Sermon Based on : John 10. 22-30; Acts. 9. 36-43; Psalm 23
Preached on: – Fourth Sunday of Easter-12th May 2019
The lessons from the Book of Acts of the Apostles for the Sundays of Easter continue their witness to the power of the Spirit and the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Book describes how the movement of Christianity bearing the name of Jesus spread out from Jerusalem to the world mostly by following the stories of the apostles Peter and Paul.
Today our first reading begins in Joppa, a city 45 miles northwest of Jerusalem. In Joppa, there was a woman whose Aramaic name was Tabitha, who was also known by her Greek name Dorcas (both names mean a Gazelle). Could mean, Perhaps when she was a young girl she was fleet of foot, may be she was a fast runner. More than likely it had to do with her eyes. One of the things the word Gazelle intimated was the idea of sparkling eyes, it is possible that Tabitha was a woman with beautiful sparking eyes or something like that.
Maybe she was really graceful. Regardless, she was a highly regarded Christian in her community. Reading or hearing this scripture in the 21st century we can easily miss the radical nature of it in the first century. This is the only place in the New Testament where the feminine form of the Greek word for “disciple” is used. When you consider the nature of relations between men and women in the first century and how unequal they were; this is another example of how in the new community that grew around Jesus no one is staying in his or her place. Common fishermen like Peter preach to the authorities at the Temple, paralyzed men are up and walking about, and a woman named Gazelle leads a compassionate, loving assistance program among the poor at Joppa.
I want to focus little bit on this woman- Tabitha, because I want us to notice that Luke gives us some characterisations of the woman. He begins by naming Tabitha, taking time to honour her by translating her name and praising her life for its devotion to “good works and acts of charity” (9:36).
She was a woman who did many acts of charity. She had performed on behalf of others to the point that when Peter got there and was brought up to the room where her body was laid, the women made sure they showed him all of these things that Tabitha had done for them. Peter was hearing about these things and this is a very important statement.
This woman was full of good works. It is one of the very real evidences of a person who has been truly a disciple of Christ, filled with the Holy spirit, a child of God. The great evidence of that of an individual who does good works. That’s what a great deal of the epistle of James is about. Jesus says, “you will know a tree by its fruits”, (Matt. 7.16) when a tree is an apple tree, there should be an absolute expectation of apples, that you are going to see apples on the branches. And then He went a little further that “a good tree can not bear bad fruits” (Matt. 7:18). When we have been made a child of God, there will be fruit, there will be evidence of our salvation. Tabitha was a woman who had this evidence in her life. The evidence that the women who stood around crying and weeping over her body were quick to show Peter what she did when she was with them.
What can we learn about Tabitha? She was a woman who lived her life to serve others. She was a woman who was deeply concerned about other people. It is so rare today among those who call themselves followers of Christ. There is a significant decline in our ability to be concerned about anyone other than ourselves. It is a sign of the times, what we often see in the world, makes its way into the church..whatever emphasis, whatever opinions & beliefs, whatever obsessions that you see in the world eventually make their way into the church.
It is something that Paul prophesied; it would be an emphasis on these last days which I believe we find ourselves living in..In 2nd Timothy 3.1-2 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves,..
In other words the last days will be characterised by increasing obsessions and self-absorption means- me, my, it’s all about me, it’s how I feel, it’s what I think, it’s what I want. That becomes paramount to me, what dominates my time and attention, who I am, what I feel and how things relate to me, this is what we call- mental illness. This overwhelming self absorption, this intense self-focused, self-centredness. It’s all about me, its all about my comfort, it is my right, I deserve this. That’s the culture we live in, I am not only talking about the European culture but it is universal…self obsession and self-centredness.
So what does God want for you and I,Tabitha steps out in faith by putting her time, resources and energy into helping those who needed it the most. She was an instrument of God’s love and care for widows and she gave of herself, her time, skill and money in such a generous way that she was loved and respected. She “was devoted to good works and acts of charity.”As followers of Jesus we are called to do the same to be “devoted to good works and acts of charity.”Charity is not just giving a small donation to a cause, but in Christian terms it involves esteem, affection, and caring that reflect God’s agape (self-giving) love.
The word of God calls us to imitate our Master, to imitate Christ’s humility
There is only one person who ever walked on this earth who truly deserved everything, who truly had a right to everything yet he gave them up. He did not take what he deserved, He did not take His rights.. Paul says in Phillipians 2:6-7 ‘Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing’ ‘being in very nature God‘ He did not consider that equality..He willingly laid them down for you and I. So that He might put you first, He did it so that you and I might be first. He willingly made himself last.
And now he calls you and I to follow His lead..In today’s Gospel Jesus says “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me”, that’s our calling to follow His lead- putting others first.
I know we all struggle in this area of self-focused, self-centredness. It has become a habit, it is so habitual just to think about ourselves, that it is impossible to break this habit without God’s help. It is a constant day-to-day battle of getting our eyes off ourselves and onto God. It is getting down on our knees and saying Jesus I am utterly and hopelessly self-absorbed and without your help I will remain so, you have called me to a different life. It is really easy to read past those few words “and then Peter knelt down and prayed.” There is a great lesson for us to learn..
Peter had to step out in faith –as far as I can recall, this is the first time he has been asked to pray for someone who has died to be restored to life. On the one hand, she is already dead so how much worse can it get? On the other hand, how do you pray for something that seems so difficult, unlikely, and overwhelming? Take a moment and think about the biggest challenge or problem or the most stressful situation in your life right now. Are we like Peter lifting that biggest challenge to God in prayer? It can be hard for us because many of us have been praying for ourselves, people and situations and they don’t resolve immediately, Our loved ones do not rise up healed and restored. Yet, we are called to step out in faith when we are faced with situations that seem too big for us and we are to seek God’s help and God is always there to help us.
In the name of God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen