“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing”

— John 15:4-5

This is a weekly reflection on the previous week’s sermon text. Each week there will be a devotional related to the scripture for the week, along with questions for reflection/discussion, as well as prayer. Feel free to make this a part of your individual spiritual growth throughout the week or utilize in small group settings (growth groups, Sunday school, etc.)

Acts 3:1–10

“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, ‘Look at us!’ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

Nobody was expecting a miracle that day. Not the man who had been carried to the Beautiful Gate every morning for as long as anyone could remember. Not Peter and John, who were simply doing what devout Jews did three times a day—going to the temple at the hour of prayer. They were doing what they always did. They were on their way to their place of worship to pray. And somewhere between their front door and the temple courts, God had arranged a forty-year appointment.

The gate was called Beautiful for good reason. Ancient sources describe it as a structure of Corinthian bronze, lavishly decorated, one of the most spectacular entrances in all of Jerusalem—seven stories tall, so massive it took twenty men to move its doors.

And at its base, every single day, a man who had never stood up in his life. He had been lame from birth. He was at least forty years old. He had never taken a single step, and had long since stopped expecting to. He was not praying for healing—he had given up on that. He was asking for spare change. And in that gap between what he asked for and what he was about to receive, God was already at work.

Which is what makes Peter’s response startling: “Silver or gold I do not have.” Peter simply names what is true, then pivots to what is also true: “but what I do have I give you.” Peter is not a wealthy man, just an ordinary fisherman from Galilee. And fifty days out from Pentecost he is still learning what it means to carry the Spirit of the risen Christ into an ordinary afternoon. And what he carries turns out to be enough. It is always enough.

Peter speaks the name of Jesus and then reaches down and takes the man by the hand. The man’s legs are strengthened, and he began walking, and leaping, and praising God! God’s presence, power, and grace flowing through Peter’s life was enough. It always is.

All of this began because two men kept their prayer rhythms on an ordinary afternoon. Peter and John were going to the temple at the hour of prayer—the three o'clock office, one of three daily times of prayer that the faithful had kept for centuries, from the Psalms to Daniel to the earliest disciples.

They were not trying to be miracle workers. They were trying to be present to God. And that faithfulness to a daily rhythm of prayer placed them at exactly the right gate at exactly the right moment.

There is something worth sitting with in that opening detail. Peter and John were going to pray “at three in the afternoon”—the ninth hour, the time of the evening sacrifice. It was the ninth hour when Elijah's sacrifice fell from heaven. The ninth hour when Gabriel came to Daniel. The ninth hour when Jesus breathed his last. The ninth hour keeps appearing at the hinge of things—as if something about this ancient hour of sacrifice made it a place where heaven and earth have always been willing to meet. On this ordinary afternoon, at this ancient hour, a forty-year appointment was waiting to be kept.

This is who our God is. Not a God who requires us to be extraordinary before he can work through us, but a God who arranges appointments in the middle of our ordinary Mondays, at gates we pass every day, with people we have almost stopped seeing. The gate is still beautiful. The appointments are still being arranged. The question is simply whether we will be there—and whether, when the moment comes, we will notice and stop.

Prayer

Lord of every ordinary moment, you are the God who arranges appointments we do not know are coming. Forgive us for the times we have walked past without stopping—too distracted to look, too convinced of our own emptiness to imagine we had anything to offer. Teach us to keep the hours with you, pausing often to stay available to the appointments you are arranging. And when you do something remarkable through our insufficient hands, may we give you all the praise, and may the people around us take note of only one thing: that we have been with Jesus. Amen.

Discuss:

The lame man had been placed at the Beautiful Gate every day for decades, and Jesus himself had passed by without stopping. What does it mean to you that God sometimes reserves certain miracles or ministry moments for particular people? Is there a need in your world that may be waiting on your presence, your voice, or your decision?
Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you.” Peter named what he didn't have before he named what he did. What would it look like for you to do the same—to honestly name both your limitations and the gifts God has placed in your hands?
The miracle happened on the way to the three o’clock hour of prayer. Peter and John were faithful to a daily rhythm that made them available to God in the middle of an ordinary afternoon. Today Christians call this practicing the daily office—pausing three times a day to pray. This week consider pausing in the morning, midday, and evening for five minutes to pray. Perhaps you could ask, “Lord, who do I need to notice today?”

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**The Vine Devotional will be on hiatus for July, but will return in August.**