The Ongoing Resurrection Movement

The Acts of the Apostles seeks to answer the question, "So what?"

I’m back from vacation and Spring has finally made its snails crawl to Maine. The first hummingbird landed at our feeder on Mother’s Day, which is how we judge the real beginning of Spring! I’m beginning a series of four sermon from the lectionary texts in the Acts of the Apostles that show us how God’s Spirit moves in the early church. I invite you to explore with me how these texts inspire us to discover the living, guiding Spirt of Christ in our lives, and churches for the present moment. I would love to hear your thought on some reflection questions at the end of the sermon.

Acts 9:36-43

³⁶ In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. ³⁷ About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. ³⁸ Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciplesheard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

³⁹ Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

⁴⁰ Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive.

The most important question any sermon should answer is, “So what?” It’s helpful to know about the context of a biblical passage, how it relates to the historic Christian faith, tell a good story, or quote a poem. But at some point, we must ask, “Why does this matter? What difference does it make?” This season after Easter and before Pentecost is a great moment to ask, “So what?” Over the last six months, we have moved from Advent to Christmas and journeyed through 40 days of Lent. We have remembered the betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion of Jesus, culminating in Easter morning. It’s a great story and we know it well, but “So what?”

The Acts of the Apostles is the follow-up story written by the same author as Luke’s gospel to answer this question. What will become of this movement as Jesus is no longer present in the flesh? Why does it matter that he was raised from the dead? Will this small group of misfit disciples make any impact on the world?

If you lived in first-century Jerusalem, you could reasonably conclude that Jesus’s crucifixion was the end of the road. A few malcontents spread strange stories of divine resurrection, but wouldn’t the resurrected Christ have appeared at the Temple if they were true? That would be a climactic moment worthy of Steven Spielberg. But by the seventh chapter of Acts, Stephen is stoned to death, and the disciples in Jerusalem have scattered. The “powers that be” have effectively neutralized the movement, and Jerusalem will never be the capital of Christianity. But perhaps God’s Spirit has other plans.

Today’s reading is a transition point as the action moves to Joppa, the main coastal port of ancient Israel near modern Haifa. Often, location is part of the meaning of the passage. So why Joppa? On the map, it seems like a detour—but in the story of Acts, detours are often where the Spirit moves. The Hebrew narrative arc goes with the trade routes from Egypt in the South, moving east through Syria and stretching far to the East. Israel was not a seafaring nation. There are few great Jewish sailing tales like Homer’s Odessey, Jason and the Argonauts, or Moby Dick.

The only voyage is Jonah’s ill-fated attempt to escape his destiny to be a prophet to Assyria. Getting on a ship was going the wrong way and a sign of his disobedience to God’s call. And guess where Jonah launched-Joppa! You only go to Joppa to leave home, to stand on a swaying deck instead of solid ground, and you will likely go overboard and be swallowed by a whale. For the narrative to shift from Jerusalem to Joppa is to exit to stage left from the mainstream of the biblical tradition to this moment in time. It’s about to change from the land of the Jews to the sea of the Greeks.

But there are a few big surprises for us in Joppa. First, there is already a thriving community of Jesus believers in Joppa. They know who Peter is and invite him to come in a moment of distress and grief. I wonder how that happened. Jesus never went to Joppa. I estimate we are only 12 to 18 months past Easter. Somehow, a thriving church has sprouted while the main movement is being pulled out by the roots in Jerusalem. This church is growing in a diverse town of Jews and Greeks who look to the sea.

We can see the cultural diversity of Joppa from the leading actor using two names interchangably. Her Hebrew name is Tabitha, and her Greek name is Dorcas. Have you ever noticed that all the main characters in Acts undergo a name change? Simon has already become Peter. Saul will become Paul. Tabitha becomes Dorcas. Names shift to show a cultural identity shift, just like Robert is no name for a Pope. He chooses a name that symbolizes what his ministry will be like. Robert becomes Leo. Leo XIII was the pope who brought the church into the modern world and challenged the injustices of industrialization. He supported labor rights and fair wages. Renaming matters. As Christians, we should be comfortable calling people their chosen names because, clearly, it is a significant part of our tradition.

