First Presbyterian Church of
100 North Hillcrest Boulevard
Telephone numbers: (310) 677-5133 Fax (310) 330-8342
Electronic mail: PRESBYTS@SBCGLOBAL.NET
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Rev. Suzanne M. Swartz
Acts 9:36-43
The book of Acts as chronicled by Luke teaches us
about the birth and growth of the church.
In the first eight chapters we read about the ministry and witness of
the apostles, especially that of the chief apostle, Peter. Last week, in Acts 9, we learned about Saul
of Tarsus, the great enemy of Jesus Christ, who went about seeking to destroy
the church. As he traveled to Damascus
to arrest Christians there, Saul was conquered and subdued by the mighty Lord
Jesus Christ and as a result of Saul’s conversion, the church throughout Judea,
Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace.
Soon the focus will be on Paul again, but for now Peter stands at center
stage. In Acts 9:32 Luke picks up
Peter’s activity again.
When we first read about Peter in the gospel
accounts, we notice right away that he was not a strong character. We know that Peter was a sinner. He denied Jesus three times. He once acknowledged, “I’m just a stupid
man.” But by the time we catch up to
Peter in today’s story, we find that through God’s working in his life, he was
now a true rock of a man. Enabled by the might of our Lord, Peter was now ready
to be beaten and maltreated, to spend and be spent, to suffer and to be killed,
all for the sake of his master, the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we last saw him in Acts 8:25, Peter, along with
John, was returning to Jerusalem, having preached the
gospel in many Samaritan villages. Acts 9:32 says that Peter was moving west to
the partially Gentile territory of the Mediterranean coast of Palestine,
specifically to the cities of Lydda and Joppa.
Peter was coming to the region to demonstrate the
power of the gospel to save sinners.
Despite the previous times of persecution by Saul and the Jews, the
gospel was making steady progress as it spread from Jerusalem to Judea,
Samaria, Galilee and beyond. Philip the Evangelist had visited this region
before.
Jesus had commissioned Peter and the other apostles
to go and preach the gospel beyond Jerusalem. Eventually, Peter came to Lydda, where he visited with the church there. In the Old Testament Lydda
was known as Lod. The ancient town of Lydda is about twenty-five miles west of Jerusalem and
about ten miles southeast of Joppa. Today Lydda is a
suburb of Tel Aviv. Peter came there as
Christ’s apostle not only to oversee the church, exercise authority over it,
and teach apostolic doctrine to it, but also to evangelize.
After Luke recorded Peter’s ministry in Lydda, he wrote of Peter’s ministry in Joppa. Until Herod
built a port in Caesarea, Israel had only one seaport--Joppa, or Jaffa--on the coastline from Egypt to Ptolemais.
Joppa was located ten miles northwest of Lydda. Today
it is also a suburb of Tel Aviv.
We are told in today’s passage that there was a
young woman in Joppa named Tabitha. Tabitha was a disciple who trusted in Jesus Christ and was
learning of him. She probably came to Christ through the evangelistic ministry
of Philip, as we read in Acts 8:40.
Many faithful witnesses were carrying on the
church’s work in many different quarters. As the text frequently points out,
the work of these disciples is in reality the work of the Spirit, who initiates
and guides these early followers of Christ.
But while the impulses originate with the Spirit, the sharing of the
great good news about Jesus is also accomplished by the willingness and
obedience of these selfless women and men who “belonged to the Way.” Tabitha was such a
woman.
Tabitha’s devotion to the cause of
helping other people, to say nothing of her discipleship, had apparently won
for her a leadership role in a circle of friends who had been the beneficiaries
of her generosity and who, in turn, had begun to reach out to assist others.
These “widows” almost surely constituted what amounted to a guild of persons
who provided charity to needy individuals in the name of Christ. That their sister was dead
brought forth genuine tears, not, as has sometimes been suggested, the tears of
hired mourners. The sorrow of
these faithful women, again, heightens the sense of urgency surrounding the
crisis.
In the Greek the name "Tabitha"
is "Dorcas," which means
"gazelle," or "beautiful."
This young girl was very beautiful, not only physically but also
morally. My mother used to say “pretty
is as pretty does” and in that respect, Tabitha was
very pretty.
She probably was a Christian woman of some means who
distributed her wealth for the welfare of the poor, especially the poor widows
of the church of Joppa, spending her time and resources making clothing for
them. Earlier in the book of Acts we read bout the apostles being full of the
Holy Ghost, full of faith, full of wisdom, and full of grace. Here we are told
about someone who was full of good works and almsgiving.
