Deanery Confirmation Service
10th May 2025
Acts 9:36-43; Jn 10:22-30
Bishop Dagmar Winter
Faithful Creator, whose mercy never fails: by your Spirit, deepen our faithfulness to you and to your living Word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Phone rang. Hello, it’s Janet. hello, Janet. Not foggiest idea who, buying time. Then Janet wavered since I didn’t seem to be Liz … Think of the people whose voice you recognize on the phone simply from them saying "Hello."
My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.
Jesus' sheep don't just "hear" his voice - they recognize it. That’s the challenge for us!
They’ve recognized that it’s important, life-giving and life-saving – otherwise, why bother with this whole church thing.
It’s about atuning our ear not to the seductive whispers of comfort but to the challenges of generosity and sacrifice. Offering others time, a listening ear, a helping hand, giving money – what’s your Achilles heel? What for you are the uncomfortable voices that have something of Jesus about them?
Recognizing the voice that has something of Jesus about it is the task set for us in today’s Gospel for our Confirmation Service. In the Book of Acts it is taken further: becoming the people that have something of Jesus about them.
Something incredible happened in Joppa. Peter uses words which echo the words of Jesus as he raises Dorcas from the dead.
Luke wants us to know that the Jesus story is not over. Jesus might not be physically present anymore, but his influence in the world is undiminished. What he did in body before is done by his Spirit through his disciples now. The power of Christ to bring new life is undiminished from one story to the next.
That, friends, is why we are here! Because the Jesus story is not over. Still not. And you are making the most amazing and positive commitment ever by pledging your allegiance to this Jesus.
Let’s just briefly check out some of the background to the passage from the Book of Acts. Maybe, the importance of this passage is not just as a piece of history. Maybe it isn't even history but it is true in some other way. One of the things that Luke, the author of this story, does consistently is to shape stories so that they call up the memory of older gospel stories and a number of those gospel stories echo back further to stories from the Hebrew Scriptures of ancient Israel. It’s about the life-giving God!
The raising of Tabitha from the Book of Acts may remind those of you well versed in the Bible of Elijah raising the widow's son from the dead.
But more than anything else, this story of the raising of Tabitha begs us to compare it to the raising of Jairus' daughter by Jesus. Not just because they are both about raising the dead stories: Luke writes in Greek, but in this story he takes the unusual step of giving a translation. We are told that this disciple who died at Joppa was named Dorcas in Greek or Tabitha in Aramaic. So what? Back in the story of the raising of Jairus' daughter Luke translates some Greek into Aramaic for us too. Jesus said “Little girl, get up” and Luke told us that in Aramaic that was “Talitha Cumi.” And now here Peter, whose native language was Aramaic, says “Tabitha, get up,” which in Aramaic is “Tabitha Cumi.” Almost the same. And it is not that there is any magic in those syllables but that Luke's original readers, being familiar with the language and stories would have recognized the echo of one story in the other. Luke wants us to know that the Jesus story is not over. What he did in body before is done by his Spirit through his disciples now.
So what was Luke saying? He wasn't stupid – he didn't claim that with Christians around, people didn't have to die anymore. After all, Jesus only helped and healed a small number of people. But Luke did want to say: these Christians, they have something of Jesus about them. That applies to Peter - and it clearly also applies to Tabitha. We learn she was devoted to good works and charity.
Now the world and the church is full of Tabithas, and we do well to remember that.
You confirmation candidates would not be here without them: people who nurtured, encouraged, taught, mentored, cared for you, who prayed for you. Thank you to them!
We often overlook the Tabithas in our churches, those who make it all happen in the background. But there was something about that woman, about Tabitha, that Luke couldn't dismiss, something that forced him to call her a title which he usually reserved purely for significant Christian men: he calls her (v 36, right at the start) a disciple.
For Tabitha had something of Jesus about her: she was generous, she noticed what people really needed, she cared enough to notice. A homespun tunic, a listening ear, a supportive smile, extra food slipped into someone's bag too proud to beg. …
These Christians, they have something of Jesus about them. When Peter and Tabitha met, Jesus was right there.
This Sunday is Vocations Sunday. When we are all invited to think about our own calling, what encourages us, what challenges us. It’s about a personal vocation – how do we serve God’s will best in our lives, in whatever job within or outside the home, how do we best serve the church, lay or ordained or as a religious. So it’s about personal vocation as well as a corporate vocation.
Jesus says a few verses on from today's gospel reading
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Jesus' vocation is open to all and unifies people.
It is our vocation to live a life in response to that - and to shape our church in such a way.
Of course, if we’re honest, if we and when we really are honest with ourselves, the ongoing tragedies in our world can make us question whether we can still trust this supposedly lifegiving God in Christ.
But that's what this table is about. We come here and remember a tragedy - the breaking of Christ - and we find here the makings of resurrection. As you receive this bread and wine you are receiving the life of Christ so that resurrection can take place in you. God does not require us to have a 100% unshakeable faith before we can be accepted as God's children. And it doesn't matter if your faith is weak or strong. Because it isn't about us and our faith but about the presence of Christ, offering his life. God is here giving you life, however dark your valley, whatever threatens you or holds you captive, God is present for you, saying “Little child, get up, take my body, take my blood, and know resurrection and new life.”
And you, too, will have something of Jesus about you. Alleluia, Christ is risen. …