First Presbyterian Church
Shocks to the System
Sermon for May 2, 2004
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Children's time: Jonah leaves Joppa

God told Jonah to go preach about God to the people in Nineveh . Nineveh was a long way away, and none of them were Hebrews, so of course Jonah didn't want to go. He said the Ninevites wouldn't listen to me anyway. So Jonah tried to run away from God, so he went to Joppa, and got on a ship. Do you think you can run away from God by going on a ship? Jonah did.

A big storm came up, and almost broke the boat. So the sailors threw out the cargo, but it didn't help. Jonah was asleep. The captain said, get up and pray. The sailors drew straws to figure out whose fault this was. So they drew straws. Jonah got the short straw. They said what have you done? He said, “I'm running away from God.” They said how can we fix this? He said throw me overboard; it's my fault.

The sailors didn't want to do that, so they rowed the boat hard, but the storm grew bigger. So they prayed to God, and threw Jonah into the sea. God sent a big fish to swallow Jonah three days and nights, and then the fish barfed up Jonah on the shore. Jonah went to Nineveh . And guess what! The people in Nineveh listened to Jonah, and they repented. So eventually, Jonah did a good thing.

In my sermon today, I'm going to talk about a man named Simon bar Jonah, who also spent some time in Joppa. His name was also Simon, son of John, or Simon Peter, or just Peter.

Let's pray.

Our psalm reading is found on page 501. We'll read it together from the pew Bibles. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Psalm 23.

A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me;
your rod and your staff-- they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

The choir will interpret this psalm for us in their anthem. It is from our new hymnal, #2206 “Without Seeing You.” You don't have to follow along; we get to listen to the choir do the work.

Anthem

The book of Acts was written by the same person who wrote the gospel of Luke. Acts tells the story of the early church, and how individual churches were started, and how the gentile Christians and Jewish Christians lived out their faith. Sometimes they got along and sometimes they didn't. The book starts out talking about all the apostles, and what Peter said and did, what Stephen said and what happened to him, and what Philip said and who he converted, and Saul, who had been hunting Christians, and was suddenly struck down and called by God. That brings us to our reading today, found on page 128 in your pew Bibles. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Acts 9:31-43.

Meanwhile the church throughout Judea , Galilee , and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. Now as Peter went here and there among all the believers, he came down also to the saints living in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years, for he was paralyzed. Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed!" And immediately he got up. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, "Please come to us without delay."

So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive.This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.

This ends our reading from God's word.

Peter heals people in the tradition of Jesus, who healed people in the traditions of the prophets. All those healings were shocks to the political and/or religious systems. The prophets angered the kings, and Jesus angered the Jewish priests as well as the Roman rulers.

Peter had the power to do what Jesus did; in our reading from Acts he healed a paralyzed man named Aeneas. Jesus healed a paralyzed man in Luke 5:17-26, and forgave him his sins.

Jesus raised the synagogue leader's daughter from the dead in Luke 8:54. The child had died while Jesus stopped to heal an unclean woman; he didn't let the synagogue leaders' high status make him neglect to heal someone of low status. Stories of resurrections and healings aren't unique to the Bible; they are common in ancient Roman literature. How the resurrections and healing happened aren't examined. What mattered was who was healed and in whose name?

To Luke, all sorts of people were healed in and by the name of Jesus Christ. Peter healed Aeneas of being paralyzed, and that healing made the local residents turn to God. Who was Aeneas? We don't know anything other than his name and his physical condition. But his name tells us a lot. He was named after the famous hero of Troy , the divine ancestor of the Romans. A hundred years earlier, the Greek poet Vergil wrote an epic poem called the Aenid. It details Aeneas' battles with Carthage and his voyage from Troy to Hades, where he met his dead wife and his dead father and heard a prophecy of the greatness of Rome .

It wasn't an accident that Peter healed a man named after a Roman hero. The name of Jesus has something to offer even the powerful Romans. I wonder if that was a shock to the system too.

Luke devotes just 2 lines to Aeneas, but spends five times as many on Tabitha, a widow. A rich one, to be sure, but a widow just the same. She's not too high on the social ladder. Maybe that's another shock to the system. Widows were often poor, and were housed at the mercy of their in-laws, often as a servant. This change in economic and social standing added another layer of suffering on top of their grief.

Tabitha made the widows undergarments as well as outerwear. I like this story, because it's one of the few places where it names women as disciples, not just men. Our pew Bibles say the disciple Tabitha was devoted to good works and acts of charity. Good works could mean what is valuable and useful, like clothes. But the phrase “acts of charity” could also mean godly mercy. As a widow, Tabitha was well-suited to her position as disciple for the widows. Only a widow knows. Only someone who has lost a husband can show empathy to a widow.

A few years ago, a widower named Michael Goshorn started a website called Widownet. His wife died of cancer when he was 37. He wanted to provide a place on the internet where people could find information about the specific grief issues faced by widows and widowers. He knew that the best person to comfort a bereaved spouse was someone who had been there. He knows the common questions people have.

Should I take off my wedding ring? What should I do with his or her clothes and personal items? How do I handle questions about the death that make me uncomfortable? What is my relationship supposed to be now with my in-laws? Is this mental confusion normal, and will it ever end? How bad is this going to be, and how long is it going to last? But she/he always handled the ... (lawn, housekeeping, car maintenance, cooking, checkbook, taxes, etc.) ... so what do I do now? What's the best response to insensitive or outrageous remarks?

On the website is a list of Dumb Remarks and Stupid Questions (along with a few responses that come to mind); Also known as Public Education for the Terminally Tactless:

"Death happens. Get over it."

