What I have I give you

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter, April 20, 2022            

(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)

What I have I give you

Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk!

I looked at these two Galileans and then looked away. But I could not look away. My eyes came back to theirs, and I glanced down at their clothes and saw their hands. Their hands were the hands of fishermen, not preachers. They were hard and wrinkled, brown, strong hands. They did not grow up reading, they grew up catching fish and cleaning them, cleaning the nets, cleaning their boats.

Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up. Immediately his feet and ankles became strong.

Of course this is not possible, but I have no choice. The short strong man who spoke to me grabs me by the hands and pulls me up. I won’t stay standing, I never have, I’ll teeter and collapse. I won’t, I won’t … I will, I will. I feel warm blood flowing through my legs, and without explanation my ankles are holding. There is nothing I can do about this, nothing’s gonna stop it. What is this? My feet feel strong and whole; their withering hasn’t just stopped. It’s reversed!

He leaped up, stood and walked around, and went into the temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God.

After eating fajitas and caramel churros at Huaraches Moroleon, the best Mexican restaurant in Urbana (small but always full), Marc and I stopped downtown tonight to walk through a mural and graffiti filled alley. There was just enough light for a few pictures. Many of the murals and paintings were done by Marc’s friend, whose artist’s name is Zoot.

A bar named Sipyard uses the alley too. Sipyard operates out of two shipping containers, which like the rest of the alley are decorated with fabulous graffiti. The alley reminds me of Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo on Old Route 66, where cars are planted in the ground and painted with graffiti, and then another layer of graffiti, and then another. Sipyard will open for business at the end of April, but the alley is always open. Like the Cadillacs, it’s just waiting for another magic touch from a spray can full of paint.

Not to get distracted. The crippled man got the magic touch of Jesus, via Peter and John. No spray paint, no magic, really, but better: the generous touch of God, healing one of his children. Peter’s words healed one and inspired hundreds of others.

They were filled with amazement and astonishment at what had happened to the crippled man.

This is the kind of thing that might happen everyday, when we open our mouths and speak God’s words to each other. It does happen everyday already, but I’ll bet it could happen much, much more often.

Give thanks to the Lord and invoke his name; make known among the nations his deeds. Sing to him, sing his praise and proclaim all his wondrous deeds.

(Acts 3, Psalm 105, Psalm 118, Luke 24)

(posted at www.davesandel.net)

#