April 25, 2010 - Acts 9:36-42 Dorcas, Get Up! 36 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. 37 At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. 38 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." 39 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. 40 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. 41 He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. 42 This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. In our reading today we are introduced to an extraordinary woman of faith. Her name is Tabitha, or Dorcas. And Dorcas is the kind of woman who has made quite an impression in the life of her church and her community. She is spreading the Gospel, she is a model of faith, and she is a disciple of Jesus Christ. But within this text lies a profound example of what the ministry of the Christian looks like. In this passage, it helps us to understand what Resurrection really means in our faith. See, this Dorcas is a very special woman. When reading this passage it might be easy to overlook this, but it says "in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha." This is the only place in the New Testament where a named woman is specifically referred to as a Disciple or "mathetria". Of course, we know that many women were "disciples," but this is the only named instance in the New Testament.
We don't know a lot about her, she may have been with Jesus from the beginning or a recent addition. But either way we see in the passage that Dorcas had a ministry of servanthood and charity with the widows in her community. The widows, and women in general, were "neglected nobodies" in the 1st century. Their identity to the state and culture was only through their husbands. And so when their husband died, these women became part of a class of the poorest of the poor with no voice or place to be somebody. Early Christians, however, made it an absolute priority, as consistent with their Jewish background, to care for the poor, the widow, and the orphans in their midst. It was a call of that early community to be sure that all things were held in common, that none would go hungry or thirsty, that all would be clothed, fed, and cared for. And with the widows in that time and place, if they didn't, nobody would. Early in Acts, Luke mentioned that the disciples received complaints because they weren't distributing food to the widows as they should, and the disciples devised a plan to do so. They were held accountable by the scriptures and by the communal ethic that they were called to by Christ. Dorcas, however, in her own community, was already on top of it. "Devoted to good works and charity," she had a ministry of clothing and caring for the widows in her village. She made them clothes and helped take care of their physical needs, but I'm sure she sat with them and talked with them. Laughed with them and cried with them. Shared with them the Gospel. She represented what a disciple should be in the truest sense. Churches often have an active Dorcas Guild. There was one at my home church growing up and I know there was one here as well. At my church the women kept tabs on the older
members of our church. They had special events, speakers, and bible study. They knit blankets and made collections. There presence was felt in a loving, tangible way in the life of the church. This ministry continues in other ways, by other names, but the guilds were named after the woman we are reading about today. And so when this woman of God died, it was absolutely devastating. The scriptures said that the widows of the community gathered and washed her and laid her in an upstairs room. They prepared for her burial in this way. Though stricken with grief, they could not give up hope. They called the famous Apostle Peter who had a track record of healing stories, hoping for a miracle. And when the apostle arrived they gathered at her deathbed weeping and bringing with them all the many items of clothing that Dorcas had made for them and showed them to one another. A Dorcas fashion show of sorts bringing all the tunics and other clothing she had made for them. Tangible tributes to celebrate this faithful and holy woman. When Peter arrived he asked the grieving widows to leave the room, approached Dorcas' bedside, and simply said to her, "Dorcas, get up." Miraculously, she sat up, Peter gave her his hand to help her up, and out they went as a living testimony of the Good News to that community. The scripture says that many turned their hearts to God that day. And the root of our text today is in Peter's simple phrase "Get up". The word in the Greek is "anastethi" and means "arise". The variations of this word are found over 60 times in the New Testament. The various meanings are "arise", "standup", "jump-up", "lift-up", raise up again, rise again.
And one can argue that this very simple word defines the life and ministry of Jesus. Luke 8 recounts a story of when Jesus heard of a young girl who had died. Jesus arrived at the home he took Peter, John, and James in with him, approached the child, took her hand and said, "Child, get up!" The scripture says her spirit returned and she got up! As you read the Gospel it becomes clear that Jesus' ministry was a ministry of calling people to GET UP! And this word isn't reserved solely for these few resurrection stories of Dorcas, the young girl, and Lazarus, but this word for arising again is used all over the Gospel. Calling the sick to rise up. Calling the disciples to rise up and follow him. Calling those who are dead in mind, body, or spirit, to rise again. In many instances, the call to GET UP is a wake-up call. Ephesians 5:14, "Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." A pastor once told me that the church has too many "walking dead people." People and communities just going through the motions. To be a Christian, to be the church, is to claim a life of Resurrection, a life that gets up from slumber and acts in the world. When Jesus called Matthew into ministry in Matthew 9, the scriptures says that Matthew "GOT UP and followed him." In Acts, you hear "Get up! Be baptized". Get up from your slumber people of God. While the world around you is struggling and in pain, Get up, take action and follow. The Disciples of Christ are not complacent and idle, but awake, alert, alive. This is the call of God to the church, to a "resurrected" people. In the same way, a "Get up" ministry is not just a challenge to the sleeping, but an offering of renewal to the downtrodden. Dorcas' work is a wonderful example of resurrection, of GET
UP! ministry. Her ministry with the widows in her community was precisely that. A ministry of clothing and feeding. Listening and caring. A ministry that helped raise up their lives, their well-beings, their hopes for a better tomorrow. Her's was a ministry of healing in the lives of those she served. And in many stories of healing in the New Testament, more times than not the person is told to get up. Jesus says in Luke 17:19, it says, "Get up and go on your way, your faith has made you well", "Get up and do not be afraid" (Mt 17:7). It reminds me of Brother Vance in New Orleans...we offer a hand up, not a hand out. An empowering offering of love to help someone stand-up, to be fully alive, to receive a new start, to get up again. This part of the ministry asks us to reach out to the "neglected nobodies" with an outstretched hand in the name of Jesus Christ. And, go figure, the same word to describe the resurrection, when Christ arose from the dead. And so in our passage when Peter uses this simple phrase it is not something to overlook. They are the words of Jesus that were used over and over and over again in the Gospel. These words represent the ministry that we are called to continue...there should be no break in the ministry of Jesus and our ministry as the church. We are to continue this ministry of "Get up!" in our own time, in our own context. A ministry calling the sleep-walkers to wake up. A ministry of encouraging and loving those in need of physical, emotion, and spiritual healing. And so praise be to God for this story of Dorcas and Peter. For Dorcas who gave us a profound example of the power of resurrection ministry in the lives of people. Thanks for Peter, who continued Jesus' ministry of love and healing. A ministry of new life, of faithfulness, of compassion. And as we are
called to continue this ministry of Jesus, let's continue to explore and imagine ways in which in our own time and context, this ministry of "GET UP!" can be lived out.