to confront the world. There is no break. He smoothly moves from one part of the story to the other. Often the chapter divisions are more confusing than helpful when we try to learn what the story is about.
___Peter and John were fortified by their worship and prayer, and they went out into the streets of Jerusalem. Not long before, they were frightened by the soldiers, by the Jewish leaders and by the people. Now, they are full of the Spirit and boldness, supported by the prayers of the people.
___So, out they go.

___Why do we worship, anyway?
___I know churches that revel in their worship services. They brag on their worship. They love their worship. They probably would dismember any speaker or music leader who tried to change one jot, tittle or iota of the worship service that brings them so much joy. It seems they worship the worship.
___Why do we worship? Why do we go to church? Why do we have prayer meetings? Why do we sing?
___To energize us. To prepare us. To make us ready for the inevitable confrontation with the world. To help us bind up wounds from previous encounters, and to get ready to get on the playing field again.
___Once, while I worked at the Home Mission Board, I interviewed a black pastor who had marched with Martin Luther King Jr. His church served a highrise housing project. His people lived lives of poverty, want, violence and deprivation.
___He told me about the purpose of worship in his congregation: "They come to sluff off the hurts and pain of the past week and get ready for whatever is going to face them in the coming week."
___We come to grieve and mourn. We come to rejoice and celebrate. We come to fellowship and be a community in communion with each other and with God.
___But worship has a purpose. It is to prepare us to go out to be the Body of Christ in the lost and dying world.

___Jesus' job description is our job description.
___Why did God create the church? Why did he empower us?
___To sit in our nice buildings and sing and pray and really enjoy being with each other? That is part of what happens, but not the underlying reason we come together as a local church.
___At least twice, Jesus used passages from the book of Isaiah to spell out his vision statement as he began his public ministry.
___Matthew records one when Jesus quoted Isaiah and said his task was to bring light to the people who had been in darkness (Matthew 4:15-16).
___In his first volume, Luke (4:17-21) reports Jesus told his listeners his agenda:
___ Preach the gospel to the poor.
___ Heal the brokenhearted.
___ Preach deliverance to the captives.
___ Bring recovery of sight to the blind.
___ Set at liberty those who are oppressed.
___ Preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
___It would seem Jesus' job is our job, because he told us we would do even greater works because he was sending his Spirit to help us. If his job description is our job description, Peter and John were strengthened and prepared to go out to minister in Jesus' name by the prayers and support of the local church.

___A beautiful story.
___The people who followed Jesus continued to go to the Temple. They had been in and around the Temple throughout most of their lives and had been there often with Jesus.
___So, they went to the Temple and continued to observe the practices of Judaism.
___Imagine the scene as you read the Scripture. They are walking along, probably talking as friends will, maybe even about the prayer meeting they had the night before, or some person who was converted who they never thought would be reached with the gospel.
___Then, here is this guy, lying at the gate. They probably had seen him there day-in and day-out. On most days, they probably would not have noticed he was there before they saw him. Beggars were a part of life, a part of the scenery. Maybe on other days they stepped over him as they headed into the Temple.
___But on this day, they had a divine appointment. It was not a coincidence, not a happenstance. It was a divine appointment, planned by God.

___Everybody is somebody.
___Not long ago, I heard Henry Blackaby talk of his ministry in California and Canada.
___He commented that everybody is somebody. Sometimes people become part of the landscape, and we never see them or pay attention to them. But everybody is somebody.
___Blackaby said he believes God places people at our doorstep and along our path with the intention that we minister to them. He quoted John 14:20 to say the way we treat them is the way we would treat Christ.
___This lame man had been there 40 years. Day-in and day-out. Begging, seeking coins, looking for a little bread and water to sustain him.
___It is likely Peter and John had not seen him before. But on that particular day, they noticed and saw not a thing, not a cripple, not a beggar, but a person.
___Many times churches fail to minister to their neighbors because they have lost a vision of the need. Who lives next door to the church? Across the street? Who is in the apartment complex down the way? Who is in the nursing home, or jail, or business?
___Often we do not know.

___Peter and John gave what they had.
___Peter and John were poor fishermen, uncouth, not well-educated. They didn't have savings accounts or big buildings or Visa Gold Cards. Too often, churches think they have to have a lot and start any new program or emphasis with a bang.
___These two followers of Jesus started with one man. They gave him what they had.
___The most precious gift any of us can give to anyone is to tell him or her about Jesus. That doesn't take a lot of training or a lot of money or a lot of equipment. It just takes a desire to share what Jesus has done.
___"Silver and gold have I none," is the way this Scripture is lodged in my memory. "But such as I have give I thee."
___They gave him the miracle of the presence of Jesus. In this case, the man's legs and ankles were strengthened, and he walked and leapt and ran and praised God.
___What a picture that must have been.
___We have the same miracle-working power as they did. We can share Jesus, and we can see new creatures, transformed families, changed people.
___What do we have? Jesus. What can we give? Jesus. What can I tell?
___To paraphrase the popular song: "I don't know much, but I know he loves me. And that may be all I need to know."

For thought and discussion
___ Have you written your testimony down on paper?
___ Can your share your salvation experience in your own words with someone you know? Can you share it with a stranger?
___ Who are you praying for? What are you asking God for them? Do they know you are praying for them?
___ Are all the members of your family saved?
___ Do you know the spiritual condition of your co-workers? How do you know their spiritual condition for certain--have you asked them?
___ Do you know the spiritual condition of your neighbors? Do you know of their prayer concerns?
___ Who are you trying to witness to? How are you trying to witness to them?
___ Would you be willing to pray to ask God to give you the opportunity and strength to be a witness to someone? How picky do you want to be about who that someone is? Are there some people to whom you would not be willing to witness?

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