Here's to Tabitha and Lydia, Two Mothers of the Church!
(Rutgers, May 10, 1998; 5th Sunday of Easter, y ear C, Mother's Day;
Texts are from 4th and 6th Sundays of Easter , y ear C)
Acts 9:36-42 (NT, p. 133); Acts 16:11-15 (NT, pp. 141-142)
"el-~-mos-~-ner-ee". the judge pronounced, a very long time ago.
I was an eighth grader then,
and having gotten involved in my school's local spelling bee
and been successful there,
I was now in the district finals.
"el-~-mos-~-ner-ee". I pronounced back to the judge,
and then requested of him a definition.
“Having to do with charity or alms; charitable," the judge replied.
I swallowed hard, and ventured forth.
"el-~-mos-~-ner-ee": “e-l-e-m-o-s-----y---n-a-r-y’:
“el-~-mos-~-ner-ee " .
"I'm sorry," said the judge-and that was it. I had been eliminated!
Oh, I'd been correct about the letter “y,” over which I had hesitated,
but I'd completely overlooked the word's earlier trap,
for the correct spelling is "e-l-e-e- m-o-s-y-n-a-r-y".
There's a double "e" after the 'l'' ,
as every 8th grade student of Greek and Latin should know!
Well, some girl named Swidlona Uglianitza won the prize that day,
+ I've always figured that since she doubtless could spell her name
she probably could spell anything!
Anyway, after the spelling bee, it fell to my mother to console me-
and, of course, she did!
With dear mom's help, I got over the disappointment of that day,
but I've never forgotten the word "eleemosynary. ' ,
So what to my wondering eyes should appear
as I was studying our First Lesson for Mother's Day,
but that dreadful-to-me but otherwise quite beautiful word-
in all of its original Greek elegance-elehmosýnh.
For in Acts ch. 9, the author, Luke, describes the woman Tabitha
as a “disciple" who is "devoted to good works and acts of charity ,"
a woman who has made tunics and many other kinds of clothing
for the needy widows of the seacoast city of Joppa.
Tabitha apparently was a bilingual Jewish Christian-
one who could speak both Aramaic and Greek-
an important skill to have in a Jewish port city like Joppa, where
a lot of the seagoing trade for the Roman Empire was handled.
Luke signals her linguistic ability
by telling us her name both in Aramaic-Tabitha-
and Greek-Dorcas.
In their respective languages, both names designate
the animal that we call in English "gazelle.”
Tabitha is the only woman to whom the Book of Acts
gives the explicit title "disciple."
So she was obviously a prominent person
in the early Christian community,
a provider of clothing and support for many in need,
and as such a genuine "Mother of the Church."
But, alas, Luke has chosen to tell us very little about her ministry,
indicating only that as one of Joppa's few relatively well-off widows
she was able to use her time and resources
to practice an eleemosynary philanthropy.
Tabitha was generous to a fault, a true Mother of the Church,
and her death left a gaping hole in the fabric of her community.
So a delegation went from Joppa to fetch the apostle Peter in
the hope that he could do something to overcome the loss of her.
Peter came, and after he had prayed alone beside Tabitha's body,
she was, according to Luke's story,
miraculously raised from the dead, like Jesus.
Now, I believe that through the story of the raising of Tabitha
what Luke is really trying to say to us readers is this:
the work of caring for the world’s needy is something that
must not be stopped by death, something that disciples
of Christ must continue to provide through all of time.
you see, at the heart of Easter's message of new life
are both a proclamation-that a new age has dawned-
& a commandment-that in this new age we are to carry
on the good works and acts of charity modeled by Jesus
and practiced by such true disciples of his as Tabitha.
Would that there were more of Tabitha's story to tell, but there isn't.
So we must be glad for the little we do know about
this remarkable woman, who was an early Mother of the Church!
And we must keep her story, however brief, alive,
by both telling it and living it in our own time.
Our Second Lesson offers a glimpse of yet another prominent
Mother of the early Church-this time a Gentile woman, Lydia.
Her name, too, like Tabitha's, is a bit strange. In Lydia's case,
hers is not the name of an animal but of a geographic region-
somewhat like the contemporary name Indiana Jones.
Now in Lydia's day, those most likely to have a geographic name
were not adventurers but slaves.
When Luke introduces us to Lydia,
she is no longer a resident of her native province in Asia Minor;
instead she is living in Macedonia, on the European continent,
in the city of Philippi, a Roman military colony.
And Lydia is also no longer a slave, but a freewoman.
In fact, she has become a prosperous householder
and a trader in purple-dyed cloth,
an expensive commodity favored by the well-to-do.
Hers was a profession we know to have been
practiced by a number of other ex-slaves.
But Lydia was more than just 'la successful business woman."
She had a spiritual side to her as well. She was one of the Gentiles
who were attracted to the monotheism and ethics of Judaism.
and she regularly gathered with others like her,
mostly women, at 'la place of prayer, , I
by which Luke perhaps means a 'house-synagogue."
