WELL WISHES
Acts 9:36-43
April 29. 2007
Betty Berghaus
There is a new book out called Why Men Hate Going to Church. According to a review of this book in a recent Christian Century issue, church is really a “froufrou” kind of place, and the average worship service is just too wordy for the average guy, who yearns for the excitement of action movies or sports TV! The author of the book, David Nelson Murrow, also says that both contemporary and traditional church music are too sappy and romantic to appeal to men. Church does not meet the needs of men, according to this author. And so there are movements to involve men in church-like gatherings, like GodMen, who allow only men, no one under 17, and have no minister speakers (who, says the founder, cater too much to women and women’s issues), so that discussion can be very open and frank. The author of the article about the book, who, is by the way, a woman, thinks that Murrow over-stereotypes men, and points out there are many men in Presbyterian churches. I would love to read you the reviewer’s conclusion, (but, I warn you, it is just a tad R-Rated)! Lillian Daniel says:
“The implied message of Murrow’s book is that there is but one way of being a man of God – and as for girly men who don’t join the party, they’re just wimps who carry their wives’ purses to a church where they don’t want to be. It’s an argument that insults the women of the church far less than it does the men. Surely there are other ways of being a godly man that do not involve kicking ass. The cross stands out as one.” (The Christian Century, April 4, 2007, p. 27)
I share this article with you because today’s study of the Scriptures may well be a “girly, froufrou” type of discourse! Women play key roles in the passages we will examine. So men, I challenge you to find God’s word for you here, because it IS here, just as it is here for the women, the youth, and the young children! To loosely paraphrase Isaiah, sports teams may win and lose, sales for the latest fashions will come and go, “but the Word of our God will stand forever!” (based on Isaiah 40:8).
The story we read today from Acts is a miracle story. We may associate miracles most with Jesus, or with the prophets of the Old Testament, but the Bible attested to miracles performed by the apostles that helped form the early church as well. Acts is the companion book to the Gospel of Luke, assumed to be written by the same author, for the purpose of establishing and building up the Christian community of faith around the witness of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Much of Acts is about Paul, but in the earlier chapters, we see other apostles at work. In today’s story, Peter revived a woman who was much beloved by the widows of her community for her ministry among and for them. The woman’s name, Dorcas in the Greek and Tabitha in Aramaic, means “gazelle.” Peter went into the room alone, knelt down and prayed, then said to the woman, “Tabitha, get up,” and she did.
There are many similar stories to this one in the Bible. In I Kings (7:17-24), Elijah revived an upset widow’s son. He took the son who had died to his own room alone. He then cried to God, stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to God again. The child lived.
The prophet Elisha revived a boy as well (II Kings 4:18-37). (This is a story that the women on this spring’s Women’s Retreat will remember well!) Elisha had blessed a woman with a child, and the boy became ill and died. The mother went to Elisha, and would not allow him to just send his servant with his staff. She insisted that the holy man himself go. So finally he did. He went into the room alone, closed the door and prayed, stretched out upon the child, putting his mouth upon the child’s mouth, his eyes upon the child’s eyes, his hands upon the child’s hands. He did this twice. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes, and lived.
Jesus, of course, is also recorded as raising some from death. Best known, of course, is the raising of Lazarus. But Jesus also raised a widow’s only son simply by saying, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” (Luke 7:11-17). And He raised Jairus’ daughter, who had died while Jesus tended to the bleeding woman, by taking her hand and calling out, “Child, get up.” And she did. (Luke 8:49-56; Mark 5:35-43). And now, in this passage from Acts, we see Peter raising the dead, much as these prophets and Jesus had done.
Remember that the early church, struggling with persecution and suffering and humiliation, may have needed to see such stories of the power of their leaders. We are so much more scientific and medical these days. We do not really expect to see such healing miracles, though we may not cease to pray for them. The pre-scientific world gave much more power to healers than we do today. Our society tends to look to doctors and nurses and medical treatments for healing.
The healing itself might not be the only thing we can glean from this Acts passage. Note, for one thing, that Tabitha was a woman disciple. Sorry, men but that was a very rare occurrence in the early church, or at least in the writings that we have to tell us of such times, for women were not highly regarded in society. Tabitha led a welfare program with and for widows, who were very low on the totem pole in society, and usually poor as well. When the widows gathered around her bedside and bemoaned her death, Jesus revived the woman. One commentator says that perhaps the message for this new community was that Jesus would never forget the lowly, whomever they might be. And this is a message we see again and again in Jesus’ words and works.
