Sunday, September 29,
2019
“Now in Joppa there
was a disciple whose name was Tabitha.”
Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, does not go out of his way to
explain why a woman could be a disciple.
Yes, he knew that the 12 were all men.
But we know, because we’ve read his two works, Luke and Acts, that there
were many women who followed Jesus with devotion and at great personal
cost. They were among the most crucial
in his circle. It was this way from the
very beginning. Luke offers no
qualifiers or any word that minimizes what he’s said. There was a disciple; a passionately devoted
follower of Jesus. Her name was Tabitha.
Luke does tell us she was “devoted
to acts of charity.” When I started at
HillSong, our mission statement was “we exist to make passionately devoted
followers of Jesus.” We understand
devotion. The word Luke used that is
translated “charity” literally means “good works;” works that help people who
need help.
The picture comes into focus. In Joppa, this disciple stood out for her
care for people, especially the most needy of people. She did not do it to be recognized and
admired. No one seeks glory by devoting
their time to serving the poor. No,
Tabitha, also known as Dorcas, followed where Jesus led. Jesus led her to poor widows, among the most
vulnerable people in a society without any form of social welfare. Once Jesus led her there, she loved with
action, out of her own abilities.
Then, the story takes a drastic,
unwelcome turn. Dorcas the
Jesus-following caregiver died. The
heartsick community so blessed by this disciple did what we’d expect them to
do. They washed her body and prepared
her. The women who followed Jesus
intended to do the same thing with his body upon his death. They went to the tomb with spices to clean
him and bury him properly. These women
around Dorcas, the Jesus follower did the same – except, they knew the
story. They knew Jesus rose from the
grave. So, after the washed Dorcas, they
didn’t bury her. They laid her body in
an upper room.
Then they sent for the disciple, one
of the 12, Peter, the miracle worker.
They knew Peter’s power came from the Holy Spirit. These Joppa Christians had been in Jerusalem
and seen the Spirit’s power themselves.
Or, if they weren’t present at Pentecost, they came to faith in Jesus through
the preaching of some who were. Either
way, they knew Peter was connected to the Spirit of God. And they knew whatever Peter did came not
from himself but from the power of God.
So they sent for Peter.
He was, Luke tells us, going here
and there among the believers. His
agenda was whatever God set before him. Oh, a disciple devoted to acts of love for
the poor has died and the grieving community wants me to come? Peter went.
He was greeted by weeping
widows. The text says they showed Peter the
tunics and clothes Dorcas made with her own hands. The English doesn’t indicate as clearly as
does the Greek: the women were wearing these clothes. They reason they could be dressed in nice
garments instead of filthy rags was Dorcas made the clothes herself. They didn’t show the wardrobe to Peter. They displayed it on their bodies thus giving
witness to how much Dorcas had blessed their lives.
Having taken in the scene and
absorbed the sorrow, he put the mourners outside. Then Peter did what he had seen his Lord
do. He knelt by the body of the deceased
woman and channeled the life-giving breath, the Holy Spirit of God. “Tabitha, get up,” he said. She opened her eyes and he helped her to her
feet. When he expelled the weeping
widows from the room, it was not done out of insensitivity. He had to do God’s work, just as Dorcas had
done God’s work by caring for them, and they had done God’s work by calling
him.
The final act in the drama is verse
42. The raising of Dorcas, verse 42
says, became known throughout Joppa. We
tell stories from scripture to testify that the power of God saves us. The church has been testifying in this way
from day 1 of its existence. As
followers of Jesus, as his church, we are a story-telling, testifying people.
In recent weeks, we have looked at
the S.H.A.P.E acronym, originally found in Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life. S= spiritual gifts; H = your heart’s passion
(what really motivates you); A = is your abilities; P = personality; E =
experience; it all comes together to describe each of us as disciples. Furthermore, as we live into our shape and
then out of our ministry shape, we serve God and love people and do so working
out of our strengths.
Peter possessed spiritual gifts that
are easy to see. In Acts 2 – 5, he
preaches with transforming power. He
exhibits leadership and clarity of vision.
Now, here in Acts 9, he demonstrates miracle-working in the most
dramatic way, bringing someone back to life.
Spiritual gifts are very important.
