Words of Life

29 April 2007
Carolyn L Roberts
Acts 9.36-43

Alec Baldwin knows something about words. Not words of life, necessarily, but he definitely knows something about the power of words and their ability to bring heartache and division and scorn. He knows something about the power of words to ennoble and bring hope and healing as well. It’s too bad he didn’t remember that when he was leaving a voice mail for his 11-year-old daughter. What a sorry spectacle. Maybe his momma didn’t teach him that old hymn, Sing Them Over Again to Me, Wonderful Words of Life. One of the phrases speaks to their power: “Listen well to the loving call.”

As Katie reminds us, our story speaks of the loving call of life Peter extends to Tabitha, one of Jesus’ disciples who lived in Joppa. This morning, I’d like to invite you to explore with me this little gem of a story that doesn’t often receive much attention. But it isn’t ignored entirely. In Armenian churches, it is common to have a Dorcas Circle, a women’s circle or group that is geared for service. In fact, Dorcas, or Tabitha, is the only woman in Acts to be identified explicitly as a disciple. [1,309] Specifically, Tabitha is known for her philanthropy—she took care of the widows out of her own resources, not the church’s. She sews clothing for the needy. Even so, Luke’s patriarchal bias comes through. When he refers to the men’s care of the widows, he calls it ‘ministry’. When Tabitha does the same thing, it’s called ‘good works.’ The Bible does not come from gender neutral cultures.

This may seem incidental, and certainly on one level it is. After all, male or female, disciples are supposed to do good works; our faith is a ministry of believers. But the lens through which we view the world and frame our faith is just that—it is our particular perspective. And it is Luke’s primary perspective that Peter and Paul—especially Paul—are the key players in the gospel’s expansion from Jews to Gentiles. So all other players, men and women, are second string in Luke’s perspective or framing of the story. In other words, even though it’s one of the best resources we have, Acts doesn’t give us a representative picture of early church leadership.[1,306] Paul is challenged by that very issue. Luke carefully uses the word ‘apostle’ only for the twelve, because he wants to draw a parallel between the twelve tribes of Israel, drawn from Jacob’s twelve sons. But Paul sees himself as an apostle too—and reminds us of this repeatedly. On that front, Paul gained the upper hand—we usually refer to him as the apostle Paul. But that’s because we have Paul’s writings, and he can speak for himself.

By way of comparison, think about the perspective on global warming that is generated by the White House, and the perspective shared by the majority of the world’s leadership on this one issue. Even though the White House perspective is actually in the minority, it receives majority attention simply because of the stature of the United States and its President. When we do our homework, we recognize that the White House has put its own spin on the issue. Luke has his own spin. Luke is particularly concerned that his presentation of the gospel doesn’t offend the Roman Empire. In fact, Luke really wants Rome to believe that the Empire has nothing to fear from the spread of the gospel. Remember, Luke is writing after Rome has destroyed the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, after Rome has brought the Jewish people decisively back under the heel of Roman rule and dashed their hopes of re-establishing an independent Jewish homeland. So to be seen as closely allied with the Jews is not in Luke’s best interests.

There’s another piece. In Rome, all public leadership roles are held by men. Women are second-class citizens in the Roman Empire[1,306] and Luke shapes his treatment of women in Acts to mirror this Roman model.[1,306] What’s amazing is that because of the extraordinary nature of Jesus’ ministry and its impact on second-class citizens such as women, their stories still find their way into the narrative at all. Luke’s words bring the gospel to life. And by what they fail to say, they also limit the gospel. But the good news is that God is still speaking. And words of life continue to find a voice.

Not that we make the hearing easy. On my flight to Spokane, Will Smith’s film, The Pursuit of Happyness was showing. It’s a good film, and Smith’s son alone is worth the price of admission—but not necessarily the price of a plane ticket. It’s based on a true , rags-to-riches story. In the film, Smith’s son tells about a man who is hanging out of the second story of his home as flood waters rage around him. A neighbor comes by in his rowboat and tells the man to get in. “That’s all right,” says the man. “My trust is in the Lord. He’ll save me.” So the neighbor with the boat floats away. Next comes the county’s rescue team in their boat. By this time the water’s risen even further and the man’s on the roof. “Get in, mister,” they call. But the man calls back, “That’s all right. You go on and help the people that need it. My trust is in the Lord. He’ll save me.” So the man drowns and goes to heaven. When he gets through those pearly gates, he asks for an audience with God. “What am I doing here? Why didn’t you save me? I put all my trust in you!” And of course God replies, “I sent you two boats, didn’t I?” Words of life for the man come in repeated invitations to get in the boat. But he isn’t able to discern God’s hand in the invitation and so he refuses. The sad and scary part is that he thinks that he is being faithful to God.

The story of Tabitha is another of Luke’s examples of the ways in which the gospel is spreading from Jerusalem to Judea. The apostles—in this case, Peter—have been blessed with the same powers to heal that characterized Jesus’ ministry. They are moving around the area, bringing the gospel, those words of life, with them. What words of life: Tabitha, get up. They have the echo Jesus’ command to the twelve-year-old girl: talitha cum, little girl, get up. And we don’t know how, but from the other side of illness and death, Tabitha hears those words and returns to life. Maybe the need to hear them is enough.

Where are the words of life we hear today? While I was in Spokane this past week, I had the chance to view the excellent film Glen Pearcy helped edit. It’s called Searching for Peace in the Middle East. It lifts up the attitude changes being voiced by some Israelis and Palestinians over that troubled piece of real estate, and the path to peace and justice those changes can bring. Or another possibility for the same region, contributed by MIT. It’s called “Just Jerusalem, and suggests that Jerusalem become like Washington, D.C. or the United Nations, that it is a self-governing home to all, but belonging to no single surrounding state. The point is not that these words coming through various media represent the only way to go, but that they are words of vision and hope. They are words of life lifted up in places of death. Alec Baldwin would do well to pay attention. He could be reminded of the tremendous power words have for healing and new life.

The hymn reminds us, words of life come from the well of love. Like Peter’s words to Tabitha. Like Jesus’ words to his disciples…each one of us. So listen again to their loving call; share their good news of life.

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