Tabitha’s Miracle
Acts 9:32 – 10:8
Peter is called by a couple of disciples and asked if he would come visit Tabitha who recently got sick and died. Tabitha or “Gazelle” was well known for doing good and helping out. Peter finds her body, surrounded by widows wearing the clothes she had made for them during her life. Peter had apparently been called to bring Gazelle back to life. Hold up! Before we bring this woman back to life and celebrate the miracle of death to life, I think it is worth noting Tabitha’s life story: She was known for helping out and the people at the funeral are people who in their need were served by Tabitha making clothes for them. Gazelle could rest in peace, knowing her life was a life well lived. Right??!! Bring her back to life? Ok Peter, bring her back to life, but if the story ended right there with the widows celebrating her life wearing the sweaters, coats, and hats she made, it would be a great story.
When I look for the miracles, the signs of the Kingdom, the evidence of God at work in his people, I often find myself looking so hard for the “big” powerful, miraculous sign, that I miss the “little,” powerful, miraculous sign. At first reading of this story in Acts, I skipped right over Tabitha’s story and went right to the reviving performed by Peter. Tabitha’s work and Peter’s work are both tangible signs of the Holy Spirit coming to “play” in the Kingdom. The garment lovingly made by Tabitha and gratefully accepted and worn by the widows are no less of a holy spirt work than Peter directing Tabitha’s dead body to come back alive.
I picture the flock of widows sitting around the body. Mourning the death of their beloved Gazelle, but also telling the stories of her life. Laughing and crying as they recalled the joy and devotion of Tabitha. I see these women resplendent in the designs, artistry, and handiwork of their diseased friend. Perhaps each of them pointing to the hat or gloves, or sweater, sewn, knitted, and crafted by their friend and telling the story of the time she gifted them with this garment. “Gazelle gave me this hat on the anniversary of my husband passing away.” “Gazelle knitted these gloves for me the winter I was working outside.” Over and over, the widows tell the stories of the Holy Spirit at work in the opus of Tabitha.
Big miracles, small works, incomprehensible acts, and mundane handiwork all are part of the magic of the Kingdom of God: The Holy Spirt at play in the people of the Kingdom.