How many of you are familiar with penicillin? Of course, this is one of the most widely used antibiotics in modern medicine. Perhaps you have also heard the name of Sir Alexander Fleming, the pharmacist who discovered the medicine. Or maybe if you haven’t heard of Mr. Fleming, perhaps the name of Jonas Salk will ring a bell. Dr. Salk was a 20th century medical researcher, most famously known for his discovery and development of the first successful polio vaccine. But how many of you have heard of Henrietta Lacks? Mrs. Lacks was an African-American mother of five who moved from the tobacco farms of Virginia to one of Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods in the mid-1900s. In 1951, at the mere age of 31, Mrs. Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer. In the process of that diagnosis, a biopsy was taken, and the cells that were removed created an immortal cell line that is known as HeLa. This cell line has remained under continuous observation, and it has made possible some of the most important discoveries in modern medicine. The HeLa cell was crucial in everything from the first polio vaccine to cancer and AIDS research. In the past sixty-plus years, scientists have grown more than 20 tons of HeLa cells to further advance medical research and break-throughs!
Needless to say, Henrietta Lacks is an unsung hero of modern medicine. Though she was probably not well-educated, and she certainly wasn’t a researcher or doctor, she made a contribution that has proven as significant as that of any medical researcher. It turns out there was another woman much like Henrietta Lacks, who lived nearly 2,000 years ago. We heard this morning the only account we have of Tabitha (or Dorcas, as she is known in Greek). These few sentences in the Acts of the Apostles tell us all we will ever know about Tabitha. Ironically, the New Testament is full of stories about Peter, the apostle who raised Tabitha from the dead. We know him to be one of Jesus’ most devout disciples; so much so that Jesus calls him “the rock,” the foundation on which Christ will build his church. Acts tells us of Peter’s work around the Middle East in the years following Jesus’ resurrection—as he sought to continue Christ’s work and spread the Good News of God’s coming kingdom. But we know very little of Tabitha. In fact, Tabitha probably would not have even made the pages of scripture if not for her brief encounter with Peter.
Still, the Bible reserves for Tabitha the only use of the feminine form of the word “disciple”; mathetria. This Greek word literally means “pupil” or “apprentice,” which may suggest that at some point, Tabitha actually studied directly under Jesus. Whether that is the case or not, this woman clearly embodied what Jesus had in mind when he told his followers “to make disciples of every nation”, particularly in her love for those whom Jesus called “the least of these.” She was a “disciple” in the truest and most wonderful sense of the word. And that’s what I really want to focus in on this morning.
Certainly, Tabitha’s resurrection from the dead is a miraculous event worthy of great consideration itself. She is one of only a handful of people in the Bible who holds such a distinction. But what really impresses me about Tabitha is not the fact that Peter appeared, prayed, and then Tabitha was raised. What really impresses me is one little detail, the first thing Luke tells us about this disciple in Joppa. Did you catch it? She is “generous and full of good works.” “Her life overflowed with good works and compassionate acts on behalf of those in need.” In fact, so generous and compassionate was Tabitha that we know she touched many, many lives. The crowd of widows that gathered around her in her dying moments and then sent for Peter is a strong testament to Tabitha’s generous work.
In his writing, James tells us, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: too look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” To be a widow or an orphan in the ancient world meant that you had no means by which to support or sustain yourself. In Tabitha’s day, women were not valued by the culture at large, and widows had no one to stand up for them, so they lived on the margins of society. In order to survive, widows and orphans were completely dependent on the generosity of others.
Tabitha, we have reason to believe, was a widow herself, and yet somehow she found ways to care for other widows. It seems Tabitha was a master seamstress, and so she spent her time making robes, and tunics, and other clothing for these women who could not have afforded clothing on their own. Now, making clothes and supporting widows might not strike you as anything worth writing home about, especially when you think about the work the other disciples like Peter and Paul were doing during this time. They were traveling all over the Middle East starting new churches and spreading the gospel.
Yet, that is what is so wonderful about this story of Tabitha. Her tireless ministry, day in and day out, making clothes and caring for the widows around her; it was no less kingdom-work than what Peter and the other apostles were doing. Still, Tabitha is all but forgotten. How many of you even knew there was a story of someone named “Dorcas” in the Bible? But if we are to take James at his word, then we could actually reasonably argue that Tabitha’s work was MORE important than the work of those apostles trudging all over the known world with the gospel message. Dorcas was LIVING the gospel. She embodied the good news, most especially for the widows in her midst.
Tabitha stands, as it were, for all those unsung heroes who have carried on with what they can do best and have done it to the glory of God. Indeed, if not for Peter, she may never have made it into the pages of the New Testament. And we have to assume that there were dozens in those early years, and thousands in later years who, like Tabitha, lived their lives in faith and hope without any sort of public recognition. People who, even while bearing the sorrows of life also found ways to celebrate its joys. People who through even the smallest acts of service to others found a fulfillment of the gospel within their own sphere—however large or small. People who took their talents, their skills, their gifts, and used them for God’s glory. While the apostles and evangelists go about making important decisions, getting locked up, stoned or shipwrecked, preaching great sermons, writing great letters, and generally being great and good all over the place, it is those like Tabitha, quietly working in the background, who sustain the ministry of the church day-in and day-out.
Do you know any Tabithas? I certainly do. I used to stop by up at Fairview for different reasons and fairly often, I would run into Gene (Carter). He would be out there blowing leaves off the parking lot or something like that. Gene dropped by over there (here) so often that Rita told me sometimes she wasn’t even aware that he had left the house. But she always knew where he was. Gene was like Tabitha; his whole life was devoted to good works and charity. Over at Grace, we have volunteers that show up at least twice a year if not more to do maintenance work around the church. Then there are the people who volunteer their time to take care of the lawn and keep the church clean. Or those who prepare meals for the homeless, or take snacks to school kids, or provide dinners for grieving families, or knit hats for cancer patients. These are the things that really make way for God’s kingdom-work in the world. It’s this willingness to offer our gifts to God’s service without any expectation of reward or recognition that makes the work of the church in this world truly powerful.
Luke is right to draw our eyes down to the small-scale and immediate, in case we should ever forget that these are the people who form the heart of the church. If we learn anything from Tabitha, it should be this: do not belittle the ministry of stitching, sewing, knitting, and generally providing for the needs of the larger community. And do not forget to celebrate, as Luke does here, the fact that the apparently ordinary people are not at all ordinary to God.
It’s very easy, and even somewhat tempting here to try and put “two-and-two together,” and conclude that Tabitha was raised from the dead because of her abundant good works. So let us never forget that we are “saved by grace through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Good works and generous hearts do not save us; only faith in Jesus Christ can do that. But our faith is evidenced by the way we serve Christ in the world. Our faith is shown when we live like Tabitha, “full of good works and compassionate acts.” And it is through such selfless generosity that we truly experience the abundant life offered through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Have you ever met Tabitha? Look around you; she is everywhere. I have known her in every church I have ever been a part of. She has no wealth or power; just a deep and abiding commitment to show God’s compassion for those in need. She prays a simple prayer: “Lord, help us to help those in need, and make us sensitive to what they really need.” Then she just quietly steps out and starts working for God. She is wholly persistent about practicing her faith by serving others; it’s just who she is. Tabitha’s work is too important to die, and I am grateful that this story records God’s agreement as well, as he empowered Peter to keep her alive. And Tabitha is still alive in almost every church I know; a gift for which I thank God every single day.
