The Resurrection of Tabitha

May 4, 2022 Acts 9:36-43 Mother’s Day Fourth Sunday of Easter Tabitha’s Resurrection Year C Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship (from Revelation 7) One: ALL, and that means ALL (here, on-line and in spirit), come to worship God! Many: With the multitude from all ages, we cry out with a LOUD voice, “Holy victory belongs to God and to the Lamb!” One: Together, we are ready to worship the God who shelters us. Many: Together, we claim the Lamb as our shepherd. One: Together, we sing praise to God, who guides all to the water of life. Many: With grateful hearts, let us worship God. (Center for Faith and Giving) Opening Prayer God of the ages, we offer you our praise this day, for the ways you continue to make your presence known to believers in every age. Thank you for the Lamb, who is our shepherd. Thank you for your tender care for each and for all. Thank you for welcoming those who come with joy, and those yearning for you to wipe away every tear from our eyes. We offer you our hearts, our hands and our voices. AMEN (Center for Faith and Giving) Song Great is Thy Faithfulness UMH 140 Candle Lighting for Mothers (Just print the bold responses and the line before) Leader: We gather this day in worship esteeming the Light of Jesus Christ—-who is both God and human, born of his mother Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is from God, the source of all light, that every good and perfect gift has come, including the gift of Mothers. May we thank God for this good gift, today and always. All: We light the candle of memory. (gold) Leader: We remember the light of the women in our lives who birthed us, adopted us, fostered us, nurtured us, cared for us, shaped us and disciplined us who are no longer beside us. May God’s light shine upon each one and may God’s comfort embrace each grieving family. All: We light the candle of honor. (pink) Leader: We honor the women in our lives who bring forth new beginnings, embrace us as their own, foster our growth, nurture us, care for us and help form us into better people by the power of their love which comes from God. May God’s blessings be upon each one. All: We light the candle of peace. (blue) Leader: We pray for the mothers who have buried children. We pray for the women who long to be mothers, but are not. We also pray for each mother-child relationship that has been strained or broken by action, in-action, distance or illness. May God grant peace to each one who finds this day difficult. All: We light the candle of hope. (green) Leader: We encourage the many mothers are overwhelmed trying to make ends meet who while exhausted love anyway. We encourage parents who must raise their children alone, grandparents and other guardians who nurture children in their parent’s stead. May God empower each one with hope. All: God, teach us to recognize Your light in all of its many forms as we remember, honor and reflect on especially the gift of Motherhood this day. Fill us with your hope that we might shine your light to the generations after us. Amen. Scripture Acts 9:36-43 Sermon Tabitha’s Resurrection So here we are at the fourth Sunday of Easter – we are looking at the resurrection stories – the stories of Jesus appearing to his disciples after the crucifixion and before the ascension. In these stories, the disciples are grappling with a new sense of faith, all the while grieving the loss of the times of teaching from Their Lord and Savior. They too are trying to understand the significance of the resurrection. Our scripture for today is one of several stories in the new testament about a faithful person being brought back to life. First there is the story of Lazurus, there is the story of the young daughter of a centurion, and we have this story, the story of Tabitha/Dorcas. I wonder if other than in the bible, whether you have a story of experiencing a resurrection for yourself. I do, I was about 4 or 5 years old. My grandmother took me with her to spend a few days with one of her nephews and his family. I think it was a significant birthday for him, and he had invited all of our pretty large family to join him. We travelled a few hours to get to their farm. I remember him talking about how excited he was that his daughter and her boyfriend were driving home from college to be there. So it seemed surreal when we woke up the next morning to be told that she has died in a carwreck. Everyone was already coming for a joyful celebration, the nephew decided that the gathering would go on, but for a different reason. This was the first person that I knew that died, and I spent a lot of time trying to process what this meant. The funeral was packed, I remember her in a pink open casket. Everybody, including me had to pass by the casket. After the funeral I lost it, I cried the whole day because I could not understand why she was not coming back. I was sitting on the bed crying when she came to me to tell me that everything was going to be okay, and that she would always be with me. At least that is what my 4 year old mind heard her say. It was many years later that I realized that she had two younger sisters that looked just like her. I just assumed that she came back alive and spoke to me twice. In my first experienced of death, I was relieved that it didn’t last forever, because they really do come back alive just like the preacher said about Jesus. That is my resurrection story – even today, 50 years later, the baby sister still keeps in touch with me. She has been a real comfort, especially after my mother died. She kept