Sometime, we need to resist change. Sometime, we need to speak life in the midst of death. Sometime, we need to say “no” to trouble.
That’s what the ladies did the day that Dorcas died. Something within them refused to let go. Instead of just accepting a loss, somehow the Holy Spirit pressed them to say “no” to death. That is what the Holy Spirit does sometime.
Dorcas, which means “deer” in Greek, was called Tabitha which in the Hebrew means grace and beauty akin to a gazelle, a deer, bouncy and lively
. When we live in two worlds, we may have two names. Tabitha shares this exceptional place in the bible because she was always, not sometime, not once a year, not occasionally, but verse 36 says she was ALWAYS, doing good AND helping the poor.
She participated with a group of women said in verse 39 to be widows; most likely they were mothers too. Tabitha made robes and clothes.
She made under garments worn next to the skin and outer clothes like our coats and sweaters as well. In any case, making anything to wear is both an art and a labor of love. These ladies were faithfully using their talents and spiritual gifts from God while learning and developing interesting skills. There was likely some unique skill and some special touches that each person brought to the table. It is the same as Bethel women and certainly some Bethel men have talent to create and make beautiful things with their hands.
It is no wonder that since
the beginning of time we have been inspired to honor women, especially mothers
who nurture and co-create with God.
In the American South, Anna Jarvis fulfilled her late mother Ann’s
wishes to honor mothers. She campaigned long and hard, meeting with ministers and businessmen to create a way to honor the work of mothers. Their work was not just about a special day. Mother’s day clubs developed before the Civil War under Anna’s leadership to help mothers learn about good nutrition and hydration for their infants. After the War, in 1868 Jarvis organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day,” at which mothers gathered with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation.
Mother’s Day did not became official until 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation, however in 1908, six years earlier, the first official Mother’s Day recognition was in church like ours is today. A worship service celebrating Mother’s Day was held in at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, her home town. That same day a thousand people gathered at a Wanamaker’s Department Store to celebrate this new day called Mother’s Day in Philadelphia where she lived and held membership with her mother at Old St. George’s Methodist Church.
Campaigns to make a day an official holiday in one way or another are not new to us. President Reagan signed for the Martin Luther King Federal Holiday in 1983. Last June, President Biden signed a declaration for Juneteenth national Independence Day as a Federal Holiday. It is now the 12th legal public holiday.
I recently learned that
President Jimmy Carter signed for an Asian American week in 1979, and in 2009
and on May 1, 2009, President Barack Obama signed a proclamation for an Asian
American Heritage Month. May was chosen because on May 7, 1843,
the first Japanese immigrant arrived in the United States. More than two
decades later, on May 10, 1869, the golden spike was driven into the First
Transcontinental Railroad, which was completed using Chinese labor. Anna Jarvis campaigned for years before
Mother’s Day became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. When the day became too commercialized
for her liking, she spent much of her inheritance on legal fees to get Mother’s
Day off the calendar. Go figure.
No doubt, the same political and spiritual conversations were happening among the ladies who were always doing good and helping the poor that we read about in Acts today. When Tabitha died, they called Peter. Peter had witnessed the miracles of Jesus. He was put in chains and sent to jail because of his preaching, but an angel of God led him to freedom. He was with Jesus after the Resurrection. He saw the nail prints in his hand. Peter knew firsthand the power of the resurrection. A few verses earlier in Acts, he prayed for a man bedridden for 8 years and the man was healed and two whole towns became Christians.
In our day, if that many people began to believe in Jesus, you would soon become a Bishop.
These ladies, in their sorrow and distress, called for Peter to come because they realized that the same resurrection power that is in Jesus, is also in their lives. We are a resurrection people and God intends for us to have life and to have it abundantly, no matter what evil we may encounter.
The ladies expected God to do something great.
We too have the same
spirit of Jesus’ resurrection in our minds, in our bodies, in our hearts. We
too can expect god to do something great. That resurrection power shows itself
in many ways. We just need to be still and know that God is God and we are not.
When mother’s hold their children, those children are raised from death to
life. You remember the stories of orphaned babies who died in nurseries simply
because they were not touched, so volunteers were brought in to hold and touch
the babies every day.
When we speak to one another in love, when we speak the truth, we speak life.
We are set free to live and not die because the power of the resurrection of Jesus is in us and in our words.
We have seen the miracles for mothers and for others when the stronghold of addiction to chemicals and addiction to shopping and addiction to enabling dysfunctional behavior are broken. Even in the midst of Naomi Judd’s diagnosis of severe, treatment resistant depression, her daughter could say they were blessed even when they were broken. The Ukraine, which has such rich soil and perfect ports became the “bread basket of the world.” That same Ukraine now finds itself in bread lines. The same Spirit of resurrection in Jesus is in us with death defying power for the most powerless circumstances, and in the midst of death and suffering. It is good to pray for deliverance from wars and rumors of wars.
God hears our every prayer. God is not asleep. God is not dead. As the song says “God is doing something, right now. God is healing someone. God is saving someone. God is moving mountains. All of our hope is in the name of Jesus as we pray God turn this thing around.”
One of the most awesome powers of the resurrection happen for mothers when children leave the nest with confidence, feeling loved, able to use their talents and spiritual gifts, able to do good and help others to forgive and reconcile, able to come back home with respect and honor for their parents.
The miracle for mothers and others happens as we turn toward the resurrection power of Jesus. That same power is in us and around us. That same power can work in us to bring the miracle of life in the places of our lives that are lifeless. God cares for you and wants to bless you with life. Whatever is worrying you, holding you back, making you anxious and afraid, give it to God today and watch God work. Amen.
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