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.

For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
- Acts 3:2 & 4:34-35

In today’s passages you see a contrast of two different systems.

In the first, a man who could not walk was carried to the temple gate and placed at the feet of the worshippers to beg for money. He had no security. He had little dignity. He was both dependent and on his own.

The second passage shows the practice of the early church. Instead of placing the poor at the feet of the worshippers and asking them to beg, the early church had worked out a system where money was placed at the apostles’ feet and distributed to anyone who had need. Those who had need were treated with dignity and were cared for.

Now, the early church didn’t get the whole thing perfect. Acts 5 and 6 record stories of how this system ran into difficulties. But we want to pause at the end of this week to see that God’s people in his fledgling church didn’t just think of healing as a physical thing or an emotional or even a relational thing. They also sought to bring healing to social systems around them.

The city of Jerusalem had one way of treating those who had need. The church developed a new system. That new system was eventually adopted widely not only by churches, but also by governments and non-profits around the world.

When God’s people leave life in their wake, social systems around them are transformed. Children are fed. Hospitals are built. Schools rise up out of the ground. Justice rolls down like a river.

What social systems around you do you see in need of healing? What would it look like for people of faith to be involved in the work of bringing healing to that system? Where can you start?