May 12, 2019
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
Acts 9:36-43
Stitched Together by God’s Grace
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
When I was a young girl, we visited my Grandma Jorgensen. Grandma lived in a small, white house in Luck, Wisconsin.
On one particular day, there came a knock at the front door. Grandma got up from her knitting to see who was there. Standing on the stoop was a neighborhood boy, about 10 years old. He held a Boy Scout shirt and a patch. The patch was about two inches square. He asked Grandma if she would be able to sew the patch onto his shirt. He showed her where it needed to go on the shirt. She happily said yes and told him to come back the next day to retrieve it.
It turns out that my Grandma was known all over Luck as the lady who could sew anything (I did not inherit that gene!). Later, Grandma told me her secret. “You see, Mary,” she explained, “I have an old Singer treadle machine, so I can sew very slowly and go through just about anything.” Grandma still sewed with her old Singer treadle machine. She worked all her magic on that simple machine.
Today we hear a story from the Bible about a seamstress. Her name was Tabitha, which means gazelle. In Greek, her name was Dorcas. That she went by both names tells you something about Joppa, the city where she lived. Ancient Joppa was located along the Mediterranean coastline. It was a port city, so it would have been very multicultural.
Frequently, congregations have a women’s circle which is named the Dorcas Circle. Dorcas Circles tend to be involved in the sewing ministries of the church, like the quilting group.
There are two parts in today’s story about Dorcas. The main story is about her death and how she receives new life. But there’s another part to this story. It’s quite subtle. It’s really almost mentioned like an aside. But it’s quite important! It has to do with Dorcas’ sewing.
Dorcas had a heart filled with compassion. Acts tells us she “was devoted to good works and acts of charity.” Dorcas had befriended the widows in her community. Widows in that day were especially vulnerable. They had no means of securing their own situation. With their husband dead, they were bereft. They had no inheritance rights. So they might live with a relative. But they could easily be kicked out, too, if their remaining kinfolk were not gracious. They relied on the good graces of compassionate souls who would lend them a hand.
It was a delicate situation. Much like many marginalized people today, their situation is very tenuous. They need to be very adept at piecing together all the components necessary to squeak by – sales on food, clothing at Goodwill, a buddy who can help fix their used and rusted car.
The Native American proverb says, “to understand a person, you must first walk a mile in their moccasins.” We need to appreciate the financial tightrope which the economically vulnerable walk.
Dorcas connected with the vulnerable widows of Joppa. She wanted to help them. And she did what she could for them: she sewed! It’s so simple but so effective. Dorcas used her skills and abilities to help others.
It becomes her life passion. She devotes herself to these good works. There is a joy in service. The one who gives, receives. Just as Jesus said, it’s in losing ourselves that we’re able to discover our true identity. We come to realize all that is and all that God has made us to be. We’re embraced by an emerging community around us. Dorcas knew this joy.
A recent news story captured my heart. Several years ago, a woman from British Columbia, Tinney Davidson, moved into a house. It turns out her house was located along a main route for high school students. Every day the students would walk past her house. Tinney loved the students, and so she watched them from her big picture window. Sometimes the students saw her watching them. When that happened, Tinney flashed them her big, warm smile and eagerly waved to them. They smiled and waved back.
It wasn’t long before news of this friendly lady spread among the students at the high school. When they passed her house, they started to look for this lady who would wave to them. They loved it! It was a great way to start off their day: this nice lady who shared her friendship through this welcoming gesture.
This went on for 12 years. Each day, the students walked past Tinney’s house, and they looked for her as much as she looked for them.
But Tinney is now 88 and she can no longer live independently. This spring she needed to move to an assisted living facility. The students from the school heard that Tinney was moving. So they organized a sendoff for her. They all came to her house with signs and flowers to give her. And then together they threw her a big group kiss.
It was such a little thing that Tinney had done all these years. But it made a huge impact on the lives of so many students. And knowing them blessed her, too.
Albert Schweitzer said, “The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”
Dorcas knew the joy of service. She generously shared the fruits of her sewing to provide clothing to the widows of Joppa. More than just tunics, her compassion stitched together their community. Dorcas stands as a sterling example of how we can be the hands and feet of God in our setting too.
But then she died. And her dying left a huge hole. There are those people who make an extraordinarily large impact. We might call them keystone individuals. They’re the glue that holds things together. We all have them in our families and in the organizations we belong to. Over the history of our 75 years here at Hope, we have been blessed with such keystone people.
Dorcas was one of those keystone people in Joppa. When she died so suddenly, it left a hole. The community was devastated. In their grief, they send an urgent notice to Peter. Peter just happened to be a short 11 miles from Joppa. What were their expectations? Did they want Peter to grieve with them, to pray with them? Or did they think he could do something even greater? We don’t know. Peter himself probably didn’t know what he would do.
When he gets to Joppa, he’s surrounded by everyone who had been touched by Dorcas’ love. The widows are all there. They’ve brought their cherished clothing pieces, lovingly sewn by the able hands of Dorcas. They pour out their grief to Peter.
Peter orders everyone out of the room. He’s alone with Dorcas. And the situation is just like one that had happened with Jesus. A man named Jairus had a very sick daughter. By the time Jesus got to Jairus’ house, the girl had died. But Jesus said no, she’s not dead, only sleeping. The crowd scoffed at Jesus. But Jesus kicked everyone out except for the girl’s parents, and James and John … and Peter. Peter was there. He was there when Jesus took the girl by the hand and said, “Talitha, cum,” “Little girl, get up!”
Jesus had raised that girl from the dead. Peter got down on his hands and knees and he prayed to Jesus. He prayed to the one who has power over death, even his own death. And then he turned to Tabitha and said, “Tabitha, cum!” “Tabitha, get up!” And she opened her eyes and sat up.
Jesus’ resurrection power had given her new life. Peter presented the living Dorcas to the crowd. The vitality of Jesus resurrection had given her new life. Jesus’ resurrection power was active that day in Joppa.
Friends, the spirit of the risen Jesus is with us still. The power of his resurrection continues to make all things new. He’s present in our Hope community today. Our faith and mission are renewed and vitalized in him. When we have grown wearied, Christ’s spirit is making us new. Where dreams have been dashed, he unfolds a new future. Day after day we rise anew. Confident in his resurrection life, we go forth into every new day.
