Sunday of the Paralytic
Scripture: Acts 9:32-42
Oops!
By all accounts, Tabitha should have been forgotten. We shouldn’t be hearing about her today. We shouldn’t be talking about her.
Just take a look at her life. She wasn’t a politician. She wasn’t famous. She wasn’t rich, at least not that we know of. And, she didn’t leave anything major behind—no buildings, no writings … nothing.
Sure, after she passed, she was mourned by the widows. But, we would expect that anyone who passed would be mourned by a few people, at least.
If I speak truthfully, her life is an example of everything we should avoid if we want to leave our mark … if we want to leave a legacy behind for our children and grandchildren.
If we want to be remembered, then we shouldn’t take a page out of Tabitha’s book.
To see what we should be doing, just take a look around our society.
If you stroll around the U of M’s campus, you’ll see grand buildings named after great men and women. If you walk through those buildings, you’ll see that all the departments have endowed chairs named after donors.
But, you don’t have to go to campus to see how to be remembered. You can simply walk through our town city or any city for that matter. There’s roads named after founders and great politicians. There’s libraries named after people, as well as schools, parks, orchestras, the list goes on.
Even in our own parishes, you can see how families have left their legacies by placing their name on pews, altars, chalices, chandeliers, icons … almost everything but the floor.
Ugh!
But, the reality is, these sorts of legacies will pass away. Buildings collapse, communities rename things, and even entire civilizations collapse and fall—just look at the Roman Empire.
But, perhaps, worse of all, when we seek to be remembered by leaving our mark by naming things after ourselves, we end up deluding ourselves into thinking we’re leaving a legacy.
The reality is that this only boosts our pride and turns our attention away from what’s really important: God.
For some people, this sort of thinking is a greed that grows inside making one create a bigger legacy just to out-do those who came before, or those who will come after.
And, if we’re cultivating greed in our hearts, then we’re moving away from Christ. We’re spiritually ill, and we aren’t able to see or think clearly, at least not in terms of eternal things.
So, what’s to be done?
Aha!
As we all know, scripture says that one of the first things Christ’s preached was repentance.
Now, many of us think of repentance in a legalistic way. It’s what you do when you’re caught doing something you shouldn’t: You say, “I’m sorry,” and try to make things right.
However, the Greek word has a very different implication. It literally means to “change your mind.”
In other words, to gain a new perspective, to see things differently. Ultimately, to be healed.
So, let’s “change our minds” to take look at Tabitha’s story again. Let’s see if we can understand why St. Luke might have preserved her story and how that might help us today.
By doing so, I think we’ll find that Tabitha did leave a legacy. It may not have been a building with her name on it, but I think we’ll find that Tabitha left a much better legacy—one that actually draws people into life everlasting.
Whee!
Even though the community of Joppa was mourning Tabitha, I can’t help to notice, they were mourning because she had made an impact.
As a part of the community, she cared for others: She looked after those in need.
I think this in itself is her legacy, but a different sort of legacy than the one we see around us in society.
She didn’t leave her name on a building, or a plaque in a fellowship hall. Instead, she left a spiritual legacy behind … she left behind people whom she had helped. People who are better off because of the life Tabitha lived.
She left behind people who could pray for her, and, as such, Tabitha built a legacy that is better than stones. She built a legacy that became treasure in heaven.
Yeah!
As we know, Christ tells us to build up for ourselves treasure in heaven, where moths and rust cannot get at it. But, why is Tabitha’s work such a treasure?
Well, her good works, charity, and acts of mercy—believe it or not—are the very remedies that the Church Fathers give to combat love of money, and greed.
Perhaps, to think of it another way, there are two ways of leaving a legacy, one born out of spiritual illness that neglects God (trying to be remembered for your own glory), and another one that is born out of spiritual health.
Now, this isn’t to say that buildings, parks, or liturgical furnishes are bad. They aren’t. But, the spirit in which they are given might be, and this is key.
If one gives out of a spirit of pride, competition, or selfishness, then the heart is dark. It’s only concerned for itself. Any help a legacy may give others is simply a side effect, not the primary motivation.
But, the spirit in which Tabitha gave, was one of charity. In Greek, the word is ἐλεημοσύνη, which, literally translated, means “works of mercy.” Tabitha wasn’t concerned for herself, but for others. She wanted to make sure they had enough, that they were clothed and warm when the cold set in.
When we are able to see the world in this new way, we begin to see that what Tabitha did is actually more important than leaving money to an organization just so you can see your name on something. We can see that her way is a worthy of spending our resources.
As we begin to see the word through Tabitha’s eyes, we begin to see relationships as an investment, and others as a neighbor to be cared for and loved.
When we walk as Tabitha walked, we invest in treasure in heaven.
Amen.