Announcements – officer installation - Life is a Beach Canadian Pastor Mark Buchanan in his book "Your Church is Too Safe" points out the
radical difference between a traveler and a tourist. "A traveler literally means 'one who
travails.' He labors, he suffers, endures. A traveler -- travailer - ...immerses himself in a
culture, learns the language and customs, lives with the locals, imitates the dress, eats
what's set before him. ... He is gone a long time. If ever he returns, he returns ever
altered."
"Tourist means literally, 'one who goes in circles.' He's just taking an exotic
detour home. He's only passing through, sampling wares, acquiring souvenirs. He tastes
more than eats what's put before him. He retreats each night to what's safe and familiar.
He picks up a word here, a phrase there, but the language, and the world it's embedded
in, remain opaque and cryptic, and vaguely menacing. ...He returns to where he comes
from with an album of photos, a few mementos, a cheap hat. He's happy to be back. He
declares there's no place like home."
Jesus calls us to follow him not as tourists but as
travelers.
WWJD – Cliché now – Charles Sheldon top books of all time w/ 30 million copies –
Started out as a genuine challenge. Tough to do.
Peter is following Jesus. He looked after the left behind. He healed in His name. He
visited with the outcast.
Lame Walk - Able to walk in faith – Healing is in Jesus – Are you not walking by
faith? Jesus Christ can heal you today. Get up and take up what you are laying on.
Give him your past.
Dead Rise - Come alive in Jesus – Life is in Jesus – Maybe you need Jesus to raise
you to Life. Give him your present.
Tanner – Staying with the tanner shows that God is bringing all close to himself.
Maybe you feel like God could never love you. You feel outcast. Unclean. In Christ
he can make you clean – whiter than snow – Cleansed totally. Give him your future.
32 Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also
came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda.
a. Peter went through all parts of the country: The previous pattern of the apostles
staying put in Jerusalem and those needing ministry coming from afar to them
(as reflected in Acts 5:16) now shifted.
b. Visitng the Christians in Lydda –
c. Phillip – Visited all the areas along the coast. Did Peter know where Phillip had
been? Probably not.
33 There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden
eight years and was paralyzed. Areas
d. Peter went through all parts of the country to do ministry, traveling the 35 miles
(55 kilometers) from Jerusalem to Lydda.
• Lydda near modern day Lod, the site of Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv.
b. There he found a certain man: Peter found a needy man God wanted to miraculously
heal, and Peter found him as he was out ministering to others in the name of Jesus. If we
will be like Peter, who went through all parts of the country, then we will also find
opportunities for the miraculous power of God.
c. Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you: Peter clearly identified who healed – Jesus the
Christ. Peter was only His instrument. Jesus healed with the power of Jesus, but Peter did
not heal with the power of Peter. Peter relied solely on the power of Jesus.
i. The words of Peter – “Arise and make your bed” – were perhaps consciously an
imitation of Jesus’ healing of the paralytic man in Mark 2:10-12.
d. So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord: The miraculous
healing of Aeneas made many people turn to the Lord – presumably, with Peter preaching
the gospel to them.
There’s the healing at the pool of Bethesda
John 5 Do you want to get well? 38 years paralyzed.
5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus
saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He
said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed
and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.
- worst case scenario. 38 years. Crippled
- Jesus says to him ‘ do you want to get well’ ‘Get up, pick up your mat and walk’
- “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and tidy up your mat”
- = same words, same scenario.
- Maybe even the same invocation to ‘then take responsibility for your life’ as the words
here are almost ‘get up and take care of yourself!’
- Ie Jesus heals us- and it’s a prompting, opportunity, command, even, for us to ‘get up,
get on and get with it’ rather than going back to our pit!
Do you see the similarity?
a. Named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas: Both the names Dorcas and Tabitha
mean “deer.” This woman was a beloved member of the Christian community in
Joppa, because she was full of good works and charitable deeds. The name
Tabitha is an Aramaic baby name. In Aramaic the meaning of the name Tabitha
is: Gazelle. The gazelle was anciently regarded as a symbolr of graceful
beauty.
b. Dorcas is greek translation of Aramaic Tabitha.
Joppa – Big port city - Where Jonah ran away from God when called to Ninevah
i.
