Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda.”
In these days of Paschaltide, we continue to focus on and to follow the Church in light of the events of Jerusalem, which is to say, in light of our Lord’s Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension although we have not yet solemnized the Feast of the Ascension. We see, here again, as we have already seen, the Apostles – this time Peter – replicating the healing ministry of the Master: first with the paralyzed Aeneas and again with a beloved woman of the Faith, perhaps a widow herself, by the name of Dorcas or Tabitha. The healing of Aeneas is nearly identical to that of today’s healing of the paralytic in the Holy Gospel (Jn. 5:1-15) and the raising up of Tabitha nearly alike to that of Jairus’ little girl, if you recall her story (Mt. 9:18-26; Mk. 5:21-43; Lk. 8:40-56). What I said two Sundays ago, I will say again: in showing us these vignettes in the life of the Church, Sacred Scripture is demonstrating a lasting continuity and unity between our Lord and His Church: what He does, She does; His ministry is Her ministry; His Gospel is Her Gospel. The Church, therefore, is clearly demonstrated as being animated by the Resurrection of the crucified Lord through the abiding Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of the Father, fulfilling the promise of Jesus.
I have been pondering the pericopes of our Orthodox Sunday lectionary for some time now. It seems to me that we tend to emphasize the Gospel stories of healings and exorcisms and other miracles, whereas in the Western Church’s lectionary with which I am likewise familiar, the focus is more on the didactic material of our Lord such as His parables and other assorted teachings. The one reflects the Western intellectual and cognitive approach to the Faith while the other is more reflective of the participatory and experiential approach to the Faith. This is not to say that the Orthodox Church has no intellectual side (just consult the Fathers of the Councils, if you’re wondering), but it is to say that we believe the Faith of the crucified and risen Jesus is better inculcated by our experience of the Lord in His Church through prayer and worship. In Sacred Scripture, we would be hard-pressed to find anyone converting to Christianity due to an intellectual argument or presentation. The closest we might come is St. Paul’s famous speech at the Areopagus of Athens which doesn’t necessarily set the world on fire, though it wasn’t entirely without merit nor was it fruitless (Ac. 17:16-34).
But, it is when souls encounter Jesus Christ and experience Him in His Church, that is, in the baptized faithful who truly strive as disciples of the Cross to live in the power and grace of the Resurrection, that conversions take place and lives are transformed, just as we have found in the Book of Acts over the last several weeks. “So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw [the healed paralytic, Aeneas] and turned to the Lord.” And, again, at the raising up of the dead woman, Tabitha, that “it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.” And, let us not de-value nor underestimate the witness of the lived faith of Tabitha by which the widows of Joppa encountered Jesus Christ and experienced His mercy through her most laudable almsgiving in the making of tunics and other garments. It is these alms which they thrust before St. Peter, weeping and imploring for the deceased saint of the Lord, that God might have mercy, even as Tabitha’s mercy rises as incense before the throne of grace as these widows show what blessings Tabitha had bestowed, and they pray for her in death.
Let us be clear here: they are not merely imploring the Apostle to do something, but they are praying for the departed on her behalf that God might have mercy on her, even as His faithful and obedient servant, Tabitha, had mercy on them: alms for alms, if you will. Does this surprise us? It shouldn’t since it is certainly in keeping with the Old Testament’s understanding and interplay of alms. The Wisdom of Sirach counsels us – very much like Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount:
Lay up treasure according to the commandments of the Most High, for this will profit you more than gold. Store alms in your storerooms, and they will deliver you from all affliction. More than a mighty shield and better than a strong spear almsgiving will fight for you against your enemy (Sr. 29:11-13).
Tobit, in the Old Testament book bearing his name, instructs his son, Tobias, to be faithful in almsgiving because it rightly honors God. “’Do almsgiving from your possessions to all who do righteousness,’” he says. “’When you do almsgiving,’” he warns, “’do not let your eye be envious. Do not turn your face away from any poor man, so the face of God will not be turned away from you.’” Tobias is cautioned not to use lack as an excuse in doing mercy and goodness. “’Do almsgiving based on the quantity of your possessions,’” he is told. “’If you possess only a few, do not be afraid to give according to the little you have.’” Why? Because “’You are storing up a good treasure for yourself in the day of necessity. For almsgiving delivers us from death and prevents us from entering into the darkness. Indeed, almsgiving is a good gift for all who do it before the Most High’” (Tb. 4:1-11).
And, in the same Old Testament Book of Tobit, the Archangel Raphael, tells both Tobias and his father, “’It is better to do almsgiving than to lay up gold. For almsgiving rescues one from death, and it will wash away every sin. Those who do almsgiving and are righteous will be full of life. But those who sin [that is, those who are not righteous and who do not give alms] are enemies of their own life’” (Tb. 12:8-10). This is all in keeping with our Lord’s own teachings about laying up in Heaven treasure and how mercy bestowed here will be remembered by God there and how we are to make friends with unrighteous mammon for heavenly purposes (Mt. 5:7; 6:19-21; Lk. 6:27-38; 12:32-34; 16:9-13; 1 Tm. 6:17-19; Jm. 2:13). In fact, if we look to the very next chapter in Acts, alms and almsgiving, that is, mercy, will play a crucial role in the salvation of Cornelius the Centurion who is remembered before God precisely because of his almsgiving (Ac. 10:1-8, 30-31).
Beloved, Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, has the power to change us, to transform our hearts and our lives in the light of His grace, to make a true and real difference in us, to make us His new creation (2 Cr. 5:17). Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, encounters us in His Church and He heals us – soul and body – and raises us up from the darkness of sin, death, and the devil. “’Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed.’” “’Tabitha, arise.’ And she opened her eyes . . . and sat up.” The Church is full of the mighty saving acts and deeds of God and of His saints, that is, those souls who are found in Jesus Christ and whose lives radiate the beauty and the glory of God by doing what God does. This clearly was Tabitha. Faith is more verb than noun; the Christian life is more verb than noun. Peter acts, Peter heals, Peter preaches. Aeneas gets up and does what has been commanded of him. His is a response of obedient faith to the healing of God. Tabitha, before her repose, was well known for her righteous deeds of mercy – she made tunics and garments and gave them all away – all done for her love of God and for His glory. The Church intercedes for the living and the departed, and God remembered Aeneas and Tabitha (St. Cyprian of Carthage). Will God remember us one day? Indeed, He will. But, for what purpose and to what end will He remember?
Beloved, I ask you, what good is a miracle if, ultimately, it does not convert our hearts and souls, if we are not changed by the grace of God lavished upon us each and every day? Such conversion is itself a miracle and should not be dismissed as anything less! What good is a miracle, I ask you, if we remain the same: stuck in our darkness and paralyzed by fear, trapped by and enslaved to our passions? What if Aeneas had seen his healing as an opportunity now to do whatever he wanted without regard for his experience of Jesus Christ, to indulge his passions now that he was free? What of Tabitha if she had never experienced Jesus Christ before her death? We would never be remembering her for the goodness of her soul and the mercy worthy of our emulation.
A heart, beloved, turned by the grace of God to mercy, compassion, and forgiveness, to repentance and prayer, to faith and obedience – now, that’s a miracle! In the light of our Lord’s most glorious Resurrection, it would do us well to not only hear the words of our Lord to the healed paralytic, but to live them as fully as we can in the strength of God: “’See, you have been made well. Sin no more, . . . .’” (Jn. 5:1-15).
Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!
PROPERS:
Ac. 9:32-42
Jn. 5:1-15