Tabitha: Lessons on Service and Prayer
Acts 9:36-42
St. John’s United Church of Christ
Greeley, Colorado
February 12, 2023
Cori Layton
Would you please raise your hand if you know the meaning of AKA?
(Give folks a moment to think)
Thank you. AKA stand for – “Also Known As.” Famous people often take on different names. Here are a few that may surprise you.
* Chevy Chase is really Cornelius Crane Chase
* David Copperfield’s real name is David Kotkin
* Cher’s real name is Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPiere
* Larry King is Lawrence Harvey Zeiger
* John Wayne is Marion Morrison and
* Whoopi Goldberg is really Caryn Johnson
In our continuing emphasis on “Women and Men in the Bible, Lessons for Today,” I want to introduce you today to a woman with three names. She’s known as Tabitha, AKA Dorcas, which also translates to Gazelle in Greek. We find this fascinating woman in Acts 9:36: “In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, who was always doing good and helping the poor.” The story of Tabitha teaches us great lessons on service and prayer. I can relate to Tabitha; she was a renowned seamstress that made beautiful clothing for the needy and widows in the port city of Jappa. She did not just give her old worn-out clothing to those in need but made beautiful works to give them. Tabitha’s motivation was to please the Lord and build His Kingdom, and so she took God’s commands about society’s most vulnerable very seriously. The Apostle Paul’s words seem to describe her mindset well: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…” I am sure she found peace, healing, and comfort in each stitch she made and the gift of donating these works, made her soul sing. We can all appreciate this work, spending time laboring in our gift to bring joy to others. Tabitha’s work was so treasured that the widows that loved her sought out Peter to pray over her following her death.
The first lesson that we learn from Tabitha is that through service, we can touch people that nobody else can reach. Humble service. This is what draws people to you … to the Christ in you. We may not be able to do everything, but we can do something.
Some people serve God by preaching to millions on the TV or radio or internet. Some people serve God by bringing thousands to Christ. Some people serve God by using their God-given talents to write songs and sing them to huge crowds all around the world … or write dozens of books … or write and produce major motion pictures. Some leave everything dear and familiar to serve as missionaries in distant, often hostile lands. Some go to jail for their beliefs and others are martyred for their faith.
Others serve God by folding church bulletins … by bringing a bag of food for the church pantry or community kitchen … by changing light bulbs in the sanctuary or fixing a leak in the parsonage …
Some people serve God by balancing the church finances … by singing in the choir … sewing prayer blankets or crocheting prayer shawls … by visiting shut-ins or giving them a ride to the grocery store or to the doctor … by volunteering at the Weld Food Bank, dropping off clothes, shoes, and jackets at a clothing bank … by tithing … by putting up chairs and then putting them away after a church luncheon or dinner.
Some people serve by greeting everyone with a smile and a hug … by sending out encouraging e-mails or cards or texts … by praying for family and friends, their neighbors, co-workers, our government, our church, and our church family …
And then there are some … like Tabitha … who serve God by sewing clothes. [Read Acts 9:36-42.] My grandmother, who embroidered this tablecloth behind me reminded me of Tabitha. She never sewed for herself, but poured her love into every stitch and then gave them to residents of local care centers. She stitched every night, working hard to make works to benefit her church, the local food pantries, and missions around the world. My grandmother was a true woman of God, who prayed unceasingly and performed charitable acts each day of her life. She was a woman of few words but revealed in the tasks of life.
The Bible tells us that Tabitha was a “disciple” of Jesus Christ (v. 36) … a rare title for a woman in the New Testament. So rare, in fact, that she is the only woman in the entire Bible who bears that title … “disciple.” Additionally, she was one of only two women who were documented in the Bible to be resurrected.
A “disciple” was a student or follower of a particular teacher who not only desired to learn as much from their teacher as possible but to model their teacher’s habits and behavior and become as much like their teacher as possible. For example, people could tell if someone were a disciple of John the Baptist or Rabbi Hillel (heellel) or Rabbi Shammai (shameye) right away … usually without having to ask. One of the highest compliments someone could give a disciple was to say: “You are the mirror image of Rabbi So-and-So.”
That could be said of Tabitha. She tried as hard as she could be a mirror image of her teacher … Jesus. You see, Jesus didn’t just go around “preaching” about God and the Kingdom of God or God’s love and compassion … He lived it. He showed it through His actions, the way that He lived and carried Himself. He was constantly doing good works and charitable deeds.
Luke says that Tabitha was always doing good deeds. The literal translation of the Greek says that Tabitha was “full of good works” (Acts 9/36). “Good works” refers to “general acts of kindness,” but Luke said she did more than just “general acts of kindness.” She also did “charitable” acts. “Charitable” acts are different from “good deeds.” “Charitable deeds” are acts that relieve the burden of the poor and the needy. For example, I can do a good deed for any of you sitting here and it’s nice but your life is fine and my act is just a gesture of friendship or love or good will. “Charitable” means doing good deeds and acts of good will for people who are poor or in desperate need and my actions relieve their suffering in some way.