In fact, we see this message of care for those considered lowly in society throughout the biblical texts. The laws of the Old Testament allowed the poor and widows to be allowed to glean the leftovers from the fields after harvest, as happened in the Book of Ruth. The prophets called over and over again for better treatment of the poor, the orphans, and the widows. Jesus certainly preached about and carried out in his actions care for those less fortunate, the “least of these,” the hungry and thirsty, those sick and in prison.
And it is perhaps these “lowly” who are sometimes more likely to believe in and to see the miracles in this modern age. The struggling single mother with medical problems and a huge medical bill finds a miracle when the neighbors raise money to pay all the hospital bills for her very sick son. The disabled vet finds a miracle when the doctor does not charge him for his care. The parents of conjoined children in a poor country experience a miracle when American doctors fly them for free to the U.S. to perform the delicate operation to separate the children.
You know, miracles have not quit happening! We may just look for them in different ways. The pre-scientific world of Bible times may have appeared to see more miraculous healings because they did not understand about comas, or other medical conditions that we can diagnose and treat. The more we know, the harder, perhaps, it is to see miracles.
And yet we should never stop praying for healing or for miracles! Believing in a God who cares for us like a shepherd cares for his flock gives us a trust that knows no bounds. “Pray without ceasing,” says the first letter to the Thessalonians. Pray for miracles. Expect to receive the will of God.
And, the ancient art of healing may actually be returning. There are movements and techniques, like one called Healing Touch, that have been proven, to use “energy therapy” to tap into the body’s own energy to do such things as relieve pain, accelerate post-operative recovery, relieve symptoms of chemotherapy, decrease depression, anxiety, and stress, and assist with the dying process by bringing peace and calm to the patient. Folks must be trained and certified to be Healing Touch Practitioners, and more and more medical institutions are allowing such practices as part of the holistic care of patients.
It seemed to me to be a rather powerful moment at the Women’s Retreat last month when we were studying the II Kings text we talked about earlier, where Elisha revived the son who had died. We learned of the death of Josie Humphries’ grandson on the Sunday morning of the retreat. And we could not help but reflect that the family of this 13 year old must have longed for a holy one who could heal and revive their son. We also talked, on this weekend not long before Easter, about our belief in the healing power of the resurrection. We then all helped our leader, Caroline Craig, to put together a worship service that testified to our trust in God’s providential care throughout all the aspects of our lives, leaving room for miracles that we could never anticipate. The Affirmation of Faith that one group wrote for our worship service based on the Elisha story in II Kings said this:
“We believe in creating a space for the Holy One out of our desire to be closer to God. Creating this space calls us to assert ourselves to be strong, persevering, courageous, honest, and true. We believe God meets us in this space hand to hand, breath to breath, eye to eye.”
Maybe one message that we can take away from these texts on healings is that we, as servants of God like Elisha and Peter, can BE the miracle workers! Maybe the key to believing in miracles is in the act of believing itself! Maybe the little kindnesses that we do for our neighbors will turn their day, or even their life, around. Maybe the attitude of trust and hope that we convey will help others to see hope where they felt hopeless. Maybe our holy casseroles and our well wishes are much more powerful than we could ever see.
I read in the news that there is more sorrow on the Virginia Tech campus than anger, and that there is a stone to memorialize not just the 32 students and professors who were killed but also the gunman who killed them. At least one student brought tulips to lay on each of the 33 stones. I remember too how the Amish community so warmly embraced the family of the man who shot and killed students at their schoolhouse. Perhaps, then, sometimes the miracles come in our attitudes of belief, hope, and joy.
In this post-Easter season, we remember through story and song the God who loves us enough to be one with us, to suffer and to die, and then to rise, in order to show us the miraculous power of God to overcome sin and death and suffering. This is the Good Shepherd, who provides for us all of our needs, who leads us in the right ways, and walks with us through the dark valleys of life. This is the Shepherd who, in the New Testament, says, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28) This is the One who can create “a new heaven and a new earth,” one where there will be no more tears, no more Death, or mourning or crying or pain (Rev. 21:1-4). When we trust in God, we can find joy even in the midst of the trials and turmoil. When we believe in God’s great care, we can see hope even in the most hopeless of situations.
Friends, believe in the God who loves us enough to become one with us, and you may well be surprised - miracles may well abound in your lives, and also in the lives of those whom you touch.
Glory be to God. AMEN