Throughout the book of Acts, we are told of the events of the early church. We follow various disciples in their efforts to follow through on Jesus’ command to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. Last week we heard about Saul being tapped for service. We shift now to some of the work of the apostle Peter, the one Jesus called the Rock.

Peter journeyed to the town of Lydda in Judea, where he met up with a group of Jesus’ followers who were living there. While among that community, Peter healed a man who had been bedridden for eight years.

Word had gotten around to Jesus’ followers that Peter was in the area. So, when a beloved woman in the disciple community in Joppa, just ten miles away from Lydda, got sick and died, Peter is called upon to come. The messengers that come to Peter don’t give some long explanation of why he should come with them to Joppa, only that he should come "without delay."

When Peter steps onto the scene in Joppa, the time of mourning is underway. Tabitha’s body has been prepared for burial. Friends are gathered in and around the house, mourning for the loss of their friend. Peter is told about and shown all the good Tabitha has done among the widows in Joppa – providing clothing for those suffering from loss. Perhaps Tabitha was the first one to make prayer shawls for those in mourning to comfort them in their time of need.

In the upper room where Tabitha’s body has been laid out, the smell of death and burial spices filled the air. Peter shoos out all the mourners, prays, and issues the command, "Tabitha, get up." The body that had been prepared for burial comes to life. The room that had been filled with the smell of death is filled with life. Tabitha opens her eyes and is restored to her community. The mourners who had been sent out of the room are called in to witness Tabitha returned to life.

There is a theme that runs throughout the book of the Acts of the Apostles. The Scripture from last week also brought out this theme. Community. It was because of Ananias, one of the community of believers, who came to Saul that his eyes are opened. It was because of the days Saul spent with the disciples in Damascus that his call to follow Christ was believable.

And here we have the community of believers in Joppa who surround Tabitha and ask Peter for help. This community of believers also becomes witnesses to the power of God as they see Tabitha restored to life. As we continue in our Easter journey through the book of Acts, the community of believers will continue to play an important role in the work of the gospel.

The apostles are not lone wolves gone off to preach the gospel on their own. Instead the apostles have a community, from the council in Jerusalem to the gatherings of Christians in the various towns they encounter. From these communities – these early church communities – the gospel takes root, strengthens, and spreads.

In the Gospel according to John, Jesus compares his followers to sheep. Among those first listeners to Jesus, herds of sheep would have been familiar. To stay with the flock was to glean some protection from the community. A lone sheep is in danger. Jesus invites those who hear his voice calling to them to come into the community – the flock – of faith.

There are different extremes of community or group types. At one end of the spectrum, there are those groups in which the membership is casual and not much is expected from being a part of the community. Membership in this type of community may just be something that looks good on a resume or college application.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are communities that expect a great deal of dedication and involvement from its members. There are expectations of the membership of these communities. With these types of communities, the membership is not just something that will look good on a college application or even in an obituary. Membership in these communities means not just attendance but involvement; not just something to do but something to be.

I’m betting that the flock of followers Jesus was talking about and the disciple communities that were found in places like Joppa and Lydda, leaned more toward the second type of communities – those that expect something from their membership.

When Peter comes to Joppa, he immediately encounters members of the community who point out ways Tabitha has worked for the gospel. They show him the clothing Tabitha helped to provide for those in need. They told of how she lived her life giving assistance to others.

The information provided to Peter is not that Tabitha had her name listed on the rolls of the church community in Joppa but that she lived her faith through her daily actions. She walked the walk and didn’t just talk the talk. Tabitha is called a disciple. This is the same word used of Peter and the twelve. Tabitha is a follower of Jesus in every sense of the word. She is a disciple who lives the life of faith. She was a member of the community and not in name only but in life.

Peter’s actions in that upper room when Tabitha returned to life were not individual actions. Peter was not working solo. Tabitha has been surrounded by the believing community in life and in death and this community, this flock, is present in that upper room. Because Tabitha is part of the living, breathing, loving, acting community of faith, she is not alone. Because Peter is connected with the living, loving, struggling, fledgling group of those called disciples of Christ Jesus, he does not act alone. The community is critical.

Why do we have prayer lists? Why do we lift up people we know and don’t know in prayer? We do this because we are a community. We are a community of believers, a flock of sheep who hear Christ’s voice and recognize it. And there is power in the community.

Why do we return to this place week after week? Why do we gather to sing songs, pray prayers, and listen to God’s Word? We could certainly sing on our own – but with less harmony. We could certainly pray on our own. We could certainly read God’s Word on our own. So why gather here? Community. Faith only makes sense in the midst of community.

Even when we pray alone at home or read scripture on our own, we remain connected to the community of faith that goes before us and beside us along the journey of faith. When we return to gather together physically with a community of faith, we are empowered to hear Christ’s voice, recognize it, and follow where he leads.

Tabitha was brought from death to life through the amazing grace of God. There are many who struggle with the healing stories that are included in the scriptures. Sometimes as we read the stories of people brought back from the dead and infirmities healed we begin to look around and see the empty places in the pews where a loved one used to sit. We see the injuries and diseases that many people suffer. We see these things and wonder. We wonder why then and why not now. We wonder why Tabitha and not our friend.

Tabitha did die eventually and stayed dead. Peter was not there to give the command to get up and Tabitha’s body was again washed and prepared for burial. The community probably rallied around Tabitha again and this time they walked behind her body as it was carried down from an upper room. They witnessed as it was committed to the ground.

The community was there for Tabitha in life, in resurrection, and in death. Surrounded by the community of faith, Tabitha found herself called back to life and her work of living out the gospel of mercy and care for those in need.

We do not have satisfactory answers to the questions of why – but God knows the answer. We do not have the scientific explanation of how Tabitha was brought back to life – but God knows. We cannot always know the many and mysterious ways that God works in our lives and in our community – but God knows.

But we see time and time again that community – being a part of a group of believers – is vital to seeing God at work. It is as though we are blind people feeling an elephant. One may feel the trunk and say that an elephant is like a snake. One may feel a leg and say that an elephant is like a tree. One may feel an ear and say that an elephant is like a bird with leathery wings. One may feel the tail and say that an elephant is like a broom. It is only when we get together and share what we understand about God that we can understand more of the whole. God is best understood in community.

One of the most powerful images in John’s revelation is that of a great multitude – a community who gather around the throne of God. Being gathered together in community is but a foretaste of the great community to come in God’s kingdom.

May we give thanks for the grace of God that leads us to come together – a flock of sheep listening to the voice of God. For in the midst of life and death the promise stands: God will bee our shepherd, God will guide us to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes."

"Blessing and glory and

wisdom and thanksgiving and

honor and power and might

be to our God forever and ever! Amen."