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I’m going to invite you this morning to the book of Acts chapter nine is where we’re at together today, book of Acts chapter nine. And we’re only going to look at starting in verse 32 to the end of the chapter. We covered the majority of chapter nine last week. But in just these few short verses, we’re really going to dig our heels deeply into why Luke is choosing to say what he’s saying in this passage. And when you come to this part of of the book of Acts, we’re in this transition period where at the beginning of the book, we concentrated mostly on on the apostle Peter and how the Gospels began in Jerusalem and started to spread to Samaria. And then even beyond that, we’re looking a little bit beyond that today. And in the midst of that, we started to see last week the the life of an individual named Saul, who we later will come to call Paul in the book of Acts. And so right now, it’s in this transitional place where the beginning of Acts follows Peter, and the latter half of Acts follows Paul. And now we’re in that place where we’re reading really accounts of both of their lives going back and forth. And now we’re transitioning back to, to, to the life of Peter. And here’s Peter moving from a Jewish community now to the Gentiles. And and we’re starting to see how the gospel began to reach the Gentiles.
And truly, this is culminating to Acts chapter ten, where one particular Gentile comes to know the Lord. His name is Cornelius. And then we start to see in that how the gospel spreads rapidly throughout the Gentile world. But but for for a Jewish person to engage the Gentile world this way, this would have been an incredible, miraculous event that would have taken place something significant in their lives that would lead them to do this, which is specifically the resurrection of Jesus. Because in most circumstances, Jewish people were often distant, kept to themselves. They they sometimes would look at the, the Gentile world as, as unclean. And so they were separatists in that sense, but for them to take the initiative to go into the Gentile world in this way was a common or typical experience that the Jewish people would do. And so the fact that Peter’s doing this is extraordinary. And the question we should look at is why and and how is he going about this now, as we’ve studied the book of Acts together? Remember, I’ve told you some significant things as it relates to Acts. This book really covers the first 30 years of the Christian church, right after the ascension of Jesus and and the expansion of the gospel throughout the known world. And so when you read in Acts chapter one, you see that Jesus present his ascension, and immediately in his ascension he calls the early church to go to Jerusalem, Judea, and to the uttermost parts of the earth with the gospel.
And the question we should ask is, how did they do that? Because as Jewish people, they typically stayed within their their area of comfort. But what would happen to cause the gospel to go forth? And we’re seeing in the midst of persecution that that is what forced the church to start to spread to regions around them. And as they’re doing, they’re seeing the Gentiles receive the gospel. And this encourages them to continue to move forward. And so we’re seeing how the early church took that gospel throughout the known world in just 30 years. And why that’s important for us is because we recognize the same God in the first century, is the same God in the 21st century. And so when you read the book of Acts, you’re seeing how the Spirit of God moved in the people of God to accomplish the will of God. And it’s the same for us that here in the 21st century, we should ask the question, what does God have for me? Because God, you’re not an accident. And where God has you is no accident. That God desires to intentionally move not only in your heart, but also through your life. As you come to know Jesus, you reflect him in this world. And so as you look at the the story of Luke and we ask the question, well, why does Luke writing these particular stories? We’re going to see two of them.
In fact, today, two little concise stories that Luke wants to share with us, and we should ask the question, well, why these particular stories? And sometimes I think when when people read the Bible, especially the maybe the Gospels or the book of Acts, they might think to themselves, well, the reason the author wrote this is because, well, some time has elapsed since these events and they realize as time is getting away from them, they’re starting to forget some of these stories. And so, to the best of their ability, as much as they can recall, they’re just kind of writing some of these stories down of what they can remember, of what happened to us. We just know. And I would say well, that’s certainly a part of why we write things down, because we tend to forget. But that’s not the primary reason Luke’s writing what he’s writing. I mean, he could have written several different stories as Peter moved throughout towns of what God did. But these particular stories he shares with us for a reason. And I want us to start to understand that reason, because it helps us to begin to understand what it looks like for you and I to reflect the Lord in this world. And in fact, when you think about our own lives, I want to recognize that as we’re looking at the book of Acts, the challenge is to continue to think beyond you and what God has for you.
