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Context No. 4153 of 4322 · Acts

Context · Reflection

Acts 9:36-43: in context

36Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which when translated means Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and acts of mercy which she did. 37In those days, she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38As Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. 39Peter got up and went with them. When he had come, they brought him into the upper room. All the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the tunics and other garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40Peter sent them all out, and knelt down and prayed. Turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 41He gave her his hand and raised her up. Calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42This became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43He stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.

At Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, or Dorcas, of whom Scripture gives a simple but beautiful description: she was full of good works and acts of charity. When she fell sick and died, the whole community of widows was grief-stricken, and they gathered around, weeping, showing Peter the tunics and garments Dorcas had made for them while she was alive.

Her ministry had been quiet and practical: sewing clothes for the poor and needy, doing good, showing mercy. There is beauty here in an unheralded life of practical love. Dorcas was not an apostle or a famous leader; she was a woman known simply for her good works and her kindness to the poor, her hands busy making garments for those in need. And the depth of the widows' grief, and the garments they held up as evidence of her love, show how real and valued such humble service is. It is easy to think that serving God means doing something great and visible. But Dorcas served God by sewing clothes for widows, by a life full of small acts of mercy.

Am I giving myself to a life full of good works and acts of mercy, like Dorcas, serving God through humble, practical kindness to those in need, rather than thinking that serving God must mean something great and visible?

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