Last week, we focused
on the story of Peter’s return to favor with God. We remembered Peter’s failure
to claim Jesus as his friend and messiah after Jesus’ arrest, a circumstance we
call “Peter’s Denial.” One of Jesus’ most poignant post-resurrection acts was
to return to speak to Peter, communicate to Peter and the other disciples that Peter
was forgiven, and then for Jesus to ask Peter to love Jesus’ sheep – to protect
and nurture the people who formed the first Christian communities.
This morning, we hear
the story of one of Peter’s protective and restorative acts. Peter worked as a
leader of the early Christian church and nurtured the new Christian community. He
traveled throughout the Roman World to visit the newest Christian communities and
to evangelize and share the Christian message. Hear the story of one of God’s
miracles that occurred because Peter was doing God’s work in the world as we
read of the events recorded in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 9 verses 36
through 43:
Scripture Reading Acts 9:36-43
In
Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas);
she was always doing good and helping the poor.
About that
time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an
upstairs room.
Lydda was near
Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two
men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”
Peter went
with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the
widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other
clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
Peter sent
them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed.
Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her
eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.
He took her by
the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers,
especially the widows, and presented her to them alive.
This became
known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.
Peter stayed
in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
Here ends this reading of the word of God
for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Prayer for Understanding
O God, by your Spirit tell us what we need to hear, and show us what we ought to do, to obey Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
The Mother’s Day Holiday
was not created by a collusion of greeting card companies and the restaurant
industry. Mother’s Day was started in
1908 as a Church holiday by Anna Jarvis. Her intention was to celebrate the
word mothers did that was unnoticed or not valued. After the holiday caught on,
Anne Jarvis was dismayed that the day became a boon for the greeting card and
florist industry…because the intention was to encourage our appreciation of
both our mothers and the women who nurture us.
Tabitha is the only
women in the New Testament who is called a “Disciple.” And, she was the kind of
woman all of us strive to be – she was known for always doing good works and
helping the poor. She mothered people in
need – Tabitha used her talents to sew clothing for vulnerable women and
children. When Tabitha died, her community felt an immediate loss. And,
luckily, Peter was in Joppa, just a few miles away from Lydda where Tabitha
lived. Other disciples travelled the 10 miles to tell Peter he was needed and
he rushed to the place where Tabitha’s body was laid. Peter told Tabitha to get
up, and the Holy Spirit rushed through him into her body and restored Tabitha
to life. A miraculous resurrection!
And, news of Tabitha’s
restoration spread quickly. Many new people began to believe in the Christian
faith because of the miracle of Tabitha’s restoration to life.
It is a happy coincidence
that the story of Tabitha’s miraculous recovery comes around in the lectionary
calendar for today. Tabitha’s story is important for a few reasons. As I
mentioned earlier, Tabitha was a Disciple. Her story is a reminder that we all
can become Disciples of Jesus. The first disciples of Jesus acted as
evangelists and preachers after Jesus ascended to heaven. They were organizers
and they delegated the work of the church to others – kind of like how we call
a pastor to lead our congregation and part of my work is to invite the members
of our congregation to take on various jobs and tasks within the congregation.
But, Tabitha wasn’t a preacher or a teacher
or a delegator. Instead, she is remembered as someone who was always doing good
and helping the poor – she saw the needs of the people around her and she worked
to fill those needs. If people were hungry, she fed them. If people didn’t have
suitable clothing, she sewed for them. If people had a need, Tabitha worked to
resolve their problem. She was a nurturer of the people in her community, in
her church.
The people of our congregation are called
to be like Tabitha…we are called to use the skills and talents we have to help
others. This is our work today and into the future. We appreciate the people
who have been “Tabithas” for us. There
are countless stories of the church ladies and church men who came before us
and who showed us how to nurture and care for each other and the church. We see
evidence of them everywhere – the women who sewed this alter cloth, the men who
built the cross next to the piano, the people who raised the money to build this
building, the crafters who sewed the banners than adorn our walls – everything we
do as a congregation happens because volunteers share their time, talents and
treasures. And, we build upon the work done by the people who came before us,
the mothers and fathers of our faith, and mothers and fathers of our church.
We are standing on the shoulders of
giants. People like Tabitha have
demonstrated to us how to live out our faith…with care, with generosity, with
kindness. It is up to us to continue the
work --- to identify the needs of the people around us and the people who are
to come and work together to meet those needs.
Let us do so with the love of Jesus in
our hearts. Amen.
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