A Good Life

April 21, 2013 Acts 9:36-43 Revelation 7:9-17 4th Sunday of Easter A good life Year C Modern Day Resurrection stories Easter is the season of resurrection. We have been hearing stories of Jesus appearance to certain people after the resurrection. Some of my favorite news stories are stories of people who appeared to be dead, but before they were buried they were really alive. I seem to remember these stories when I hear them. 3 of my favorite stories this year are the one about…. 1. The Brazilian toddler who died twice Not all resurrections end well. A heart-wrenching case in point: Little Kelvin Santos, 2, died last week — or so his parents were told — while being treated for pneumonia. The child's devastated family held a wake through the night. Then, an hour before the funeral was to begin, Kelvin sat up in his open coffin, and said, "Daddy, can I have some water?" People started screaming. "We thought a miracle had taken place and our boy had come back to life," the boy's father, Antonio Santos said. "Then Kelvin just laid back down, the way he was. We couldn't wake him. He was dead again." The family filed a medical malpractice complaint, and police are investigating. Mourners nearly died of shock when a 101-year-old woman sat up and spoke - as she was being put in her coffin. Peng Xiuhua asked why so many people were in her house in Lianjiang, Guangdong province, China. Peng, who lived alone, had taken a tumble and hurt herself so her two daughters, who are in their 70s, were looking after her. However, 10 days later her daughters could not detect a heartbeat and her body had gone stiff so she was declared dead. The daughters gave her a bath, an undertaker dressed her and they were about to put her in her coffin when she came back to life. Peng said: “I am a lucky woman. "Not only did I get to see how many people care for me, but I also woke up before they took me to the crematorium,” she said. Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/dead-woman-sits-up-and-speaks-1567510#ixzz2R3nAt0Hb Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook A prostitute in Bulowayo, Zimbabwe, is bringing new meaning to the term "killer sex" after authorities thought she died during an encounter with a customer. However, she came back to life just as officials placed her in a metal coffin. The incident occurred last week at the Manor Hotel and the escort, later identified as "MaNdlo," reportedly collapsed and died while having sex with a client, the Herald-Sun reported. But when authorities came to collect the body of the prostitute and put it in a steel coffin, she suddenly woke up in a panic screaming, "You want to kill me!" at the officers, according to NINEmsn.com. Seeing a woman presumed to be dead spring back to life shocked onlookers, many of whom ran away in fear, Bulawayo24.com reported. "It was like a movie," a source told the website. "People were running away in different directions. It was a scary incident because we were all convinced that she had died because she was just cold. Miracles surely do happen." MaNdlo was taken home by another working girl and the unidentified john who allegedly "killed" her reportedly sneaked out of the hotel moments after the cops had left, according to AniNews.In. What happened to those people when they arose? When I think of that story I always hope that the woman took this experience literally as a wake up call and that she changed her life and did something different. I hope that she was able to see the work of God in the midst of those circumstances. This is the Easter season, the season of resurrection in our lives. The scripture from Acts gives us another resurrection story, a story that is just as dramatic as the ones in the news today. This is actually second miracle story, Peter has just healed a man who was in bed sick. And now he has been called to the funeral of a beloved follower of Christ. Dorcas, or Tabitha. Dorcas was very faithful in the church. The scripture calls her a saint, which is the same word that is used for the twelve followers of Christ. She spent her time making clothes for the widows when she was healthy. Now all of them have come to the funeral. Now you have to get how loved this woman was. Scripture says that they showed their tunics to Peter, so show what she has done to them. A tunic was an undergarment. The women were so grateful for what Dorcas had done for them that they were at the wake showing their undergarment to a strange man. And just like the news stories – this is a story of resurrection because Dorcas ends up coming back to life. Unlike the news stories it is not something that she does on her own, Peter prays for her, and through the power of the Holy Spirit she comes back to life. As a matter of fact, this is more than a resurrection story. It is a story of the power of faith. Because of her faithful life, and the love of those who mourn her, Peter takes the time to bring her back to life, hopefully so that she can continue her work. But the story is told so that we could witness the power of Peter’s faith. Peter watched Jesus, and now with the presence of Christ within him, he has the power to perform all of the miracles that Jesus did – he did it in the name of Jesus. When he prayed over Dorcas, he prayed in the name of Jesus to bring her back to life. This is not the first resurrection story that we hear in the bible. The bible is full of them. Elijah bought back the son of the widow, Elisha bought another woman’s son back to life. many people