So many heroes...

 “Many Believed in the Lord”

(Acts 9:36-43, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 18, 2012)

36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity.

“Isn't it a joy to serve the Lord!” That is what my mentor, Dr. J. Christy Wilson, said to me when I was expressing frustration about a student missions conference that we were working on. I think that might have been his stock answer to church sorrows and frustrations. He was a very sympathetic man, but he knew that it would not help him or anyone else to be overcome with frustration in doing the Lord's glorious work. He was a walking miracle in a world of cynicism.

Dr. Wilson's wife, Betty, was a wonderful Christian woman of grace. She started a school for the blind in Afghanistan. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Isn't it a joy to serve the Lord!

Each disciple of Jesus Christ is a person that we can appreciate. For some of them we don't have to search very long in order to find reasons to thank God. Tabitha (Gazelle) was full of good works and acts of charity. Thank God for men and women that are happy to serve!

37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.

But Gazelle became ill and died. The people who loved her were doing what they did in those days when a loved one died. They had an extended wake, spending time together.

38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.”

But some of the disciples had another idea. They had heard that Peter was in Lydda. Jesus Christ had just healed a man who had been paralyzed for 8 years. Peter addressed that man, simply declaring to him, “Jesus Christ heals you.” That man got up from his bed.

So these disciples from Joppa sent two men to Lydda, about a 4 hour walk, to get Peter, and to bring him back to Joppa – a fairly bold move, and one that you would not do unless you expected that the Lord might raise the dead. They found Peter and urged him to take the 4 hour journey back with them to Joppa.

39 So Peter rose and went with them.

Peter agreed to go. He must have thought that Jesus Christ might raise the dead. Because of that expectation, he rose and went with them.

And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them.

When Peter arrived there was a weeping crowd there already. And there was spontaneous testimony by widows who had been blessed by Gazelle's gifted and generous work as a seamstress. The tears and the obvious display of appreciation went together, and came from the least of these in the community, needy widows.

40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.”

This miracle came out of a community of love, a community where more than one person had an expectation that Jesus Christ would heal His people working through that community of love. Everything that was done in sending for Peter and everything that Peter did when he arrived was done for love, and not to try to draw attention to self or to individual giftedness. They loved and appreciated Jesus Christ together, and they loved and appreciated Gazelle.

Peter put them all outside. This was reminiscent of what Jesus did on another occasion, when he brought a little girl back to life. The mourners had to leave. God was going to do something here beyond weeping. Peter prayed, and then he said, “Gazelle, arise.”

And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up.

Gazelle had once been with them in every way. After she died, her body was still there, but she was no longer with them. Her works still testified to her life of faith, but she was gone.

Then she opened her eyes. She saw Peter. She sat up. He gave the saintly woman his hand, and raised her up.

Then calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

Imagine what it felt like for all the people who had been told to go outside. Imagine the joy, and the wonder of this great woman being alive with them again.

Peter brought in the church and the widows that Gazelle had helped. He presented her back to this community of love. She was alive.

42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.

Jesus is the Resurrection and the life. When Gazelle rose from the dead, the people of Joppa knew that this was all about Jesus. Nobody believed in Gazelle. Nobody believed in Peter. They believed in the Lord.

Gazelle was a witness. Peter was a witness, and he stayed in Joppa for many days after this happened. There were many other witnesses, and this undeniable miracle became known throughout all Joppa. So there were many witnesses, but the glory went to the Lord.

We live in the era of resurrection. Jesus started that era by rising from the dead. The body of the great Son of David fell. But the Lord raised it up again. We believe in that fact, and we are not alone. As the Old Testaments prophets had written, it has come to pass that even Gentiles are called by the Name of the God of Israel.

The Lord is building a worldwide community of love. All over the earth people have seen signs of resurrection life and have attributed these to the Man of Resurrection, Jesus Christ. If we will expect resurrection life in the church, we will see resurrection life in the church. Not for a show, or for money, or to prove that we are great, but as a testimony to the greatness of Jesus and to the resurrection age that has now begun in Him. He makes the blind see, even in Afghanistan.

How will new life be seen? I would rather not limit the Lord on what He might do. But I expect at least this: You and I will find out that the Wilsons were right. It IS a joy to serve the Lord.

1. What do we know about Tabitha?

2. Why did the church call for Peter to come to Joppa, and why did he go?

3. How did this healing take place?

4. What does it mean for people to believe in the Lord?

OT Passage: Psalm 113