Acts 9:36-43: How Tabitha Did What She Could

INTRODUCTION

The story is told about a clerk in a hardware store named Eddie. Eddie was a slow-moving inefficient employee, and eventually he was let go.

A customer came into the story and noticed that Eddie was missing. He  asked, “Where’s Eddie. Is he sick.”

The owner said, “Nope. Eddie doesn’t work here any more.”

“Do you have anyone in mind for the vacancy?” asked the customer.

The answer he got was: “Nope, Eddie didn’t leave no vacancy.”

Some people, when they are gone, are hardly missed. Others leave a hole in the lives of those they leave behind that can never be filled.

The church has its heroes—people like St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. Francis, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther, John Wesley, and Billy Graham.

But far more important than those famous men and women of God are the multitudes of ordinary people who have quietly served God by serving others, without any special recognition for their efforts.

We read about some of these in the Bible—a man named Ebed-Melech, an Ethiopian who saved Jeremiah’s life when he was thrown into the cistern and left to die. I think of Euodia and Syntyche, who struggled side-by-side with Paul in the work of the gospel. I think of the little slave girl who saved her pagan master’s life by telling him about the Prophet Elisha, who could cure him of his leprosy.

All through the ages, it has been the insignificant people—who have had the biggest part in passing the faith down through the ages.

The mothers and fathers who were godly examples to their children both in words and in deeds—the Good Samaritans, who have done what they could, even sometimes when it was dangerous and costly.

Today I want to talk about a woman we read about in the book of Acts, a lady who made a place for herself in the lives of a few needy people and became an example for us all.

As I said, this woman was as far as we know was not unusually gifted, but something remarkable happened to her that got her story in the Bible.

Here it is, as related in Acts 9:36-42:

Now there was at Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which means Dorcas or Gazelle. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him entreating him, “Please come to us without delay.”

So Peter rose and went with them. And when he had come, they took him to the upper room.

All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing coats and garments which Dorcas made while she was with them.

But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha rise.”

And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up.

Then calling the saints and widows he presented her alive.

And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

In almost every church we’ve ever been a part of one of the women’s circles has been called the Dorcas Circle.

Here’s why.

I. This lady has three names in the Bible. “Dorcas” is the Greek translation of her name. “Tabitha” was the name she was called by in her own language. “Gazelle is what her name means in English. I’ll call her “Tabitha” because that’s what she was actually called by in her own language—Aramaic—the language Jesus spoke.

A. Tabitha was remarkable because—as we read in verse 36—“she was full of good works and acts of charity.”

Tabitha showed her faith by her kind deeds. One of the great commentators on the Bible (Matthew Henry) says this about Tabitha: “Tabitha was full of good works as a tree is full of fruit. Many are full of good words and barren of good works, but Tabitha was a great doer, no great talker.”

B. Tabitha was evidently a person greatly valued in the little community of Christians in Joppa, because when she died, the church sent two of their members to tell Peter.

I wonder how they came to have the faith that Peter could help them. I think this story indicates that miracles were more common in the early church than even the book of Acts suggests.

Still, I wonder that they thought Peter could raise her back to life. As far as we know Peter hadn’t ever raised a person from the dead. Where did he get the faith to think that he could pray this woman back to life?

II. We might think: Well, what’s so remarkable about a woman who made clothes for poor people?

A. I need to tell you that making clothes was a bigger deal in those days than it is now.

Yarn had to be spun by hand, a thread at a time.

Then the fabric had to be woven by hand.

Then the garment had to be stitched together by hand.

Clothes were very costly.

Many poor people would have had only the clothes they were wearing. When Jesus told his followers to “clothe” the naked, he meant it literally. A poor person might find it difficult to find even a rag with which to cover himself or herself.

One of the laws as found in Exodus 22:26 stipulated that if anyone gave his outer garment in pledge for a loan, it had to be given back when night came, “for”—as the law read—“it is his only covering, his cloak for his body: in what else can he sleep?”

Making clothes wasn’t Tabitha’s hobby. It was her “mission.”

B. In the ancient world—and in many places today—to be a widow was to be destitute.

People died young, and many women became widows at an early age.

There were few jobs with which a widow could support herself.

Many widows had no children old enough to provide for them.

One of the glories of the early church was its care for their poor, especially widows.

Widows made up the majority of the poor. We see this in Acts 6. One of the first ministries the infant church undertook was the care for its widows. Each of the new churches in the growing Christian movement must have been a magnet for the poor widows in its area.

There’s quite a bit about caring for widows in the Bible.

III. Let’s try to imagine the scene that greeted Peter as he entered that upstairs room.

A. Tabitha’s body is lying on a bed in the middle of the room, washed and prepared for burial.

Around the body of Tabitha the widows were standing and weeping, showing the clothes Tabitha had made for them.

I have pictured the widows holding these garments up in their hands for Peter to see, but the commentators tell us that the Greek verb indicated that they are wearing the clothes that they are calling to Peter’s attention.

B. We see Peter enter the room and shooing all the people from the room and then falling to his knees and praying.

This was a powerful prayer, and Peter needed to give it all his attention.

When he knew that God had heard his prayer, he stood up, turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up!”

“And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he took her by the hand and helped her up.”

Then Peter went to the door and called “the saints and widows.” And what a scene of rejoicing that must have been!

I like that term “saints and widows.” The saints are all of God’s believing people. The widows are God’s needy people. The saints and widows are the ones who get to see God working while the unbelieving world still doesn’t have a clue.

CONCLUSION

Those garments on the backs of those widows glorified God. They bore witness to his mercy and testified to the goodness of his people.

I can imagine that when Tabitha was sick a great chorus of prayer went up to God for her, and even after she died, the poor widows who loved her kept praying as they wept.

So when she came alive again, it wasn’t only Peter’s prayer that was being answered, but also the prayers of those who loved this good woman.

Tabitha did what she could. She saw a need and she considered her opportunities and her skills—and she opened her purse and bought cloth—or wove it herself—and went to work with her scissors and needle.

Let us give thanks for the Tabithas in our lives.

Some of you have been Tabithas. You’ve done what you could. I hope that you are still doing what you can.

Know that you are dear to God.

A church volunteer worker was making the rounds in a hospital, bringing cheer to patients and helping them in many little ways. A patient noticed by her tag that she was affiliated with a certain church. He asked, “Are you hired by the church to do this work?”

“O no,” she replied. “We are volunteers.”

The patient asked, “Why?”

The volunteer replied, “I love the Lord, and this is one way I can express it, by helping others.”

The patient was puzzled: “You mean, you do this for nothing?”

“Oh no,” the volunteer replied, “we do it for something—for the hope that we can bring comfort to you who are sick and share with you our Savior’s love and strength.”

The man was quiet for a few moments and then replied, “If the church really cares that much about us sick folks, maybe there is still hope for this old world of ours.”

Thinking about Tabitha reminds me of a great saying from Saint Augustine:

“What does love look like?

It has hands to help others.

It has feet to hasten to the poor and needy.

It has eyes to see misery and want.

It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of people.

That’s what love looks like.”