Woodlawn Evangelical Lutheran Church           

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

Another school year is fast drawing to a close and it means a change in the routine my family goes through on most school days.  During the summer we will get to sleep in an hour later.  But for now, the alarm goes off about 5:45am and I holler down the stairs to my son that it’s time to get up and get in the shower.  Usually, about five minutes later I have to yell a little more forcefully that he needs to be getting up.  That’s not always the easiest thing to do for a teenager, especially if they were up late the night before, doing homework, watching a movie or whatever.  It also may be harder to do if there is some unpleasant task or activity that’s on our schedule later that day.  On those occasions we might not greet the start of new day with a great deal of enthusiasm.  But we know we have to.

 We get up and get going because of our responsibilities and because in most cases there are people depending on us in our homes and at work.  Those are the roles in life into which our God has placed us, setting before us those responsibilities whereby we serve him and others.   Today, let’s use this very special, heartwarming account from the days of the early church to bring those truths home, using the theme…

CHRISTIAN, GET UP

Get up in answer to God’s call of love for us.  Then also, get up in answer to his call that we live a life of love.

            We are introduced to a special woman named Tabitha.  That’s the Aramaic name meaning “gazelle.”  Her Greek name was Dorcas.  We are told here what made her such a special lady.  She was always doing good and helping the poor.  Her life was filled with works of charity and mercy.  She was a true disciple. 

In some fashion the good news about Jesus had come to her city which was on the Mediterranean Sea coast, perhaps by the evangelist Phillip or some other Christians coming from Jerusalem.  The Bible doesn’t record for us any visit by Jesus to this particular area, so it was through the witnessing of Christians, sharing the good news about God’s love in Jesus, that a congregation was formed here and that Tabitha became a believer.  And it was something that changed her life.

            While she may have been a devout Jew who now had put her faith and trust in Jesus as the promised Messiah, and while her life was one that was now filled with good works and deeds of mercy, we can be sure that she was just like the rest of us when it comes to our natural spiritual relationship with God.  The Bible makes it very clear that no matter how good a life we lead, no matter how much charity we perform, no matter how loving we are in our families or communities, that those things don’t earn heaven for us.  Rather, the Bible says that without Jesus in our lives, even our righteous acts, the things we would think carry weight before God in getting us a place in his heaven, those things are just like filthy rags, only good to be tossed out and burned.  Because we all have a sinful nature, we are all separated from God.  We don’t love him as we should.  Our motives for life are all messed up.  And there’s nothing we can do to change that.  We would all end up deserving God’s punishment in hell.  It’s all because of our sins and the sinful world in which we live.

            But God in his love formulated and carried out a plan by which the salvation of all mankind was accomplished.  That love went into action in God the Son coming down himself and taking on human flesh and blood to battle against the forces of Satan, sin and death.  Jesus Christ showed what God’s love is all about by dedicating himself to the task, living the perfect life of love according to his father’s commands, shouldering the burden of our sin and guilt and taking it to the cross.  There he offered the sacrifice of love on our behalf, suffering the pain and agony of hell in our place and thereby washing our sins away so that we are completely forgiven in the eyes of our heavenly Father.  Then, to demonstrate his power over death and to declare his complete victory on our behalf, he rose triumphantly from the tomb on Easter morning, showing himself alive to literally hundreds of his followers.  The ministry of Jesus so changed them, called them to faith and to action, that they could not help but share the message with others.  That’s how Tabitha undoubtedly heard about Jesus.  And the Holy Spirit continues to use that message of God’s love in Christ to touch the hearts and lives of millions of people around the world still today.

            And in that same love, God has worked it all out so you and I have heard this very same gospel message.  Maybe you’ve been hearing it all your lives that God loves you and has forgiven you all your sins.  In love God may have given you Christian parents who brought you to church to be baptized and have your sins washed away in that sacrament.  Then those parents nurtured your faith by teaching you the stories about Jesus and the other believers, sending you to a Lutheran school or Sunday School.

            For others, you may have learned about God’s love on as someone shared their faith with you.  Perhaps it was a friend or your spouse, maybe a neighbor or co-worker.  They invited you to come to a worship service to hear about the work of Jesus and what he all did in order to be your Savior. 

However it happened, it was a miracle of God’s love that he called to you so that now you have put your faith and trust in Jesus and now you know that you are a dearly loved child of God.  That call is his message of love to enjoy all the blessings that Jesus earned for us and wants to share with us.  Through Christ we have full and free forgiveness for all our sins.  That means that the curse of sin has been removed.  We are not going to spend eternity in hell.  We have a place in God’s eternal kingdom in heaven. 

And that changes our whole outlook on life.  Now, rather than just focusing on and getting all caught up in satisfying our selfish, sinful desires, we see a higher purpose to which God has called us.  We want to serve him and our fellow human beings.  We want to become reflectors of his love for us and for all people.  Because we know and treasure the peace of a new relationship with God, because we know we are the dearly loved children of the powerful Savior, because we know where we are going when this life comes to an end, we now dedicate our lives in service to that God who loved us and gave his son for us.

