April 17, 2016: May God’s words alone be spoken, may God’s words alone be heard.  Amen.

Welcome to Good Shepherd Sunday, always the fourth Sunday of Easter, when we hear the gospel message of Jesus as our shepherd, whose voice we hear and whom we follow.   Following Jesus is our call, and it can take many forms, sometimes ones others do not want us to hear.

There was an article a couple years ago about how the introduction of Google Street View now allows for anyone with an internet connection to see the inside of the Vatican catacombs (and other archeological sites around the world).  This is kind of cool in so many ways, but especially because of some recently restored frescoes in the Catacombs of Priscilla.

One “depicts a woman deacon in the center vested in a dalmatic, her arms raised in the orans position for public worship.” Another shows “a woman being ordained a priest by a bishop seated in a chair. She is vested in an alb, chasuble, and amice, and holding a gospel scroll.”  And a “…third woman in the painting “is wearing the same robe as the bishop on the left and is sitting in the same type of chair,” The article “quotes archeologist and theologian Dorothy Irvin, who said she found another fresco in the Catacombs of Priscilla of women “conducting a Eucharistic banquet.” The Vatican response.  “This is a fairy tale, a legend,” Fabrizio Bisconti, superintendent of religious heritage archeological sites owned by the Vatican, told Reuters. He said any talk of women in liturgical roles was “sensationalist and absolutely not reliable.”[1] Honestly, the Church can sometimes be the last to see something so plain to others…perhaps if we did a better job of listening to the voice of Jesus, the shepherd, we would do a bit better.  All they had to do was read the scripture from the Acts of the Apostles we heard this morning to know that women were leaders in the early church, because Tabitha, the author tells us, is a disciple.

Now one interesting thing about this disciple, Tabitha, is that her name is given to us both in Aramaic, Tabitha, and in Greek, Dorcas.  And in both it means Gazelle, an animal that in the Ancient Near East was often used as a metaphor for something beloved and beautiful.  We can see that, in the way in which the widows are mourning for her, that even if the author did not tell us her name, we might have guessed it, because Tabitha was a woman who sewed clothing and gave it to widows – truly beautiful in heart, and swift in her response of Christ to love and serve those in need.  Widows and orphans in that society were people on the margins – their lives in danger without help from others.  Tabitha’s ministry had made such a difference in their lives that in her death, they mourned for someone who saw them, cared for them, and gave them hope.

We might look at the making of clothing as a small thing – not as off the charts as, oh, raising somebody from the dead.  Well, if you ask me, sewing something is a miracle.  See, when I was in the 8th grade, the girls were to take Home Economics (an odd word, right?) and the boys were to take Shop.  I had NO desire to take Home Ec, and so I signed up for the Shop class.  Needless to say my registration was denied, my parents called (who took my side by the way), and I was forced to take Home Ec.  The cooking classes were fun, mostly because you got to eat at the end of class.  But then we got to the part of the year when we were to learn how to sew.  Ugh!  They gave us loads of patterns, and low and behold, after much grumbling and rejection of a what seemed and endless assortment of dress patterns, I saw it.  The perfect pattern for me.  It was…a shop apron!  It had pockets for nails and all sorts of great stuff – and I made it in a bright, fabulous, red too!  HA!  I suspect my teacher wished they had just let me take shop.

 

See, the thing about Tabitha and her discipleship is that for all the impact it had, it was something she likely already knew how to do, using materials at hand, in a very tactile ministry of caring for those less fortunate.  It wasn’t flashy, but it was deeply personal, in that she touched the material, moved the needle and thread to bring the pieces of cloth together, creating something that would be placed on the body of another to keep them warm, or protect them from the sun.  There is a simple beauty to the way in which she lives out her call…and it is something possible for each of us.

No, I, the one who still can’t sew a button on to save my life, am not suggesting we all pull out needle and thread, but there ways here, right now, each of you can be Tabitha.  Some are happening in the church at this very moment.  You see, as I always say, church is not the destination, it is where we are given strength for the journey – the journey of our life in Christ.  But right here, today, there are Tabithas in the church.