In fact, Tabitha was like
the Thessalonians of whom Paul spoke when he said, "We continually
remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor
prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus
Christ." This girl was fruitful. Tabitha was
abiding in her master, the Lord Jesus Christ, and this passage tells us she was
loaded with fruit.
Tabitha was not a lazy woman who
lived only for pleasure. She was like the woman described in Proverbs 31:17 and
20 who "sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her
tasks," and "opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands
to
the needy."
Tabitha was a great blessing to the
church of Joppa. She probably was not
married, as we are not told of a husband, parents, or children. Like the four
daughters of the evangelist Philip, Tabitha totally
immersed herself in serving the Lord, spending and being spent for his service. In her desire to be rich toward God in good
works, she invested her riches and her life in the kingdom of God. She found
complete and true happiness in her service to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In this story Tabitha
became ill and died. This was a great loss to the church, and probably a great
surprise. In other gospel accounts we read of the deaths of Jairus’
twelve-year-old daughter, of a young man who was the only son of a widow, and
of Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha. None of these were old people.
But we know Tabitha was
ready to die. Like Paul, Tabitha would say, "To
me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Like
Paul, she desired to depart and be with Christ. We know this because she had
lived to please the Lord and was rich in good works.
Tabitha died, but we are not told
she was anointed and wrapped in clothes for burial. Instead, the disciples
washed her body and put her in an upper room. Why? These saints in the church
of Joppa had heard about the mighty ministry of the apostle Peter in the nearby
town of Lydda and thought maybe God could perform a
miracle for them as he had in Lydda. They wanted the
apostle to come and comfort them, and were probably hoping he could raise Tabitha from the dead.
So they sent two people to bring Peter from Lydda
to Joppa.
Remember when Jesus was told of the sickness of
Lazarus? He stayed where he was a few
more days and came to Bethany only after Lazarus’ death and burial. But, unlike
Jesus, Peter came immediately to Joppa and went to the upper room where he saw
the widows who had benefited so much from Tabitha’s
labors. They were all weeping, and they said to Peter, "Look at all these
clothes Tabitha made for us. She loved us and helped
us so much, spending her time and money for us. We benefited so much from this
sister, and now she is no longer with us. Peter, can you comfort us?"
Peter sent all the people out of the room, closed the door and knelt to pray,
alone with the dead body.
What do you think Peter was thinking as he prayed? I
am sure he was remembering when he, together with the other apostles, was sent
by the Lord Jesus Christ with authority to heal the sick and to raise the
dead. I am sure he also remembered the
miracle Jesus performed when he raised Jairus’s
daughter. The twelve-year-old girl had just died when Jesus came, so she was
not washed, anointed or wrapped in clothes. Jesus came in and said to her,
"Talitha, cumi!"
meaning "My child, arise!" and she got up. I am sure Peter also remembered the time
Jesus and his disciples saw the body of the young man from Nain
being taken outside the city for burial. This man was washed, anointed and
wrapped in clothing, about to be buried. But Jesus said to the young man,
"Young man, I say to you, get up!" and he
got up. No doubt Peter also remembered
how Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus on the fourth day after he was buried.
Lazarus’ body was decomposing by this time, but Jesus said, "Lazarus, come
forth!" and Lazarus came forth, fully restored to life and health.
But Peter was also remembering a miracle greater
than these others. Peter remembered how Jesus was crucified and buried, yet on
the third day he rose from the dead. Jesus’ body did not decay in the grave,
but was transformed into a spiritual body.
The door was closed, there was a dead body, and
Peter was alone on his knees. But he
was not really alone. Peter saw God Almighty and prayed to him. And the Spirit
of God gave him the confidence that it was God’s will to raise this young woman
from the dead. So Peter turned, looked
at the dead body and spoke to it: "Tabitha, cumi!" or "Tabitha,
arise!" We are told that when Peter spoke, Tabitha
opened her eyes, saw Peter and sat up. Peter gave her his hand, lifted her up,
and she stood.
Oh, what a mighty God we serve! When Tabitha had died, her spirit had gone straight into the
presence of God. But when Peter prayed and commanded her to get up, Tabitha’s spirit was sent back from heaven. It instantly
entered her body and she was alive again.
In this instance Peter prayed, and God said to Tabitha’s
spirit, "I want you to go back into your body." The spirit obeyed,
and Tabitha was made alive again.
In God’s will Tabitha came back to life so that she could continue to serve the
saints of the church. What was the result of bringing Tabitha
to life again? The text tells us "many people believed in the Lord."