her promise to always be with me. The true significance of the resurrection is in the hope and peace that it gave to those who followed Jesus. Jesus promised to be with us even to the end of the age. Now this woman Dorcas must have been a very special person. She is the only person in the bible with he title mathitrea – or female disciple. We don’t know a lot about her life, but we do know that she served the widows and the poor just as Jesus told her to. Crowds had gathered at her house mourn her and to bathe her body. She died way too soon – if anyone could bring her back to life, it would be one of Jesus disciple. They send for Peter, who is 25 miles away. When he arrives at the house, everyone shows all of the garments Dorcas had made just for them. Funerals are an opportunity for the living to remember the ways that they have been touched and changed by this person. It a chance to gather in community and to share our grief. Jesus has told the disciples that a faith of a mustard seed can move mountains. He also demonstrated the power of resurrection and bringing people to life. Peter sends everyone out of the room and repeats Jesus miracle – she has come back. This resurrection story has a happy ending- Dorcas gets to continue to serve. Unfortunately, not all resurrection stories have a happy ending. In 1977, Dr. Martha Myers moved to Yemen to serve as a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology. Her target audience was Yemeni women who often lack medical care and, because of their religion, were prohibited from seeing a male doctor. Myers worked at a Yemeni hospital founded by American Baptists. But she also traveled into the most remote areas around the hospital to make house calls for her patients. Her love and commitment earned her both admiration and enemies. One day, a patient of Dr. Myers told her husband that she had never experienced such love and compassion in her life as she did at Dr. Myers’ hospital. That was the wrong thing to say to her husband. Concerned that his wife might be influenced by the doctor’s Christian faith, her husband promptly went to the hospital and gunned down Dr. Myers and two of her colleagues. At the time of her death, Dr. Martha Myers had served the women of Yemen for more than 25 years. The result? Over 40,000 Yemeni people attended Dr. Myers’ funeral. The former president of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, Jerry Rankin, said, “Martha’s colleagues said the gunman did not take her life. She lost her life to Christ years ago when she trusted him. Martha was not living for herself, but to serve others.” (7) For one moment, I want you to listen to this quote and put your name in it: “She lost her life to Jesus Christ years ago when she trusted him. Martha was not living for herself, but to serve others.” Does that describe your life right now? Is it how people will describe you after you are gone? You and I were made to be Jesus in the world. That means living with a sense of purpose and translating our compassion into action. And if we commit to living this way, then our lives will have an eternal impact too. Resurrection is not just about immortality, but also about new life especially within the community. The message is in how it changes lives and situations. Even in Dorcas story, we never hear about how she is affected. But the story ends by saying that those in mourning, saw the change and not only came to believe themselves, but they brought others to the miracle of resurrection. So let me ask you, how many Dorcas’ do you know. I only know one, and I just remember that she always felt that she had to live up to the reputation of her name. And the only Tabitha that I know is the little girl character in Bewitched. But the good news is that I know countless women with he title Matritea. – female disciple. There are countless women who have been an example for me, who want to make a difference, who are always in service, who opened the doors of life for me and for others. This Mother’s day let us honor those female and male disciples who have made a difference. Just as the resurrection of Dorcas was a bittersweet moment – this day can be bittersweet for so many. Resurrection is always the story of death and life. And yet resurrection shows us how Christ is present with us in the community around us, and the disciples who lead us. Let us pray…. Song Awesome God TFWS 2040 Prayer Help us to move beyond the “sampler” prayer so often found printed on pillows, on wall hangings: "The Lord is my Shepherd." Help us to understand what those words truly mean, O Lord. We can count on you. You are the one who holds our lives, guides our steps, comforts and sustains us. You want for us the lush greenness of verdant pastures and the alluring draw of still waters; yet you know that our lives will not be smooth; there will be rough times. We can count on you, Lord. We can place our trust in you. Help us to feel the power of the Psalmist’s words: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” Nothing can trouble, nothing can threaten. You are with us. As we reach out in love and service to others, remind us that the work we do in your name, with love and compassion, is an echo of your tender mercy and loving care. Strengthen us and give us enthusiasm to follow the Shepherd all the days of our lives. AMEN. (Nancy C. Townley) Offering Moment for Stewardship (from Psalm 23) Perhaps the most well-known of all 150 Psalms is one you may have memorized as a child. The 23rd Psalm sometimes is a night-time prayer, sometimes recited at funerals, and