Silver and gold

Then Peter said, "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." – Acts 3.6

As Peter and John we walking to the temple for worship they saw a blind beggar asking for money. They had nothing tangible to give.

The wonderful truth is that they had so much more to offer than just silver or gold.

Just last week we watched 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer' with the grandchildren. When I came across this verse a song in that show came to mind (and it is still there now). Anyone familiar with the show can hear Burl Ives singing

Silver and gold

Silver and gold

Silver and gold

Ev'ryone wishes

For silver and gold.

The song was sung in the context of Yukon Cornelius and his obsession to find these treasures.  The lesson of the song is that there is much more to life than just silver and gold.

Our world is very much a 'silver and gold' world. It has always been a silver and gold world. It has always seemed that the answer to everything is more silver and gold.

But that is not always the answer. Peter and John had no silver and gold to offer this man. But they had something better. They had Jesus and His power. Jesus healed this man and he went, as the beautiful old King James translation put it, ‘walking and leaping and praising the Lord.’

Jesus is still in the healing business. This broken man was fixed by Christ and this broken world needs the same thing.

Silver and gold is not going to fix the broken world. We ought to have that figured out by now.  Instead of the relentless drive for silver and gold we need to realise that Jesus’ fix is for eternity and share that good news with those around us.