Part of God’s Mission – Acts 3:12-19

A text – Acts 3:12-19

3:12 When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
3:13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him.
3:14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you,
3:15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
3:16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.
3:17 “And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
3:18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.
3:19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

A reflection:

Peter uses any chance he gets to tell the story of Jesus’s ministry, his death, and his resurrection, doesn’t he? And he does not sugarcoat the fact that it was the very Jews he is speaking to who insisted upon Jesus’s death. But God raised Jesus, and it is in faith of this Jesus and his heavenly father that Peter and the other disciples are able to make the space for a miracle of healing to take place, just before these verses. Peter lauds this miracle of restoring a person to complete health. And then he also lets his audience off the hook, in a way. He said they were ignorant when they killed Jesus. Finally, he offers them a chance at complete forgiveness – the total wiping out of their sins.

Peter not only gives God credit for the miracle of healing, he gives Jesus credit for the miracle of salvation by his dying and rising. Peter is the signpost pointing to the miracles of love that God does. Peter doesn’t heal or save. He points to the Trinity who heals and saves.

It would be tempting to take credit for beautiful and amazing things. But how much better is it when we are the signpost pointing to what God is doing through us. We are the broken vessels God uses to get God’s mission done among the human beings God loves. Peter is honored to be a part of the work. So are we.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for letting Peter be part of your mission. Help us to learn from his actions that we too are called to do your work in the world, to be signposts pointing to your work, through your son Jesus.  Amen.