Get up, Church!
Acts 9: 36-43
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
May 11, 2025
 |
| Artistic rendering of Tabitha sewing a beautiful multi-colored tunic. Tabitha has medium brown skin, is wearing a dark cloth head covering, a red dress with yellow trim, and a beaded necklace. She has a pleased smile on her face, taking pride in what she is doing. The artist is Cody F. Miller. |
In our scientific age, why do we continue to read miracle-working stories in our worship? It’s a legitimate question. In an age in which human beings have split the atom and mapped the human genome but still have not cracked the code of death, save for Mary Shelley’s Dr. Frankenstein, what does the word ‘miracle’ mean to us?
Something unexpected.
The unexplainable.
Wonderful.
Hope.
Non-scientific.
In this story from the book of Acts, a pattern, a practice of resurrection is being carried forward, all the way from the prophets Elijah and Elisha to Jesus and Peter and now us in our hearing of it. This story is from the early beginnings of Christian community, in which a beloved leader, Tabitha in Aramaic, Dorcas in Greek, has died, leaving behind a group of widows for whom she made beautiful clothing.
She is the only female disciple named as such in the second testament and yet she is not famous or well-known. What we can lift out of this text is that she loved well, helped to change the lives of those she loved, and was well-loved in return. What more is needed for a life well-lived? Out of her love and the generosity of her livelihood she raised up, lifted up these widows, impoverished women on the margins of society. Her work helped these women come alive again, evidenced by the depth of their grief and their reluctance to let her go. They send for Peter, hopeful that this is not the end of the story. We don’t hear his prayer or any lengthy plea from him for Tabitha to be healed; only a simple command: Tabitha, get up.
Get up. This is also our call. Get up, Church. Come alive again, Church. We read these miracle-working stories because ironically in this scientific age our imaginations have been tamed and limited when it comes to newness of life. It can often be easier for us to imagine the terrible upheaval of the book of Revelation or that we may never be happy again than it is for us to imagine being able to come through hardship and our lives renewed, that we can be a new creation. It’s that old adage about not wanting to get our hopes up, that we should be realistic. The patterns of the past are more reliable than the possibilities of the future.
When Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV this Thursday, the first thing many people did was to look at his past, his background, his previous actions to determine, to imagine what kind of pope he will be. Some took hope from his chosen name, Leo. The previous pope with that name criticized the excesses of capitalism, supported workers’ rights and trade unions, and upheld the rights and dignity of humankind. Or because he’s a White Sox fan it means he takes up the cause of the downtrodden.
Others were more guarded and critical, noting that as a prior provincial he allowed a priest suspended from public ministry due to credible accusations of sexual abuse to stay at a Chicago friary and other allegations that abuse occurred under his leadership. He has also made comments opposing homosexuality and what he called gender ideology.
The reaction that was most surprising was from American conservatives and far-right pundits. Here is a native son from the Midwest, a committed social conservative, and a Republican primary voter. And yet none of this mattered in light of his commitment to follow the teachings of Jesus on migrants and refugees. Now he’s a woke Marxist left-wing globalist pope. Dang, what a job interview! You get voted in by your peers and within 20 minutes the entire globe is cheering you on with tears or shredding you to pieces.
But none of this really tells us what kind of pope he will be going forward. In the movie “Conclave”, which Pope Leo has seen, there was this telling quote: “The Church is not tradition. The Church is not the past. The Church is what we do next.” We do not ignore tradition. We do not forget the past, in fact, there is a great deal that the Church must repair. But if the Church is to move forward, if the Church is to get up, it must use all of its imagination in what it will do next.
Resurrection is not about reviving what was. That’s what Dr. Frankenstein did and that is what we have been trying to do with the Church since the 1980s—revive what was. Because our imaginations have become tame and limited. I’m not saying we can think our way into a renewed life. Resurrection is not magical thinking nor is it taking our hands off the wheel. Resurrection requires both hard work and our best dreams—God working through us.
When their benefactress Tabitha died, it was these widows she served – representative of the bottom of society – who imagined that the story was not over yet and got the attention of the disciples who called for Peter. The Peter whom Jesus called to be one of his disciples probably could not have imagined the Peter who raised Tabitha from death. If there is to be renewed life, I think it helps to imagine what it would look like, how it would feel.
If there is to be healing in our lives, I think it helps to imagine what healing would look like, how it would feel. If there is to be repair, forgiveness, acceptance, abundance, joy. Justice, peace, the end of hostility.
If there is to be affordable housing on this site, we need to imagine not only the end product but every step of the way to get there. Not only that but also keep our imaginations open to possibilities we have yet to consider. One important reason why the New Ark exists is because 46 years ago there were people, some of them still here, who imagined how church could be different.
