Dorcas Rising (Acts 9: 36-43) 4/21/13

          The Book of Acts focuses on the early Church, and the last few weeks, we have been looking at Chapters 6-9. Stephen is martyred. Saul is arresting Christians. There is Saul’s Damascus Road experience and his conversion to Christianity. Halfway through Chapter 9, the emphasis shifts away from Paul and back to Peter. That’s one way of looking at it. But if we look at these stories in another way, the emphasis never shifts at all. Instead, it weaves a tale just like its title. It is telling us about the Acts of the Apostles.

          At the end of Chapter 9 after Paul has been converted and escaped from both Damascus and Jerusalem, the Apostle Peter takes center stage once again. This time he is involved in two miracles. In Lydda, Peter heals Aeneas, a paralytic for some eight years. Meanwhile, in the neighboring town of Joppa, a prominent Christian woman becomes ill and dies. Her name was Tabitha. The Greek translation would be Dorcas.

          Apparently, some disciples were in Joppa. Joppa was a coastal town on the Mediterranean, lying in the fertile coastal plain district of Sharon. It was the seaport most used by those from Jerusalem. The word of Peter’s healing of Aeneas probably spread quickly from Lydda to Joppa, as Lydda was on the route from Jerusalem to Joppa and only ten miles away. One might have stopped in that crossroads town to “gas up” on the way to the coast and Joppa.

          At any rate, Peter got the word that this disciple Dorcas had died. Luke characterizes her as full of good works and charity. As was the custom, her body was washed. She was laid in an upper room. Luke does not tell us that her body had been prepared for burial. Since the custom was to have a burial the same day as death, things were moving along very quickly. Two men were dispatched by the disciples to fetch Peter, who came at once. We can assume he got there fairly quickly, as he wasn’t far away.

 What a time in history this must have been! The Apostles were empowered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. They were out in the cities and towns, up and down the roads of the Decapolis. North, South, East and West they spread, bringing the Gospel to everyone they met and doing miracles from God to demonstrate the healing power of Christ. Luke tells us that after Aeneas was healed of his paralysis, “all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to God.” This was the time of miracles, and Peter was on the road to Joppa and another miracle.

We marvel at what Peter did in those days. The blind were healed, the lame could walk, the sick were made well. We marvel at the miraculous and mighty acts of the Apostles performed in the name of God. And yet, we think little of the everyday miracles performed by doctors and nurses and first responders. Hearts and livers and corneas are transplanted routinely. We have a polio vaccine, a shingles vaccine, a pneumonia vaccine. We are perfecting cures to disease, and many diseases no longer hold power over us. And yet, because God has allowed us to discover these solutions to health instead of sending someone to heal us in the same way as Peter did, we discount the miracle value. Because some of these everyday miracles are done by atheists and non-Christians, we do not see them as miracles. But aren’t they? Aren’t these modern day miracles from God as well?

Can’t you just almost hear God chuckling at us? Were it not for God, we would have no knowledge, no technology, no modern miracles. Because of God’s permissive will, we have scientific and medical breakthroughs as a matter of custom. And just to remind us periodically that God is and always will be part of the equation, we all have stories of answers to prayer. We all have been witness to that person who was healed and the doctor who had no medical or scientific explanation. Invariably, that person was the subject of hundreds of prayers lifted up in his or her name by faithful Christians. Surprise, surprise!  God acts in our lives and he is faithful to us. We have no idea the power of which we are capable, if only we would tap into the Holy Spirit residing within us.

So Peter arrives in sunny downtown Joppa and is ushered to the upper room where the body of poor Dorcas lies still. The room was full of widows, all witnessing to her kindness and generosity, holding up things she had made for them. It was a wonderful testimony, but Peter had other things on his mind. God was calling.

Peter thanked the women for their great show of affection and asked them to please leave. He wanted to be alone with Dorcas…and Jesus. He wanted to see what God wanted to do that day. Peter knelt down and prayed.

Peter did not know Dorcas. In the short time he was in the house, he had heard testimonies from those who knew and loved her. On the way from Lydda, he might have heard from the men sent by the disciples. But Peter had never met Dorcas. She was a good woman from Joppa who had fallen ill and died. Why would Peter come from Lydda to the house of this woman? And why, seeing her lifeless body, would he pray for her life?

One way we have to understand this behavior might be to look to the city of Boston this past week. In the aftermath of the bombings at the Boston Marathon, Cappy’s Pizza filled orders from donors for over 100 pizzas to be delivered to Mass General Hospital. Gifts of flowers-daisies-showed up for patients at Tufts Medical Center. And at the Starbucks in the Governmental Center, a lady from Newtown, Connecticut donated $100 to customers in line there…because someone had done it for her and others in the midst of the Sandy Hook shootings. Everywhere in Boston, random acts of kindness are on display to total strangers. The signature of the citizens on this act of terrorism is that mankind is bigger than its violence, nobler than its meanness, kinder than its dark side would have us believe. As it was in New York on 9/11, we say again in lockstep that we are all citizens of Boston. This week, we are Boston strong and our Christianity is showing in our acts of kindness and humanity.

Why would Peter pray for the life of Dorcas? Because he had seen his resurrected Savior. Because he had seen Jesus ascend to heaven. Because ever since Pentecost, he had felt the fire of that gospel in his belly and life for Peter was one long opportunity to spread that gospel. Because Peter was learning that God’s power was without bounds, and Peter was praying in faith for God to act. And because just like the random acts of kindness witnessed all over Boston this week, he was called to a task, a task for his Lord. Peter was learning to show up, to do the praying and let God do the rest. He had seen his Savior do it. He had the faith to trust God. And so he prayed. He knelt down and he prayed. Then he turned to Dorcus’s body and said: “Arise.”

          It is so simple. Trust God. Act for his glory. Expect miracles. In spite of all the evidence, we still dance the dance of doubt. Are we good enough? Do we know enough? Have we exhausted all our choices? Perhaps instead we should ask whether we really have the faith necessary for God to act? He is big enough, but have we the spiritual muscle to call upon his name?

          Peter said: “Dorcas, arise,” and she opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and she got up. How simple. One person has the fullness of trust and faith to ask, and another is delivered. That God can send us miracles is not news to Christians. In a very real sense, the miracle is that one person can have that depth of faith and trust that God finds acceptable.

          Peter got on his knees and prayed. He said two words, and he witnessed a miracle. Dorcas rose from her deathbed and was presented by Peter alive to the saints and widows waiting there. Luke tells us that the event echoed throughout all Joppa; that many believed in the Lord. Peter had gone out of his comfort zone of Jerusalem to Lydda and Joppa. These cities were only 25 and 35 miles away, but they represented a great reach for Peter. He had gone into the homes of strangers and had called upon God for healing. God answered with two miracles. Though Peter’s acts were probably done for Jews, God was preparing him for something even bigger, for Peter would soon have three visions from God that would find him in the house of Cornelius, the Centurion. Peter was about to open the door of the Gospel to the Gentiles.

          If Peter were here today, CNN would have his face plastered on every TV screen in the land. The cell phone video of the miracle would go virile, and Peter would be offered a book deal. Peter would be dumbfounded. The fisherman turned fisher of men most likely would just look in the camera and say two more words: Praise God!

That’s the lesson. Peter came. Peter prayed. Dorcas rose. Praise God. It still works that way. We come. We pray. God moves among us. Praise God!