bought their children and loved ones to Jesus, and he was able to bring them back to life. and now that mantle has been bestowed upon Peter. And yet this story is different because Peter wants to the world to know that he is working under the power of Jesus. He is carrying on the ministry of Jesus. He was able to do this powerful work only because he believed in the risen Christ. The miracles of the prophets point to the power of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus points to the power of God in him, the miracles of Peter and Dorcas point to the power of the risen Christ, and we hear this story of Peter, so that we can understand that we also have that power, as the church of today. Resurrection stories are still being told today. But the good news for us is that the miracles of faith are still possible today. Everything in the old testament point to the events of the news testament, the events of the new testament point to the church, and what is possible for us today. The book of acts is to remind us of our power as a congregation, because we embody the spirit of Christ for the world today. We could spend days upon days thinking about the miracles of God and what they mean for us. the author of Acts, Luke wanted us to know about the faith of Dorcas, and the faith of Peter. But he really does not want us to get stuck on resurrection stories. Every story of faith told in the book of acts, is told to introduce us to a new phase in the growth of the new church. Every time God is about to do a new thing and bring the church to a new level, one of the disciples demonstrates a new miracle. Peter encounters the faith of Dorcas in Isreal, just before God calls him to go out to spread the gospel and to build the church to include the gentiles. I think that we all, even seasoned church members struggle when we hear stories of resurrection, of people being bought back to life, and the disciples being able to do what Jesus did. Afterall, none of us have that power today, if we did, we would use it every day. The church expected to do the stuff in the bible A few years ago, John Wimber the founder of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship was interviewed. Wimber said that the first time he went to church he expected dramatic things to happen, but they didn’t. After attending church for threeSundays, he became frustrated. After the worship service, he approached a man who looked like someone with authority. "When do you do it?" he asked. "When do we do what?" the man replied. "You know, the stuff," Wimber answered. "And what stuff might that be?" the man asked. "The stuff in the Bible," Wimber said, becoming more frustrated by the moment. "I still don’t understand," the man replied. "You know," said Wimber, "multiplying loaves and fish, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, giving sight to blind people. That stuff." " Oh," the man said, apologetically, "we don’t do that. We BELIEVE in it, and we pray about it. But we don’t actually DO it! Nobody does, except for those crazy pentecostals." That was 20-25 years ago, have many Christians have really changed? Is the church today really doing the stuff, as John Wimber put it? On the whole I believe that we aren’t. No, I believe that it’s because we don’t take God at His word. We go through the motions saying that we believe in these kinds of things, but we don’t actually do them. As we look at our Bible passage this morning we can see what happened when someone did the stuff. When we look at verse 42 in our passage we can see why doing the stuff is important. It says, ’The news about this spread all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.’ It’s interesting to note at this point that doing good didn’t bring people to faith, but the raising of Tabitha from the dead did. What does this say about our attempts at evangelism? So often in this country, we, the church, reach out to our communities by doing good. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t do that either, but rather than we should also do the stuff. John Wimber described these actions as ’power evangelism’. It’s evangelism by the healing of the sick, and the performing of signs and wonders in public. We can see this happening right through the book of Acts, and even in isolated pockets of the church today. We have to remember in this story that the miracle is not the star of the story – the faith and good works of Dorcas and Peter is the point. Peter had no control over what the holy Spirit did or didn’t do- he was a willing vessel to be used. There is a saying that everything in life is either God sent or God used. God has a way of using the events of our lives and turning them into a miracle. We have to remember that a miracle is not about what happened, it is about how we used it in our lives to move forward. We would hope that Dorcas went on to continue to do good, but we know that Peter went on to a new an bigger understanding of How God was working in his life and what he needed to do in order to spread the gospel to a bigger audience. Both Peter and Dorcas are referred to as saints. The greek word is hagios. When Paul is talking to the church he calls all who listen to him saints. Hagios doesn’t mean holy, or one with special powers. Hagios means different. One who is willing to be different. One who is willing to be used in any moment by the power of God? Are you different? Are you willing to embrace the power of God, already present with you. God dwells in the presence of God’s