Acts 9: April 17, 2016 MIRACLES AND FAITH

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1 Acts 9: April 17, 2016 MIRACLES AND FAITH As I read today's Scripture lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, and as I meditated on it in preparation for this sermon, one of my first thoughts was, Only the good die young. Here was a nice Christian woman named Tabitha, one of those goodhearted, self-giving saints that the world seems to produce too few of. What a beautiful spirit she must have had, because Luke wrote of her in his book of Acts, She was full of good works and of charity." This Tabitha may very well have been appointed by the early church to care for widows, a very poor and helpless group back then in ancient Palestine. If so, she was like a Mother Teresa of her time: a person who devoted herself totally to helping and ministering to the poverty-stricken and others in need. You would think that God would watch over such a special person, care for her, protect her and keep her from any harm, because Tabitha was a great asset to the building up of God's Kingdom on earth; someone who was genuinely committed to the cause of Christian service and ministry. But sadly, as I said moments ago, it seems like only the good die young. As happens all too frequently, the evil and dangerous individuals seem to keep on going and going like the Energizer Bunny, while those who are special, who are caring and compassionate and giving, are often taken from us much too soon. This was the case with the kindly, charitable Tabitha. She fell sick and died. The people whom she cared for were devastated, grief-struck. It wasn't fair! Why had someone as sweet and loving as Tabitha been taken away? She was a wonderful servant of Christ. What a terrible tragedy and painful loss her death was to the people she ministered to, and to the Christian church, as well. I m sure there were some people in Joppa who, when they learned of Tabitha's death, cried out in their grief and pain, "Why, God? Why Tabitha? Why did she have to die?" The apostle Peter was in the neighboring town of Lydda at the time Tabitha died. So the disciples at Joppa sent an urgent message to him, begging him to come immediately. When Peter arrived, he found Tabitha's body already prepared for burial, and laid out in an upper chamber. She was

2 surrounded by the grieving recipients of her charity and care. The widows lovingly showed Peter some of Tabitha's handiwork: tunics and other garments they had been given by her. Those widows clearly held Tabitha in very high and affectionate esteem. Then Peter did something unexpected. He told everyone to leave the room, and then he knelt and prayed but not for Tabitha s soul, or for comfort for those who grieved her death. Rather, Peter prayed for Tabitha to be restored to life. And after praying, Peter turned to the body and said, Tabitha, rise. Imagine going to a funeral home, to the visiting hours of someone you know who died, and seeing someone do what Peter did. You watch as they fall to their knees in front of the casket to pray, and then they order the deceased to get up. Joe, rise! Mary, climb out of that coffin right now! It s hard to say whether we would feel more confused, shocked or outraged if that happened. Had anyone had been listening outside that room and overheard Peter's command to Tabitha's corpse, they surely would've thought what we would think if we witnessed such an event: he's lost his mind. After all, only the Lord himself is able to raise the dead to life again. Only Jesus could bring Tabitha back. Which is, of course, the very point of this story. The risen Christ was present with Peter, and with that small band of Christians in Joppa. Christ was present among those who were grieving over Tabitha's tragic death. Peter knew that; he believed it with his whole heart. Which is why he could so boldly command Tabitha to rise up the way he did. Peter's faith is also why, at his command, the once dead Tabitha opened her eyes and sat up. When she did, Peter reached out his hand to her as if to say, Come, Tabitha, there are some people here who are anxious to see you. Tabitha took Peter's hand and stood up. Then the apostle called the grieving and sorrowing people back into the room to greet a very much alive Tabitha. Luke followed up this amazing story by declaring, "Many believed in the Lord. Yes, many believed because of this incredible incident, the news of which spread throughout all of Joppa. This is a wonderful and thrilling story, to be sure. But I think we can be forgiven if we question as some of us are probably doing right now just how real and relevant this story is for us today, in After all, such incidents of God raising people from the dead the way Tabitha was raised certainly don t happen these days, unless perhaps we happen to be flipping through a tabloid 2

3 newspaper while waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store. So, does this story have any significance for us in this modern day and age? And if the answer is yes, what is it? I believe this story does have significance for us today. The most significant thing is what it reveals to us about God. And what it reveals is that ours is a God of resurrection, a God who can and does restore the dead to life if not in this world, then surely in the world to come. And that would confirm what Jesus once told the religious leaders: that our God is a God of the living, not the dead. You know, one of the Bibles I use for preparing my sermons entitles today s reading from Acts, "Peter Restores Tabitha." But for me that's not completely accurate, because Peter didn't restore Tabitha to life. God did. Only God can bring life out of death. Only God is able to gain the upper hand over the grave. So, this whole story has much less to do with Peter and a whole lot to do with God. Peter was an instrument of God's power; but the restoration of Tabitha to life was God's doing, and God's alone. And the whole point of this story of the miraculous restoration of Tabitha is to instill or deepen our faith in the God who has absolute power over death. That's a very important point: a true miracle always points to something greater than itself. That is to say, it points to the doer of the miracle, God, and invites a response of faith, trust and belief in God. Miracles and belief go hand in hand, because a miracle's only purpose is to bring people to belief, faith and trust in the God who made the miracle happen. The true significance of Tabitha's restoration to life wasn t Peter s act of raising her up, but the belief that resulted from it. If Tabitha coming back to life again had failed to instill or deepen faith in God, it would have been a failed miracle. You see, as dramatic and amazing as Tabitha's restoration to life was, it was only a temporary thing. Tabitha was going to die again one day, so when you get right down to it, all Peter s miracle did was buy a little time for her until the grave claimed her again. The real power of Peter s miracle came when the people who were there had their faith restored in the God who not only gives us life, and can give us our lives back, but can also give us eternal life as well. So, again let me emphasize that a miracle is never done for its own sake, but is done so that the people who witness it will come to believe and have faith in the God who performed the miracle. And by the way, we can say that about Jesus resurrection, too. God raised Christ from the dead, not 3

