Acts 9:36-42 NKJV
“Servant Evangelism”
May 8, 2022
Tabitha stands as the Biblical model of “servant evangelism." What makes this form of evangelism so authentic, is that it has the ability to touch people that nobody else can reach. Humble service. This is what draws people to you; that is what draws people to the Christ in you.
Her Name (certain disciple name Tabitha, which was translated Dorcus)
The first thing that we learn about Tabitha is that she was a “disciple” of Jesus Christ (v. 36) … a rare title for a woman in the New Testament So rare, in fact, that she is the only woman in the entire Bible who bears that title … “disciple.”
She tried as hard as she could be a mirror image of her teacher … Jesus. You see, Jesus didn’t just go around “preaching” about God and the Kingdom of God or God’s love and compassion … He lived it. He showed it through His actions, the way that He lived and carried Himself.
“Tabitha” was her Aramaic name … “Dorcas” was her Greek name. So why does she have an Aramaic and a Greek name? There’s a reason that Tabitha was known by two names, one Greek and the other Aramaic. She did good deeds and charitable works for all her neighbors and the citizens of Joppa … be they the upper class and wealthy and educated who spoke Greek or her Jewish neighbors who spoke Aramaic.
Proverbs 22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.
Dorcas met the real needs of the people around her. She didn’t go around randomly sewing on buttons or handing out scarfs so that she could create an opportunity to share her faith. She met real needs for real people with real love and real solutions. She may have shared her faith on occasion but she was always demonstrating her faith through her actions.
James 2:15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Her Nature (garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them)
Luke says that Tabitha was always doing good deeds. The literal translation of the Greek says that Tabitha was “full of good works” (Acts 9:36). “Good works” refers to “general acts of kindness,” but Luke said she did more than just “general acts of kindness.” She also did “charitable” acts too. “Charitable” acts are different from “good deeds.” “Charitable deeds” are acts that relieve the burden of the poor and the needy. For example, I can do a good deed for any of you sitting here and it’s nice but your life is fine and my act is just a gesture of friendship or love or good will. “Charitable” means doing good deeds and acts of good will for people who are poor or in desperate need and my actions relieve their suffering in some way.
In one of his letters, the Apostle Peter said that “each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
ILLS: Some people ask very sincerely, “what can I do to help,” others I see with a paint scraper scraping up gum from the parking lot. I never asked the media team to set up the technology for Sunday School, but they are often here before me at 8am setting up the laptops and cameras for all the classes.
Tabitha was continually at work, trying to meet the pressing needs of those around her … particularly the widows … people who had no one to care for them. She didn’t just do charitable deeds once in a while … she was always working on some project or another. It just poured out to her … easily … naturally. It was her lifestyle. It was just what she did.
You see … by its nature, you can’t program servanthood because servanthood is an attitude … a way of life. Some of you really excel in expressions of servanthood because God has given you not only a special ability to serve but a heart that desires to serve as well. Perhaps you’re one of those quiet practitioners of kindness just like Tabitha was. You notice needs that others don’t even see … and you find joy in meeting them.
Her Necessity (known throughout all Joppa many believed on the Lord)
The widows gathered around Peter, showing him the tunics and other clothes that Dorcas made for them but it really wasn’t about the clothes, was it? It was about her friendship … her love and concern for them. The clothes were a representation of the connection that she had with them … even in death they still had a “piece” of her. Their clothes were graphic, tangible symbols of the way in which she touched the hearts and lives of these often forgotten and over-looked women. Tabitha literally and figuratively “wove” her way into their hearts and lives.
ILLS: No doubt Peter remembered the time when Jairus came to Jesus and asked Jesus to come lay hands on his sick daughter.
The miracle of resurrection only had the power to move people to Christ because the good works of Dorcus had already pointed them in His direction. Good works evangelism is a biblical reality, and many people come to Christ because of the good works of believers. Believers found joy, and unbelievers found Jesus because Dorcus the Doer was alive and well again. The sickness that killed her was healed, and she was back to work meeting the needs of people.
James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