God has always gifted women to bring positive change to their surroundings, and Tabitha was obedient to that call on her life. Tabitha had an active, living faith which moved her to perform good works. Many of us are full of words and very knowledgeable about the word of God, but empty in our actual works. Tabitha is a wonderful example of what it means to submit our talents to the Lord, and to leave a legacy behind. And God will always multiply the blessings that come from our selfless giving.
A second lesson we learn in the story of Tabitha is that whenever prayer and the power of God’s Word is present, there is new life to overcome the challenges of life.
When Tabitha died, her friends sent for the Apostle Peter. When Peter arrived, “he was taken upstairs to the room” where her body was being cleansed (v. 39). What Peter encounters is a very emotional scene. “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” (v. 39). The garments she made were spectacular, but even more spectacular were the charitable acts of giving those works to the needy.
According to our text, Tabitha became sick and died while Peter was nearby and following her death, two men were sent by the women of Jabba requesting his presence. They traveled 17 miles to seek prayers from Peter.
Now, the Bible doesn’t state the cause of her illness; All we know is that it seems like Tabitha rapidly became worse … and her death was an unexpected shock to her friends and the entire Christian community.
So, the believers did the only thing they knew they could do … they sent for Peter – The Man of God.
Mother Teresa, one of the great Saints of the Catholic Community once said, “Love is repaid by love alone”.
Nevertheless, as Christians, sometime our good deeds and charitable efforts can be interrupted by circumstances beyond our control; our good deeds and charitable efforts can be interrupted by obstacles that we didn’t see coming.
One might be spiritually paralyzed, … while another is spiritually dying and death is inevitable.
Good deeds and efforts to help others are suddenly lifeless and spiritually handicapped!
Our once progressive ministry suddenly stops. It’s not quite clear how one has reached the dead-zone; but it’s clear that one is here!
In the dead-zone, prayer is just a routine … and isn’t taken seriously enough to acquire a miracle from God on its own.
Someone else’s prayer, like that of Peter, is needed for a miracle to happen. Prayer is powerful not because we bend God to our own will, but we seek God’s will through our prayers.
In the Bible, we see how prayers transformed people and their circumstances. Prayers can stop famine, heal sick people, forgive sin, unload burden, make a person wise, and in the case of Tabitha, bring a dead person to life!
Everyone around is seemly holding on to … and showing-off what has been done in the past!
But, we can’t move forward by backing up.
What was done in the past was awesome!
No one can or should discredit the old works, and the awesome ministry of the old life. But, God has a plan for new works and new life.
Resurrection Power and Spiritual Elevation is just a prayer away. Someone said that “Prayer Changes Things”.
If we listen to God’s Word … and with the right attitude follow His precepts … Soon new life and new altitude in God will be evident.
Our Spiritual Eyes will be Open. And like Tabitha, we will … under the power of Jesus’ might … GET UP from where we are with refreshed ideas, renewed power, and spiritual vigor.
In her book, “Powerful Sayings to Keep You Praying”, Phyllis Lee Terry says several memorable quotes about prayer – some of which I have chosen to share with you:
“More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.”
“We stand the tallest when we are on our knees.”
“You cannot stumble if you are on your knees.”
The power of prayer is not in the words you pray, the place you pray, the way you pray nor how loud or long you pray, but in the One to Whom you pray.
Prayer is a powerful thing for God has bound and tied himself thereto. None can believe how powerful prayer is and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience. I have experienced the power of prayer in my own life, and we have witnessed the awesome power of prayer in our own church. On this Superbowl Sunday, I think of the prayers when Darius Hamlin was seriously injured. This Buffalo Bill player felt the prayers from his teammates, his opposing team, the stadium as well as all of the spectators from home. The entire stadium was silent as they prayed over this player.
Whenever Prayer and the Power of God’s Word is present, new life emerges to enable us to overcome our spiritual challenges.
For who can ever forget the story of how the Apostle Peter was rescued from prison shortly after James was killed?
For don’t you remember? Herod had imprisoned Peter with the intent to kill him after the Passover.
But the Bible declares that the church in Jerusalem prayed intensively for him. Believers prayed without ceasing. As a result, when Herod was about to have him brought out … God moved.
Peter in his jail cell was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, … And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him saying, Get up quickly, … And the chains fell off his hands, and the angel said to him, “dress yourself and put on your sandals.”
My friends, because of prayer and the Power of God’s Word is present, there is new life and new opportunity to overcome spiritual handicaps … and TABITHA is commanded to … GET UP.