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Recap. Acts 9:36-43 36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas ); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.
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Acts 9:36-4336 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.
38 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!” 39 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.
40 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. 41 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.
42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
“God does not shake miracles into Nature at random as if from a pepper caster. They come on great occasions. They are found at the great ganglions of history..” - C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis: in order to see trains passing by is to live near a railway.
Maybe we have positioned ourselves comfortably outside of the space where miracles happen. And maybe we've also placed ourselves where it's difficult for us to see them when they do.
This is not a narrative here in Acts 9 that fits within our worldview---we’ve adjusted our vision, our lives...
We are drawn toward healing and stories about healing because brokenness is such a part of our lives.
Peter travels to Lydda (ten miles inland from Joppa)Heals a man named Aenas among the “hagios”
Tabitha/Dorcas - what does her name mean?She is also called a “mathetria”
Peter says, “Tabitha, cumi!” In Greek the word is “anisthemi”
These women knew very little--except that their friend and patron was dead and they were hoping beyond hope that this man who was a witness to the Resurrection could change that.
Think about a person who created something special for you... What made it special?
She was an ordinary woman who believed following The Way meant that you lived differently.
Luke reminds us that the story of the Church isn’t always about the “Big Ticket” characters...
It's not always about apostles and preachers---not even always about those who walked and talked with Jesus.
Sometimes it's about ordinary people who live extraordinary lives. Ordinary people who aren't ordinary to God.
All of the doubts and the fears that fueled his fanaticism melt away in the face of the One who he knows deep in his heart has the answers to everything he is seeking to find.
N.T. Wright calls the Tabithas of the world---these ordinary miraculous people---"the beating heart of the people of God." They represent the new reality of God's kingdom.
What’s more miraculous in our American Idol, Celebrity Obsessed, Lottery-Winning culture?
"Here in this community no one stays in his or her place. Common fisherman are preaching to the Temple authorities, paralyzed old men are up walking about and changing lives, and a woman called "Gazelle" heads a welfare program among the poor widows of Joppa."
The Movement that Jesus started is moved every time God calls ordinary people (who are not ordinary to God) to live extraordinary lives...
Every time I look at the quilt, I remember the dress it came from & feel her beautiful spirit of love for me. It is indeed one of my most special gifts. She also made quilts for my girls. What a blessed girl I was to have such a grandma & to have her friends also share this with me. They were all my Sunday School teachers, VBS teachers, all had a part in my being the person I am today....
I have so many precious handmade gifts over the years, but a few years ago I gave my sister Kendra a bag of different yarn. Different colors etc. Not long after that much to my surprise she returned it to me in afghan form. She called it my REMEMBRANCE AFGHAN because I could remember each and every thing I had made with the yarn before giving it to her. Baby blankets, afghans, coat sleeves. It is very special to me.
...That night he gave it to me in front of the whole camp and thanked me for being a good camper. I still have this walking staff decades later and whenever I pull it out I get comments on what a cool and unique piece it is. It always brings back good camp memories...
My grandmother made me a quilt for my doll cradle when I was five. It now is on my granddaughter's doll cradle. My grandmother left me a legacy of love and strength. She faced problems head and helped me through one of the toughest times of my early life.
So right around the time I graduated from college and starting living on my own, my Mom made me a super-sized afghan more than 6 feet long. My Mom has been gone now for more than 25 years, but the afghan still warms my body and my heart knowing all the hours of love she poured into it.
The Movement that Jesus started is all about how God uses ordinary people who are not ordinary to God to live extraordinary lives... Which is miraculous.
Jesus needs some ordinary miracle makers for this movement of his. Are you ready for a miracle? Are you ready to be one?