often is sung in our own time of worship (CH 78 and 79; either of which could be sung during this service, by the congregation, as an offertory, or by the choir). Have you ever thought about this familiar Psalm as a report of what God gives us? Like a shepherd caring for sheep, God gives us abundant nourishment, safe water, and leads us toward peace in life. With God’s leading , we need not fear, knowing God is with us. Our cup overflows! We may not have everything we desire. We may live with challenges and difficulties. But this Psalm speaks to each of us, reminding us we’re followed by goodness and kindness, everywhere we go. What better response could we make to God-the-Giver than to offer back our lives! Offering our time, our abilities, and our finances (which can all work together), becomes a regular and life-long “thank you”. Today, I invite you to be a grateful lamb, filled with all the gifts offered by the Shepherd…and eager to offer more than our words. Let us share our gifts, our tithes and our offerings! Prayer of Thanksgiving Shepherd God, We offer these gifts to you, filled with gratitude for all you offer us. Receive what we’ve presented, and inspire us to use these resources to help create a world in which each person knows abundance, safety, and security. AMEN (Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Facebook Closing Prayer Let us go forth knowing that we are led by God, that we are sheltered by God, that God never leaves nor forsakes us even in the bleakest valley. In God, may we hunger and thirst no more, and may a peace that surpasses all understanding abide with us, now and forever more. Amen. (Rev. Mia M McClain – UCC Worship Ways) Community Time Benediction Go forth in peace and hope this day, for God is your guardian and guide. Bring news of God’s love to all whom you meet. AMEN. (Nancy C. Townley – Ministry Matters) Childrens Sermon Tell kids: Gifts don’t always come in boxes, especially gifts from God. The gifts God gives are often in the shape of people. He gives us special people, like Moms, to love us and raise us with kindness. (Show kids a gift box with a lid. Place a picture of a Mom in the box.) Do you see this box? Inside it is a gift more valuable than gold and silver. More expensive than jewels or a fast car. No gift is better than this gift. (Open the box and show the picture.) This is my Mom! She’s a nice lady who loves God and taught me all about Him. She is more precious than any gift I have ever received. Additional Illustrations He Knows Our Names There is an old story of a census taker who was making his rounds in the lower East side of New York, who interviewed an Irish woman bending over her washtub. “Lady, I am taking the census. What’s your name? How many children have you?” She replied, “Well, let me see. My name is Mary. And then there’s Marcia, and Duggie, and Amy, and Patrick, and...” “Never mind the names,” he broke in, “just give me the numbers.” She straightened up, hands on hips, and with a twinkle in her eye, said, “I’ll have ye know, sir, we ain’t got into numberin’ them yet. We ain’t run out of names!” The image of God as the Good Shepherd tells us that is the way it is with God. He knows us by name. Donald B. Strobe, Collected Words, www.Sermons.com Numbers. Our lives are filled with numbers. Each year we file our income taxes. Now that's an exercise in numbers to end all numbers games. Pages upon pages of numbers: earned numbers, spent numbers, invested numbers, and saved numbers. When it is finally prepared, we send it off to the Internal Revenue Service with our Social Security number on it. And the IRS takes all those numbers and puts them into a computer, along with the numbers of thousands and thousands of other people. And to them, we become a number. The government knows us by our tax number. The state knows us by our driver's license number. The bank knows us by our account number. And when we retire, we'll be remembered by our Social Security number. And it goes on and on. In fact, sometimes I wonder if anybody knows us at all without a number! And that's why this morning's Gospel reading is so significant, because it tells us that God knows us. He knows us intimately, in fact, better than we know ourselves. And that's important to remember. In spite of the fact that the image of sheep and shepherd is foreign to our experience, the words of the Gospel this morning hearken for us a truth that our human hearts long to hear. The Old Testament writer put it even more clearly when he wrote, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." Jesus says it this morning, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me, and I give them eternal life." Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying, CSS Publishing Company Missionary Herb Schaefer tells about a thirteen-year-old Chinese girl who continued with her family to worship God secretly in their home during the Cultural Revolution in China, that time when religion was forbidden and worship was banned by the Chinese rulers. One evening the Red Guards burst into their small home and threatened them for worshiping Jesus. A small altar with a crude cross stood in one corner of the room. Determined to put a stop to their worship and command complete allegiance to the Communist state, the Red Guard lieutenant demanded they spit on the cross. They refused. The lieutenant became indignant and shouted at them that unless they spat on the cross they would be killed. Finally the elder in the group came forward, spat on the cross and left. One by one they followed, doing the same disgusting thing until only the thirteen-year-old remained. She refused to do what the others had done. "I cannot and I will not," she replied. Then she told the lieutenant the depth of her faith and said that she was willing to die for it. Remarkably the Lieutenant seemed pleased. "This is the kind of devotion we want for the new China: people who will commit themselves so totally that they are willing to die for what they believe." But he wanted that devotion directed toward Chairman Mao. "We will change you," he promised and left. She was spared, but she never saw the rest of her family again. The story doesn't end there, however. For shortly thereafter, that little girl fled to Hong Kong and was taken in. Later she entered the Lutheran seminary there and today she is a pastor of the Hong Kong Lutheran Church, serving the needs of countless souls. She prays for the day when she will be allowed to return to her village and minister to her people there and perhaps even to that Red Guard lieutenant who spared her but murdered her family. She was able to endure, to overcome that tragedy in her life, because she knew the Good Shepherd. Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying, CSS Publishing Company

Press On, Move Forward

Englewood UMC “Press on, Move Forward” Galatians 5:13-16, 22-26 Galatians 6:2-9 Philippians 3:12-14 138th Anniversary Celebration November 13, 2011 Story of 3 sisters who didn’t know if they were coming of going 3 sisters lived together. One was 96, one 95, and one 94. The oldest sister ran some bath water, began to step in the tub but she got confused, she couldn’t remember if she was getting in the tub, or out of the tub. Her middle sister decided to come up the steps to help her. But she had to stop halfway up the stairway. She couldn’t remember if she was going up the steps table eating breakfast. All she could do was shaker her head and knock on wood. Thank God her memory was not as bad as her sisters. I will be there to help you two figure out what is going on, just as soon as I see who it is that is knocking at the door. I want to ask you – are we coming or going? A church anniversary – is it time for us to look back at what the church used to be, or is it time to press on and move forward? A church anniversary is indeed a good time to reminisce. To look at pictures, to remember old relationships. It is not a time to rest on our laurels, to stay stuck on what we used to be, too just sit on our butts. It is time to Press on and move forward. Biblical referenced for Press on Move Forward Press on move forward – that is a good message for us this morning. The bad news is that it is not biblical. I spent all weekend looking for a biblical reference to those powerful words. Paul didn’t say those words, Jesus didn’t say those words, and the prophets didn’t say those words. The good news is they didn’t have to because the concept is everywhere throughout the bible. For instance in 1 Corinthians 9:24 Paul says to run in such a way as to win the prize – that means to run forward – running backward won’t get you anywhere. In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul says But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward. In Luke 9:62 Jesus says no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. In Genesis 19:17 an angel tells Abrahams cousin Lot to flee for your lives, don’t look back and don’t stop until you reach the plains. Message is to move forward and don’t look back In all of these verses the message is not just to move forward, but don’t look back. No matter what the past may hold, leave it behind and move forward. In order to move forward there is something that we have to let go of. Something on our list that we have to forget about, something that we have to prioritize. The religion of the Jews is a religion that places a priority on history, on ancestors, on wisdom of the past. The religion of Jesus does not take away from that past- it just reminds us that our hope is in what lies ahead. People of faith are those who are moving forward. The logical reason – we face forward not backward And when you think about it that makes sense. When a baby is learning to walk – you don’t stand behind her and encourage her to walk backwards. You stand in front of her and encourage her to walk forward. You tell her to come here – God does the same for us. God calls us forward in everything. Our feet, are in front of us. Our face in front, our eyes in front. An interesting fact that I learned this year, If you pull aside the feathers on an owls face, you will discover that the owl has two totally different shaped ears. An owl has superior hearing because those two different ears are oriented in two different directions. An owl has superior hearing because he can hear what is in front of him, and what is in back of him at the same time. But humans, we don’t have eyes in the back of our head, and those big lobes on the side of our face – they are specifically designed to catch the sound in front of us, not in back. Why is it that all of our senses are in the front of us and not in back of us, who do we not have special tools to look behind us – because we are not headed in that direction. We don’t need to look back – there is nothing for us. There is nothing wrong with the past; we are just not headed in that direction. Press on, move forward. In Christ we are a new creation, we have a new life, our eternity is in the kingdom to come. The command is forward march – not backward march. The story of Alexander’s army Alexander the great was known for