Luke noted that Tabitha was full of good works and charitable deeds which
she did. Not just in in her mind and heart. She actually did them as Tabitha
did. This is why Luke added, which she did.
ii.
Christian: Disciple – She is old and she is in training to become a better
Christian
iii.
- She heard the words and did them. – Summary of Matthew 5-7
b. Imploring him not to delay in coming to them: Peter wasn’t in Joppa when Tabitha
died. Yet he wasn’t far away, and the Christians in Joppa had heard that God was doing
miraculous things through Peter in nearby Lydda. They begged Peter to come, perhaps
asking when Dorcas was still alive or had just died. 3 days popular thought.
a. Peter arose and went with them: When the disciples from Joppa came to Peter in
Lydda, they came with the hope that Peter would help her, or at least help the Christian
community there work through their grief.
i. There is no indication in the Book of Acts that it was common or popularly expected that
dead Christians would be resuscitated to life again. This miracle (and a few similar in
Acts) is listed just because they were unusual and remarkable.
b. All the widows stood by him weeping: It may very well be that the expectation was that
Peter would merely comfort these Christian widows and others in their grief over Dorcas’
death. Yet Peter sensed a specific leading to do just as he had seen Jesus do as
recorded in Mark 5:38-43 – he put them all out, in the anticipation that God would do for
Tabitha what He did for the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue.
There’s something fascinating about this healing (Aeneas) and miracle
(Dorcas/Tabitha)
- > = there’s a familiarity about them
These two miracles are SO similar to two that Peter had seen the Master, Jesus, do
- even down to the similarity of the words used. And I don’t believe it’s coincidence… nor
coincidence that they’re recorded in this way
- Can you think of the other miracles?
And then there’s the healing of Dorcas/Tabitha - what does this remind you of?
- > Jairus’ daughter. Mk 5, Lk 8 Spectacularly similar!
- Already dead. Called to go.
- Everybody mourning and wailing. Demonstrating their grief and how wrong it was that
she was taken - What a shock! If anybody shouldn’t be taken it’s little children and saints
like her!
- = word to us all that we’ll ALL go. And could do anytime
- Probably Tabitha was such a saint she was ready to die, but friends weren’t prepared to
let her go
- All got sent out of the room
- Spoke words to her. In Mk 5 it says this: “Jesus took her by the hand and said to her,
"Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"- in Aramaic”
- In the Acts version it says Peter said “Tabitha, get up”
- It’s VERY fair to assume Peter was speaking Aramaic, too (as Tabitha is the Aramaic
name)
- So, basically, apart from ONE letter he said EXACTLY the same words as Jesus
- “Talitha koum”, “Tabitha Koum”
My word! What can we learn from these similarities
- yes, it’s the ‘continuing acts of Jesus…. By the HS… through the Apostles!”
- yes- it’s JESUS’ name and authority that’s being used. It’s like he’s actually THERE!
“Jesus Christ heals you!” “Tabitha Koum” (that’s because he IS there!)
i. Peter used to try to lead Jesus.. Now Peter simply tried to do as Jesus did. Jesus
was his leader. He wasn’t trying to lead Jesus anymore, as he did when he told Jesus
not to go the way of the cross in Matthew 16:22. Now Peter was letting Jesus lead him.
d. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up: By all appearances,
Tabitha was raised from the dead. She was dead and came back to life. These are
remarkable, unusual miracles – yet things that have happened and still do (though one is
wise to not gullibly accept every reported instance of such).
i. We should remind ourselves that Dorcas was not resurrected; she was raised to life to
her old life, where she would die again.
ii. The fact that the Lord raised Dorcas, yet Stephen (and later, James in Acts 12:2)
remained dead, reflects on God’s unknowable ways. After all, it certainly seemed that
Stephen and James were more important to the church than Dorcas. Yet we must always
trust God’s greater wisdom and knowledge in all such things.
iii. Dorcas wasn’t raised for her own sake. She would have enjoyed heaven better! She
was raised for the sake of her ministry to others, which is the same reason we have
passed from death into life (John 5:24).
e. When he had called the saints and widows: Acts 9:32 and 41 mention the saints in
Lydda and Joppa. This is the first time Christians are called saints in Acts. When the Bible
calls Christians saints, the idea isn’t of a super-perfect people; the idea is of a people who
are different. Saints are set apart from the world at large; they are distinctive.