4 to show off or just because God could, but so that we would come to believe and trust in the God who raised Christ up. With that as a measuring rod for determining the success or failure of a miracle, we can conclude that Peter's restoration of Tabitha to life was a resounding and complete success. At this point in my sermon I'd like to hold up something for your consideration food for thought, if you will. If the aim and purpose of all miracles is to instill or deepen faith in God, then it would seem to follow that all faith in God can be traced back to a miracle of some sort. Probably not a grand miracle on the scale of someone being raised from the dead like Tabitha was. No, I'm referring to the smaller, less dramatic and glorious but much more common miracles that go on all the time, by which God intervenes in our lives or in the world around us and makes God s self known, and leads people to believe or to have their faith deepened, strengthened or restored. So let me ask you, what little miracles lie at the heart of your faith? If you took your belief in God and traced it as far back as you could, all the way to its origin, what act of God sparked it? What has God done over the years to strengthen, reinforce or rekindle your belief while you ve been on your journey of faith? What s the latest miracle or act of God that happened in your life? How has God intervened or made God s self known to you recently and affirmed and deepened your trust in God s benevolent care? If you can't recall any recent miracles from God in your life, could it be that you aren't looking closely enough? What about the small acts of kindness and compassion you have received; or the little "coincidences," or God winks, as they re sometimes called, that happened right when you needed something very badly and it was unexpectedly provided to you? Such small miracles aren't as obvious or amazing as someone being raised from the dead the way Tabitha was, but faith still can be generated and deepened because of them just the same. Personally, I don t believe for a moment that God has stopped intervening and acting in people's lives today. And those divine actions and interventions can be revealed to us if we look for them with eyes of faith, or listen with ears of faith to God s still, small voice speaking, or feel God s presence stirring within us with hearts of faith. And every time we sense or catch a glimpse of God s presence and activity, no matter how subtle or low-key it is, it can instill brand new faith or strengthen and deepen the faith that s already in us. A number of years ago I read a devotion from the Upper Room magazine, and it struck me enough that I held on to it. It was written by 4

5 Terry Clarke, who lived in Kentucky. I want to share it with you, in Terry s words. Recently my parents were talking with me about the rising cost of health care and its effect on my father s disability retirement pension. Concerned, I asked how they were going to meet their needs if they faced another medical emergency. My mother, who has remained strong through many waves of adversity, answered my question by recounting a memory from her childhood. She was a child of the Great Depression of the 1930s and she grew up very poor. Mom told of a summer at the height of her family s poverty, when for some unexplainable reason a chicken began to come to their yard every morning to lay an egg. Afterward the chicken would leave, only to return the following morning to lay another egg. My mother said to me, That egg not only helped meet my family s physical needs, but for me it was a sign that God was watching over us. A hen laying a single egg a day probably isn t equivalent to raising someone from the dead. And yet, you could say it was just as great a miracle because it accomplished the very same thing: just like Tabitha being restored to life by Peter instilled and deepened faith in the hearts of those people in Joppa, an egg-laying hen instilled and deepened faith in God in the hearts of a poor family that at times didn t know where their next meal was coming from. No, I don t believe God has stopped performing miracles. In fact, I believe God's miracles happen every day. God is present and at work in the world around us, and in each of our lives. And if we don t see those miracles of God being performed, it may be that we've just stopped looking, stopped noticing, and stopped remembering the past miracles that have kindled and sustained our faith over the years. We may never see someone being raised from the dead the way Tabitha was; but even so, we can still bear witness to miracles. We can still know God's presence and activity in small but potent ways. We can believe and trust in the Lord as strongly as the people in Joppa did. And we can have faith that our God can bring life out of death, and that one day we will know the joy of everlasting life, because the little miracles we experience and are witnesses to point to the greatest miracle of all: that we were born, and we re destined, to inherit Eternal Life and live forever with our loving God and Creator. So, thanks be to God for every miracle we witness in our lives, the big ones and the not-so-big ones. May we remember them, open our eyes to 5

6 them, and use them for the purpose God intended: to help inspire, deepen and strengthen our faith in the Lord. Amen. 6