Give What You Have
Recently I just got back from a trip—my first time on an airplane in over a year! Like many of my friends, we took for granted before the pandemic how easy it was to travel and it felt amazing to get away. When you’ve been gone from home for a week or more, usually other than laundry, one of the first things you need to do is hit up the grocery store. In my day-to-day I’m a “Clicklister.” I order my groceries online and pick them up after work on Friday. Working full time, I love the convenience of having someone retrieve my weekly list for me, saving me a longer trip.
Since I usually don’t go in the store, this trip took longer than usual. Things were moved in different places and I had a big list, being out of produce and pantry items I had let dwindle. When my overfull cart was unloaded and the cashier had finally totaled up my purchase, she asked if I wanted to round-up to the nearest dollar for a donation to the foodbank. Have you noticed this happening at different stores? On our trip, at one of those airport sundry shops with magazines, tourist tchotchkes, and snacks, the cashier asked me if I wanted to purchase a snack for the USO to donate. The Lord has provided for us so I can be generous, so I try to say yes whenever I’m asked to give, even if it’s secular causes like encouraging our troops or giving food to those in need in my community (though are those opportunities really separated from my life of faith…shouldn’t believers be the first to show God’s love in those ways…isn’t that our witness to the world and true religion[1]?).
You may be reading this feeling guilty because you usually say no to give when asked. Living within your means is also wisdom; though God has provided for your needs, there may not be extra to go around. No judgment here because I’ve been there. I remember a season in life where we had one income and I went to write my monthly tithe check. Our habit had always been to give 10% out of the first fruits of our income, though it’s not required in Paul’s teachings regarding money[2]; instead we are to give what is determined in our heart, giving cheerfully[3]. I did not give the full tithe because I started trusting in myself and my ability to provide. The attitude of my heart was much different than that of Peter’s in our key verse:
But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” Acts 3:6
No matter what our circumstance, our worldly goods, our tangible resources, we have something more valuable to give, the name of Christ. A heart that desires to see God glorified is our ultimate gift to the world.
In biblical times, names were not just something that identified you, but it also defined you. That’s why Jesus renames Simon Peter[4]; He wants Peter to take on a new identify as a pillar of the church[5]. Christ was the cornerstone that the church was to be built on[6] but Peter had the privilege of sharing that foundation with others, which he does in this section of Acts. In fact before the incarnation, God communicates about Jesus when He names Him:
His name stems from Joshua (yeho, a short form of “Yahweh” + shua', “salvation”), which means “Yahweh is salvation.” This is why the angel said, “And you will call his name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21). Matthew goes on to tell us that Jesus’ birth fulfilled Isaiah 7:14: “Behold, the virgin will become pregnant and will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel” (Matt 1:23). Emmanuel (immanu, “with us” + el, “God”) means “God is with us.[7]”
The power in the name of Jesus, was needed for a cripple laid outside the Beautiful Gate in Acts chapter 3. Unable to walk since birth, the only way for this man to survive was to beg. What better place to solicit while people are on their way to the temple to pray? Maybe they would give, even for self-righteous gain like the Pharisees, to look pious in front of others[8]? The man needed money and Peter, asking the destitute beggar to make full eye-contact, offered him more than coins, even more than physical healing, but the opportunity to know Jesus.
The name of Christ embodies salvation because there is no other name by which you can be saved[9].Though the man couldn’t walk, couldn’t earn a living and depended on the generosity of others to live, His real need was for his sins to be taken away. Though the man had physical alive, disabled as he was, he and all people apart from new birth by the Spirit are physically dead. That is what Jesus tried to explain to Nicodemus[10].
In Acts, the gospel is often coupled with miracles so people will believe the apostles the apostles had to share. After this healing, Peter preaches a sermon in Solomon’s Portico to explain to the Jews listening more about Jesus-that He was the promised Messiah and that all the prophets spoke of God’s plan to save Israel through His suffering.
What Peter has, you have. You may not have silver and gold, but as a Christian regenerated and filled with eternal life you can offer to others much more than they ask for. You can share this same Jesus, The God With Us who Saves, to those in need. Recently, one of our church elders was in a horrific motorcycle accident. By God’s grace he is now recovering at home. When he first arrived at the trauma center injured, being triaged by doctors at the hospital he was airlifted to, and concussed, he loudly proclaimed the gospel. The character of this man to share, in the balance of life and death, the name and work of Christ to others brings me to tears and puts me to shame. Healthy and whole, why do I not share Jesus when all I have to risk is my reputation? Yet even in our fear, Jesus reminds us it’s about Him and our identity in Him:
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. John 15:18-21
Will we share what we have, no matter the cost? Do we live for the praise of men or the regard of God? Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe[11]. Let us live in a way that our first words, not just our last words, proclaim Christ and His work on our behalf. For Christ’s last words before His death were it is finished[12] and sister, brother--it is finished in us. Our sins have been blotted out and times of refreshing come from the Lord[13]. Let us boldly share Christ so God can say to us, well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master[14]. Give what you have and through the work of the Spirit opening eyes to the truth of the gospel, it will everlastingly be enough.
[1] James 1:27
[2] Leviticus 27:30, Proverbs 3:9, 2 Corinthians 9:7
[3] Philippians 2:14
[4] John 1:42
[5] Matthew 16:18
[6] 1 Peter 2:4
[7] From Faithlife Study Bible, commentary by Mark D. Futato
[8] Matthew 23:28
[9] Acts 4:12
[10] John 3:4-5
[11] Proverbs 29:25
[12] John 19:30
[13] Acts 3:19-20
[14] Luke 19: 21
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