We are well into the season of Easter – and it’s been a few weeks since Holy Week. Remember? On Good Friday, everything felt like it was ending. And then Easter morning dawned – full of Resurrection and life – and it was as if everything was beginning again. And it was.
In the Gospel of John, the writer could barely keep it on the page. The Good News just poured forth. The Resurrected Christ appears to Mary and then to the disciples – and then just when you think the Gospel is wrapping up – it keeps on going. The Gospel of John ends with this wonderful exclamation: And these are just some of the things that Jesus did – if they were all written down, the whole world would not have room enough to hold the books that could be written.
The writer of the Gospel of Luke, well, they go on and write one of those books – a second book. The Book of Acts. The Gospel of Luke is the first book; the Book of Acts is its sequel. Where the Gospel of Luke leaves off, the book of Acts picks up. In the gospel, we hear what Jesus says and does, and then in the Book of Acts we hear what his followers say and do – his disciples, the apostles, so many more of his followers – how they figure out what it is to live life without the bodily presence of Jesus – after Resurrection – how they figure out what it is to live –together – as the
still-living, still-loving body of Christ. They set out and discover what it is to live “The Way of Resurrection” in their flesh and bones.
And there’s not a dull moment. The Risen Christ is with them for 40 days teaching, and then he ascends to heaven – and then the Spirit descends at Pentecost. There’s a mighty wind that shakes the house and tongues as of fire descend. Peter explains: “This is what the prophet said – I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your elders will see visions, and your youth will dream dreams.”
And so they do – filled with the Spirit they go out into the world – and they preach, and they teach, and they heal – and they are thrown in jail – again and again. Two weeks ago, Paul Gaffney preached a glimpse of what their life in community was like – eating together, praying together, selling what they had so that those in need had enough. The Book of Acts gives us story after story of how – in those first days of Resurrection – filled with the Spirit – how the Way of Resurrection unfolds in the lives they live.
In this morning’s Scripture, we read the beginning and the end of one of those first stories.[1] Acts 2 and 3 tell the story of that time when Peter and John healed the man who could not walk, and then they went to jail. We read the beginning and the end – the healing, and then the prayer they pray as they take it all in.
Here’s the rest of the story:
It’s those first days after Pentecost. The followers of Jesus have been filled with Holy Spirit, and they are proclaiming the Resurrected Christ. They are living – day by day – into the Way of Resurrection.
One day, John and Peter are on the road heading to the Temple, and they come upon a man who is begging, but cannot walk – every morning, he has to be carried to the Temple gate – so that he can beg for food. As Peter and John approach, the man calls out and asks them for money.
Peter goes over to the man, and says: “Silver and gold, I do not have. But what I do have, I give. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
And Peter reaches his hand out to the man, as the man leaps up. The man’s feet and ankles grow strong. He stands up. He begins to walk. As he begins to walk, he begins to jump. And he goes with Peter and John – walking and jumping – all the way to the Temple.
Well, if preaching Jesus raised from the dead wasn’t trouble enough, publicly healing the marginalized – in the name of Jesus -- gets the attention of the authorities – who arrest Peter and John, and question them. They put them in jail, and the next morning, the authorities – and it is every authority you can imagine – the priests, the teachers of the law, the Saducees – all of them – they bring Peter and John before them, and they ask this:
“By what power did you do this? In whose name, did you do this?”
And they answer, “If we are being called to account for doing a kindness for a man who has never been able to walk, and if you are asking us how he was healed:
THEN HEAR THIS: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom the authorities crucified,
but whom God raised from the dead,
that this man stands.”
Well, that leaves the authorities speechless, so they go and huddle up – you might say they go into Executive Session.[2] The people in power are perplexed, “What are we going to do? – we can’t deny this – the man is right here.” So they decide, that they will just instruct Peter and John to stop – to stop preaching and healing in the name of Jesus . And they go and tell Peter and John that. “OK, here’s the thing: Don’t do this any more.” No more preaching Resurrection, no more healing in the name of Jesus.
Here is what Peter and John say to that:
No.
No. As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.
And the powers can’t do a thing. The man is standing right there – walking and jumping. Checkmate. So they let Peter and John go.
And Peter and John, go back to their community and tell them what has happened – the healing, the jail, the witness – and then they pray. They praise God, creator of all things, giver of life. They pray that God will watch over the threats from authorities. They pray that God will give them boldness of speech to proclaim Resurrection. And as they pray, they say these words: “Stretch out your hand to heal and to perform miraculous signs and wonders in the name of your servant Jesus.”
Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders in the name of Jesus. Stretch out your hand.
So here’s the question: Whose hand?
Stretch out your hand: Whose hand?
Well, they are praying, so in the first instance, they must mean God.
Stretch out your hand, O God,
to heal and perform wonders in the name of Jesus.
