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Peter, Reborn in the Spirit (7/5/26)
When I looked at this week’s focal text, I read it over and over. Nothing jumped out at me. My blank computer screen waited for me to type something.
It happened that my young adult grandson was visiting. I asked him to review the passage (Acts 5:12-16). He said, “It grows out of the story told in Acts 3:1-10.” So, I had to ask what those verses might teach us. These reflections grow out of what he said. (Thanks, Liam!)
The crowd that followed the apostles had seen what had happened when Peter and John had headed up to the temple (Acts 3:1). There, they had seen a man who was looked down upon by everybody. He was a beggar and nobody liked having him pester them for money. Not only that, but he had been lame from birth (v. 2) and folks actually had to carry him in to find a spot where he could beg. No one had any respect for him. Then came Peter.
Peter respected the beggar. That man was worth his attention. Others thought the man was just a bum, but Peter saw him as one of God’s creatures. Peter reached for him and offered a gift of healing. The man stood up and began jumping around. No wonder a crowd began following the apostles! They signaled that God cares for all.
Do I live with all I encounter in a way that signals that God is love? How do I relate to those whom society looks down on? When I look around on Sunday morning, do I see people in our congregation that don’t look like most of us?
One day, I heard someone comment that we have a lot of homeless people who seem to linger around our church. I thought my friend was complaining. That showed my shallow thinking. He was pleased that we had so many homeless people at our free breakfasts, using our parking lot free pantry, occasionally sleeping in our stew hut shelter, and even showing up on Sunday morning. When we are in the apostolic tradition (like these accounts in Acts), there is an openness to difference, a support of the needy, and a willingness to engage. The apostles seem to ask themselves, “What is best for this person?” Dare I ask the same question?
What Someone Else Has Said: Emil Brunner (I Believe in the Living God, Westminster) wrote: “Missionary zeal was always a thermometer for the warmth of the Christian faith. When missionary zeal becomes lame, then faith has also become lame and cooled down.”
Prayer: As you prepare this lesson, let your prayer begin: “Send me, O Lord, as You need to…”
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By NC Conference of The UMCWhen I looked at this week’s focal text, I read it over and over. Nothing jumped out at me. My blank computer screen waited for me to type something.
It happened that my young adult grandson was visiting. I asked him to review the passage (Acts 5:12-16). He said, “It grows out of the story told in Acts 3:1-10.” So, I had to ask what those verses might teach us. These reflections grow out of what he said. (Thanks, Liam!)
The crowd that followed the apostles had seen what had happened when Peter and John had headed up to the temple (Acts 3:1). There, they had seen a man who was looked down upon by everybody. He was a beggar and nobody liked having him pester them for money. Not only that, but he had been lame from birth (v. 2) and folks actually had to carry him in to find a spot where he could beg. No one had any respect for him. Then came Peter.
Peter respected the beggar. That man was worth his attention. Others thought the man was just a bum, but Peter saw him as one of God’s creatures. Peter reached for him and offered a gift of healing. The man stood up and began jumping around. No wonder a crowd began following the apostles! They signaled that God cares for all.
Do I live with all I encounter in a way that signals that God is love? How do I relate to those whom society looks down on? When I look around on Sunday morning, do I see people in our congregation that don’t look like most of us?
One day, I heard someone comment that we have a lot of homeless people who seem to linger around our church. I thought my friend was complaining. That showed my shallow thinking. He was pleased that we had so many homeless people at our free breakfasts, using our parking lot free pantry, occasionally sleeping in our stew hut shelter, and even showing up on Sunday morning. When we are in the apostolic tradition (like these accounts in Acts), there is an openness to difference, a support of the needy, and a willingness to engage. The apostles seem to ask themselves, “What is best for this person?” Dare I ask the same question?
What Someone Else Has Said: Emil Brunner (I Believe in the Living God, Westminster) wrote: “Missionary zeal was always a thermometer for the warmth of the Christian faith. When missionary zeal becomes lame, then faith has also become lame and cooled down.”
Prayer: As you prepare this lesson, let your prayer begin: “Send me, O Lord, as You need to…”