So we will continue to believe that call to faith.  We will answer God’s invitation to bring ourselves and our children to this place to hear his message of love.  We will immerse ourselves and our families into that gospel, sending our children here to our Christian day school, or at the very least, our Sunday School and the other agencies of the church.  They aren’t going to hear this message of God’s love anywhere else out there in the world of public education, often just the opposite.  All of us will dig into our Bibles where we see God’s love in action, both in our classes here at church and in personal Bible study and family devotions at home.  Let that love from God move you, become a driving force in your life.  Enjoy the comfort and peace that message of love works in our hearts.  Get up and daily answer the call from God about his love and mercy to you and to all people.  Remain in my love, Jesus encouraged us in his gospel. 

II.

            That also means that we will get up in answer to God’s call to live a life of love towards others.  That’s what Jesus meant when he gave the command, Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.  When he spoke these words, Jesus was about to do just that, to lay down his life for his friends, for you and for me and for all the world.  Now that we have been touched by that message of love, we will get up and live a life of love.

            That’s what Tabitha had been doing.  She had lived a life of love, always doing good and helping the poor.  When Peter came in answer to the plea from her fellow Christians, the widows whom she had helped showed him all the robes and other articles of clothing she had made for them.  That may have been how she made her living, but now she was in the habit of giving away many of those things to those who were in need.  Perhaps she was a widow herself.  The point is that God’s love had touched her heart and life, and she let that love spill out in the way she dealt with the people around her.

            But that life of love and charity did not prevent her from death.  The curse of sin still touches those who have been saved through faith in Jesus.  Tabitha became ill and died, her body prepared for burial.  But then the Christians sent word to the apostle Peter who was in the neighboring town to come at once.  This was more than just a request to be present for the funeral of a fine Christian woman and to perhaps speak a few words of comfort.  The believers were hoping that something miraculous could be done.  They knew that Peter had recently healed a paralytic in that other town.

            So Peter came and, after seeing and hearing about all that Tabitha had done, he sent the mourners out of the room and began to pray.  While his prayer isn’t recorded for us here, when we look at the other occasions where Peter prayed before a miracle, we can be sure that he called on the name of the Lord Jesus, summoning, not his own power and strength, but the power of the Almighty God, the one who alone has the matters of life and death in his hand.  Thus, with faith and confidence in Jesus, but leaving things entirely up to the Lord, Peter said to her, Tabitha, get up!  And by God’s grace and mercy and power, the woman opened her eyes, saw Peter and sat up.  Then he took her by the hand and helped her to her feet and presented her alive.  And the miracle had the additional effect in that many people heard about and were led to believe in Jesus as their Savior from sin.  That’s why Jesus and the apostles did them, not to show off, but to draw attention to the message about Jesus, that he truly is the Son of God and Savior of all mankind.

            That is also why these miracles are recorded for us on the pages of Scripture.  It reveals to us what a gracious and powerful God we have.  While we should not expect these kinds of physical miracles in our lives today, because we have all the evidence we need from the Bible, we see the miracle of faith taking place in people’s hearts all the time.  Through baptism and through the message of Christ, faith is created in hearts that are otherwise hostile and unbelieving.  God the Holy Spirit gives us new life, a spiritual relationship with our Savior God.  And one day he will also raise us from the dead to live with Jesus forever in heaven.

            In the meantime we are to be like Tabitha, filling our lives with doing good and helping those who are in need.  That means carrying out the roles in which God places us in life.  Be the best parent you can be, not just by supplying the physical needs of your children, but, most importantly, do all that you can to supply their spiritual needs.  As employees, work hard at your job, not just to earn a paycheck, but because you have a heavenly master who loves to see us use our talents and abilities that he has given us. 

And of course, be the best Christian you can be, the best church member you can, by giving of your time and your energy, your talents and financial treasures, so that the message of God’s love can continue to be taught and proclaimed here.  Let your deeds of mercy and your good works be shared here as we work to help those in physical and spiritual need.  Our food pantry is always in need of donations, not just during the months when we especially highlight that.  A number of our members have lost their jobs and are looking for employment.  If you or your company is hiring, let me know so that we can put you in touch with those members.  We have 22 shutins who would welcome a visit from their fellow members.  As pastors we can only get to see them about once a month.  Living a life of love means reaching out to those who are weak in their faith, who claim to members of the church, but aren’t here very often, who seem to be shutting themselves off from the love of God.  Encourage them to be here on a more regular basis.

            Tabitha is an example to us and to Christians throughout the centuries of what Christian love is all about.  We can be sure that she used the additional years given her by God’s love to serve her Savior and her fellow believers with a renewed energy and devotion.  In answer to Peter’s pray she got up and lived as a testimony to that powerful love of her Savior.

            Let it be said of us that we get up every day and live for Christ, that we live in the warmth of his love for us and that we display that love in everything we do, loving our Savior who loved us and gave himself up for us, and loving each other.  That’s what Christians are to be known for in this world, how the love of God has transformed their lives and how we reflect it in the lives we live for him.  AMEN.