It is tempting for some of us to take all the credit for a job well done or when a task has been completed successfully. Sometimes the task at hand could have been near completion and before you know it, the original person or persons who had toiled at it have moved on, and another person or other persons get the opportunity to finish it. If we are honest and grateful about our duties and efforts as well as the efforts of those before us, we would give recognition and credit where it is due, but some may try to grab the glory all for himself, herself or themselves. A Malay proverb comes to mind: “Lembu punya susu, sapi dapat nama,” which roughly translated means: “it is the milk from the cow, but the bull takes the credit.”
In today’s reading: “Everyone came running towards Peter and John in great excitement, to the Portico of Solomon, as it is called, where the man was still clinging to Peter and John. When Peter saw the people he addressed them, ‘Why are you so surprised at this? Why are you staring at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or holiness? You are Israelites, and it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, who has glorified his servant Jesus, the same Jesus you handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate after Pilate had decided to release him. It was you who accused the Holy One, the Just One, you who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed the prince of life. God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the witnesses; and it is the name of Jesus which, through our faith in it, has brought back the strength of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is faith in that name that has restored this man to health, as you can all see.”
Notice that in the reading, Peter and John had healed the man, but they did not take credit for it. Instead, they gave credit to Jesus because the power to heal comes from Jesus. Peter and John shows us that as Christians, we should not try to exalt ourselves or think that we can do all things through our own efforts. It is Jesus who uses us as His instruments to help and to heal. We ought to think of ourselves as merely servants, doing God’s will and not our own. In a world where some people would try to take credit and show how great they are, we should show example and give glory to God, for all things are made possible through God’s love and providence.