Let the Spirit flow…
May 11, 2025
Scripture: Acts 9:36-42
The city of Joppa in Israel was a well-known coastal port city some 30 miles northwest of Jerusalem. And in Joppa there lived a disciple of Jesus’ whose Hebrew name was Tabitha. As the city was a center of commerce and international trade there were many Greeks who also spent significant time in Joppa. Tabitha herself seemed to be very comfortable living in between two very different cultural expressions as evidenced by the fact that she was also known by the Greek version of her name which was Dorcas.
Tabitha was a devout follower of Jesus and the only woman in the bible to have been given the actual title of ‘disciple’. Surely she was close to the Lord and perhaps she was even in the upper room when Jesus appeared to the disciples after the resurrection and breathed upon them all the gift of the Holy Spirit. Tabitha was known for her kind and generous spirit and many were those who were the recipients of her generous gifts to charity and to those less well-off than her. She was evidently a woman of some means who saw it as her calling to give fully of her resources to help those in her community who were struggling or in need.
And it so happened, a short time after Jesus’ resurrection, that Tabitha became very ill and died sending a tremendous shock wave throughout the community of which she was such a valued and well-loved member. After her death, the other disciples there in Joppa took her body, washed it, and laid it in the upper room of her house. The disciples were very distraught and, hearing that Peter was in neighboring Lydda, they immediately sent two men to him with the request that he come to Joppa without delay. In that part of the world it was customary to bury a person on the same day they had died, both for religious and practical reasons. I imagine as one of the leaders of the young church, Peter had become well-known for his faith and closeness to Jesus and the disciples in Joppa must have felt that they needed such a strong representative of the faith to assist them in dealing with the loss of one such as Tabitha. I also imagine that since Tabitha was so close to Jesus that Peter knew her quite well and so upon hearing their request he got up right away and went back to Joppa with them.
When he arrived there the disciples, along with many townspeople who loved Tabitha deeply went with him upstairs to where they had laid out her body. Many local widows stood beside Peter, weeping and showing him tunics and other clothing Tabitha had made for them while she was with them. Deeply moved I am sure, Peter looked around and gently asked them all to leave the room and to allow him to spend some time alone with Tabitha.
After they had all left and gone back downstairs Peter closed the door and then falling to his knees he prayed deeply to the Lord. After he had finished praying he turned to the body lying there across the room and said simply, “Tabitha, get up.” As he spoke, Tabitha opened her eyes, and upon seeing Peter, she sat up. Going over to her Peter offered her his hand and helped her to her feet. Then calling out to all those gathered downstairs in the house he showed them that indeed she was alive and well. This miraculous revival became known throughout all of Joppa, and many others came to believe in the Lord as a result. And this is the story of our Lord’s word for today…thanks be to God…
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As we have walked through the events following the resurrection over the past couple of weeks a particular theme has emerged. We have seen Jesus’ closest followers lost and confused, unsure of which way to turn after Jesus’ death and resurrection. And we saw Jesus encouraging them and empowering them to begin to walk in ways similar to those he had walked. We saw him appear to them repeatedly; twice in the upper room of the house where they had been staying, and then again last week on the shores of Lake Galilee where he had found them once again off on their own fishing. And each time that he spoke and shared with them his message was clear…they were to receive the peace he offered to them, to walk under the guidance of the Holy Spirit now resident within them, and to start immediately on the tasks he had placed before them.
In this week’s passage we see that Peter took that message to heart. In his healing of the Tabitha we see him acting much as Jesus had when he prayed and then raised others such as Lazarus from death. We see the life-giving force of God’s love flowing through Peter and empowering him to do what he did.
He did it…so I wonder…can we? Do we also have this wondrous ability to be conduits of the power of God’s love and grace to those around us? Jesus told his followers, and by extension told us as well, that we would do even greater things than he had done.
ButHowever, before we can begin to answer that question, it is important to remember that Peter did what he did in that upper room not at all out of some sense of being ‘specially qualified’ or ‘particularly blessed’. In fact, I would argue that Peter probably felt that he was perhaps much less qualified than others. Less likely to be one who could actively participate in a miracle, let alone bring someone back to life.
And that’s because he knew his own story, and he humbly knew who he was in relation to God. He knew he had denied that he even knew Jesus three separate times after his arrest, he knew Jesus felt he had to ask him three times if he really loved him after the resurrection, and he knew his own weakness and of his need to utterly depend upon the Lord. And though he might have been tempted to believe that he had somehow come into the power or ability on his own to heal and to do miraculous things after spending three years alongside of Jesus, he did not give in to it as we see plainly in his reaction to the news of Tabitha’s passing and the events that led to her revival. Peter did not march in as some sort of ‘Savior figure’ to those gathered in Tabitha’s house…but rather hurried over to be there for those in mourning.
And as I think about this and about Peter’s reaction and his recent history, I realized that we often are faced with similar predicaments…situations in which we feel wholly unqualified to make any difference in someone else’s life. And honestly…that place of feeling as though you are being called upon by the Lord to act specifically on his behalf, can truly be a scary and frightening place…a place of great uncertainty as well as extreme risk. Putting our faith into action by putting it all on the line in some particular instance, without any assurance of a particular outcome, and without any assurance that your actions will have the prayed-for effect is a stepping-out in faith that takes real courage and conviction. Taking any action that we believe is truly at the request of, and on behalf of our Lord…is acting without seeing…acting without knowing what outcome may emerge. Last week we heard Jesus tell Thomas, ‘Blessed are they who have not seen…and yet believe.’
And while it is always easy to be brave in hindsight, and to take credit for something we did that turned out the way we had hoped…it still is only in hindsight…far different from acting purely in faith, as Peter did in that upper room…acting without the benefit of any guaranteed or particular outcome.
Peter did not have the benefit of hindsight when he was sought out and asked to rush over to Tabitha’s house in Joppa. He did not know the end of the story (as we do now reading it all after the fact)…he did not know that Tabitha would be raised back to life by the power of God when he arrived and was confronted by all those who had been the beneficiaries of Tabitha’s generosity. In fact, I am fairly certain that Peter was not sure at all what the outcome of his visit to the house that day would be when he was told, and then followed the disciples back to Joppa…rather he heard the call of the Spirit and simply said yes.
Surely he had to have been overwhelmed with the enormity of what it seemed all of Tabitha’s friends were asking of him. Surely he would have felt that it was far too presumptuous to assume that he would be able to do anything other than to offer his condolences and practice the compassionate ministry of presence to all those gathered there. I imagine that it had to be farthest from his mind that he might be asked to be the vessel through which the Lord would raise someone from the dead. And yet, that is what happened. Not because Peter was a miracle worker…not because he was the most ‘holy one’ in the house, not even because he was part of the inner circle of Jesus’ closest disciples…but rather, because that is what the Lord asked of him, and what the Lord did through his willingness, in that moment.
In that moment when, knowing he was not fit or able to do anything extraordinary on his own, he chose to do the only thing we are ever asked to do when it comes to acting on the impulse of the Holy Spirit… he fell on his knees and prayed earnestly and deeply for the Spirit of God to enter into his uncertainty and fear…to enter into that terrifying moment when he truly did not know what was going to happen next…when he truly did not know how he should act in faith. Peter prayed and sought out the Spirit of his Lord, the Spirit of God’s Love, looking for guidance and direction…direction which he then received because of his faithfulness. Direction which prompted him to look over at the lifeless form on the other side of the room and to utter, ‘Tabitha, get up’, at which point the life force of God’s love flowed back into her body and she was fully restored.
It was there…all alone in the quiet with the Lord…that Peter’s trust in the one he loved gave him the courage to be vulnerable enough to let the Lord’s will be done through him…not his own will…but the Lord’s. Peter was humble enough to know that he needed to go to the Lord and that he could not do it on his own…he was willing to try and imitate what he had seen his teacher do many times in front of his disciples…first to go to prayer…and then to act.
Which begs the question…are we brave enough to do the same thing? Are we willing to go to prayer ourselves…and to trust our everything to the Lord…including our greatest needs, our fears and uncertainty…perhaps even our reputations? Are we willing to take a great and seemingly insurmountable need to the Lord in prayer…faithfully hoping that his will might be done simply through the agency of our surrendered heart? Are we willing to pray deeply…even if the answer when received is not at all what we hoped it would be?
For indeed, not every ‘Tabitha’ we pray for may come back to life. Sometimes our prayers are not answered in the ways we had so hoped for…sometimes the Lord’s will differs from our own hopes…and that is when real faith needs to kick in. For if we prayed in earnest…and if we believed that we believed that the Lord would answer our prayer in a particular way and it does not seem to have happened…then what? If the answer we received only resulted in us still sitting alone with the lifeless body of our own courage and effort still silent there in the room with us, would we ever try again? Would we ever again go to prayer for some need that seemed to border on the miraculous?
True faith in the power of prayer and in the loving and merciful nature of our Lord does not guarantee that our will or our needs will all be met. For prayer is not really about simply finding a way to get all of our own hopes and dreams to come true. Rather, prayer is an ongoing and vibrant conversation with the God who loves you more than you can imagine. True prayer is engaging with and listening to the Spirit of love and grace as it reveals itself deep within your heart.
…real faith-filled prayer informs our moments…and clarifies our conscious thought…
…real faith-filled prayer offers the ‘joy that knows no bounds’ and the ‘peace that passes all understanding’…
…real faith-filled prayer is more than just words, but rather must be the underlying condition and foundation of our soul.
Putting all distractions aside, closing ourselves in, all alone with God in deep and heartfelt prayer, listening carefully for that still small voice of the Spirit, will somehow let our hearts know that God is near…
…and will give us the assurance that God’s will, is ultimately the best course, and the only answer we truly ever need.
..may we always be willing to ‘get up and go’ when the Lord calls us…and may we be quick as well to go to the Lord in prayer with a willing and surrendered heart…