commanding his army to march upon a village and just taking over everything around him. Most kings were intimidated by the sheer number of his army. Once he met a king who resisted – why should I just surrender and give you control of my kingdom just because you asked for it. Alexander the great told him because he had a powerful army. The king was still not convinced. So Alexander had to give him an example. He gave the order forward march. On the army marched onward. They continued to follow the command of their leader, and marched on. They were near a cliff, but had not received the command to stop. It has been a long time since I was in marching band, so I forget the command to stop. But Alexander finally gave the command to stop. But it was not until 3 or 4 rows of the army had marched off the end of the cliff. Alexander turned to the king, what makes my army so powerful – they will do whatever I tell them to do. The king immediately surrendered. Alexander had an army that was willing to press on and move forward. Don’t we feel that we are falling off a cliff sometime? Just as in that story, do we sometimes think that moving forward is like falling off of a cliff for God. After all – move forward – move forward into what. Where are we headed as a church? What does the future hold for us? how can we look forward to a future that we can’t see? Who are the people coming behind us? what do we have to look forward to when there are more funerals than baptisms? What do we look forward to, when we can look back and see better days behind us? We can be tempted to think of a church anniversary as a time to look back and remember the good times. The cemetery with a church Okay I was going to save this story for another sermon, but I can’t resist. I have been looking online all weekend for sermons on church anniversaries, trying to find exactly what you say at a time like this. And I came upon the story of a pastor who like me, did an internet search and found a story that he was very interested in. It was preached at St. Matthew church, somewhere in England. He was really taken with the anniversary sermon and wanted to learn more about the church. What ministries did they have that warranted such a good sermon? What did they do for the community? He did an internet search, not only did they not have a website; he could find nothing about the church. The pastor, pastor Johnson had a website, but funny thing it didn’t say anything about the church. It was time for him to preach his sermon – and he was frustrated that he couldn’t find anything. So in desperation he decided that he would just look up pastor Johnson and call him personally. Pastor Johnson was in total shock. St. Matthew church had not been an independent church for 5 years now. They had merged with 3 other churches, and it had been 10 years since they were able to afford anything other than a student pastor. The only reason the name St. Matthew was still known was because the cemetery attached to the church was still open. The building was only used once a year. That sermon for the annual church anniversary – a fundraiser to keep the cemetery open. So much for a church anniversary sermon focused on the past. Galatians 6:9 Speaking of falling off cliffs, I thought that my sermon had fallen off a cliff this weekend, as I continued to do my planning for today. I picked this theme of press on move forward last month or so. But didn’t read Galatians 6:9 until Friday. The verse says “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” It is a great message - but doesn’t have anything to do with press on move forward. Somewhere along the way – I got my signals messed up. But I truly do believe that when it comes to the message of God – there are no mistakes. There is always a reason that a word is revealed. And for some reason God wanted those too messages to come together. I am I am not just saying that because I didn’t look at this text until Friday, and realized that I needed to have to say something that made sense on Sunday. Our faith is grounded in obedience If we look back at our story about the army of Alexander – it is an example of what it means to press on and move forward. But that is not the point of the story. The point of the story is obedience. Obedience to press on and move forward no matter what. God calls the church to be focused, and unwavering in our obedience to God. To press on and not look back, to trust God into an unknown future. To never grow weary in doing what is Good – because that is what God tells us to do. The harvest comes for us in the future, not in the past. The harvest is God’s and not ours. Our faith is grounded in hope The faith of the followers of Christ is grounded in hope. Hope in new life, hope in new creation, hope in things to come, not times gone by. Religions of the past got their meaning from where they come from, what they did, who their ancestors were. The religion of Christ is a religion of the future. We get our meaning from the future no the past. We walk toward where are going, no where we have been. We press on move forward, never growing tired of our task to do what is good, in world obsessed with what is wrong. The greeting of keep moving forward One man noted that whenever he visits the church that he grew up in, the usher always notices him. Mr. Cotton Jones always says to him – it is good to see you, keep on moving forward. His greeting - keep moving forward is a challenge. A challenge to learn more, to grow more, to achieve more, to live more fully. Press on Englewood – move forward! Let us pray….