Disciples

Acts 9:36-43

Almost every biblical commentator with something to say about Tabitha’s story makes a point of noticing that she is the only woman to be referred to as a disciple in the whole of the Acts of the Apostles. In all of Christian scripture, actually.

She’s hardly the only woman to follow Jesus. There are many women, named and unnamed, who follow Jesus in the gospels, who learn from his teaching and support his ministry. There are also many women in the earliest communities of post-resurrection believers, named and unnamed. Apostles, who work with Paul to bear the good news of Jesus to new believers. Businesswomen and leaders who host and support and encourage the newborn church. And widows – in the early Christian communities, “widows” sometimes describes a group of women dedicated to prayer and service to the community.

So Tabitha is not really unusual. But she is still the only woman explicitly called a disciple in the Christian scriptures. Which means, I think, that we are supposed to pay attention to this.

Maybe by introducing Tabitha as a disciple, Luke wants us to know what motivates her to the good works and acts of charity that she’s known for.

Maybe Luke wants us to know that she was one of the women who followed Jesus when he was alive. Or that she was one of the hundred and twenty gathered in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit blew fire into them and launched a preaching movement.

Maybe Luke just wants us to know that Tabitha is a person who follows Jesus right where and when she is right now, regardless of whether she met Jesus in person during his lifetime.
Because Luke also tells us about the way that Tabitha lived like Jesus – that she was notably committed to doing good for others, and giving generously – so much that it was noticeable even in one of the Christian communities where those were probably general standards of behavior. 

Her attention to others and her unselfish giving were so remarkable that when she dies the community can’t stop talking about her generosity and care. And the community obviously expects more. They send for Peter, another well-known disciple, and tell him their need is urgent.

And when Peter comes, they get a miracle: a resurrection, just like the healings and the raising of the dead that Jesus did. A miracle that shows the power of God, present and active.

That’s the other thing that marks disciples: the power of Christ.

Disciples are people who follow Jesus.

People who live like Jesus.

And people who share in Jesus’ power.

Over the last year, I’ve been doing some work with our bishop and other leaders of our diocese on helping Episcopalians in New Jersey focus on a common purpose:
to form disciples of Jesus who participate in Christ’s mission in the world.

And I’ve noticed that some people get excited and inspired by that idea, and others get a little uncomfortable or intimidated.

Disciples? Those are people in the Bible, right? Not people in my class, or office, or pew! Not me!?

It turns out that the idea of being a disciple yourself (myself!) sounds wonderful to some people, and a bit…ambitious, or even embarrassing, to others.

Just out of curiosity, how many of you here would say that you know a disciple of Jesus outside the Bible? in this congregation?

Who here is already used to the idea that you are – or at least can be – a disciple of Jesus your very own self?

And who here is not really sure about any of this and would like some more time or information before you have to raise your hand for questions like this?

All of you who raised your hand to any of those questions I just asked: you’re not alone. There are disciples of Jesus in this congregation, right here and now, and in your life, whether you know it or not. Whether they claim it or not.
And there are a whole lot of people around you – in this congregation, in the diocese, all over – who are not sure about any of this. Who aren’t even sure what it means to be a disciple, if it’s not Peter in the Bible.

And if you’re wondering about that, there are some pretty solid clues to what it means to be a disciple in Tabitha’s story today.

We’re starting to say to one another in the Diocese of New Jersey that “a disciple is someone who lives and loves like Jesus, and helps other people do the same.” We got that from a couple of people who study discipleship and help others themselves. And you can see that happening in this story.

There’s Tabitha herself. Everything we know about her – other than the fact that she died and was raised to life again – is that she cared for others with remarkable generosity and attention. She was a giver, helping those in need, and she worked with her own hands to clothe and beautify her community. She’s a model of care and attention that might remind some of the Good Shepherd. She lives like Jesus. Loves like Jesus – loves not just the people who love her, but the people who need love.

Then there’s Peter. By this time in the story everyone knows Peter as a disciple, a follower of Jesus. Peter who demonstrates that, as a disciple, he shares in the power of Jesus, working miracles, raising the dead.

And there’s the community of Joppa, the people who lived and worked and loved with Tabitha: her church. Luke calls them disciples, too. They send for Peter, after Tabitha dies, demonstrating their trust in God’s power.

Those are the markers of disciples of Jesus. Living like Jesus. Sharing Christ’s power. Trusting in God.

And when you have one of those, you generally have them all.

Tabitha doesn’t just live like Jesus. Her generous loving care shares in the power of Jesus, too.
How many of you have – once or many times – found yourself able to help someone more than you thought you could?

Maybe you found loving words to say when there just are no good words. You were somewhere unfamiliar and were able to give directions to someone more lost than you. Your moral support or half-baked idea turned out to be the nudge or the solution that a colleague or friend needed. You shared in the power of God.

The community of disciples, too, acts with Jesus’ power: calling Peter with God’s purpose, causing him to “arise” also, to get up from what he was doing in Lydda, and follow God’s call all over again. Their trust in Jesus’ power lets God work through them- not just Peter, but them.

Have you, perhaps, ever asked for help in an impossible situation – anything from a dead end at work to a personal financial crisis to an unbeatable illness or despair – and, impossibly, gotten help, even if it wasn’t the help you thought you needed?

Asking for help and giving in to trust lets God’s power work through you.

Peter’s sharing in Jesus’ power also steers him into living like Jesus – responding readily to a community’s need; literally imitating Jesus in calling a dead person to get up, helping others to believe.
That’s why you sometimes give more than you thought you could, emotionally or financially or physically. Because the power of God working through you makes you act like Jesus, whether you mean to or not.

In fact, if you’re willing to follow Jesus in the first place, the power of God working in you may just be making you into someone Luke would point out as a disciple, if the Acts of the Apostles were written in twenty-first century South Jersey.

A disciple just like Tabitha. Just like her community. Just like Peter.

You might still be unsure about all this. And that’s just fine. You don’t have to be sure right now.
God is sure of you.