Tabitha, get up

Acts 9: 36-43, NT page 128 Now 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. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since 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.” So 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. Peter 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. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner. Sermon In our second year of seminary my friend Fred and I, like all our classmates, were required to spend ten hours a week as chaplains-in-training at local hospitals. This was a difficult job because we didn’t know what we were doing, but still we were asked to knock on hospital doors, asking if the patients inside would like to talk or pray with a chaplain. Some didn’t have any interest, but many people did, and mostly those who did just wanted someone to sit and talk – it’s easy to forget that so many who stay at the hospital don’t have anyone to visit them. Others would ask us to pray, which we were more than happy to do having been trained in how to pray, but there was one occasion when my friend Fred truly had no idea what to do. My friend Fred was assigned to the Intensive Care Unit. He knocked on the door to a patient’s room, was invited in by the patient’s wife, and immediately noticed that the patient was dead, which presented a challenge for Fred – for as he made his way into the room the patient’s wife asked Fred to raise her husband from the dead. Let me remind you that Fred was in his second year of seminary and didn’t really know what he was doing. It seems to me that Peter finds himself in essentially the same position. He had seen Jesus raise people from the dead – he had even see Jesus raise himself from the dead – but seeing Jesus do something and doing it yourself, those are two very different things. And just as Fred walked into a room and was asked to do something he never imagined he would be asked to do, so Peter is brought to the bedside of Tabitha, though never does anyone tell him that he’s being brought there because Tabitha is dead. These widows know what they want from Peter however, and they do not anoint her body for burial with oils and spices, nor do they put on a shroud – instead they wash her and put her upstairs as though soon enough everything would be back to normal. Then Peter arrived, 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.” Then – only then - did Peter know what they expected of him. Not some measly prayer. Not some comforting words. Peter was being asked to raise this woman from the dead and I imagine that what they expected of Peter in this moment was far more than he expected of himself. He could not have been ready, but I don’t suppose we ever are. The baby is born and suddenly finding enough time to take a shower seems completely impossible. She won’t sleep, she won’t eat, and every time you put her down she cries. Were you ready for that? Certainly she expects you to be. Or maybe it’s that one day he was here and could help you – you had him to cut the grass, file your taxes, and make you feel secure. Only one day he’s here and the next day he’s gone and all of a sudden you are the one who has to take care of everything and you have to do it all by yourself. Were you ready for that? Certainly he hopes that you are. “Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed” – of course he did. He was being asked to do more than he thought he was capable of – but what else could he do – these women believed in him, they were counting on him, they had expectations of him, just like Jesus. Very early on, as we are introduced to Peter in the Gospels, he is given a new name and Christ tells him that he will be called “Peter,” which means rock, because he will be the rock that the Church is founded on. Later he was invited to walk on water out on the sea. Christ knew he could do it but Peter didn’t and because of Peter’s doubts he sinks right down. And then after he is crucified, Peter who swore that he would never deny Christ denies him three times, as though who Jesus thinks he is and who he actually is are two different people. Jesus however, never stops believing in him, just as he never stops believing in you. Today is Confirmation Sunday, and what will soon be asked of the five young men and women who will join the church is surely too much. Maybe that’s what you think; that surely it is too much to ask for you to take seriously your membership here at this church – you’re too young, you’re too busy, you’re not prepared. The world teaches us all that we can’t, so while Kindergarten classrooms are filled with children, every one of them aspires to be a doctor and at the same time, a professional baseball player, all of them considers himself a musician because he can play the tambourine, all of them an artist because she made a mosaic turtle out of dried beans, sooner or later though doubt creeps in, and by 9th grade you’re so convinced that you aren’t good enough you’ve forgotten who you are – so convinced that the classmates who criticize you have it right, and anyone who believes in you just must not know what he’s talking about. “I’m not good enough, surely,” we are all bold to say, but do not be so sure that who the world has told you you are, who you yourself thinks you are, is who you actually are. I was proud to receive a vase last week from Mrs. Wanda Turner – two beautiful flowers and a handwritten card with the words: “You are not who you think you are, but who Jesus thinks you are.” Does not Jesus know you better than you know yourself, and did not those women who called Peter to the bedside of Dorcas know what he was capable of better than Peter himself knew? Wesley Baxter, Ashtron Garman, Lexie Pulliam, Andrew Hanvy, Kara Potts - Today this church only asks of you what we already know you are capable of. We ask you to stand beside us in worship honoring God, to help us make decisions during congregational meetings, trusting you to govern this church as full voting members. And we ask you to use your voice, to challenge this church – calling any part of us that is dead back to life. Peter turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” Now I’m not saying you have the power to raise the dead, but I’m not saying you don’t either. Speak, and by the power of your words who knows what will be possible? Amen.