The Pathway to Blessing

Preached by Ben Bechtel

January 5, 2020

We all long for a clean slate. We alllong to simply press a restart button on many of our decisions. We all long forthe ability to take our current bad habits, our unattractive physicalcharacteristics, our negative tendencies, and our poor decisions and start fromscratch. This is the impetus behind celebrating the New Year in Westernculture. The New Year provides us with a new path for blessing that the yearbehind did not offer to us. And to this end we multiply New Year’s resolutions,gym memberships, and Bible reading plans, all of which are good things.

As we pick back up in the book ofActs this morning, the Spirit of God through the Scripture speaks to thislonging we all have to live a blessed life. However, the way in which we attainthe blessed life we all crave and strive toward is much different than we wouldnaturally expect. Let’s read Acts 3:1-26 together:

3 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour ofprayer, the ninth hour. 2 Anda man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate ofthe temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering thetemple. 3 SeeingPeter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directedhis gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting toreceive something from them. 6 ButPeter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. Inthe name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised himup, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, andentered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the peoplesaw him walking and praising God, 10 andrecognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, askingfor alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happenedto him.

11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterlyastounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. 12 And when Peter sawit he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or whydo you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham,the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified hisservant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate,when he had decided to release him. 14 Butyou denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be grantedto you, 15 and youkilled the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we arewitnesses. 16 Andhis name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know,and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health inthe presence of you all.

17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, asdid also your rulers. 18 Butwhat God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ wouldsuffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repenttherefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times ofrefreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send theChrist appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whomheaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which Godspoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for youa prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever hetells you. 23 And itshall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyedfrom the people.’ 24 Andall the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him,also proclaimed these days. 25 Youare the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with yourfathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families ofthe earth be blessed.’ 26 God,having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turningevery one of you from your wickedness.”

1. The Sign of Blessing (vv. 1-10)

As we restart our series in Acts itwill prove useful to backup and briefly review what has happened in the book upto this point. Jesus has ascended into heaven, promising to give his eleven(soon to be twelve) apostles authority and power from his Spirit to testify abouthis death and resurrection throughout the known world. At the Jewish feast ofPentecost the apostles and the early followers of Jesus receive the power ofJesus, signifying that the time of the New Covenant has begun. On this day twothousand people believe in Jesus and the rhythms of worship, Bible study,prayer, and fellowship begin for this early church.

Now in chapter three we witness thefirst miraculous deed performed through one of Jesus’s chosen spokesmen. Thisstory takes place at the ninth hour, which would have been 3 p.m., the time forthe afternoon prayer. Peter and John walk up the hill to the temple and as theyenter through this popular gate called the Beautiful Gate they notice a man wholiterally has been lame “from the womb.” This man had to be picked up andplaced in this highly trafficked area daily. He was entirely helpless, anoutcast in society, and completely dependent upon the generosity of others forhis well-being and livelihood.

This man asks Peter and John formoney. Notice they don’t respond with disdain or scorn for this panhandlerabout how he is probably going to use their money improperly nor do they simplyput their heads down and walk on. Rather, verse 4 says they stop and turn theirgaze toward the man. They genuinely see this man for who he is, a fellowdesperate beggar. This leads them to offer the man something more valuable thanmoney, new life in Christ. They call upon the name of the Lord and they healthis man of his lifelong disability. Jesus breaks in and gives this man anentirely new life through his chosen agents and spokesmen.

Look at how this man responds (verse8):

8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered thetemple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

This man’s whole body responded to the grace of his healing.But there is more for us to notice here.

Luke doesn’t simply want his readersto note that this man who couldn’t walk is now jumping around, as significantas that is. This former lame man is embodying the promised new age of theMessiah (Is. 35:6):

[in the age of God’s salvation] shall the lame man leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the mute sing forjoy.

This crippled man bounding around like a young doe is a signto those watching that the age of God’s salvation has dawned. And not onlythat, but it is also a sign that the ministry and power of the Messiah arecontinuing with those appointed to establish his church. This miracle is a massivelight-up billboard signifying that the age of the Messiah did not stop when theMessiah ascended into heaven but continues now through the Spirit of Jesus workingthrough his appointed spokesmen and his church.