But sometimes I want to say, for us as Christians, we can get so focused on what’s out there that sometimes we forget to recognize what’s right here, and we can even use the excuse of the Christian message to not pay attention to those around us for the sake of something beyond us. And I want you to know God cares about people in the middle of nowhere, Africa, or whatever continent you want to pick. And he also cares about the people around you right now. It’s both of those things. And so when we talk about moving this world for the sake of the gospel, yes, we want to go beyond. But it’s also in this story understood that while we’re moving into the beyond, we’re considering those around us while we’re on the journey, because Jesus wants us to be a light for him wherever we go. Zero. And so we look at this story today. This is what we’re going to talk about three evidences. The gospel is working through us through through this passage starting in verse 32. And I’m going to read it together, all of it. For us, it’s just 11 verses. And then I want to share with us some some thoughts about why Luke is saying what he’s saying.
You really should really recognize today how intentional the authors of the Bible really are, even down to the detail of of the words that are chosen and the way not only God worked then, but also how God wants to work in us. So in verse 32, now as Peter went here and there among them, among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. And Peter said to Jesus Christ heals you. Rise and make your bed. And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. So that’s story one. And then story two goes this way. Now these there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which translated means Dorcas. She was full of good works and Acts of charity. I want to stop there. I got to tell you this real quick so I can move on. But I was chuckling all week long thinking about this because the last time I talked about this particular passage was, I think well over a decade ago, I was in this rural church in Ohio sharing a message, and I read this verse, okay, Royal aisle. There you go. Come. One of us. That’s good. But I shared this message, and, and I just I just jokingly looked at the crowd and I said you know it’s okay sometimes to be a Dorcas.
Just don’t name your kids Dorcas, right? And I thought that would get a laugh. But then I found out later there was a lady in the church named Dorcas. Now. Oh, shoot. Don’t do that. Okay. Some names in the Bible. You should not practice. The other names, I guess are okay. Dorcas you could decide where you want to put that on the list, but I’m sorry, Dorcas, I don’t even know if you’re still alive today, but there you go. Verse 37. In those days she became ill and died. And when, when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, please come to us without delay. So Peter rose and went with him, and when he arrived they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas had made since she was with them. But Peter put them outside, and knelt down and prayed, and turning the body to the body, he said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes. And when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa.
And many believed in the Lord. And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner. Now when you think about the the way the gospel was moving forward in this world, it’s incredible to see these stories. How God’s hand is is working. But as we look at these stories, we should ask the question, okay, seeing what what took place here, what does that mean for you and for me? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been in the room where I’m like, you know, rise from the dead. And that that takes place. So how how does a passage like this work in the life of a believer here in the 21st century? What is what does God have for me? Let me give you point number one. And I want us to recognize together some significant things in this passage. Number one is this you follow God beyond what feels familiar and safe. How do we see the gospel working through us? It’s you. Follow God beyond what feels familiar and safe. You know, this is a theme that you’re going to be reminded of over and over again. And let me just encourage you, if you if you live a comfortable life the older we tend to get, the more we appreciate our routines. And God is a God who often likes to disrupt our routines for his glory. And in fact, if you feel like you’re just in nothing but a routine in life, let me just encourage you as you walk through this week, to just open your eyes to some way God might want to disrupt your routine for his glory in this world.
And this is what the lives of the disciples are doing. And one of the things I want us to recognize in looking at this is this. This is assuming that the motivation for why you’re doing what you’re doing is the gospel, right? Because when you look at some of these points, you’re going to see in a few of these points, well, you can just fabricate this quote as a good person or as a religious person. You can’t fabricate all of these points. You’re going to see in the last point. It’s an impossibility unless you know Jesus. But for us that truly know Jesus, this is something God should motivate in our in our heart. Because when you really come to know who God is and what he’s done for you, then it reorients your identity to something more glorious than anything this world has to offer. When you understand the kind of love that God has towards you and the fact that he didn’t need you, he didn’t have to choose you, and there was nothing that you did to really avail yourself to him. But he loved you despite your sin in the midst of your sin.
