Shocking Faith
Acts 9:36-43
Tony’s Overview Video
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- Read the Bible Lesson by Tony Cartledge in this month’s issue of the Nurturing Faith Journal
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Key Text: Acts 9:40
“Peter 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.”
Some things are easy to believe, while other claims stretch the bounds of credulity. Suppose I were to tell you that I once went for a walk on an isolated road and was surprised to see a minivan-sized pod descend from the heavens with a crackling fizz and before levitating silently before me.
A round door slid open and a skeletal ramp extended from the bottom with a soft whir. I watched as a bumpy ball-like figure rolled down the ramp and stopped. Two thin and many-jointed arms unfolded from each side, and three stalk-like protrusions emerged from the top.
The creature began to speak, using English it had apparently learned from hacking into Amazon Prime’s movie collection. Extending a spindly arm in my direction, the alien astronaut said “Hi – My name’s Forrest … Forrest Gump.”
Would you believe that story? No?
Some things just don’t fit into our understanding of reality. As such, they are difficult for us to believe.
The sting of death (vv. 36-37)
Today’s text relates a story that we typically accept as scriptural truth but would have a harder time believing if someone claimed it had happened last week.
Let’s rewind the tape and replay the story: nearly 2,000 years ago, a woman lived in a quaint town on the Mediterranean coast of Palestine. The name of the town was Joppa, and the woman’s name was “Gazelle.” [DD] [DD]
Of course, no one called her that. Her Greek-speaking friends called her Dorcas and those who spoke Aramaic called her Tabitha. Both words translate to “Gazelle” in English. Truth is, she would have answered to most any name if it was spoken by someone in need.
Tabitha’s life appears to have revolved around doing good deeds and being kind to people. Luke’s account suggests that she was a regular Mother Theresa of the ancient world. Poor, helpless women would come to her, widows who had no one to support them or no market for their skills, and she would offer hope and help.
Tabitha seems to have run a sort of soup kitchen and clothes closet from her home. There wasn’t a poor widow within miles who didn’t own a dress or a shawl that Tabitha had made for her. When all others turned away, there was always Tabitha. She was a rock in a roiling, stormy sea. [DD]
Imagine the day when a gaunt-faced little woman came knocking at Tabitha’s door, but no one answered. She called Tabitha’s name, but no one came, and there was no scent of a cooking fire. With fearful thoughts, the woman pushed open the door, knowing it was never locked, and found Tabitha lying against the wall on an earthen bench. The great saint of Joppa was obviously very sick. She wasn’t moving. She was barely breathing. The woman ran out to get help, but when she returned, there was no breath at all. Tabitha was dead.
Oh, the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth that was heard in Joppa that day. Oh, the mourning and the grieving and the wondering of “What will we do? What will we do?”
Oh, the hopelessness that descended on all the gathered women who came to Tabitha’s house, wearing Tabitha’s clothes but bereft of Tabitha’s love. They did for her what they could. They washed her worn body and dressed her in clean clothes and carried her upstairs to her bed.
The power of hope (vv. 38-39)
There were some, however, who couldn’t bear the thought that Tabitha was dead and gone. They refused to give up hope. They had heard that Simon Peter was visiting in the town of Lydda, about 10 miles to the southeast. Peter was emerging as the foremost leader in the early church. He was blessed with a special measure of God’s Spirit, and many people had found healing through Peter’s ministry. Whether Peter could help a dead woman they didn’t know, but it was worth a try, so they found two men who could run fast and sent them in search of the crusty apostle.
And Peter came, though he didn’t run. He came to the house, and looked with kindly eyes at the weeping women, and commiserated with them, and admired their smocks and dresses that Tabitha had made. Then he threw them out and shut the door.
The miracle of life (vv. 40-43)
All alone, Peter knelt beside the bed where Tabitha lay, and he prayed. Luke doesn’t tell us what words he used or how long he prayed, and he probably didn’t know. But God heard Peter’s prayer and somehow the power of God became tangibly present to the apostle. He looked up at the frail, cold body before him, and he said “Tabitha, get up!”
