Get Up!

Acts 9: 36 – 43 

Have you ever stopped at some tourist destination, perhaps because there was a sign on the road. You take the exit, pull into the parking lot, pay the admission price, do the thing.

 

And later, as you recalling the experience, someone says “Oh….I’ve heard that is amazing. Did you actually see the petroglyphs?”

 

And in reality, you were so busy seeing the rock formations, big blue sky, the gift shop that you completely missed the petroglyphs?

 

Just me? 

Ok.  

 

Sometimes we miss the very thing we are supposed to pay attention to.

 

Here on the fourth Sunday of Easter, we have another resurrection story. 

 

We’ve been looking at all of our scriptures through the eyes of witness since Easter. 

To be a witness is not merely to see or experience but to go forward from our seeing or experiencing to act differently, to share what we’ve seen, to invite others to see as well. 

 

But that means we can only share what we’ve actually seen, what we’ve actually paid attention to. We can only be changed by what we’ve witnessed. 

 

And sometimes we miss vitally important things.

 

Let’s take a look at today’s text. Let’s make sure we’re not missing a vital thing.

 

Diving into this story about Peter and Tabitha from the Acts of the Apostles, it is important to remember that Luke’s gospel and the book of Acts are recorded by the same writer. That writer has great concern for how God’s power would reach people on the margins, how Jesus, his teachings and his followers reached those abandoned by the power structures of the day. It is in Luke’s gospel that Mary celebrates her pregnancy as great signs of God’s liberation for the marginalized. So when we are looking at these texts, it is important to look at what the text says about the margins. 

 

If we were to flip backward four verses from today’s reading to 9:32, there is a very quick and short-on-detail story about Peter traveling to Lydda (LEDA), where he finds Aeneas, a man bedridden for many years by paralysis.  Peter heals him with little fanfare or detail. But the healing attracts attention and causes people to “turn to the Lord.” 

 

Then our action shifts to Joppa, where a woman named Tabitha, also known as Dorcas, has died. The text describes her as a disciple, someone already following the Way of Jesus. She is also described as devoted to good works and acts of charity.  When she dies, the community washes her and lays her in her upper room (another key detail), and because they have heard that Peter is in Lydda healing folks, they send for him. 

 

When Peter arrives, he is shuffled into Tabitha’s upper room where all of the widows are mourning – and they show him all of the beautiful clothing that Tabitha has made for them. He puts the gathered mourners out of the room and in privacy, he speaks to the body, “Tabitha, get up.” And Tabitha opens her eyes and sits up, alive. 

 

In contrast to a story that is short on details just a few verses earlier, this story about Tabitha is rich with information if we pay attention.

 

So…first, let’s pay attention to Tabitha being referred to as a disciple. The Greek here is the only female version of the word for disciple found in scripture.  While women are often named as followers of Jesus throughout the scripture, this is a very specific claim. Tabitha is described here as a disciple – again, the only specific reference to a female as such.

 

Just a few chapters earlier in Acts, there had been a disagreement between elements of the early church about the treatment of widows. It is a disagreement between Hellenists and Hebrews – between Jews and Gentile Christians, to put it another way. To address the disagreement,  seven men are chosen by the 12 disciples to serve the widows of the community – 7 men.  Because folks were complaining that the church had been neglecting the widows. 

 

But today’s text makes a point of highlighting that Tabitha’s ministry as a single disciple is specifically focused on the widows of her community. The contrast matters and should not be overlooked.

 

The text says that she served many in her community. And in particular, she clothed the widows…in clothing of which they were quite proud. Can you imagine, for just a moment, a gathering of women who are weeping in sorrow, decked out in quality handmade items, items that they were fortunate to have, items that were not just functional, but beautiful and made specifically for them. 

 

Another important thing to note here to help us understand the fullness of this text - Widows were not just those who had once been married and whose husbands had died – widows would have been unmarried women of all kinds of circumstances – abandoned, somehow disabled and not thought to be marriageable, the abused who had fled their circumstances. In the context of this society, to be unconnected to a man was to have no station or importance or really any way to thrive economically. These were the women that Tabitha cared for. Like Jesus called people to do. Like Jesus would have.

 

The text also indicates that Tabitha is also known by the Greek version of her name, Dorcas.  This suggests that she was connected to both the Jewish community around her and to the Romans/Hellenists who were part of the political occupation of Israel. Also, her home had an upper room and there is no mention of her husband or family. She was very likely an independent woman of means.

 

All of this points to Tabitha being a woman with connection, who served abundantly, and was respected as a leader in the early church.

 

With that as context, let’s keep digging.

 

Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, as recorded in the synoptic gospels, Peter had been in the room near Galilee with Jesus when he raised Jairus’ daughter, saying “little girl, get up.” The Aramaic term for “little girl” was Talitha (tal-i-ta). So essentially, in Aramaic, Jesus would have said, Talitha, kum. And here in this text, Peter, who is taking on leadership in the expansion of the movement after the resurrection walks into a room as says, Tabitha, kum. 

 

And a woman comes to life.

Pay attention to the echo. It matters. 

 

On a weekend when many are celebrating important women in their lives, this is a story that highlights the discipleship, the devotion, and the value of a woman to her community. I’m not sure that we can fully hear the importance of that in our context today. In a society where women’s stories did not matter, and therefore were seldom recorded, Tabitha’s story is here in Acts with all of the details.

 

A woman of means, a disciple, with a ministry to the widows of her community. 

 

Let’s think for a moment about those who were witness to this miracle of resurrection. They saw Peter come as asked because this woman, a disciple, needed him. They saw Peter act like Jesus, say something suspiciously similar to something they might have been told that Jesus said. And they saw that when Peter did this, something amazing happened – specifically they saw someone who was dead, someone whose body had already been washed and laid out, come alive.

 

You see, throughout scripture,

Miracles are signs. 

They attract attention.

They point to God.

They suggest a way to follow.

 

And this story highlights a woman in a time and place where women were often overlooked.

 

All of that is wrapped up in this story.

 

I wonder how the witnesses of this particular miracle went forward from that moment? I wonder what changed for them because of what they saw and experienced? 

 

You know - there are signs up in the Metro stations – if you see something, say something.

What do you suppose the good people of Joppa had to say after all that they saw?

As we stand as witnesses to this story today, what should we say?

 

Here are a few things I will say:

Women’s stories matter.

Women matter.

Women’s health and wellness matter.

Women’s contributions to community matter.

 

And…there are questions that come up for me as I ponder this story too:

Who are those marginalized today like the women of the Middle East in the first century?

Whose stories typically don’t get told?

Whose stories do we need to highlight because they matter?

Who is it that needs a miracle?

What are miracles we need to ask for? Who will we drag into town to help us?

 

Today, there is no one sentence summary. 

 

Maybe there is, actually.

Let’s pay attention to the details of what God will do.

May it be so.

Amen.