Rise Up and Walk

I’ve read multiple accounts of a conversation that took place in the thirteenth century between Thomas Aquinas and Pope Innocent IV. The story goes that Thomas called on the Pope one day while he was overseeing the counting of a large sum of money for the church. The Pope greeted Thomas and said with a smile, “See Thomas, the church can no longer say, ‘Silver and gold have we none.’”

The Pope was referencing the magnificent story in Acts 3 where Peter and John ran into a lame beggar in the Temple courts in Jerusalem. The beggar asked the two disciples for a gift. Peter, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, responded, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you.” He then commanded the lame man in Jesus’ name to get up and walk. The subsequent scene—the formerly lame man dancing and jumping around the Temple—caused quite a stir and landed Peter and John in jail. (See Acts 3-4)

Thomas considered the Pope’s comment and then replied, “That’s true, Holy Father. But  we can no longer say ‘Rise up and walk.’”

Thomas was saying that while materially rich, the church had lost her power. The same is true for many Christians in Western culture today. We live comfortable lives, have beautiful church buildings and we dress up nicely for worship and live in nice homes, but we’re spiritually anemic.  And the primary culprit behind our chronic weakness is our addiction to material things. We may look rich, but we’re really poor.

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