Fourth Sunday of Easter – Acts 9:36-43
First Trinity Lutheran Church, Indianapolis, IN

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Do you believe in miracles, or are you a skeptic? I’ll admit, I’m a little skeptical. I’m an engineer. It’s my job to figure out why things happen. How things work. Now, it doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in divine intervention. I mean, it’s pretty miraculous that I’m up here preaching because I’m such an introvert. God works in mysterious ways. But that’s also the problem, right? How do we explain why God sometimes pulls out something amazing, and sometimes doesn’t seem to show up?

Today we heard about God doing something amazing. The apostle Peter raised Tabitha from death.

• Now, if anyone ever deserved a miracle, it’s Tabitha.
• She was a real gift from God for her neighbors. She devoted her life to good works and charity. She even made them clothes. We don’t realize what a big deal that is.
• We take clothes for granted. When we need a shirt or pants, we just run to Target and grab something off the rack.
• Maybe you sew, or know someone who sews. You just run to JoAnne’s and get some fabric.
• But back in Galilee, clothes were a lot more complicated. Tabitha first had to buy flax from a farmer. Sort of like big wads of hair, maybe a couple feet long. And if you google flax, you find out that there’s a whole laundry list of steps between growing the plants and getting out these fibers. Fun fact, it takes about a 20×20 foot plot to get enough for a shirt, and that’s only if everything’s perfect. But nothing’s perfect in farming.
• So Tabitha gets these wads, and has to separate them. Comb them out.
• Then she has to spin them into thread. She pulls a few fibers at a time, twisting them with her fingers and winding onto a spindle that she twirls with her other hand. Which is really hard on your hands and arms. You cramp. You change grip. If you want carpal tunnel, this is a great way to get it.
• And she has to keep her fingers wet. There’s a natural glue in the fibers that makes them stick together in the thread. But got to be just right. Too dry and the thread will unravel. Too wet and it clumps up.
• Maybe after a day she’s spins enough thread. Then a day or 2 to weave it into cloth. Keeping just the right tension so it holds together.
• Then she’s got to treat the fabric, and dye it, and sew it. That’s a lot of time and work.
• And here’s the thing. This is just Tabitha’s day job. Then she comes back at night to do it all again for the widows and folks who don’t have money.
• If that’s not great sacrifice, I don’t know what is.

So, now that she’s gone, who’s going to do all this for them?

• They’re panicking. But they hear that Peter’s in a nearby town. They’ve heard that Peter’s done some miraculous things. So they send a couple folks to beg him to come.
• Of course, they don’t tell him why. Peter might say no. So they just say “Please come without delay.” Just get him there and then he won’t have any other choice.
• They take him to the upper room where Tabitha’s body lies. He sees the body. He sees all these widows weeping. What’s he thinking? No pressure, right?

But here’s what’s weird. They’re weeping, but they make sure to show him clothes that Tabitha made.

• It’s like they want to prove to Peter that she’s worth a miracle. It’s not enough to just tell him about her. They have to show it too.
• It’s not weird though. If we’re not sure whether God’s going to show up, we want to get God’s attention. Maybe we remind God about our good works, or someone else’s. If you don’t do something, look at what we’ll lose. Or maybe remind God about all the times we’ve suffered, and how unfair it was. Or sometimes we even try to bargain. Oh God, if you’d only do something, I swear I’ll…… fill in the blank.
• Even though they got Peter, and even though he’s got a track record with miracles, they want to hedge their bets.

What’s Peter thinking?

• He’s pretty good at healing folks who were paralyzed. To one he said, “In the name of Jesus Christ, stand and walk”. To another he said, “Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed!” And it worked. They got up.
• And here’s another thing. he always made sure there were witnesses. He wants folks to know that Jesus’ name is powerful. And he wants them to see and believe.
• But this time he sends everyone out of the room. He doesn’t want witnesses. He doesn’t want them to see or hear anything. That’s odd.
• Maybe he’s intimidated. This is beyond anything he’s ever done. He doesn’t want the pressure.
• And maybe he’s not so sure Jesus’ name will work this time. He doesn’t want to say it and have nothing happen. With everyone out of the room, he can come up with an explanation.
• Maybe that’s why he doesn’t dare to say the name at all. Because this is testing his own faith too. He just prays, and says “Tabitha, get up.”

What a relief that she does.

But why her? What about all the folks who don’t get a miracle? There’s another story in Acts. About a guy named Stephen. One of the first deacons. He did great wonders and signs among God’s people. But they were jealous. They persecuted and stoned him to death. Why did God let him die?

And what about when God’s only child Jesus hung on the cross?

Who can say? Only God knows. But here’s what we know. That Jesus was raised from death by the power of God. He didn’t just walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but went straight through death, and it led him right back to us. Maybe that’s what we really need to know. Not why God does or doesn’t send us the miracle that we demand. Not why bad things happen to good people. Or even why good things sometimes happen to bad people. God works in mysterious ways. But what we need to know is that we find ourselves walking in the valley of the shadow of death, Jesus is always right there with us. Our good shepherd, who nudges us at every step, because we don’t know the way. But Jesus does.

And Jesus doesn’t wait for us to call him. It’s too urgent. He comes before the words even come out of our mouths. That’s why Peter didn’t have to say Jesus’ name to raise Tabitha. Jesus was already there, bound to Peter by faith. Just like he binds himself to us. And Jesus did the loving deed for Tabitha, and for Peter, and for all her neighbors in their grief. Not because Tabitha was such an awesome person, but just because that’s what was needed. That’s why we call Jesus our good shepherd. He always goes before us, making the way, and we can’t help but follow him. Jesus doesn’t leave anything to chance. He promised, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” After all, sheep never choose their shepherd.

And sheep never choose where to go. Jesus leads us to our neighbors, even if they don’t know it. And sometimes it’s better that way. They don’t have to wonder why, or whether they owe us anything. Tabitha couldn’t know how Jesus was agitating her neighbors for her sake. Demanding that Peter come. Making clear that he had to do this for her. This was only ever going to go one way. And we can rest assured that we’ll do likewise. When the time comes, we’ll show up and show out for neighbors and strangers in their distress too. Because we are the sheeple of God, and it’s pretty miraculous. Thanks be to God.