In today’s story from Acts, we witness the healing of a man who, for his whole life, has been unable to walk. To support himself in adulthood, he relied on the generosity of friends and strangers alike. Friends, to carry him each day to one of the gates outside the Temple, and strangers, to give him alms, or charitable donations as they passed by for worship.
On this particular day, Peter and John, two of Jesus’ disciples, were headed to the Temple in Jerusalem for afternoon prayer. They, like many others, walked by the man at the gate, and heard his request for alms. Now, Peter had forgotten his wallet (or something). But instead of walking past and pretending they didn’t hear the request, Peter and John stopped and looked at the man - really looked at him. Not as someone to be pitied, or disdained; not as a generic, faceless beggar; but as someone in need of the kind of healing Jesus (and therefore his followers) were all about.
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In response to the man’s request, 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.”
I wonder if others had said that to the man over the years - maybe mocking, or offering false hope, or calling on a spiritual solution to what was very much a real-life, physical problem. Perhaps.
But in this case, the name of Jesus, spoken by Peter, carried power and effectiveness, so that when Peter took him by the hand and raised him up, he was, in fact, healed. His feet and ankles were made strong - so much that he didn’t gingerly stagger to his feet and limp through the gate, but instead jumped up, stood, walked, and leapt into the Temple, praising God all the while.
Would the others in the Temple have noticed this miraculous healing if not for the leaping and carrying on? Maybe not. But leaping, he was, and notice, they did.
The whispers, gasps, and stares rippled through the crowd. Wait a minute - isn’t this the beggar guy? I thought he couldn’t walk. What’s going on?
The response of those who recognized him was surprise, wonder, and astonishment. Just moments before, they had walked past him, seated on the ground, and yet now he was raised up, leaping, rejoicing, and praising God - not by his own action or faith, and not by the power of Peter or John, but by the power of God.
If you think about it, being raised up by the power of God could be a summary of the whole Gospel message.
At the very least, it is a kind of summary of the life of Jesus. In the Gospels, Jesus is raised up three times:
He is raised up on the cross and put to death.
He is raised up from the grave and brought to life.
And finally, he is raised up from the earth to God’s right hand to reign forever as the risen and ascended Lord.
But really, being raised up by the power of God takes place even before all that. We see three great examples of this in today’s Gospel reading from Matthew.
In the first vignette, Jesus raises Matthew the tax collector by calling him to a new line of work. As a tax collector, Matthew would have been an outcast, on the fringes of polite society. And yet, Jesus raises Matthew up from this role where he was disdained and despised, exploited and exploiting others, to a calling to proclaim the Gospel and raise up others.
At dinner, surrounded at the table by his disciples, tax collectors, and sinners, Jesus is approached by an anxious and grieving father. His daughter has just died. He kneels down at Jesus’ level, reclined as he is at the table, and begs for Jesus to come and bring life. Jesus rises and follows him. When he reaches the house, he takes the girl by the hand and raises her up, too.
While they are on the way, though, a woman who is outcast and suffering due to a flow of blood that has lasted twelve years reaches out to touch the fringe, the edge of Jesus’ cloak. She, too, is raised up to health and flourishing by the power of Jesus.
Just as Jesus was raised; just as those who encountered his power were raised; so too are we raised to new life by this same power.
Being raised up happens, of course, in baptism, as we die to sin and are raised to new life with and in Christ. Through these waters and God's word, we are raised up not just once, but every day.
Being raised up also happens by the forgiveness of sins, a declaration from God that we are freed from sin and death and raised up so that we might follow God anew.
But being raised up also happens in other ways, both big and small.
We are raised up by the gift of community when people lift us up in prayer.
We are raised up by those who see our unique gifts and invite us to use them.
We are raised up by those who come alongside us and offer encouragement and help when we are in a low place due to grief, fear, depression, or pain.
How else have you been raised up?
All of this raising, done in Jesus’ name, has the power to bring life and flourishing.
Our response to being raised might be like the man’s in Acts - leaping, worshiping, and praising God. Or, we might respond in quieter ways. But, either way, when we are raised up, others see us, and see God at work in us. What a wonderful proclamation! What a glorious witness of God’s unfailing presence and endless power to raise all to new life and flourishing.
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