Sermon 4th Sunday of Easter April 25, 2010 Nancy Meehan Yao
Acts 9:36-43
36Now 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.
I love this story. I love it because Dorcas is described using the feminine form of the word for “disciple”. And to the people who say that women did not have leadership roles in the early church, who say that women should not preach or teach, I say “have you met Dorcas?”
I love this story because it reminds me of my grandmother, who was widowed at a young age, and worked in the shirt factories in Troy, bent over a sewing machine all day, and then came home and sewed for her 11 grandchildren. She made my prom dress—I still have some of that fabric, made into a quilt. So I know what it is when someone sews for you out of love.
I love this story because it is so well crafted- only 6 verses, and yet the whole story is told.
I love this story because it reminds us of so many other stories- it reminds us of Elijah and the son of the widow of Nain, how that boy was restored to life, and it reminds us of the story of Elisha, in 2 Kings, bringing back the son of the Shunammite woman. It reminds us of Jesus, and the story of Jairus’ daughter. Remember, Jairus’ daughter had died, and Jesus went in to her, saying to Jairus’ “do not doubt, only believe” - and then Jesus took the girls’ hand, and said Talitha, cumi- that is, little girl, get up- and she did. It reminds us of Lazarus, restored to life, coming out of the tomb after three days. And it reminds us especially of Jesus, and his resurrection. In fact, the same word is used of Dorcas as is Jesus- that she was “raised up” .
I love this story because it gives me hope—
Anne Lamott writes about being a recovering addict and alcoholic in San Francisco. Newly in recovery, she was too skittery to be around people- and yet she heard these voices—these gorgeous, beautiful voices, from the windows of a church near where she lived—a Presbyterian church, I might add. And she was so shaky, so near to death, that she could not bring herself to go in. She would stand outside and listen, at first. And then, gradually, she eased in to the back, to sit on a folding chair- but only for the music- and she would leave before she had to talk to anybody else- the back row is good for a quick get away like that. But, eventually, she began to stay. And when, as a recovering alcoholic, she announced that she was pregnant, that she was about to be an unwed mother, the community surrounded her with love. These women, many of them widows and unwed mothers,. Many of them who knew about sorrow, with children in jail, or children who were alcoholics and addicts themselves, embraced her with love. And then, like Dorcas, “they devoted themselves to charity and good works.” These women who had so little would hug her- and slip some money into her pockets. Stealthily- without saying anything. One woman, who couldn’t afford any more, would save up her change, and put it in plastic baggies, and tie it tight with a twist tie, and give it to Anne. Anne writes that even after she began to be doing better, to begin making money with her writing, to be longer and longer in recovery, they would still slip her change in little twist tie baggies. Because it was what they could do. It was hope for Anne, and the baby, bound up in little packages.
But here’s what I struggle with. Dorcas, restored to life, will eventually die. And I know that there are people here today who have loved ones who have died, or who are ill. What do we do with this story? How are we to understand it- are we to think that miracles happened only in the old days, and the age of miracles has closed?
This story is written, in part, to show that even though Jesus has ascended, even though Jesus is no longer on earth, that miracles still happen. This story is about the power of God for restoration and life.
Earlier this morning, we read Psalm 23 all together. This Psalm is used often at funeral services. In fact, when families don’t know what to choose, don’t know any other scripture; this is the one they pick. “Yeah tho I walk thru the valley of the shadow of death” its says “I will fear no evil”. I will not fear evil for thou art with me, in the words of the Kings James version. I will not fear evil because Jesus has won a decisive victory over sin and death. Death does not have the last word.
The church stands at the intersection of memory and hope. We remember the stories- the stories of Dorcas, and Lazarus, and Jesus. And we tell those stories. When we baptized little Kyle Malecki two weeks ago, we said “you do not know these stories yet. But we will tell them to you until they are your own”. I take that pledge very seriously.
Last week we talked about vocation, as what God calls you to do. For Dorcas, God called her to show the love of God by caring for others, by sewing clothes for the widows. For the widow at Anne Lamott’s church, God’s love was shown in helping an unwed mother, and in singing and telling those stories. For us, the church, part of our vocation is to tell these stories- to ourselves, and to the next generations. To tell the stories of Dorcas, who devoted herself to charity, and the Good Shepherd, who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death. To speak of our memories, of where we have seen God at work, bringing life, and to speak of our hope, in Jesus Christ.
We remember those we love, and those we have lost, we remember the story of Dorcas, but we also remember Christ- who overcame sin and death for us. We remember the 23rd Psalm- and we look forward in hope to the one who leads us in the paths of righteousness, the one who is The Good News himself.
The story of Dorcas is a sign to us. A sign of hope. A sign that in Christ, death does not have the final word. We do walk thru the valley of the shadow of death, but we do not have fear. Because Christ has died, and rose, and brings new life. Alleluia- Amen.