As the story shifts to Joppa, we see that the movement didn’t end in Jerusalem—it moved, adapted, and grew. The Spirit wasn’t stopped; it spread. The early church broadened its identity, embraced new cultures, and became more inclusive. That’s the “so what” of this passage—and it still speaks clearly to the church today.

As we return to Acts 9, Dorcas gives us a model for the kind of character and piety honored and cultivated in the early church. She dedicated her life to acts of good work and charity. Many of those gathered to mourn her death were widows, who were a vulnerable group in a patriarchal society. They showed Peter some wonderful clothes she had sowed for them, so they weren’t reduced to wearing rags. The character of this early community is to pay attention to poverty and suffering.

Notice in the very first line of this passage that Dorcas is called a disciple. I checked the Greek to ensure that it is the same word used for all the male disciples in the Gospels, just the feminine form. She is a disciple. Dorcas is the only person in the church that is called by name. Peter doesn’t meet with the male pastor; it sure looks like she is the head of this church. The church called for Peter because they had just lost their beloved pastor. Unfortunately, it took the church so long to recognize the equal discipleship of women. The Congregationalists ordained Antoinette Brown in 1858, the first woman ordained in the US. It was so controversial we didn’t fully affirm women’s ordination as a denominational policy until the formation of the United Church of Christ in 1957. It’s taken us a long time to catch up with what God’s Spirit was already doing in Joppa.

Dorcas has a legacy in the American Church. My last two congregations had a Dorcas Society. Women formed these societies in the 1800s to deal with poverty and distress. Many began in Britain in the industrial towns to support families of workers who were killed or injured. Dorcas Societies spread throughout the Northeast as women made room to organize and be leaders beyond the institutions of the local church. They gathered to make clothes, visit the sick, and deliver food, and many became philanthropy groups, too.

We keep adding layers of “so what” moments to the text about a church that includes Greeks and women and cares for the poor and suffering. That would be enough for this brief story to carry, but we also have Peter coming to this grieving church, praying for Dorcas and calling her back to life. I do not try to explain how this can happen any more than the Gospels explain what happened in the tomb on Easter morning. I can’t explain how resurrection happens nor do I want to explain it away. What is crucial is to embrace the meaning.

· Resurrection is not merely a one-off event specifically for Jesus. Nor is it only a future promise of eternal life.

· Resurrection continues and grows whenever we embrace the life that Christ lived among us. He is present when two or three are gathered.

· Resurrection happens in Joppa not only on a deathbed but from the kindness of a disciple named Dorcas. It occurs from the point of her needle-pulling thread to make garments of dignity for widows.

Dorcas was raised again 19 centuries later by women who wanted to be full disciples, carry out good works, and care for the sick and suffering.

· Resurrection is the power of life unleashed whenever we recognize that love means acting on behalf of others. In each of these acts, love snatches a small victory from death.

So—what does it all mean? What difference does it make? It means that resurrection is not locked in the past or held in reserve for the end of days. It is unfolding now, wherever love rises to meet suffering, wherever hope refuses to be buried. It means the Spirit moves still—across borders, beyond fear, into every corner where grace dares to grow.

The so-what is this: we are called to be resurrection people. Like Dorcas, we are called to clothe the vulnerable in dignity. Like Peter, we are called to show up in moments of grief and trust in what we cannot explain. Like the church in Joppa, we are called to embody a faith that includes, uplifts, and acts.

So let us go—not only to remember the story, but to become part of it. Let us go with open hands and open hearts. Let us go, trusting that God’s Spirit still moves—through us, beyond us, and always toward life.

Reflection questions for your week":

• Where do you see signs of resurrection—not just in miraculous events, but in ordinary acts of love, inclusion, or renewal—in your own life or community?
  

• Who are the “Dorcases” in your life—people whose quiet compassion and service have shaped you or others? How might you honor or emulate them this week?
  

• Where might the Spirit be calling you—like Peter—to show up, cross a boundary, or respond to grief or need with presence and prayer?