This is the greatest miracle. The eyes of many were opened. They were delivered
from the power and slavery of Satan and brought into the kingdom of God.
Let me challenge you to be like Tabitha,
a person full of good works. This woman’s purpose in life was to please God and
others rather than herself, and she found great joy and fulfillment in doing
that. Not only that, she was ready to die at any time, having
made her desire to please God in every aspect of her life. May God give
you wisdom and grace to live likewise for the glory of God, and to fill your
life with good works.
Even today I bring you this Good News: Jesus Christ heals you. So, arise, and take
care of yourself! Be useful and helpful. All these years
people have taken care of you, but now, arise and do your holy work! Serve God
and his people! Live for God by his might and by his power!
To our youth I have this to say: the Lord Jesus Christ rules the universe and
is involved in your life right now. He is so near to you. He understands you. He knows your misery,
helplessness, weakness, troubles, depression, fear, and anxiety. He will
provide for you, save you, keep you, protect you, and bear you up in his
almighty hands. Yes, Jesus Christ is in heaven, but he is also with us by his
Spirit, and he will be with us even to the end of the age. So, arise, and take
care of yourselves. Be useful to God and
to others. Begin to do good works and bring glory to God!
Your Good Works may take the form of being a good
student; maybe getting A’s and B’s and becoming well educated is your priority
and goal. That is a commendable and
admirable thing and we are proud of your efforts and are here to support and
encourage you. Or your Good Works may be
working -- becoming the best employee you can be and learning to be a reliable,
productive member of society. This too
is wonderful and God is truly smiling on your endeavors. Perhaps your Good Works involve working with
children, providing child care to youngsters or being someone’s Big Brother or
Sister. Whatever it is that you are
doing right now, God is using you. You
are important. You are vital. You are a child of God, made in his image,
and placed on earth for a reason and a purpose.
Find your reason and purpose.
Our youth are the future of this Church in Inglewood
and the larger church universal. On this
youth Sunday it is my privilege to preach to you and tell you how valued and
valuable you really are to all of us. My
challenge to each of you is to search your hearts... pray daily and ask
yourself this question, “what can I do to serve my church?” You don’t have to be an Edith Evans, our very
own “Dorcas,” who told me last Sunday that she has
made between 4400 and 5000 baby blankets in her lifetime. We have dedicated some of them during our
worship services. Edith is truly doing
her Holy Work with every stitch of every blanket she knits. But not everyone is a gifted seamstress or
tailor. But there are other types of Holy
Work. You can walk in the upcoming Crop
Walk. You can participate in our Habitat
for Humanity build in Santa Monica later this year. You can volunteer to assist with Vacation
Bible School. You can volunteer to
assist Jay Stabler with the sandwich ministry, or Liz Stabler at the
Center for Lupus Care. The Music and
Worship Team is looking for interested youth and youth adults to be trained on
our sound system. If your interests lie
in the area of sound technology, please let us know. You can come early to help prepare the
sanctuary for worship on Sunday mornings.
You can serve as Elders or Deacons, participating in the governing of
our church. You could even go to seminary
if you wanted! There is absolutely
nothing you cannot do with God’s help and the support and encouragement of your
church family.
I am very happy to be able to announce that we are
revitalizing our youth and young adults’ ministry here at FPC Inglewood. On May 20, we will begin what will be a twice
a month youth and young adult gathering.
On that day those who choose to will have an opportunity to leave the
worship service after the passing of the peace and convene in the Jonathan
Lounge for our own Sunday School and Worship
experience which I am excited to lead.
Our second meeting will be on June 3 following worship. On that day the Youth Advisory Committee will
host a meet and greet with the youth and young adults, and we will be
brainstorming activities and events for the group to participate in throughout
the remainder of the year and into next year.
I hope that if you are a youth or young adult and consider this your
church home, you will make it a priority to attend one
or both of these events. And bring your
friends! Invite someone new to come join
you! Together we can do Holy Work, just
like that done by Tabitha, and be blessed by God in
the process.
Like Tabitha, trust in
Jesus Christ and learn about him.
Like Tabitha, exhibit the
willingness and obedience of these selfless women and
men
who “belonged to the Way.”
Like Tabitha, be devoted
to the cause of helping other people.
Like Tabitha, be fruitful
and abide in your master.
Like Tabitha, invest your
riches and your life in the kingdom of God.
Like Tabitha, you will
find complete and true happiness in your service to the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen!