Acts 9:36-42: Tabitha Meant a Lot to Her Church Family

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v. 36 – Her name: Tabitha / Dorcus “The name Tabitha is Aramaic, and because his audience does not know this language, Luke gives the Greek equivalent, Dorcas. In either language the term means ‘gazelle.’”[1]

Tabitha meant a lot to her church family.

1)     v. 36 – “She was full of good works and acts of charity.”

A)   Trans.

1)     ESV – “She was full of good works and acts of charity.”

2)     NASU – “this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.”

3)     NKJV – “This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did.”

4)     NIV – “she was always doing good and helping the poor.”

5)     NET – “She was continually doing good deeds and acts of charity.”

2)     There are three things listed about here:

A)   She did good works / deeds of kindness.

1)     Eph. 2:10 – “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…”

2)     1 Tim. 2:9-10 – This is what women are supposed to be doing.

3)     Heb. 10:24 – “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”

B)    She did acts of charity / helping the poor.

1)     Often “alms”

2)     Acts 10:2, 4 – God recognized Cornelius for this.

3)     Matt. 6:3 – “give to the needy” / v. 4 – “giving” / Lk. 12:33 – “to the needy”

C)   She did it A LOT – she was full of / was abounding with / she was continually doing / she was always doing

3)     v. 38 – It is very clear that Tabitha meant a lot to this church family.

A)   Joppa is 10-11 miles away from Lydda. “You two! We need to you to run 11 miles and get Peter now!”

B)    v. 39 – “Finally, the story indicates that Peter recognized how important she was to the community…”[2]

Two Lessons

1)     Be someone who means a lot to your church family.

A)   It’s easy to see why Ed meant to much to our church family.

1)     He was just a great guy to be around. He loved my family.

2)     He did a lot for this church. Serving as an elder and taking care of things that needed to be done.

3)     He did a lot for many of us individually.

4)     Listen to Jake talk about what Ed meant to him sometime.

5)     You don’t need to be an elder to be someone who means a lot to the church family.

B)    I’m sure Tabitha meant a lot to her whole church family, but it seems to me like the text is pointing us to how much she meant to the widows.

1)     v. 36 – She did a lot of acts of charity and helping the poor.

2)     I imagine that the widows were big recipients of her kindness.

3)     v. 39 – “All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas had made while she was with them.”

(a)   I don’t know if they were actually wearing them at that time, but I can imagine it.

(b)   “Look, she made this for me.” “I have one too.”

(c)   At the one-year anniversary when Ed died, Jenny posted a picture of herself wearing a Gershenson Construction shirt, and then the comments filled up with a bunch of the rest of us wearing ours on that day too.

4)     v. 41 – The widows are especially called out here too.

5)     “It seems clear that Tabitha had a rather specialized and ongoing ministry to these poor women.”[3]

6)     Tabitha meant a lot to her church family, and especially these sisters.

C)    Examples (pasted on a page at the end of these notes).

D)   Here’s what I don’t want to happen (these are sad realities):

1)     I don’t want to die and nobody misses me at all because I never meant anything to anybody in my spiritual family.

2)     I REALLY don’t want to be someone who dies (or leaves) and people are glad about it.

(a)   “Well, it sure is going to be peaceful now that she’s gone not constantly stirring up stuff with everyone.”

2)     We do what we do because we love our family and we love serving God; NOT because we want to be seen by others as being “full of good works and acts of charity.”

A)   “good works”

1)     Matt. 5:16

2)     Also, Matt. 6:2, 5, 7, 16

3)     There are some people who don’t be capable of doing anything without letting everyone know about it.

B)    OTHER PEOPLE sang Tabitha’s praises. She did not sing her own.

C)    This theme seems to also be important with Peter in the text.

1)     v. 40 – “Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed…”

2)     “The goal appears to be not to draw excessive attention to himself as the healer.”[4]

3)     cf. 9:34 – “Jesus Christ heals you.”

3)     Conclusion

A)   Be someone who means a lot to your church family.

B)    Be someone who means a lot to your church family simply because you do, and not because you’re trying to make a show of it or get some kind of recognition from it. That’s gross.

[1] Witherington.

[2] Witherington.

[3] Witherington.

[4] Bock.