Seeing The Real Need

Acts 3:1-4a
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;
Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.
And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

This passage is a good example of how we miss something that is right in front of us. Most of the time we jump past the first four verses and look only at verse 6. I would like to look at the first part of verse 4. “And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John…” What did Peter see? He did not see the same old beggar who was at the gate every day begging for alms. He did not see a cripple who should be ignored. He did not see an opportunity to make a name for himself. Peter looked and saw the need. He saw this man needed help. Help to stand up and walk. Help to be able to go into worship without having to be carried. He saw a man who needed Jesus. It was only then that Peter knew how to help this man. He first had to see the need. Yes the man needed money. Yes this man needed help to get around, but that is not what Peter saw. Put yourself in Peter’s place and ask yourself what would you see if there was a cripple man setting at the door of your church on Sunday morning asking for a handout? What would you give him? Would you run inside and tell the preacher to do something about the bum cluttering up our church? When we see someone in need do we reach in our pocket for some loose change and run the other way, or do we look straight at him or her and see the real person hidden inside? Be honest with yourself, how do you feel around people who are not like you -- in wheelchairs, deformed, homeless, alcoholic/addict, or mentally retarded? Are you willing to really look at that person? Are you afraid of what you might see? What if it were you in that condition? How would you want to be seen?
It's sometimes hard for us to look at people in need. We don't want to embarrass them by paying too much attention. Our society has taught us to not look. We are only conditioned to see the need after the wreck. In Japan we all see the need to help those who have fallen victim to nature. But did wee see the need of those same people before the quake or flood? Did we see the need to share Jesus with them? Did we see a soul who would be lost without the love of Christ? Did we see God’s heart being broken as those who died would be lost to Him forever because no one saw their need? No probably not we only saw the destruction and sighed, “those poor people somebody should help them.”
So then can we only see after the wreck? Then it may be too late. What will it take for us to see the need of those in our town, in our neighborhood, in our church? What kind of wreck will make us see? We give to disaster relief and that is a good thing but what about grief relief, addiction relief, depression relief, homeless relief and most of all relief from being lost to God? What would you give to any of those? There are people in every city and town who need help. Not only do they need physical help they need spiritual help. Those hooked on drugs and spend nights in an alcoholic fog need help to loose the chains that bind them. There are those who are trapped in a broken body who only want to be seen as a person to love. How about those who have fought for your freedom and can no longer function in society due to the trauma they endured? Should we forget them?
In short are we like most who went into the temple that day ahead of Peter and John and only saw the same old beggar wanting money. Afraid to look into that man’s eyes because they could not stand the reflection. Jesus told the twelve after he had fed five thousand when ask about them forgetting to take bread, “Having eyes ye see not? And having ears, hear not …” Is He asking us the same question today?
Can we only see the need after the wreck?