Tabitha

Good morning and welcome to another week of church here at the bridge. As always I am so glad that we are able to be here together.

Happy Mothers Day

Today is the day that we celebrate the mothers of our world. We take a little bit of time to celebrate and try to honor them.

I have been blessed with a wonderful mother who cared for me and my brothers and sister a lot. She did so much for us and continues to do a lot for us even now. One of the things that i love the most about my mother is her faith. I know that at any point i can call or text my mom with something and ask for prayer and I can be confident she will be praying for me. Let me tell you those are some powerful prayers. She might say otherwise but don’t let her fool you they are powerful.

I have also been blessed as a husband to see my wife be a mother. It is from this point of view that I get to experience a unique perspective of what it is to be a mother. I get to see her interact and be silly with my kids and love them in her own unique way. The connection that exists between them is amazing to witness at times. Even when it isn’t always going perfectly and life gets tough at the end of the day the kids want their mama. The love her and it blesses me to see that connection.

Than i got thinking about the women in my life who may not be a biological mother to me but became a mother to me.

Sue Baun, is this tiny wonderful women who attended the church i grew up in. She was a great blessing to me and my life. Growing up I struggled a lot in my faith and in life. Sue was my second mother. A women who cared and listened and was always there helping to guide and direct me in my life and spiritual journey. Sue didn’t have children of her own. Yet, Sue had a lot of children because she cared about so many as her own.

Let’s be honest we say this is mothers day but it really should be seen as a day to celebrate women. To celebrate what makes women so uniquely amazing. The caring, loving, kind, compassionate, considerate, and driving force of nature that God blessed men with. Women are a blessing that man needs to thank God for every day.

This mornings passage has one of those women in it and the amazing impact a women can have on our world. Turn with me to...

Acts 9:36–42 NIV

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. 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.

Tabitha

Now i have a confession. This passage used to make me laugh as a kid. I remember the first time I read verse 36 and saw Tabitha’s name, particularly her Greek name and my friends and I of course acted like typical young boys and had fun with the name Dorcas.

Putting that aside this is a story about an amazing women. A women that cared deeply for those around her. We don’t know a lot about who she was. Some speculate that she was a widow. There is also thoughts that she was a freed slave. It is also implied that she is a single person. Yet, while some of that information is intriguing it isn’t the real message of the story. The real power of who Tabitha was is in her work.

She cared for the widows in the Christian church.

She had a passion and a drive to minister to the women who had lost their husbands. She would sew clothes for the widows and cared for them on a regular basis. In fact it is often thought that she share a similar position to the seven mentioned in Acts 6.

She was so highly viewed that she was described as a disciple and one who exemplified the early church and what it was to be a follower of Jesus.

She was so loved that when she passed she was mourned greatly. The people knew that they lost a great person and they were saddened. This women was a mother and a powerful force for the church.

When we are Gone

For many of us I like to think that when we are gone one day we would love to have a funeral like Tabitha’s. A time where people are mourning your life. Now of course we don’t want people to be sad. If we are honest though we want to know that we had an impact on people’s lives. Tabitha had an impact on people’s lives. In fact, the fact that her Resurrection became known all over Joppa wasn’t just because she was resurrected (though that is a big part of it), it was big news because people knew who she was. People recognized the work that she did and knew that she was a follower of Jesus.

It is funny in a culture that didn’t look highly on women, there is a women that is so highly looked upon that the whole city was aware that she was gone. Than she was brought back and it was a moment that changed the city of Joppa. People who may not have believed before came to belief In God. I can only imagine that Tabitha was over joyed by this because the heart of why Tabitha lived was not for own personal gain but in service to God.

Tabitha Lived for God

If we are honest the real reason that Tabitha’s story is amazing is not because she wanted to be honored but because all the things she did because she was a follower of Christ. She lived her life as he wanted us to. Caring and showing love for those around us. She is a testament to the knowledge that God wants us to care for those around us. We are to love and to care for the people we encounter.

Tabitha reminds me of Sue. A women who cared deeply for anyone she encountered. Even though they weren’t her own children she loved and cared for them like they were her own.

It was because of this that Peter’s miracle is an amazing force to spread the word through out Joppa.

Temporary Relief

I though some more about his miracle and the Resurrection of Tabitha and i realized there is a problem with it. It was Temporary.

The truth is that Tabitha was brought back from the dead and that was a great miracle of the early church. It provided relief to the people of Joppa because their beloved women of faith was brought back to them. Yet, like others before her that were resurrected it was only temporary. Tabitha would eventually pass on from this life. Just like Lazarus and the young girl that Jesus brought back. They would one day also succumb to the grip of death. These moments brought only temporary relief from our earthly pain of death.

I kept thinking about this. How much longer did she live? If she devoted her life to Christ before this moment what was she life after? How many lives did she touch after that moment?

It was in these questions that I realized i may not ever get the answers. Yet, I realize that I already had the answer i really needed.

Live Like Tabitha

I realized that the heart of this passage wasn’t that she was brought back. It wasn’t even the miracle. Don’t get me wrong the miracle was amazing and a testament to the work of the Holy Spirit working through Peter. Yet, i can’t help but be drawn to the life of Tabitha. The way she lived. She lived life in a way that people were saddened because she was gone. Now i am sure some were because they weren’t sure how they would be cared for. Yet, I think about other people of faith in my life that when they have gone on are remembered. They are mourned because their faith had such an impact.

Tabitha’s faith was powerful and impact full.

Earlier we sang a song that i think sums it up so well.

Well the moral of the story is Everybody's got a purpose So when I hear that devil start talking to me saying "Who do you think you are?" I say

I'm just a nobody Trying to tell everybody All about Somebody Who saved my soul Ever since You rescued me You gave my heart a song to sing

I'm living for the world to see Nobody but Jesus I'm living for the world to see Nobody but Jesus

So let me go down, down, down in history As another blood-bought faithful member of a family And if they all forget my name, well that's fine with me I'm living for the world to see Nobody but Jesus

Tabitha lived her life like this. I guarantee that everything she did wasn’t for her glory but was to shine line on what Jesus had done for her. She lived her life like a nobody so that everybody could see who Jesus was.

This is why this morning i am thankful for the women in my life. The women who I know have shared faith with me in ways that wasn’t about glory for them but for the glory of God. Shining like a beacon pointing to the one who calls us to follow after him. Showing us the way forward in celebration of What God is doing in our lives.

Let us pray.