I remember one of our ushers saying to me several months ago about what it is like for him to stand at the door greeting people on Sunday morning.  He said, “You wouldn’t believe it, but it is really amazing.  I do this because there is something that touches my heart when people come in to this place.  I look in their eyes, and I feel I am helping them, especially if they are visiting for the first time.  It’s like I am a part of their worship – their experience of Jesus.”  And I said “You are!”

Now, some folks may come here week after week and not even realize that those ushers are standing there all during the service, being the first people any new comer meets, and helping those who are less able bodied to find a place to rest their souls.  But once you are in these pews, there are others who have already been here on a Saturday.  Those Tabithas lovingly set the altar – the very table where we all are nourished by Christ.  And afterward, they clean it all and prepare it for the following Sunday.

There are those who provide food for the coffee hour – putting it out on the table before coming in to worship, and then staying after coffee hour to clean up.  One of them said to me “It is a small thing to do (I would argue otherwise) but when I see so many people lingering and enjoying one another and the food, I feel so happy!”  In a very real way, she is fed by feeding others.

There was also the Sunday School teacher who was a bit nervous at first when she had a chance to lead the children one Sunday, but afterward was looking forward to doing it again soon, because the kids just filled her heart with so joy much that she was smiling inside and out.

And the list goes on and on about all the ways to be Tabitha here at the church – and we need that, of course, not only because it helps us to worship, but because in the very act of doing these small acts, we live out our lives in Jesus Christ, and we are renewed ourselves.  So often we think ministry is something that we have to do for strangers, but many times it is the small acts we do for those we know that can have such a huge impact on them, and on ourselves.

But when we leave this place, we are dismissed with the charge to go out and proclaim the good news of God in Christ!  And like Tabitha, we only need to look at what we already have and know how to do to live that out – to be the resurrected body of Christ – to follow the call of Jesus – to hear his voice.

I remember when I was working in downtown Manhattan.  A friend of mine was going through a rough time, and we would often have lunch together – usually just a slice of pizza, or we’d meet in the park for a bag lunch chat – because she didn’t have a lot of money (sometimes struggled to have enough to get to work in the first place).  It all happened because she had moved to New York to marry her fiancé, but was devastated to find that he was cheating on her.  Alone in a new place, and having to find new shelter, she was struggling to make ends meet.  But what struck me was when we were walking back to work, I realized she wasn’t walking next to me anymore.  She had seen a homeless woman sitting on the sidewalk asking for a donation, and I saw my friend reach into her pocket to give her a dollar.  This, I knew, was likely one of the few dollars she had left on that day, but there she was giving it to someone in need – someone I didn’t even see – but she had.

I said to her, “I admire you, but why did you do that?  You need that dollar as much as she does.”  She explained that the woman was a reminder to her that even in her difficult and dark days, her life was to that woman and perhaps others like her, something to be hoped for – and that in turn propelled her to do what she could to lift that person up.  In a way, she said, it connected her to her faith in Jesus.  When she felt the most dead, she was resurrected through acts of love.

Her act wasn’t dramatic, but it had a dramatic impact – not only on the homeless person, but on her, and most definitely on me.  By her life, I was being preached to about faith in Christ, and what it means to be a Christian.  She never mentioned a bible verse – she didn’t have to.  Likely neither did Tabitha.  Nor do our ushers, our altar guild, our coffee hour teams, our healing teams, our acolytes, or any of the other ministries of our church.  It is in the small actions of grace and love that we live out what we believe.

But in the story of Tabitha, we hear something else, something that my NYC friend showed me too…it’s about death and resurrection.  Those widows, touched by the ministry of Tabitha, were pained at the loss of one so dear to them.  I know that many of you understand that loss in far too real terms to be sure.  In our despair it is hard to imagine resurrection, which is something very present in Christian funerals.  Being a Christian means that death never stands alone – but is always accompanied by new life.  That can sometimes be comforting, but for many it is hard to imagine in the deep sorrow – our dark night of grief.