As if she were waking from sleep, perhaps, Tabitha opened her eyes and discovered that there was a man in her bedroom. She gave a start, but then she remembered being sick, and sleeping, and maybe she thought she’d heard angels singing, but now she was clearly back in her own bed. Tabitha was shaky and weak, but alive. She managed to sit up in the bed, and then Peter offered a helping hand, and soon she was standing up in her bare feet on the rough wooden floor.
Peter opened the door and called the gathered widows and saints to see what God had done. They crowded into the room with weeping and laughter and big hugs for Tabitha, assuring themselves that she was really alive. The story of Tabitha’s resurrection spread throughout Joppa and many believed it, Luke says. As a result, many believed in the Lord, as well. [DD] [DD]
Do we believe?
But what about us? Do we believe that story, that God worked through Peter to bring a dead woman back to life? That notion flies in the face of all that we know to be true. Dead people stay dead.
Still, most church-going Christians would probably affirm the story. We believe it because it is in the Bible, where we assume the normal rules governing the universe must have been suspended for a while, and it really seems like another world altogether.
It may not be that hard for us to believe that God could raise dear old Tabitha to life, but the important question is, do we believe that God can bring new life to us?
Are there areas of our lives that feel so settled and fixed that there’s little life about them? Are there ways in which pain or long-time frustration has left us feeling numb? Do we sometimes find ourselves going through the motions of life like a busy sleepwalker, wishing to goodness that we could feel alive again?
Do we believe that the power of God can bring us new life?
Think about the kind of vocabulary Jesus used when he talked about living in relationship with God and being part of the kingdom. When the Pharisee Nicodemus wanted to learn more about the kingdom of God, Jesus said “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above” (or, “born again,” John 3:3).
Jesus went on to tell Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life” (John 3:16).
In conversation with his disciples, Jesus compared the difference between his way of life and the world’s way of life: “The thief comes only to kill and destroy,” he said, but “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
On the night before his crucifixion, according to the Fourth Gospel, Jesus told his disciples “I am the way, the truth, and the life. . .” (John 14:6).
The conclusion of John’s gospel reminds us that it’s all about life: “These things are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
Can we believe it?
When the Apostle Paul wanted to explain the symbolic importance of baptism, he said “Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).
The New Testament writers fully believed that God is in the business of bringing life to the world, not just through creation, but through a living and vital relationship with those who follow God’s way. We are never more alive than when we are in tune with the Spirit of God in us . . . but the question remains, do we believe it?
Some of us may have done some terrible things in our lives, and surely all of us have done things that bring us shame. We may have held racist attitudes and acted on them by treating people of other ethnic backgrounds poorly. We may have put others down in order to build ourselves up.
We may have misbehaved in many selfish ways, but there came a day when we realized that we were on a dead-end road. Our wild ways had lost their thrill. Climbing the economic ladder had lost its appeal. A certain deadness may have taken over.
Yet, in the midst of it all, we can believe that Jesus Christ is present and willing to hear our prayer and offer us the kind of new and purposeful life that comes from being in touch with the Spirit of God.
That experience can lead us to ongoing worship and prayer and service to others as we celebrate that new life, keep our spiritual batteries charged, and witness of our faith.
Can we believe it?
Adult Teaching Resources
Download the PDF of teaching resources for this lesson.
This PDF contains the Teaching Guide, Digging Deeper, and Hardest Question pages.
Read Scripture online: Acts 9:36-43
Youth Teaching Resources
Parent Prep
We are to offer life to people. Most of the time this means offering them the living Jesus through our thoughts, actions, and words. This seems the hardest to do with our own students at times. Maybe we are too close and know too much about them, but it can be hard and we still have to offer life. When parenting your students, how do you offer them life? How do you help them discover their purpose? How do you reveal to them new opportunities of life? Sometimes the answer is not to provide an answer but a question for them to answer on their own.
Additional Links/Resources
Read Scripture online: Acts 9:36-43
Download the PDF for youth teaching resources using the button below. This PDF contains the Teaching Guide for this lesson:
Video
Encourage youth to check out this video ahead of the lesson.
“A Higher Purpose” from Lucy
Via www.youtube.com
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