We can see Peter’s easily. Yet,
Spiritual Gifts are just one facet of the S.H.A.P.E. picture.
Peter’s experience also comes into play. He was willing to hang around the city Lydda,
being present to the nascent church there.
He was then available when believers from Joppa called him. We know Peter was married. We don’t know if he had children. We don’t know if his wife was back in Jerusalem
or traveled with him. Whatever happened
in that aspect of his life, his experience made him available to God.
What excites me more than just Peter
in this story is the way God speaks through Tabitha’s shape. Tabitha, Dorcas, had a heart for God. We become devoted to something when it grabs
us. That was Dorcas when it came to
caring for the needy. She was a
disciple, active in the church. When she
met poor members, she didn’t need the pastor or anybody to tell her how to care
for them. She just knew and jumped
in. There’s some aspect of church life
or ministry or community life that just comes naturally to you. Susan Dunn and record-keeping and history is
something that immediately comes to mind for me. She just knows how to keep the minutes and
keep track of the church’s story. If I
had a dime for every time I tapped into her institutional knowledge, I’d pay
off our mortgage. That’s one example of
a passion matching a ministry need. I
could offer many other examples. And
that it certainly not Susan’s only passion.
Dorcas was passionate about helping the poor. That’s the ‘H’ in her shape.
We also see the ‘A’ displayed on the
bodies of the women who loved her so much.
Can you sew and make your own clothes?
Some of you absolutely can. You
can identify with Dorcas better than me.
She used her ability to meet a very practical need for impoverished
people.
The story of Dorcas is not important
because she was raised by Peter’s miracle. She would go on to die again and, then,
like all of us who are in Christ, be raised when Christ returns at the end of
time. The importance of this story is
the way we are invited to retell it in the living of our lives.
Acting out of her heart’s passion,
Dorcas offered what she had and God’s church was blessed. What do you have to offer? What is your ministry shape? This summer on the youth mission trip, some
of our teens were exceptionally outgoing.
They easily befriended kids from other groups. Others in our group were shy and falling into
isolation. I am glad I was there to
witness what happened. The kids with the
outgoing personalities almost literally dragged the shy kids into interactions
with other students. By the end of the
week, those shy students sat at the center of the crowd, enjoying the
ministry. They got there because their
fellow students loved them enough, acting out of their outgoing personalities
to include them.
Recently, we had families with
teenagers visit and our youth group went out of their way to welcome these
families. One of our members commented
to me, “I was so glad to see our youth go over and speak to those
visitors.” That’s an example of a young
person leading the way by living out of his ministry shape, specifically his
personality.
So,
what do you have to offer? What are your
spiritual gifts, your heart’s passions, abilities you’ve developed in your
life, your personality, and your experience?
Put this all together. It’s not
for the sake of you or me brilliantly leading people to Christ and building up
the kingdom. It is God’s kingdom and God
doesn’t need us. We bring our ministry
shape to God as an offering. The story
of Dorcas invites us to do what she did. We offer ourselves to God for God’s
use in the kingdom. In Philippians
2:17 Paul writes “Even if I am poured out as a drink offering … I
rejoice.” We offer our very selves to
God to be poured or used as God sees fit.
One
of the ways churches are critiqued is with this question: if the church
disappeared would anyone notice? If
HillSong suddenly stopped existing as a church, would Chapel Hill notice? I think so.
When Dorcas died, the people around her noticed. Dorcas was caught up in serving God and
people wept at her passing. Our Chinese
Pastor, Hong Zhou puts it this way. When
she’s trying to get people involved in ministry, she incredulously asks, “Don’t
they realize this work of God is the most amazing thing they’ll ever be part
of?”
Do
we see that? Do we see that when we
serve God, especially when we serve out of our shape, who we truly are, we will
know the greatest joy that can be known?
They noticed when Dorcas was gone.
God worked through her. She was
passionate. And lives changed.
Her
story begins “A disciple whose name was Tabitha.”
Now,
it’s time for your story and mine. What
we’ve read in the Bible comes to life when we walk of here following Jesus,
serving him out of our shape. We are
passionate. God works through us and
people are blessed. And lives are
changed as they turn to Jesus.
The
opening lines of this story are “A disciple whose name was _________.”
Your
name fills in that blank .
AMEN