In another story before he died, Jesus said, “I am going ahead to prepare a place for you.” Can we imagine Jesus going ahead of us to prepare a place for us, a resurrection space, a renewed life not only for us but especially for those who desperately need housing? The Church is not tradition. The Church is not the past. The Church is what we do next.
Let’s get up, Church, and let’s get going! Amen.
In this story from the book of Acts, a pattern, a practice of resurrection is being carried forward, all the way from the prophets Elijah and Elisha to Jesus and Peter and now us in our hearing of it. This story is from the early beginnings of Christian community, in which a beloved leader, Tabitha in Aramaic, Dorcas in Greek, has died, leaving behind a group of widows for whom she made beautiful clothing.
She is the only female disciple named as such in the second testament and yet she is not famous or well-known. What we can lift out of this text is that she loved well, helped to change the lives of those she loved, and was well-loved in return. What more is needed for a life well-lived? Out of her love and the generosity of her livelihood she raised up, lifted up these widows, impoverished women on the margins of society. Her work helped these women come alive again, evidenced by the depth of their grief and their reluctance to let her go. They send for Peter, hopeful that this is not the end of the story. We don’t hear his prayer or any lengthy plea from him for Tabitha to be healed; only a simple command: Tabitha, get up.
Get up. This is also our call. Get up, Church. Come alive again, Church. We read these miracle-working stories because ironically in this scientific age our imaginations have been tamed and limited when it comes to newness of life. It can often be easier for us to imagine the terrible upheaval of the book of Revelation or that we may never be happy again than it is for us to imagine being able to come through hardship and our lives renewed, that we can be a new creation. It’s that old adage about not wanting to get our hopes up, that we should be realistic. The patterns of the past are more reliable than the possibilities of the future.
When Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV this Thursday, the first thing many people did was to look at his past, his background, his previous actions to determine, to imagine what kind of pope he will be. Some took hope from his chosen name, Leo. The previous pope with that name criticized the excesses of capitalism, supported workers’ rights and trade unions, and upheld the rights and dignity of humankind. Or because he’s a White Sox fan it means he takes up the cause of the downtrodden.
Others were more guarded and critical, noting that as a prior provincial he allowed a priest suspended from public ministry due to credible accusations of sexual abuse to stay at a Chicago friary and other allegations that abuse occurred under his leadership. He has also made comments opposing homosexuality and what he called gender ideology.
The reaction that was most surprising was from American conservatives and far-right pundits. Here is a native son from the Midwest, a committed social conservative, and a Republican primary voter. And yet none of this mattered in light of his commitment to follow the teachings of Jesus on migrants and refugees. Now he’s a woke Marxist left-wing globalist pope. Dang, what a job interview! You get voted in by your peers and within 20 minutes the entire globe is cheering you on with tears or shredding you to pieces.
But none of this really tells us what kind of pope he will be going forward. In the movie “Conclave”, which Pope Leo has seen, there was this telling quote: “The Church is not tradition. The Church is not the past. The Church is what we do next.” We do not ignore tradition. We do not forget the past, in fact, there is a great deal that the Church must repair. But if the Church is to move forward, if the Church is to get up, it must use all of its imagination in what it will do next.
Resurrection is not about reviving what was. That’s what Dr. Frankenstein did and that is what we have been trying to do with the Church since the 1980s—revive what was. Because our imaginations have become tame and limited. I’m not saying we can think our way into a renewed life. Resurrection is not magical thinking nor is it taking our hands off the wheel. Resurrection requires both hard work and our best dreams—God working through us.
When their benefactress Tabitha died, it was these widows she served – representative of the bottom of society – who imagined that the story was not over yet and got the attention of the disciples who called for Peter. The Peter whom Jesus called to be one of his disciples probably could not have imagined the Peter who raised Tabitha from death. If there is to be renewed life, I think it helps to imagine what it would look like, how it would feel.
If there is to be healing in our lives, I think it helps to imagine what healing would look like, how it would feel. If there is to be repair, forgiveness, acceptance, abundance, joy. Justice, peace, the end of hostility.
If there is to be affordable housing on this site, we need to imagine not only the end product but every step of the way to get there. Not only that but also keep our imaginations open to possibilities we have yet to consider. One important reason why the New Ark exists is because 46 years ago there were people, some of them still here, who imagined how church could be different.
In another story before he died, Jesus said, “I am going ahead to prepare a place for you.” Can we imagine Jesus going ahead of us to prepare a place for us, a resurrection space, a renewed life not only for us but especially for those who desperately need housing? The Church is not tradition. The Church is not the past. The Church is what we do next.
Let’s get up, Church, and let’s get going! Amen.
Benediction – words and music by Bryan Sirchio
Dream God’s dream
Holy Spirit, help us dream
Of a world where there is justice
And where everyone is free
To build and grow and love
And to simply have enough
The world will change
When we dream God’s dream
Comments
Post a Comment