The crowd who saw this glowing signpost rightly respond with amazement. The experience of the crowd seeing this lame man jumping around would be similar to you turning on the TV to discover that someone from your small-town high school grew up to be a rock star. Oh, and that person was mute from birth. The people were beside themselves at what had just happened. Through the healing of this poor, lame man the apostles are pointing people to Jesus and people are amazed.

Now, we must recognize that our lives and our church experience are much less dramatic than this. However, even though we as the New Testament church don’t perform miracles today in the unique way the apostles did, our heart for the poor and downtrodden should remain the same. The actions of the church on behalf of those the world kicks to the curb ought to look miraculous and unexplainable, only by the power of the Spirit. If we only had chapter two of Acts we might think that the Christianity is only about reaching out to and caring for the large crowds and the important people. But the apostles, like their Savior, go to this one, see him for who he is, and care for him.[1]

Church, is our community amazed bythe way we point to Jesus with our actions of love and care for those whom theworld pays no mind? Are people floored by the way we tangibly care for thewidow, the poor, the elderly, the refugee? Within the walls of our church thereis a group of people that the world has entirely written off. If anything, theimmigrants among us are viewed in America as political talking points on oneside of a debate or another but not as people to be embraced. As outsiders geta glimpse of our church and see how we love and incorporate a group of peoplethe world has kicked to the curb into our body I pray that people wouldn’t evenbe able to know what to think. May the world marvel at Jesus because of thelove shared between American and immigrant in our church.

2. The Message of Blessing (vv. 11-26)

After the apostles perform this signof Jesus’s salvation, they proclaim his salvation in verses 11-26. Sign isfollowed by word, notice this connection: implicit gospel action is tethered toexplicit gospel proclamation. Deed and word work together.

This proclamation of the gospel inverses 11-26 contains much dense theology which would take several sermons tounpack. Here is the gist of it: after Jesus’s death for sins God exalted him byraising him from the dead and by enthroning him as King of the world where heseeks to bless everyone who turns to him in faith. This sounds great! Whowouldn’t want in on this blessing, this time of refreshing as verse 20 callsit? And yet, we all actively deny the blessing God offers.

Peter’s words to the crowd in verse12 addressing their response to the miracle provides a window into why thisis the case:

“Men of Israel…why do you stare atus, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?

The people here believe that Peter and John are magic healers that can make their lives better. The crowd that crucified Jesus believed that he was the one who would free them from Roman oppression, which is why they crucified him when it became apparent this wasn’t the case. And, we do the same thing. We pay God lip-service, as I’m sure these religious people at the temple did as well, all the while our lives are all about our career, finding a spouse, making sure we have the perfect family, proving someone wrong through our own hard work, etc. We pray and seek God but become disillusioned when he doesn’t give us what we want. We all, just like the people in the crowd, use God and his gifts to seek blessing on our own terms. We use God as a genie to make all our New Year’s resolutions come true. Even those of you who may be here today and would say that you are not religious are still seeking blessing apart from God with the resources and abilities he has given you.

This is what human beings have doneever since the Garden of Eden. God gave Adam and Eve life and blessing in hispresence. They were able to commune with the living God daily and enjoy thefruits of his creation. And yet, prompted by the serpent, they eventually startthinking “God’s holding out on me.” Ever since then, our lives are all markedby a disposition to move away from the face of the Author of Life. Do you seewhat an affront this is to God? Think about a single parent who gives theirchild everything, who works two jobs in order to put them through college, andwho goes to every sporting event but yet who is accused by their child of nothaving their best interests in mind. This is what we do to God every time weseek blessing on our own terms and not his terms. We jam a finger into thechest of the one who poured himself out in order to bless us.

But God, in his goodness, pursues hisprodigal people in order to bless them. Read verse 26 with me:

26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, tobless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

God sent the message of the blessed gospel first to theJewish people, those same people who had just crucified Jesus. And he offersthis same blessing to you. This should tell us something about the marvelouscharacter of God. God chases down those who reject him in order to bless them.

Verses 19-21 describe for us both the pathway to this blessing and the nature of the blessing itself. Let’s read verses 19-21:

19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may beblotted out, 20 thattimes of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he maysend the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whomheaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which Godspoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

a. The Way to Blessing

The logic of verse 19 helps us tounderstand clearly the way to blessing. Let me paraphrase it to try and help ussee it more clearly: “because of Jesus’s sacrificial death and gloriousexaltation from the grave to the right hand of God repent and turn around sothat your sins may be blotted out.” We must repent in order that theseblessings to follow may come to us. Repentance is the pathway to blessing. Thisis because all of us have been on a death march away from the presence of Godsince Adam and Eve sinned, a march that inevitably leads to curse not blessing.Our lives are like a spaceship venturing out into the solar system away fromthe warmth and life given by the sun. Repentance is a reorientation of our lifefrom death back toward the life-giving presence of God.

