Look at Us
“And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” Acts 3:4
There he sat. There he sat doing the
same thing he did everyday as long as he could remember.
There he sat…begging for alms...begging for food…for anything to make
it through another day. That’s
what people did that had been born lame. A
lifetime of dependence with every need based on the abundance of another.
Most days someone would drop a donation into his basket.
The gate where he lay was called “Beautiful” though seldom were his
days beautiful. This day seemed to
begin like all the others. Who would
have dreamed that this day it would end like no other?
A
phrase from Peter to this man demands our consideration.
Peter, after intently gazing at him says, “Look at us.”
“Look at us.”
The phrase makes us nervous. Look at
us? Look at me?
And exactly what would you see if looked at me?
Would you see Christ? Would
you see the answer to your questions? Would
you see the light shining in the darkness? Would
you see healing to broken-ness? Would
you see Jesus?
I
mean Jesus is what people are supposed to see when they look at us.
Right? We, who call ourselves
Christians…aren’t we supposed to reflect Christ to the world…to those who
search at gates called “Beautiful”. What
about to students who walk the halls at school?…to workers who share our
vocations? Are we so bold as to say
to them, “Look at us?” And if
they did, what would they see.
Peter’s response to the man born lame? “Silver
and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you:
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
Money…alms…they last for a day, but Jesus Christ last forever.
Christ changes lives from the inside out.
He gives us life…the chance to walk…to run…to leap…to climb.
Christ isn’t about the needs of today…He is about the needs of
forever. And we are His channels
into the lives who so desperately search.
The man did look at Peter and John. He
received what he saw when he looked. And
what He saw was Christ.
Today we will pass by those who search. And
I wonder…do we have the courage to say to them, “Look at us?”
And are we assured that when they do, they will see Christ?
Christ in us…May that be our prayer today.
In Christ,
Billy