Alms

We cannot always give people the help they want.

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o'clock in the afternoon. And 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. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us." And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But 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." - Acts 3:1-6

In today's reading, Peter and John encounter a man who wants some money.  He is asking for money because he has no idea he could ask for what he really needs, a chance to live a better life.

Peter and John had no money to give the man.  Instead, what they gave him was the ability to make his own way, to earn a living and not need to beg.

When we read of these miracles, we see them as something unique, something so special we would never expect to do them ourselves.

But what if the point of the miracle is not to show us what we can't do, but to show us we could think differently about what we should do?

I cannot do what you want, but I can do this.

That's what Peter said, isn't it?

What I have, I give you, and what he had was healing faith.

When we encounter people who have their hands out, what do we give them?

What could we be giving them instead?

The man Peter healed leaped for joy when he found he could stand on his own two feet.  That is the lesson of the story.

Are we helping people stand up and fend for themselves?  Or are we giving them money?

Which is better?

More to come...