people. We don’t have to believe in it, just embrace it. And let it flow – witness to it as it flows. As we have been here in worship and heard our choir sing. – we can witness to the presence of God in this place. And know that we are saints, set aside for the service of God. Finally I don’t want to dwell too long on our second scripture – Revelation. But it dwells on those who are present in heaven with God. Last week we talked about the angels and heavenly beings. And today – we talk about the beautiful choir of unnumbered saints – those who were willing to be different for God. When we make a commitment to be used by God we are never alone. We never have to sing a solo – we always sing with a choir of faithful. Scripture says they were dressed in white and carrying palm leaves – to represent victory over all of their circumstances. And what song did they sing? Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the lamb. It is the Easter season, and the point of Easter is not so much about what happened in the miracle of resurrection, but why it happened. It happened so that you could have the power to be different, to claim the victory of God in all things, to help you understand that your faith in God has the power to change things, situations, even people. And to remember that it is not you – but the power given to you by God through Christ. Everything in our lives is either God sent or God used. In order to be used by God we have to willing to be used, to be prayerful and to be flexible. The real story of resurrection is the power of the faithful to sing to the salvation of God, and to watch our faithful choir grow in numbers. That is the story of Acts. We want the world to know…. I have an insurance policy Written in the blood of the Lamb, Sealed by the Cross of Jesus, Redeemable wherever I am! The company will never go bankrupt, It is bonded by God’s promise true; It will keep every word of its contract, Exactly what it says it will do. I don’t have to die to collect it, No premiums do I have to pay; All I do is to keep God’s promise And walk in His holy way. No collector will ever come calling, It was paid on Calvary’s tree; It insures me for living and dying And for all eternity. —H. H. Hover Amen. ------------------------------------------------------------- Fred Craddock, who taught at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, once said: “To give my life for Christ appears glorious. To pour myself out for others ... to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom — I’ll do it. I’m ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory. We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table — ‘Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.’ But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying, ‘Get lost.’ Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it’s harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.” Magic Mustard Seeds There is an old Chinese tale about a woman whose only son died. In her grief, she went to the holy man and said, “What prayers,what magical incantations do you have to bring my son back to life?” Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to her, “Fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known sorrow. We will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life.” The woman went off at once in search of that magical mustard seed. She came first to a beautiful mansion, knocked at the door, and said, “I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is this such a place? It is very important to me.” They told her, “You’ve certainly come to the wrong place,” and began to describe all the tragic things that recently had befallen them. The woman said to herself, “Who is better able to help these poor, unfortunate people than I, who have had misfortune of my own?” She stayed to comfort them, then went on in search of a home that had never known sorrow. But wherever she turned, in hovels and in other places, she found one tale after another of sadness and misfortune. She became so involved in ministering to other people’s grief that ultimately she forgot about her quest for the magical mustard seed, never realizing that it had, in fact, driven the sorrow out of her life. (Brian Cavanaugh). ix. Point Summary – The big idea today is this. Four things that I want us to take away from this message. If you don’t take away anything else, take this: 1. God uses people that make themselves available. 2. God uses people that are prayerful. 3. God uses people that are flexible. 4. If we seek God, He will find a way for us to find Him. x. I‘d like to close with a short story. h. Conclusion i. A Soap maker, who was not saved, walked along the road with a preacher one day. He said to the preacher, “The gospel you preach has not done much good. There is still a lot of wickedness in the world, and wicked people, too.” ii. Quietly they walked on. The preacher did not reply to his friend’s comment until they passed a dirty little child making mud pies in the gutter. With this before them, the preacher spoke, “Soap has not done much good in the world, I see; for there is still much dirt in the world, and many dirty people about.” iii. “O, well, you know,” said the Soap maker, “soap is only useful when it is applied.” “Exactly,” said the preacher, “so it is with the gospel we proclaim.” iv. Cornelius was dirty, and he knew it. He had seen the decadence of mighty Rome, yet chose to live his life in the backwater town of Caesarea, seeking the God of the Universe.