The Fourth Sunday of Easter

THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, May 8, 2022

Let’s Meet Some Early Followers of the Way. Part One: Dorcas “All in the Family”

(Acts 9:36-43)

I hurried up the steps of Wesley United, Eady. After leading services at Waubaushene and Coldwater, I was more than ready for my cup of tea. I knew that, as usual, the worship leader would have begun the service. I would have a couple of minutes to sip my “cuppa”, and simply breathe before entering the sanctuary for Children’s Time. I looked and looked again: no glass carafe of tea, gently being kept warm over a candle flame, no mug, no little jug of milk. I recognized that on the scale of things going on in the world – violence and war, oppression, persecution and natural disasters – this was but a teeny, tiny inconvenience. Still, I missed the soothing warmth and that little injection of caffeine to carry me through this third hour.

It was only after the service, only as I listened to people talking about how they had arrived to find the doors locked, the building cold, that I realized what had happened. Joanne was sick. Now, Joanne was the eldest child of Eady’s patriarch and matriarch. She held positions on the board and the UCW, but none of them involved providing tea for a fading minister or driving over early to open the church and turn up the furnace. Joanne just did these things, and much more besides, because she wanted all of us to feel cared for, and warmly welcome. We were part of the family.

In today’s reading in Acts, we meet someone who is a sort of a first century Joanne. Unlike many women who appear in the pages of scripture – for instance, the Samaritan woman who talks with Jesus by the well and the bent over woman whom Jesus straightens up on the sabbath – this woman has a name. She is called Tabitha in Aramaic and Dorcas in Greek, meaning “gazelle” – suggesting a combination of strength and beauty like the animal which bounds so gracefully across the African plains. This rendering of her name in both languages may suggest that she herself is a cultural hybrid of sorts, straddling the line that usually divides Jews and Gentiles. While even the named women in the Bible are often referred to as daughter of … or the wife of … or the mother of … Tabitha is simply Tabitha. She stands in the shadow of no man. This is highly unusual in a patriarchal society like first century Israel.

Tabitha is a follower of the way, part of the movement which is growing in response to Jesus’ life and ministry. At this point, there is no institution called church and no members called “Christians”. There is nothing in the way of formal organization – no manuals or constitutions, no General Council or regions. At this point, the movement has a decidedly radical flavour as the usual divisions between men and women are not maintained, and goods are freely shared amongst all. As a member of such a community, Tabitha has experienced, and knows in the depths of her being that she is a beloved child of God. She is part of the family. It is out of this knowledge and experience, and not because she holds some official position or has it in her job description, that Tabitha launches a welfare programme amongst Joppa’s poor.

Tabitha reaches out to widows – women who with no male to protect or provide for them are vulnerable. Women who are on the bottom rung of society, without power or influence. Women who are easily overlooked and ignored. Much like those who sit on the sidewalks in downtown Toronto with their crudely lettered cardboard signs asking for spare change while pedestrians stream by. Somewhat like all of us older women in our youth oriented culture. Are you familiar with the television series “Grace and Frankie”?

In one episode, a seventy-something Grace finally explodes in anger after the young male store clerk repeatedly ignores her. Tabitha notices these widows and makes them tunics and other pieces of clothing.

This may remind you of initiatives that have been taken by people in your own community of faith. The quilts / comforters displayed around the sanctuary today – thank you to Helen, Marion, Gerri and Lorna Gilford / Mary Ellen Churchill for bringing them – were made by women who like Tabitha use their skills in sewing. With creativity, they piece together a variety of fabrics, transforming them into gifts for Innisfil Christmas for Kids which offers a hand up to local families in need. These quilts and comforters are a visible sign that these children are loved and part of God’s family. During Lent, toiletries were collected for Teens at Risk, a program to nourish and care for adolescent bodies and minds. It may just be a bottle of shampoo, but it too can be a visible sign that they are noticed and loved.

As a denomination, we have the Mission and Service Fund which is designed to transform and save lives; inspire meaning and purpose, and build a better world. We can earmark part of our offering for Mission and Service to support a wide variety of projects from food and hygiene kits for the Ukraine to global access for covid-19 vaccine to support for Canadian families. This last has become all the more important during the pandemic as visits to food banks have climbed 20% and 33% of food bank users are now children.

Just recently, there have been reports in newspapers and on CBC radio about a fresh initiative by the United Church. We are partnering with Kindred Works to renew church facilities and provide housing for 34,000 people over the next fifteen years in new rental apartments. One third of these will be offered at below market rate with no distinction being made between renters. Unlike in New York City where in 2014, all the affordable units in a new luxury high rise were grouped in one area with those tenants having to enter through a separate door. One of the 8 projects in the planning stage is at St. Luke’s United where I did my field placement. Located across from Allan Gardens, this congregation has long tried to reach out to the community: for instance, one small thing was that anyone and everyone was welcome to drop in for coffee and any number of cookies after worship whether or not they had been at the service. Now, the sanctuary, which is much too big for the current worshipping congregation, will become a community space to bring in people for all sorts of events. There will also be a cafe where the community of faith may hold informal Bible or book studies and others may hang out.

With her sewing and her care, Tabitha has been drawing widows into community and helping them recognize they are indeed part of God’s family. When she suddenly dies, the widows are shocked and bereft. Were they like me, with my tea at Eady, taking everything for granted? Were they just assuming Tabitha would always be around? As Joni Mitchell sings in “Big Yellow Taxi”, “don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?” Do we human beings have a tendency to only value the good works and gifts of others after they have spent their lives and / or die? Whether in the past, these women have acted entitled or been appreciative, they now need Peter, the apostle, and the recognized leader of the church to share their grief.

In our church, in our communities, in our nation, the spotlight is usually on certain key figures – those in official leadership positions like the Chair of the Board, the Mayor, the Premier, the Prime Minister – and those who because of their wealth or family name have power and influence. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, there are the Joannes making sure everyone receives a warm welcome, and the Tabithas reaching out to the overlooked, and ignored. Watching Peter hurrying to Tabitha’s side and then focusing his attention on her, we may be reminded just how important these behind the scenes roles are to the well-being of all our communities.

Whether we are a Peter or a Tabitha, whether we are a giver to Christmas for Kids, Teens at Risk, the Mission and Service Fund or a receiver of some form of hang up, we are all in this together. We are all part of the family. Thanks be to God.