God's Story of Women

As we come into this time of reflection and contemplation on what the scripture we have before us today might mean for us as 21st Century Christians, I am struck by two things…first, it is Mother’s Day and we have a story from the book of Acts which describes a pillar of the community being raised from the dead and secondly, the fact that this pillar of the community happens to be a woman. A little bit of a historical reminder for us that in this binary society of ancient Rome and the very first Christians, the fact that Peter raised Tabitha from the dead would have gone against everything that people believed. First, Tabitha was a woman, and not just a woman but a widow who managed to fend for herself by making clothing for others. Tabitha might not have had any way to support herself, yet here she is described as caring more about others than herself.

For some of us, it might be very easy to relate since we have just lost someone very much like Tabitha from our own midst here in this place and community. As I read this passage this week, i could not help but substitute Tabitha’s name with Darlene’s. I struggled with what to say because I could not help but reflect on what we have lost from our family here. So, I am going to try to move us beyond the act itself and into what this miracle that Peter performed did to advance the knowledge of Jesus and his life into a world that did not know Jesus at all, so that we can take some comfort and use this story to push us into the future because Tabitha’s story, much like Darlene’s, will continue and live on as long as we continue to use them as inspiration and motivation to move forward. With me on this?

Women in the early church community

So let’s spend some time talking about the role of women in the early church communities…and some of you might empathize or even know about some of these things by living out the fight for equality today. We have often heard it said that the Bible restricts the role of women in Biblical society and therefore we should do the same. Now, before you start throwing things at me, I give you this thought…women are the pillars of our faith and I believe that men of the first century, second century, and even today have it all wrong. We often read the passages from the Epistles and even some of the book of Acts and cringe at how women are told to remain silent in church, not hold positions of authority, or that they could not even barter or trade for their clothing and food, two of the most important needs in life.

For us today, it is hard to hear that women were treated in this way but I want us to consider, this thought over the coming moments…are women treated any differently today? Do women have any more respect than the women of Tabitha’s time? Don’t get me wrong, there have been some advancements in the consideration of women in society but in all honesty, we are so not there yet. Women are still discriminated against in the workplace, they still have to fight for equal pay for equal work, and when it comes to our moms, I often wonder if they get the full respect they deserve for all they have to put up with from their children.

I want to say this, we have some great examples of women of the faith who have been given prominence in our Biblical history but they also provide, what I think are great examples of how to live out faith…so let’s look at a few women of our faith history that provide these examples...

Ruth

Many of us know the story of Ruth…her mother-in-law Naomi was looking for family to redeem her so that she would not become an outcast in her society after losing her husband and two sons and so she tries to send off her two daughters-in-law. While one does leave her to be redeemed by her father, the other, Ruth, swears an oath to Naomi to stand beside her no matter what saying, “Where you go, I go. Where you stay, I stay.” Because of Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi, we have the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Hannah

Then we have Hannah. Hannah was married to an extremely devout Israelite but was unable to give him children. After praying in the Temple day and night about having a child, a son more specifically, she swears an oath to God that if God allowed her to have a son, she would dedicate that son to God and to God’s service all the days of his life. And so, God answers her prayer and gives her a child whom she names, Samuel. We know from the study that we did last summer together, Samuel is the one who anoints David king of the Israelites and again, without Samuel, we have no Jesus Christ as Jesus comes in the lineage of King David and from King David receives the throne of God.

Elizabeth

Moving into the New Testament, we cannot speak of New Testament women of the faith without mentioning Elizabeth. Elizabeth, like one of her ancestors of the faith, could not bear a child. Her husband, who happened to be a Temple attendant, and she prayed for a son. When they were told that they would bear a child in their old age, Zechariah was struck with an affliction of not being able to speak because he doubted God’s promise to them. Elizabeth, however, never lost faith and held onto what God promised and because of this, she was blessed with a son, John the Baptist, who came before Jesus and told the whole of the Judean countryside about the one who would come to save us all from our sins.

Tabitha

And that leads us to our story for today. Now, these are not all the women of the Bible who have had a significant influence in the lives of those with whom they were surrounded but rather just a small sample of who we can look to to provide us with insight into how God has used women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and backgrounds to bring about the story of our faith. Tabitha is one of those women that if you are reading along, you might just check off as another person who received a miracle. However, I want for us to consider this morning, some of those details that we might ordinarily gloss over.

Here are a few things we might read and just kind of gloss over...

Acts 9:36 NIV

In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.

Next, we are told...

Acts 9:38 NIV

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!”

Last piece before we unpack some of this for today...

Acts 9:39 NIV

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.

Let’s unpack these three things just a bit…first we are told that Tabitha did good things and helped the poor. Now, I ask you, how many times are we told this about a person in the Biblical stories? I can tell you from the search I did on the entire Bible, there are no other references to one individual who was “doing good”. So what does this tell us…first and foremost, Tabitha must have been well liked and respected in Joppa. She had to have had some influence in the society of that port town. The things she did must have been extravagant and well received. Since we do not know all the details, we have to make the inference that whatever she was doing, people took notice, because in the next piece I highlighted, there were two men who were sent to get Peter to help Tabitha.

This also tells us that she was not only influential but must have held a position of authority in that society. The main piece of the Biblical story places women subservient to men. This just does not seem to be the case with Tabitha. She is well known, well liked, and much respected. If she was not, we would be hard-pressed to find stories about her in the Bible. Like the other women I mentioned, her story holds something for us in our story or we would not have it presented for us today.

In the final piece, I am going to make the leap that Peter knew the people of Joppa or at least knew who Tabitha was and what she meant to the people of Joppa. If he had not, would he have left immediately in haste to go see her? Think about it…regardless as to how we view Peter through the lenses of our lives, Peter was THE DISCIPLE. I mean, Jesus leaned on him the most in his life. Peter was the one that Jesus told to feed his sheep. Peter was the one that Jesus went to for many important events and here, in this story, he is racing off from Lydda to Joppa to help people who may not yet have believed strongly or at all. And when he arrived, he is presented with a woman who has died but has done so many things to show the love of God in Christ Jesus. These are things that women were not taught to do and yet, here is Tabitha doing these things to show love and respect to all.

What does God require?

God does not specifically say what we are to do in our lives. For some of us, we hear God’s voice very easily and listen intently to what God asks of us to do. Others of us hear God’s voice on occasion and then do our best to make God’s instructions a reality. There are probably more of us who listen and listen and listen to hear God’s voice but struggle to hear it. I believe that God does speak to us in many different ways. God’s voice is in the sunsets that take our breath away. God’s voice is in the fluttering of a humming bird’s wings as they float from flower to flower looking for nectar. God’s voice is in the love that is shown to us from our mothers from the day we are born until the day we or they take our or their last breath. God’s voice is in all who stand before us and do the things that make others smile. This is what I think of when I think about my mom. Moms don’t always have to say what is in their hearts, they just show it.

This story, Tabitha’s story, is a story about restoration and love. It is a story of how simple things we do can make a huge difference in society and the way people view that society. Women have always been leaders of our faith and that is no different today. Many of the people that I have looked up to and tried to emulate, my mentors in my faith, have been the women I continue to turn to when I need advice or to hear God’s voice in the present. So what does God require of us…to listen and to look to the women in our own lives who have taught us more than we will ever know because truly they are the incarnation of God in our lives of today...

Prayer

Let Us Pray…God, you have given us so many wonderful women to lead us and guide us and provide for us. Help us to protect and respect all that they are and who they are in your eyes. Bless all the women in our lives to be like Tabitha to us, Amen.