The “therefore” at the beginning ofverse 19 is absolutely essential. That “therefore” is the difference betweencursing and blessing. You see, repentance is not like a new year’s resolutionwhere you feel bad about something and try really hard to do the opposite. Ifthat’s the case we’re doomed. Repentance is about recognizing that there isnothing I can do, no resources I can bring to the table to transform my lifefrom a life of cursing into one of blessing. Only God in Christ’s sacrificialdeath and glorious resurrection and ascension can provide these resources. The“therefore” points back to God’s saving actions in Christ as the only groundsfor our blessing before God and thus, our only grounds for repentance.

b. The Nature of the Blessing

Now let’s turn to examine the natureof this blessing itself. First and most foundationally, notice in verse 20 thatall blessing comes from the presence of the Lord. It is not the stuff God givesbut relating rightly to God that is primary in life. God not what he givesought to be our primary desire.

Second, this blessing consists ofblotting out of sin and refreshing from God. This blotting out of sin is likeGod highlighting all of our sin on a word document and pressing the delete key.Sin does not bring refreshing. Sin wreaks destruction. Some of us because ofour position in life are able to hide this better than others but whether youare an addict, or a subtle manipulator know that sin rots us. King Daviddescribes repentance in terms of refreshing in Psalm 32:1-3, 5:

Blessed is the onewhose transgression is forgiven,
            whose sinis covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whomthe Lord counts no iniquity,
    and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 For when I kept silent, my boneswasted away
    through my groaning all day long…

5 I acknowledged my sin to you,

    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. 

For those of us suffering under the oppressive hand of sin,know that there is a way out. There is an oasis for your dry and parched lifein Christ Jesus and it is available to you today if you only recognize yourthirst and drink deeply from Christ.

Third, this blessing occurs in twophases, present and future. In verses 19-21 we see that there is a present, inthe moment, forgiveness of sins and refreshment that come with repentance.However, the ultimate blessing, the promised restoration of all things willcome when Jesus returns. So, there is one source of hope in two differentstreams in the Christian life. You will experience satisfaction and blessing inthe Lord in this life and yet this satisfaction and blessing will always feelpartial until the day when all things are made new. Then you will experiencethe blessing that comes from being in the presence of God.

In last year’s film Ad Astra,the astronaut Roy McBride, played by Brad Pitt, searches across the solarsystem for his father in order to discover answers that could save Earth.Pitt’s father, who is also an astronaut, journeyed out to the edge of the solarsystem looking for intelligent life. In a final scene in the movie Pittconsoles his father, distraught with the reality that there is no otherintelligent life in the universe, by telling him “we’re all we’ve got.” Theconclusion we are to draw from these words is that we don’t need to continuelooking for resources outside of ourselves as human beings because we are allthat there is. We are all that we need.

Thank God this is not true. My onlyhope in life and in death as that old church catechism says is precisely that Iam not all that I need, that I need Life himself from outside this universe tobreak in and restore my rotting bones. Church, the pathway to our blessing in2020 is not about Whole 30, new parenting strategies, running 1,000 miles, newevangelism programs, or even changing our individual character. The pathway toblessing is repentance and faith, a return to the face of God. The greatest thingyou can possess this year is the presence of God, the shining face of hisblessing. Let this year be a year where our lofty goals and aspirations do notovershadow our own humility and repentance before the Lord. May we as a churchbe a people marked by repentance and humility, recognizing that it is only inGod that we find true blessing. We’re not all that we’ve got. We’ve got Someoneelse.

I want to conclude this sermon byspeaking over you the priestly blessing found in Numbers 6:24-26, whichpromises the blessing of God’s presence to all who recognize their need forhim. Let’s receive this together in faith:

24 The Lord bless youand keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon youand be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance uponyou and give you peace.

I pray this year our church would know the blessing of God’slife-giving, life-transforming presence given to us in Jesus.

[1] Merida, 47.