One of the things about funerals is the way in which people will bring items to place in the casket – symbols of the life of the person.  We see that with Tabitha too – the woman brought into the room to show Peter all the beautiful tunics that Tabitha has lovingly made for them.  In a very real sense, Tabitha’s ministry, death, and resurrection, had united these women in a community – a community of connection – of relationship through Tabitha.

This is what a funeral is too – a place where we are united in a community of connection – bringing our stories, and sometimes our photos and other items – to share with others to say “look at what she was to us, look at how he lived.” And in that is the beginning of resurrection.  As I say at funerals, if we take what we admired most about our loved one, and each day commit to living that out, they do not die, but live on in us.  Is that not exactly what Jesus taught his disciples too?  What Tabitha and Peter are both doing out in the world?  They are living as Jesus lived, and in doing that, Jesus continues to live in them!  That, folks IS what the resurrection is all about – and it is possible for all of us, and for all who have died that we loved through us.

There is a prayer that is sometimes used at funerals that implores those who grieve to: “commit also to “be kind to the friends he loved; devoted to the community in which he lived; loyal to the causes which he served.” This is what we are called to do in the name of Christ every day to “be kind to those he loved” – which is every child of God; “devoted to the community in which he lived” – the Church and those who come here for nourishment; and “loyal to the causes which he served” living out the message of God’s all inclusive and abiding love – loving God, loving neighbor, loving ourselves, and changing the world.”

Tabitha offered what she could to those in need around her, and in her death those who had known her gave witness to her discipleship – they gathered in a community of connection with signs of her ministry in the world.  And it got me to wondering – what community of connection are each of us sewing as we live day to day.  Where are we taking notice of someone who others do not see, and then offering them a moment of hope and grace?  Where are we living symbols of the resurrected Christ in the world?  What gazelle like acts of beautiful love do other see in us?

Because at the end of our lives, there will be a gathering of people – what friends will they be called to love as we did?  Or what communities will they be called to be loyal to as we did?  What causes will they be called to serve as we did?  It doesn’t take a lot.  Most often the stories I hear at funerals are about people like Tabitha and my NY friend – folks who did the small things that sometimes went unnoticed until they were gone from this earth and the proverbial widows gathered around to tell the stories.  Other stories at funerals are about how a person listened, or perhaps lent a helping hand, and almost always, there are stories about their laughter, or their sense of humor, especially in the way the brought smiles to those around them.

In that upper room where Tabitha was raised there were signs of resurrection all over the place.  There was the resurrection of Tabitha, sure, but the widows were resurrected through her ministry into new life, and all of it was because both Tabitha and Peter were the embodiment of the resurrected Christ alive in the world!  There’s a whole lot of resurrection going on folks!  And there is resurrection that is possible here, now, in our lives too!  We all have the power to sew and to weave in our lives new life for ourselves and for others in the name of Christ.

It doesn’t take a lot of money.

It doesn’t always even take a lot of time.

But, it does take a willingness to see beyond ourselves, to see the despair of others worse off than we are, and to respond – inside of these walls, and beyond them too – with what God has already given us from the moment we are born – unconditional love. There may be folks who, like some Churches, that try to tell you that you aren’t worthy or capable or whatever other nonsense – but don’t you believe them.

All you need to remember is that,

You are the body of Christ.

You are Tabitha.

And you are being told to “Get up!” and be that beautiful Gazelle that is within you – “Get up!” and live the resurrected life you have in Jesus Christ!

Because all of us have a lot of love to “sew” in the world of widows – and we can’t do it without you!

Amen.

For the audio from the 10:30am service, click here (in two parts due to a technical issue):

[1] http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/women-priests-delighted-google-vatican-catacombs-tour

The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
April 17, 2016
Fourth Sunday in Lent – Year C
1st Reading – Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
2nd Reading – Revelation 7:9-17
Gospel – John 10:22-30