Thank you for the deep insight from the school of T-shirt philosophy.

My wife just died three weeks ago day after tomorrow ( Oct. 17, 1997 ) after the birth of our only son. After the memorial service at the cemetery the family returned to the church where my deceased wife's grandmother commented,

"At least with that precious little boy, you now qualify for FREE CHEESE!"

and

"I am so sorry. You just don't hear of anyone dying after having a baby anymore."

Like this is suppose to comfort me? The baby's doctor said,

"In the 35 years I have been a baby doctor, this has happened only 4 other times."

I don't give a … how many times in the past, today it happened to me and I didn't even know I was in this lottery. Like it was a contest. I know he was just trying to relate and didn't think that it would be information I would "mind" having but guess what -- I don't care.

"God has a plan for everything."

So did the (1) Cubs last fall, until that fan reached out and tipped what would have been an easy out.

"So what have you been doing?"

When a man's wife dies, many men seek to bury themselves in some action or cause. In the movies, they shed one and a half tears, drink a fifth of whiskey, and charge off into the sunset to conquer evil, right injustice, save the world. So "Grieving" doesn't cut it as an answer.

"So what have you been doing?"

"Seeking the meaning to life, existence, and the universe, and finding a cure for cancer in my basement."
"So what have you been doing?"

"Just what would you have me do to justify my living and her dying?"
"So what have you been doing?"

"As in what great thing have I accomplished this week?"

"Losing a second husband later in life must not be as painful."

"As opposed to losing a 3rd husband?"
"As opposed to losing a 2nd husband earlier in life?"

"Well, at least you're young and you can get married again."

"Right, and I'll be much better at this widow stuff when it happens again."

On the day of my husband's funeral.....a relative on my husband's side came up to me and said....

"What are you going to do with ALL THAT insurance money?

It was $10,000. Obviously...SHE never had to pay for a funeral and raise three children.

"Call me if you need anything."

But all I get is an answering machine.

"Good thing you guys were separated, if you were still married it might have really bothered you."

"Uh...so how are you doing FINANCIALLY, dear?"

Oh, are you trying to ask about the standard suicide clauses in life insurance policies? Are you morbidly curious, or do you plan to write out a check?

"You should be settled in by now."

Gee after a year everything should be peachy keen.

A woman met me at the viewing. She has been spreading rumors, and doing everything that she could to hurt me and the church (all in the name of defending it) and said,

"You and I have had our disagreements, and I really don't like you, but I didn't want to lose Rachel."

"Get over it."

"Get over THIS!"

When someone relatively young dies, people invariably ask a list of questions about the causes of the death, length of the illness, was there suffering involved, etc.

Just what would you like [me to say so you can] … confirm, for your own comfort, that Justice has been satisfied, that there is Order in the Universe, God's goodness is confirmed, Karma is balanced, etc? (2)

I expect those of you in the congregation who have had a spouse die have heard similar sorts of remarks. Some of us may have even made ones like it.

So here are some guidelines. Don't make the widow or widower handle your grief. Don't bring up all the griefs you have had to bear in your lifetime. Say I'm sorry and then say nothing. If this death reminds you of other griefs, talk to someone else who is not a widow or widower.

Don't tell a bereaved spouse how they should feel. Say, “If you feel like talking, I'd like to listen.” But don't make anyone talk. Accept your friends' silence.

Write a note. Tell them the positive things you remember about their spouse. Remember birthdays, anniversaries and other holidays with a card. Even if you forget to do it right away, write it when you remember. Say “I thought of you last month when…”

I'm sure Tabitha knew all these things. She was a disciple full of God's mercy and compassion.

So Peter raises Tabitha. I wonder why did he raise Tabitha? Why did the widows' husbands die and leave them in poverty? Why didn't Peter raise them?

This story in Acts is about the power of Jesus Christ over death, and the importance of ministry to those who grieve. Raising Tabitha means widows who minister and who are ministered to are worth bothering about. Seeing that kindness helped the people of Joppa believe in the Lord.

The story from Acts ends with a short line “and he stayed with Simon a tanner.” Having someone with the power of Jesus stay with a tanner probably shocked the first century church. Tanning was an occupation that is stinky, messy, and definitely unclean. To tan leather, the skins were soaked in water so bacteria could work on any attached flesh. Then they were soaked in lime for awhile, and scraped on one side, and then they were covered in bird dung, then dog dung, and scraped on the other side. If the tanner timed everything right, the hides wouldn't ferment. Sometimes they were soaked in sulfuric acid, then in a vat of water and bark, and the tanner scraped them again and worked in codfish oil or tallow. The hides had to be dried carefully so they didn't mold. Imagine the wide variety of smells that would surround a tanner's home and business.

Peter didn't heal Simon from this uncleanness. He accepted hospitality from Simon.

Maybe the early Christians were so used to the radical love of Jesus that this story of Peter's ministry to the namesake of a Trojan hero, and down a little to a rich widow, and further down to the lowest of the working class, a tanner, didn't surprise them. But I think it did.

We are used to thinking of God as our shepherd, comforting us when we need to be comforted. But sometimes we are like Jonah, and we need to be challenged to minister where God sends us. The story of Peter and Aeneas, Tabitha and Simon reminds us that God cares about us, no matter our status. The story calls us to care about others, no matter their status, and no matter the shock it is to our system.

(1) Originally this was the Broncos.

(2) http://www.fortnet.org/WidowNet/index.html , used by permission of Michael Goshorn, personal communication April 29, 2004 .