Tabitha: Dedicated to Good Works and Charity”
A Sermon Preached by
The Rev. Karen Hill
April 25, 2010
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Acts 9:36-43
There is an urban myth that Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a story in six words. He wrote, “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.” For sale: Baby shoes, never worn. Now that's a story, and there is so much heartbreak in those six words.
This myth has inspired a movement in which people write their own true, life stories in six words. Here’s one of my favorites. “I turned eleven. No Hogwarts letter.” (That’s a Harry Potter reference, if you haven’t read the books…) Another says, “Stricter parents could have saved me.” How about this one, “Breast cancer: zero, my future: won.” Finally, this is my last one – I swear - “Can’t reach top shelves. Married tall.” There are several books & a website devoted to six word memoirs.
They’re addictive. So few words tell the story that, it makes it all the more poignant and evocative. There’s a life in these lines, and it makes me want to hear the rest of the story.
These six word memoirs remind me very much of this morning’s reading, the story of Tabitha, found in the book of Acts. It’s very short, there’s a lot of story in a few words, and it leaves me wanting to know more.
Today’s text is from Acts 9.36-42. This is a story of the early church – after the Pentecost, after the Apostle Paul’s conversion, when Peter is traveling, preaching and teaching the good news of Jesus. Listen for God’s word to you in the story of Tabitha.
“36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity.
37At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs.
38Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, ‘Please come to us without delay.’
39So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.
41He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. 42This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.”
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Let us pray.
God, we give you thanks for the saints in our lives, for those who’ve cared for us when we needed it the most. We give you thanks for those who’ve prayed with us and for us & given us a hand up. Help us to hear a word in the story of Tabitha that leads to resurrection and new life. We pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The story of Tabitha is so small that it makes me wonder, why is it included in the book of Acts? If Acts is the story of the spread of the gospel and the church’s beginning, what is Luke trying to tell us about the gospel and about the church? What’s the takeaway here?
I think there are several things to take away from this story. First I think Luke is teaching himself and us about the nature of the gospel. In Tabitha we see it spelled out that the good news of Jesus Christ is for everyone. It is wider, broader and deeper than any human being could conceive, even one, like Luke, who knew Jesus when he was walking around Israel.
Luke calls Tabitha a disciple. Verse 36 says, “Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha…” She is the only woman that Luke calls a disciple. This does not mean that Tabitha is the only female disciple, not at all, but she is only one that Luke acknowledges in the book of Acts.
He is letting us know right away that Tabitha is different and her ministry is special. I am guessing that every woman back then knew how to sew – it is that way that Tabitha did it that made is special and 2,000 years later we are still telling her story. So, she is much deeper than the seven verses of this story would lead us to believe.
Tabitha shows us that the gospel of Jesus Christ is wide open. She confirms that God can and will use the gifts of any one of us in mission and ministry, no matter how humble or how domestic our gifts.
Tabitha also shows us that the gospel is life-changing. If we allow it, the gospel will give our lives purpose and meaning and open us to the community in ways we never expected.
The scripture says that Tabitha “was devoted to good works and acts of charity.” Her ministry seems to have been devoted to the widows in the community.
Most of you probably know this, but just in case, first century Palestine was a very hard place for a woman alone – she had no economic power, no social standing, she was religiously unclean, and she had no way to change any of this. God told Israel over and over in the Old Testament to care for the widows and orphans. The new Christian community knew that this was a very important obligation, but at the time of this story, the disciples in Jerusalem were neglecting the widows and orphans, and fighting about their care.
Tabitha did not wait. She saw the need and stepped in to fill it. Willimon writes, “Tabitha is subversive in that she didn’t wait for the men of her day to create a social welfare system – she did it. She didn’t wait for the wealthy in her community to give away their old clothes to those in need, she made them clothes. She didn’t hide away from the poor and the needy of her community – she befriended them, learned their names, got to know their stories. She was a disciple – in a day when only men were supposed to be disciples.” Unquote.
Tabitha took her gift, this seemingly humble gift of sewing and used it generously. In so doing, it changed her life dramatically, and it also changed her community. Tabitha taught her community how to be with people right where they are, and she continues to teach all of us.
I think another thing that Luke is trying to teach us about the gospel is that resurrection is not a one-time thing.
When Tabitha gets sick and dies, her friends are distraught. She is so important to the life of her community that they cannot imagine it without her. They send for Peter, who comes to Joppa to be with the grieving community.
When he gets there, the widows are waiting to show him the tangible ways that Tabitha cared for them. They show him the garments she made, the blankets she sewed, the afghans she crocheted – those things which demonstrated her compassion and care for each person.
Peter calls to her, “Tabitha, arise.” And she does. She opens her eyes and sits up. Peter gives her a hand, and she stands.
Luke wants to remind us about Jesus’ resurrection, but he also wants us to know, absolutely, positively that there will also be a resurrection for us. I’m not necessarily talking about the after-life here.
No, to me, Tabitha is an example that when we experience any sort of death, there is always hope of resurrection and new life.
So, I wonder what sort of deaths have you endured in your life?
Maybe you have literally lost someone you love to death. But maybe you have lost something else – maybe you’ve suffered a disappointment and your dreams have died. Maybe you’ve lived through a divorce or separation, and that’s a type of death. Maybe your spouse or your kids are not all that you’d hoped, and you’ve had to let your expectations die. Maybe you lost a career that you loved or didn’t get into the school that you were counting on or you didn’t make the cut for the team. Maybe no matter how much you study, you can’t get your grades up or you no matter how hard you work, you can’t seem to get ahead. Maybe, just maybe, your life has turned out so differently & so much better than you could have every expected or hoped.
This is life, isn’t it? All of us experience these sorts of death in life.
Yesterday, I was at the Nancy Floyd Haworth Foundation’s Celebration of Hope. The Foundation is dedicated to educating people about breast cancer and serving New Mexicans who suffer from it. At one point in the luncheon, they asked all breast cancer survivors to stand – there were around 800 people there and too many for me to count stood.
It was an amazing testimony to the power of resurrection. You can bet that each one of those survivors had a brush with death, and has found new life after cancer.
Tabitha literally experienced death, but she also experienced the joy of new life, of resurrection. If she was an amazing disciple before that death, can you imagine her power and her faith in God after that?
This morning I want to ask you to do a brave thing. Will you be like Tabitha? Will you be a witness to your community? I promise you don’t have to say a word. If you have experienced a death in your life, any kind of death, and you have also experienced a resurrection and new life, in a minute I’m going to ask you to stand. Will you let us see what resurrection looks like? Know that Paul and I are standing here with you, because we have also experienced death and resurrection.
If it’s too uncomfortable, and you can’t do it, that’s okay. You can stand in your heart. If you haven’t experienced anything like this, that’s okay, too. But if you have had an experience of death and new life, will you stand up and remain standing for a moment?
Now, would you all take a look around? This is hope – this is the face of God. This is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is resurrection right here in our midst.
Thank you all. You can sit down. God bless you for sharing with us.
We are the body of Christ here together – the gospel has the power to change our lives and the life of our community, just like God changed Tabitha’s life. Just imagine what God can do in us and through us, if we allow it.
So, go home. Write your six word memoir and see if your life tells a gospel story. If not, maybe it’s time for some new life. Amen.
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