Stretch out your hand, O God – your hand – that has molded and shaped us, that created us – the beautiful diversity of us – in the image of you.
Stretch out your hand, O God – your hand – that stretched out and parted the waters so that your people could walk to freedom on dry ground – your hand that led the people up out of slavery in Egypt and through the wilderness for 40 years – your hand that brought water from the rock and manna in the morning.
Stretch out your hand, O God – your hand – that reached out when we were in exile and gathered us in and brought us back home.
Stretch out your hand, O God,
to heal and perform wonders in the name of Jesus.
And maybe as they prayed those words, and heard those words, they thought, “Wait. We have seen that too. We have seen that in recent days. Healing and signs and wonders. We have seen that in Jesus the Christ.”
Stretch out your hand, O Christ,
to heal and perform wonders in your holy name.
Stretch out your hand, O Christ – your hand – that reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt, and made a paste of mud, and spread it on eyes that could not see – and those eyes – saw – at first dimly – but then clear and bright.
Stretch out your hand, O Christ – your hand – that stretched out and summoned Lazarus up out of the tomb.
Stretch out your hand, O Christ,
to heal and perform wonders in your holy name.
And maybe, as they remembered all that, they remembered that Jesus wasn’t the only one who had stretched out his hand.
Maybe they remembered the woman who came to Jesus in the crowd. Remember her? She had been bleeding for years. And she came to Jesus in the crowd – and stretched out her hand – and grabbed the hem of his garment – and experienced the healing power of Christ.
Stretch out your hand, brave woman,
and claim the healing that is yours.
Maybe they remembered those friends. Remember them? Those friends who carried their friend to Jesus on a mat because he could not walk. But the crowds were too big. So they went up on the roof – and cut a hole in it – and lowered him down to Jesus – and he experienced the healing power of Christ.
Stretch out your hand, faithful friends,
and help your friend to a place of healing.
Maybe you have experienced something like that.
Maybe you have stretched out your hand:
Maybe you have stretched out your hand to help a child who has fallen and skinned her knee. Maybe you have brushed the hair from her face, wiped away her tears, and said, “Everything will be OK.”
Maybe you have stretched out your hand and fed someone who was hungry – or taken a meal to someone recovering from surgery.
Maybe you have stretched out your hand … in protest.
Or maybe someone has stretched out their hand to you:
Maybe someone has stretched out their hand to you. When you have fallen, they have helped you up.
Maybe someone has stretched out their hand to you in welcome, when you felt lost, or alone, or that you somehow didn’t belong.
Maybe someone has stretched out their hand to you,
when you were hurting the most, and held your hand
just because of love.
Maybe you have experienced something like that.
After Peter and John are arrested, and then released – because the authorities have nothing to say in the face of this healing and these signs and wonders – nothing to say in the face of this loving, tender mercy – the community gathers together – and they pray.
They pray for something they already have.[3] They pray for something they’ve just seen. They pray for the power of bold speech, and for signs and wonders to continue. They’ve just seen Peter and John confound the powers. They’ve just seen signs and wonders and healing, in the touch of their own hands – as Peter stretches out his hand -- as the man who hasn’t been able to walk stretches out his. They pray for healing and signs and wonders – already coming to life in their outstretched hands – in the name of the Risen Christ.
They stand there in those first days after Resurrection,
filled with Holy Spirit, with all they have seen and heard,
and they pray these words:
“Stretch out your hand to heal and perform wonders in the name of Jesus.”
We stand here, in our time,
and that prayer lifts up for us this question:
Where will we stretch out our hands to heal and perform wonders in the name of Jesus?
In a world where there is so much to do –
· Feeding the hungry
· Sheltering those who are on the move and have no home
· Binding up the brokenhearted, with the touch of tender mercy
· Working for peace and for the freedom of neighbors on the other side of the world – huddled in Rafah – dreading the threat of the next violent assault
In this time, in this place, in our world,
Where will we stretch out our hand to heal and perform wonders in the name of Jesus?
They stood there in those first days of Resurrection –
and we stand here now, with this same prayer:
Stretch out your hand to heal and perform wonders in the name of Jesus.
Stretch out your hand.
Whose hand?
Your hand. My hand. These hands.
These hands – that are full of healing and wonder.
This is the Way of Resurrection:
Stretch out your hand to heal and to perform signs and wonders in the name of Jesus.
© 2024 Scott Clark
[1] For background on this text and the Book of Acts. see Justo L. González, Acts (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001); Robert W. Wall, “The Acts of the Apostles,” New Interpreters’ Bible Commentary, vol. x (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002); Pul W. Walaskay, Acts (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998); Emerson Powery, Commentary on Working Preacher at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-acts-45-12-6 ; Mitzi J. Smith, Commentary on Working Preacher at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-acts-45-12
[2] See Wall, p.90.
[3] Se González, p. 63.
Phot credit: Ave Calvar, used with permission via Unsplash