At this place, Lydia encountered the apostle Paul and his
companions,
who had just arrived on the European continent
after their previous missionary work in Asia Minor.
Lydia listened eagerly to Paul's preaching about Jesus Christ;
she came to believe & was baptized in the nearby stream,
along with her whole household-her family & servants.
So, according to Luke, Lydia and the others of her household became
the first followers of Christ on the continent of Europe.
Immediately after her baptism, Lydia urged Paul and his companions,
to accept the hospitality of her home
for the duration of their stay in Philippi,
and soon thereafter her home became the local house-church,
the place where the developing Christian community,
encompassing persons of every social class,
gathered for meals and for the worship of God.
Thus, this mother-whose children were baptized with her-
opened her home for the spiritual well-being of others,
and became a mother-figure for all the Christians of Philippi.
Our lessons this morning from Luke's Book of the Acts of the Apostles
tell us of two Mothers of the Church:
Tabitha-a widowed disciple who out of her prosperity provided
clothing for the needy of Joppa;
+ Lydia-a Gentile ex-slave who out of her prosperity provided
the meeting place for the developing church of Philippi.
These 2 women from the earliest decades of the Christian community,
true Mothers of the Church,
offer us models of eleemosynary philanthropy,
models for our own stewardship of money and resources,
for our own acts of charity,
as together we seek to serve both God and neighbor.
Four Sundays ago, on Easter Sunday,
we received the One Great Hour of Sharing offering,
and you, the family and friends of Rutgers Church,
truly demonstrated yourselves to be disciples of Christ
in the mold of that Mother of the Church Tabitha.
You contributed a total of $6,642-three times the amount
of last year's offering. ,-to assist persons in need,
such as those who are hungry, poor, or victims of natural
disaster.
And so far this year, you have also been tripling the amount of money
you offer each Sunday for the food pantry of Bway Community, Inc.
Truly, Tabitha is alive and well among us!
And the Session has voted to steadily increase over the next five years
the amount our congregation apportions for benevolence-giving,
to increase that from 10% of the total budget to 15%-
more eleemosynary action in the mold of Mother Tabitha.
Now this Sunday and next, we have the opportunity to demonstrate
that we are also disciples of Christ in the mold of the other
Mother of the Church being celebrated today-Lydia.
For just like her, we have the opportunity
to provide the place where a growing Christian community,
encompassing a marvelous diversity of persons,
can gather as a community to worship God
and to celebrate both the sacraments
and the rites that attend various passages of life.
Since last October, we have been observing the process of bringing
our wonderful but tired-looking sanctuary back to newness of life.
Just this week, one newcomer told me
that, after having noticed the church for the past two years,
what finally got her to come on in and feel at home here
was the change from our old opaque fortress-like doors
to our new glass see-through doors.
For years we have been the beneficiaries of the capital investments in
this sanctuary made by our ancestors in faith, yesteryear's Lydias,
who have offered us the continuing hospitality of their home.
Now we ourselves have the opportunity to become Lydias,
to participate in providing a much-renewed spiritual home
and in bequeathing it to those who follow after us.
If you III look with me at the pledge card in your order of service,
you'll see that we're giving you modern Mothers of the Church,
you modern Lydias,
called Founders, Benefactors, Patrons, and Supporters,
the opportunity to offer a part of the total cost of this house
and to spread out your generosity over a three-year period.
So here's the challenge I extend on behalf of the Stewardship Comm.,
the challenge to us all to become modern-day Lydias.
I challenge each of us to offer
toward the cost of renewing this spiritual home of ours
at least a tithe of the cost of our everyday home or apartment.
I challenge each of us to offer for this house of God
the equivalent of one month's rent or mortgage payment
during each of the three years '98, '99, and 2000.
Over the week ahead, please consider prayerfully this challenge by
the Stewardship Committee to modern eleemosynary philanthropy.
Consider prayerfully whether you can be a contemporary Lydia,
a modern Mother of the Church, providing
a long-term spiritual home for yourself and many others through
a short-term offering of one month's rent or mortgage payment
during each of these next three years.
Then next Sunday, during both the morning service
and the special afternoon bicentennial celebration in which
we will rededicate to God both this sanctuary and ourselves,
all of us will have the opportunity to become Lydias by placing
our pledge for the capital improvements in the offering plate.
Providing for the needs of those threatened by hunger and poverty,
providing a spiritual home for ourselves and
those who will join us here in worshiping God-
these are two forms of eleemosynary philanthropy,
two forms of serving God and neighbor.
So, here’s to Tabitha,
and to Lydia,
two Mothers of the Church
whose stories and examples we will work to keep alive!
Let us pray.
O God, help us to become Tabithas and Lydias, sharing richly
from our resources as we serve both You and our neighbors. Grant
that we may have their generosity of heart as we seek to satisfy the
needs of others and to provide a spiritual home both for ourselves and
for the wider community.
Be with us this week and show us Your way as we decide what
pledges we will make toward providing this house of worship for the
well-being of all.
In the name of our Risen Christ we pray. Amen.
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