“God’s Mercy to the Merciful: The Story of Dorcas” (Acts 9:36-42)

“God’s Mercy to the Merciful: The Story of Dorcas” (Acts 9:36-42)

1.                   Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our crucified and risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message is taken from Acts 9:36-42 and it’s entitled, “God’s Mercy to the Merciful:  The Story of Dorcas.”  Christ is risen, He’s risen indeed, Alleluia! 

2.             Everyone knows Acts 9 is about the conversion of Saul, later known as the Apostle Paul. It wouldn’t be appropriate to minimize that great historical event. But, we should see here another servant of God who’s a little lesser known than the rabbi from Tarsus.  The story of Dorcas being raised from the dead in Acts 9 can give us a new look at God’s priorities. How caught up Christianity in America seems to be with public visibility and celebrities. How mega churches and TV broadcasts seem to dwarf the faithfulness of a woman like Dorcas. There will be plenty of time for Paul to thunder his gospel of grace through Asia Minor and on into Greece.  But, along the way, Luke makes us stop for a moment and look at the the ordinary Christians who make the gospel work in their communities despite the absence of applause and recognition in the wider world.
3.             It’s one of the signs of the times we live in that the skill of home sewing is slowly disappearing. Women work outside the home now and don't have time to acquire the skills. Fewer and fewer are able to teach the few who want to learn. Besides, machine-made clothing is so cheap that sewing is at best a hobby, not an economic necessity.  But, this wasn’t so in New Testament times. All clothing was handmade. And every town had poor people who were clothed literally in rags. Dorcas seems to have been an older widow in Joppa on the coast who showed her Christian faith in making clothes and helping the poor.  Acts 9 says, "In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died. . . . All the widows stood around him [Peter], crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them" (Acts 9:36,37,39).
4.             Tabitha’s name in English would be “Gazelle.” Her faith in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil expressed itself in practical works of love. The Dorcas societies or guilds in some congregations today do the kind of work that she did, sewing for those in need of clothing. She may have been a widow herself, since no mention is made of her husband.  Notice how the widows showed Peter the sewing work that Dorcas had done. In this way they impressed on him how important that woman had been for the church at Joppa. Could he possibly do something to remedy their great loss?
5.             Peter knew that Jesus had power to raise the dead. He had been there when Jairus’ daughter was raised (Mark 5:37–42), when the young man of Nain was restored to his widowed mother (Luke 7:11–17), and when Lazarus came forth after four days in the grave (John 11:1–44). He also knew that Jesus hadn’t raised up all the people who died during his ministry.  What was Jesus’ will now? Peter sent everyone out of the room so that he could be alone to pray. He asked the Lord Jesus, if it was his will, to use his divine power to raise this woman whose work was so important to so many of her fellow believers.
6.             Jesus heard Peter’s prayer and restored Dorcas to life. Falling to his knees before the body, Peter prayed, turned to the body, and said, “Tabitha, arise.” Naturally Peter addressed her by the Aramaic form of her name, and Luke was careful to preserve this. Luke was aware of the significance of what Peter had said. Jesus’ words to Jairus’s daughter were, “Little girl, arise,” which Mark preserved in the original Aramaic form, “Talitha koum” (Mark 5:41). In Aramaic, Peter’s words would have been almost identical, “Tabitha koum”—only a single consonant difference. As with Jairus’s daughter, the widow’s son at Nain, Lazarus, and Dorcas, it was not a matter of resurrection but of resuscitation, of temporary restoration of life. But all the miracles of raising from the dead are in a real sense “signs,” pointers to our risen Lord Jesus who has power over death and is himself the resurrection and the life for all who believe and trust in him.
7.             With the raising of Dorcas from the dead the news spread quickly and many believed  in our risen Lord Jesus Christ.  And the results of this miracle? Believers rejoiced, and the unsaved believed.  For when a person comes to believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, that person is delivered from their own unbelief by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God and the Sacraments.  And how does the Lord deliver the people in Joppa from unbelief?  They’re delivered by Peter’s speaking the Word of God upon those who were bound by the consequences of sin.  In speaking God’s powerful Word, Peter delivered Dorcas from the physical consequences of sin.  Dorcas was brought back to life in the body, and people were delivered from unbelief.
8.             These acts of the apostles testify to the fact that deliverance from unbelief, whether it be personal unbelief or the unbelief of others and what they might do in that unbelief, is a passive deliverance born of the work and Word of God in our Lord Jesus.  Even as Jesus leaves Himself in the hands of His Father for deliverance from the work and words of unbelief that crucified Him, so is the way of deliverance for all who are brought to belief from unbelief, from death to life, and from earth to heaven.
9.              Every resurrection described in the Bible pictures our future. Just as Jesus’ resurrection represented the final seal of God’s approval on his life and work, so the resurrection of Christians whether past or future is God’s ultimate approval of their faith.
10.             Dorcas' resurrection is a magnificent story. I love Dorcas even more for her servant-heart, a seamstress who put clothes on the poor.  Tabitha’s example shows that as believers grow in faith in Christ, they bear the fruit of faith, imitating Christ, helping those who are in need. Cf Mt 25:31–40; Ac 2:44–45; 1Tm 5:3–16. See note, 2Th 1:3. 
11.             An untimely death comes to Tabitha, a beloved servant. But, we see that those who mourn Tabitha’s death witness the power of Christ through her restoration to life. How great is the Lord’s kindness!  As always, the miracle was a sign pointing to the power of Christ and the truth of his gospel. It had its results in the conversion of many people.  Please pray with me:  Heavenly Father, when my last hour comes take me to be with You in heaven.  O Lord, we also thank you for the gifts you’ve given us. May we generously use them in the service of others like your dear servant Dorcas in whom you allowed Peter to raise from the dead, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, our crucified and risen Lord and Savior. Amen.