Easter Living

Acts 9:36-43

Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. 

When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” 

So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. 

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. He gave her his hand and helped her up. 

Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.

We’re a few weeks out from Easter Sunday, but these “Living in the wake of Easter” lessons just keep happening here in Acts. That’s not really a huge surprise though, because the big, take-home of the Book of Acts… the sequel to St. Luke’s Gospel, is figuring out how to live in this post-Easter world. Easter, it turns out, wasn’t just a big one-and-done moment… an exception to the “look out for number one” rule that wants to govern the world. Easter was one big moment, sure, but it was one big moment that completely rewrites every terrible, hurtful, hateful, greedy rule the world has ever made… forever and ever, Amen!  

But Peter doesn’t share that with us by yammering on about it like I do.  Peter simply walks around and SHOWS us what it looks like to live this new way. This lesson starts when Peter is asked by a couple of disciples from the next town over to “come without delay” and Peter just goes! In this new “Easter Way of Living,” when someone needs help… followers of Jesus simply pull together to give help... no questions asked. Peter didn’t know what he’d find when he got there. He just knew that a fellow disciple was in need. They called, Peter went, and with that, we are shown a piece of this new “Easter Way of Living.”  

When he arrived, Peter finds that the one woman who is actually called a “disciple” in the Bible… Tabitha, has died. She’s laid out, prepared for burial. The community of widows, that had included Tabitha, showed Peter the clothing and things Tabitha had made and with that, another part of this “Easter Way of Living” is shown to us. Widows… people at the margins, people who are hurting, people who are vulnerable… they have gathered together for mutual support and are creatively using their gifts (sewing in this case) to support one another as a community. Coming together in the difficult times of life to creatively share gifts and support one another in community... THAT, we are shown is also part of this new “Easter Way of Living.” 

Peter had no idea what he’d find until he saw Tabitha lying dead on that bed. I have a strong suspicion he also had NO idea what to do next either!  But whether he knew what to do or not, Peter shows another dimension of living in the world on this side of Easter.  Peter shows us that prayer has a way of shining a light onto a path forward through whatever darkness we might be facing... a path which we hadn’t been able to see or imagine before. Prayer, Peter shows us, is also part of this “Easter Way of Living.”

Peter, then giving Tabitha his hand, helps her up. Even with this unimaginable gift of life she’s been given, Peter shows us that each and every one of us STILL will have times... even on this side of Easter... when we still need a hand from a fellow disciple. We are shown that each of us will inevitably take our turn lifting and being lifted which is also a part of this “Easter Way of Living.”  Finally, Peter calls everyone together to SHOW them once again how God transforms each of us and ALL of creation through the darkness of death and into the light of an Easter Way of Living! And with that, Peter calls us to do the same.  

Showing up when others are in need. Gathering one another into a supportive community. Caring for those on the margins. Inviting God to shine a light through prayer onto the darkest pathways of our lives. Pulling our sibling up when they are down. Accepting help when we’re the one who needs a hand. Sharing the love, compassion, joy and abundant life we’ve been given with everyone we meet… ALL of that is what Peter shows us is the Easter Way of Living... and you might think that’s the whole thing.  BUT... in what at first seems like a strange little postscript to this lesson Peter shows us one last thing. He goes to stay with someone others would have certainly looked past.  Someone who did un-glamorous, ritually unclean work… and was therefore excluded from the faith community… someone who others had declared as unclean, unwelcome and unworthy… a certain Simon, a tanner.  In this little postscript, turned exclamation point Peter drives home the truth that this Abundant Life we’ve been given, is a gift for ALL of us... even us “Certain Simons” of the world.  All means All in this Easter Way of Living.  Amen.