Get Up

A lot of “Getting Up”

*** The paragraph just before our text today is a healing, the Healing of Aeneas (pron: ih-Nee-us)

Acts 9:33–34 NRSV

There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years, for he was paralyzed. Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed!” And immediately he got up.

Acts 9:38–39 NRSV

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.

Acts 9:40–41 NRSV

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.

Sometimes we “Get up” because we believe the work of God awaits

Sometimes we “Get up” because the power of God is at work, without which we could not stand

*** Photo: Armenian earthquake

The 1989 Armenian earthquake needed only four minutes to flatten the nation and kill thirty thousand people. In his book, “When Christ Comes,” Max Lucado recounts a true story that came after that horrific earthquake. Moments after the deadly tremor ceased, a father raced to an elementary school to save his son. When he arrived, he saw that the building had been leveled. Looking at the mass of stones and rubble, he remembered a promise he had made to his child: “No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you.” Driven by his own promise, he found the area closest to his son’s room and began to pull back the rocks. Other parents arrived and began sobbing for their children. “It’s too late,” they told the man. “You know they are dead. You can’t help.” Even a police officer encouraged him to give up his task. But the father refused. For eight hours, then sixteen, then thirty-two, thirty-six hours he dug. His hands were raw and his energy gone, but he refused to quit. Finally, after thirty-eight wrenching hours, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son’s voice. He called his boy’s name, “Arman! Arman!” And a voice answered him, “Dad, it’s me!” Then the boy added these priceless words, “I told the other kids not to worry. I told them if you were alive, you’d save me, and when you saved me, they’d be saved, too. Because you promised, ‘No matter what, I’ll always be there for you.’”

Sometimes we “Get up” because we believe the work of God awaits

Sometimes we “Get up” because the power of God is at work, without which we could not stand

Joppa

*** Map showing Lydda & Joppa

Acts 9:38 NRSV

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.”

Joppa in Jonah

Joppa in Acts

Jonah 1:3 NRSV

But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

*** Photo: Jonah being vomited up by the fish

Joppa is the place Jonah resists preaching to the Gentiles, going so far as to take a ship to the far western edge of the Mediterranean Sea

Joppa is the place where Peter comes to terms with Christianity’s invitation to the Gentiles

Acts 10:5–6 NRSV

Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside.”

Acts 10:9–10 NRSV

About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance.

Tabitha / Dorcas

A generous and beloved woman

Acts 9:36 NRSV

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.

Acts 9:39 NRSV

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.

*** Image of Peter and Tabitha

Continuing Jesus’s Ministry

A short report of a healing in Lydda (9.32-35)

A medium length report of Tabitha’s raising at Joppa (9.36-43)

A lengthy description of Peter’s vision at Joppa, which concludes with a trip to the generous centurion in Caesarea where the Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 10)

Get up!