Eastertide

May 3, 2022

Scripture Reading: Acts 9:36-43

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.

One of the beautiful things about Christ-followers is we never work alone. Of course, we are blest with the constant presence of the Holy Spirit, but when needed someone like Simon, the tanner is there to support the work of the Lord. Indeed, Tabitha was also just that sort of person. We are all uniquely blest with special talents and each of our contributions is necessary and important.

I have been exceedingly busy for a few weeks dealing with planned work and unplanned interruptions. I got a new printer a few weeks ago but have not had time to set it up. My old printer can still produce copies of single sheets of regular paper but that is about it. When I tried to hook up the new printer, I got a message that it did not come with a print head. That made no sense to me, but I did not have time to mess with it. I had to get 200 copies of a very important flyer printed by the next morning. I took a deep breath, calmed down, and drove to the nearby Office Depot where a wonderful young woman was my Tabitha for the day. She completed the print job in 15 minutes. I came home, got a good night’s sleep, and handed out my flyers with joy the next day.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for all the Tabithas and Simons who serve very important roles as we work as one in Christ toward the fruition of the Kingdom of God in our world today.  Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.