Vs 43 Peter stays with Simon, a tanner.
So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.
a. He stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner: This sentence would be
somewhat shocking to an observant Jew of that time. According to their understanding of
the law, it was strictly forbidden to associate with anyone who routinely worked with dead
animals.
i. According to the laws of that time, a tanner had to live at least 75 feet (25 meters)
outside a village because of his constant ritual uncleanness.
ii. “The trade of a tanner was held in such supreme contempt that if a girl was betrothed to
a tanner without knowing that he followed that calling, the betrothal was void.” (Morgan)
c. He stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner: Because of this, we see
Peter was becoming less concerned about Jewish traditions and ceremonial
notions than before. This work of God in Peter’s heart laid groundwork for what
God would 2)
Preparation
Things happen when the ground, time is right.
- lots was being prepared, here
Peter had been prepared/matured for this point
- the boisterous, foul mouthed man, deserter of Jesus had been commissioned by Jesus
to ‘feed and take care of the sheep’, filled with the Spirit, had stood up to the Sanhedrin,
and had seen someone healed at the beautiful gate
The context had been prepared, too
- maybe by Samson 1200 years before! This was the area of the philistines that he had
been in
- in fact, this area (Sharon), the coastal plane that stretches N from Joppa (Jaffa) 20 Miles
to Caesarea is the one that had been prophesied of in
- So, lots of preparation
- Then, Philip had been down that way, too (before he got ‘beamed out’)
- -maybe Dorcas’ care for widows etc was in imitation of Philip’s?
- And then there’s this ‘time of peace’ described in 9:31 after Paul’s conversion and
departure to Tarsus
- Either because Paul is no longer persecuting, or because Paul is no longer being a pain
(stirring everybody up!)
- And so Peter is able/free to go out witnessing
- And the ground at Joppa where Dorcas was had been prepared by them hearing from
their neighbours about Aeneas
In other words: things happen when God’s way has been prepared. In His time. At the
right time
- do you think some of our issues are our lack of godly patience, understanding of
godly timing? do in Peter in the following chapter.
- As far as we know Aeneas was. Those in the area of Sharon were- because they
ALL became Christians, it says.
That’s effective evangelism!
- -I do believe healing etc can be an evangelistic tool
- - shows God’s love, but is also a tool for drawing into KOG
- - In fact: healing is shown as available for every context in the Bible
- - In the church: Jas 5. Anointing with oil
- - For the children
- - For the outsider: so much of what Jesus did was evangelistic healing
- I do reckon too much of what we do is BELIEVER focussed. It’s like we try all
these gifts out on each other all the time (demons etc) but we’re not really getting
anywhere as it’s all dry runs!
-
In fact: we can be guilty of discrimination!
- but not Peter. He prays for gentile unbelievers… and then goes and stays in the
home of one!! (probably)
- - a Tanner, no less. (ever smelt a tannery?). Ritually unclean.
- a tanner (even a Jewish one) would be perpetually unclean.
Being a tanner, therefore, was one of the trades a father should not teach his son. The
rabbis said that tanneries could not be within fifty cubits of a town, that even if a tanner‘s
wife agreed before marriage to live with him, he must put her away if she could not stand
her circumstances after marriage; that a synagogue building could not be sold for use as
a tannery
- 5) Faith
- Speeding up, here. Another principle shown here may be the necessity for faith
in praying
- - and if you don’t have it it’s better not to!
- Peter (and Jesus, with the little girl) get the moaners… mourners… those
focussed on death… out of the room
- - note; no condemnation! They get to rejoice, too. And it IS true that in our
context the mourners are often the most realistic and are proven RIGHT
- - but not always!
- And it should be those with the hope and heart of faith who pray
- - and if that’s not you, that’s okay!
- - (cf- I know my role with Clive. I’m not one to go into the inner room. But I have
another very clear, God given role to pray, befriend, keep feet on ground, love
and link up people)
John the Baptist also was expecting Jesus to overthrow
Matthew 11:4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you
hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf
hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
- That’s when you know God is moving.
Benediction: