Clothed in Resurrection: Acts 9:36-43 - Fourth Sunday of Easter

³⁶Now 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. ³⁷At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. ³⁸Since 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.” ³⁹So 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. ⁴⁰Peter 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. ⁴¹He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. ⁴²This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. ⁴³Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner. (NRSV)

Sewing by Marc Rusines on flickr. CC BY-ND 2.0

The Easter season is supposed to be a time of life and rebirth—but there’s been an awful lot of death and loss happening over the last three weeks or so. We lost June Klingensmith, our oldest member, the day before Easter; yesterday, we laid Mike Shaffer to rest—a dear brother gone far too soon.

Longtime members who never miss church are suffering bitter declines in health and mobility; unable to do what once was done so easily; some unable even to live at home.

Many of your lives have been disrupted by the need to care for aging parents and make difficult decisions about their long-term care. You are moving them into nursing homes and selling the homes you grew up in (and all the furnishings that filled them). You’ve also spoken of relationships between parents and children or between siblings being strained and broken.

Last Sunday, Rachel Held Evans, one of the most influential young Christian voices, died at age 37. Despite never attending seminary or pastoring a church, she’s given young Christians a safe space to wrestle with questions, doubts, and disagreements—while affirming that Jesus is for them.

Any way you slice it, there is so much loss happening all around us that it’s easy NOT to see Christ’s life-giving works, happening all around us.

In today’s first reading from Acts, we are introduced to a disciple named Tabitha—whom we’re told was “devoted to good works and acts of charity.”

Suddenly, she became ill and died—and among those mourning her death were widows who had brought with them the garments Tabitha had made for them. And in those days, no one knew the pain of loss like widows. Not only had they lost their husbands, they had lost their means of economic survival. To be a widow meant that you were dependent on either your children (if they were old enough) or the charity of others for your survival. Yet one big way God provided for these widows was through Tabitha.

We live in a time where clothing is extremely cheap and plentiful. Our clothing closet volunteers know this better than anybody. But in those days, clothing was extremely expensive and inaccessible. Most persons owned little more than the clothes on their back—and these would’ve been some of your most valuable possessions. Imagine, then, what a blessing it was to know someone like Tabitha—who made clothing and gave it to you, free of charge. It’s highly probable that she was teaching these widows her trade, so that they could in turn support themselves!

While Tabitha clothed widows in tunics and other garments, Jesus clothed them in love and new life.

That promise has given me some comfort amid the dreadful losses we’ve been experiencing. I think of all these saints, these disciples—both living and dead—and I realize that my life has been made better because of their good works. Their love and faithfulness make Jesus more visible to me—because it was Jesus, living through them, all along.

The beauty of the Body of Christ is that everyone has been given some special talent; some special skill that clothes all of us in resurrection—even if you can’t sew or make stuff with your hands. Even babies and little children bring something valuable that enriches our walk with Jesus. People who don’t come to church have something that will bless us—far beyond their plate offerings or filling empty pews. Being the Body of Christ is nothing less than clothing one another with the love and new life.

Our challenge isn’t finding more people like Tabitha. Instead, the challenge is to nurture the Christ that is waiting to come alive inside each and every one of you.

Here’s a question: if you were given the chance to do something in this church to glorify Christ, share your faith, and build up your neighbor, what would that be? Imagine yourself free to do that work or share that gift, without anyone criticizing or second-guessing you, calling you crazy, or saying “I don’t want that in my church.” Instead, they’re saying, “how can I help?” Imagine what it would be like to try something, FAIL, and not be made to feel like a FAILURE? Jesus intends for you to live in that freedom.

Living in a time of so much loss, one of the biggest PREVENTABLE losses is forsaking the opportunities to build each other up by the good works we love to do. It’s seeing the other and saying, “I have no need of you” or “you’re not worth my time.” Underestimating the amount of lasting good you can do to a person. Or how blessed you could be by being in relationship with someone.

If you have any faith or closeness with God, it’s because of the good works of others! And even if the people who did those good works to you have aged or died, their good works will bless you forever. Just the same, your good works will last forever and bring God’s kingdom nearer—even if you don’t see tangible results. You are a gift because you bring Christ—and no one should ever leave this house of worship without being clothed, somehow, some way—in the new life of Christ.