Dearly loved by God in Christ Jesus,
There are many books secular and religious on the market about what constitutes a well-lived life. We only have one life. Who would argue that we would not want to live it well? But how to determine that.
Some think it means you have achieved success or obtained material wealth. Perhaps there is some legacy of thought or philosophy you left behind. Think about your life. Will people say at the end of your life that you lived it well?
Our fellow Christians will say that if we follow the examples of a widow in the coastal city of Joppa and the apostle Peter. In them we see that The Life of Faith is the Life Lived Well. It is a life lived in works of charity; in seeking the Lord’s will; in helping others find the Savior.
What do we know about this woman in Joppa? St. Luke mentions that she was “a disciple.” This Christian’s name was Tabitha, or as Luke wrote for the sake of his Greek readers, Dorcas. The name means “Gazelle.” We also learn this disciple of Christ lived a life of faith, “she was always doing good and helping the poor.” Her life was a life lived well because it was lived in works of charity.
Like so many Christian widows in our congregations, Tabitha spent her hours and days in loving service to others especially those in need. Some of the women’s ministry groups in those churches have taken her Greek name and call themselves Dorcas Societies. Many congregations and the communities there are in would be poorer were it not for the dedicated and devoted service of these Christian women.
Doing good and helping the poor is one of the ways we live a life of faith. We help those in need of food with coupons. I think of the garage sale coming up later this summer. I hope that we will make a dollar or two for our preschool but people will find some good bargains on clothes and other needs. In your daily lives you may support charities with your money or time that have touched your hearts
The life of faith is the life well lived because it is a life lived in works of charity. Tabitha possessed that security of Christ’s love for her we spoke about last week and relish every week. Tabitha manifested her faith in that love as she looked for ways to provide for the needy. After she died, other widows showed Peter the “the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.” It is quite possible they had been the recipients of Dorcas' charity and were wearing those very same garments.
Being a Christian and living well in works of charity do not exempt us from sickness and even death from that sickness. Luke wrote to Theophilus, “About that same time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.” The other disciples prepared Tabitha’s body for burial according to the usual customs. Then they sent for Peter who was close by in Lydda.
Exactly what the disciples hoped for or wanted Peter to do is unclear. They did ask him, “Please come at once.” They lived the life of faith, the life lived well. They certainly equated Peter’s presence and concern in this situation with seeking the Lord’s will in the matter.
What Peter did also shows us the second aspect of the life of faith that is a life well lived. Peter spent his time with them and Tabitha’s body in the upstairs room. We can picture the apostle at her bedside as Luke the physician describes, “Peter sent them all out of the room, then he got down on his knees and prayed.”
What do we do when we seek the Lord’s will for our daily lives? One thing we can do is consult with other disciples and especially seek out God’s representatives. I can remember times during my life when I met with my pastor to help me seek the Lord’s will for a decision or direction in life. The disciples in Joppa looked to Peter with this purpose.
What do we do when we get down on our knees in prayer? We seek the Lord’s will. We humbly go before the throne of God boldly and confidently asking our Father for Jesus’ sake to lead us, deliver us, or forgive us. Peter prayed at Tabitha’s deathbed asking the Lord’s will for him in the matter. The Lord directed Peter to speak to her and trust in the Lord to raise her from death. After Peter sought the Lord’s will he acted. “Tabitha, get up. She opened her eyes and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet.”
The life of faith is the life lived well. We live the daily life not seeking our own wills. It is going to God in our prayers as Jesus did before he went to the cross to die for our sins, “Not my will but your will be done.” In this seeking we even can expect a miracle if the Lord wants to grant it for his purposes. How grateful and joyful those disciples must have been who also had sought the Lord’s will for their loved one who had died in Christ when Peter “took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive.”
Peter’s action here and in the coming days following the miracle shows us the final aspect of the life lived well in faith. It is lived in helping others find the Savior.
Tabitha stood before the disciples as living proof of the power and love of the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Peter’s miracle helped them by strengthening their faith. God did not use miracles in the early days of the church as the primary way of showing people Christ; that was done of course through the Word of God. Miracles like this one supported the Word. They were the visible partners of the Word.
In the verse just after our text, we learn that Peter “stayed in Joppa for some time.” The apostle used this miracle and the opportunity it presented to stay there, preach, and teach others about their Savior. The news of this resurrection of the dead spread all over Joppa. “Many people believed.”
We live our lives of faith well when we help others find the Savior. We are the miracles of God’s powerful Word that have taken us from the first death of unbelief through the first resurrection of faith to life. In the miracle of our faith we preach and teach the resurrected Christ to others.
This miracle also reminds us again as we heard last week at our Pastors’ Institute that there is eternal hope not only for our souls but also for these bodies of flesh and blood. Like Tabitha who now awaits another resurrection of the body, we await that day when our bodies rise to the full redemption Jesus won for us on the cross and declares by his resurrection. That will come surely for us at the end of this life of faith a life lived well. Amen. <SDG>