And he pursued you to give his life for you so that you could find his grace completely forgiven. Not because of what you’ve done, but because of what he’s done for you on the cross. And not only does it transform your life in this world, it transforms your life for all of eternity. That radical change reorients the way you live your life. In fact, I was reading a book this week. I can’t even remember what it was called or who wrote it. It was a blue book. That’s all I can remember. But it was recommended to me and I was just reading through it. And the the gentleman focused on the idea of God restoring us. Now, let me just be clear on that. I’m not saying restored us. I’m saying story restoring us. And that’s what the gospel is. It’s the restoring of your life, meaning who you were apart from Jesus is different than who you are now. And that’s the beauty of the cross. Your guilt and shame goes away because of what Christ has accomplished for you. So not only is your past forgiven, but your life is filled up with the riches of Christ and gives you a hope and a future in him and the opportunity to walk with God every day. Right? So there’s this restoring as your life is reoriented and the beauty of who Christ is a new meaning, a new purpose, a new life, a new destiny, a new hope.
And so when our lives are radically transformed in that, not only do we realize, man, God has done a beautiful work in me, but God wants to do a beautiful work through me and you, better than anyone in knowing Jesus should be the mouthpiece to declare that to the world. Because not only is it a gift God gives to you, but it’s a gift God gives to desires to give to those around you. And so who better to share that with others than those who’ve come to know him? And when Peter is doing this in the story, this is exactly what’s represented by by the places Peter is going. Remember, it went from Jerusalem. Persecution breaks out. He goes to Samaria, from Samaria. Now we’re reading about them in the town of Lydda and Joppa, and Lydda and Joppa are significant towns and what they represent for us, meaning Luke could have talked about all sorts of towns they stopped in, but he chose these two towns. Why these two towns? Well, when you think about what Lydda represents, especially in the first century, Lydda wasn’t a significant city in its size. I mean, it was just a regular common town, but it was a significant town in its influence. And what I mean is, if you were to look at the town of Lydda on a map, what you would discover is Lydda is a part of a major trade route from Egypt to Babylon.
Anyone who would want to make that journey would likely pass through the town of Leida. And so Lydda becomes this place of incredible influence. In fact, if you just study for a moment geographically how God calls Israel to the Promised Land and in the land of Israel. When God chooses that people group, he tells us in Deuteronomy eight, it’s not because they were impressive. In fact, they were small among people groups. But God picks the region of Israel not because it was a place where a major civilization could could grow, but rather it was a place where a civilization could influence the world. If you wanted to get anywhere in the known world in that day, you would commonly pass from one. One people group to the next through the Land of Israel. Israel was a place of incredible influence. I mean, when you even study major civilizations, when God called Israel to that promised land, all major civilizations were birthed on on waterways the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Nile. When you look at ancient civilizations there, on those those major rivers, when you look at Israel, you realize there is no major river. In fact, the only thing they have really is the Jordan River. And when you look at the Jordan River, it’s one of the more underwhelming rivers in this world, like it does compare well to the Jordan River we have in Utah.
And if you take time to investigate the Jordan River in Utah if you’ve ever dipped a toe in the Jordan River, you find your foot sinks in about three feet of mud. And even this time of year, they they shrink the river. They call it a river in the summertime, and they shrink it to a creek. It’s like it’s when you think about the idea of river and then you look at it, you’re like, this is not a river. This is a creek. And they’re like, it’s a river. Just stop saying it right. Just call it a river. Everyone else call it a river. That’s that’s an underwhelming body of water. So why would God pick that land? It’s because it’s a place of influence to reach the nations, to reach the world. Lleida is a representative of that. It’s not a a popular place to be, but it’s a place that people would pass through. It’s just a place to fill up and move on. But in, in so becoming that it’s also a place to reach the nations, the world, as it’s this major trade route from Egypt to Babylon. And you think about what what this picture is as Peter stopping in this town to share the gospel, that if this town receives this, the opportunity they have to then share it with others. And it’s the same for you and for me.
We might call it like a a ripple effect in a pond. You throw a rock in a pond, and if if your friends aren’t paying attention in the moment, they won’t necessarily see the rock, but they’ll maybe hear the splash. And when they look over, all they see is the evidence of the ripple. And it’s the same for your life. The idea of your influence. People may not particularly know you, but when you share Christ with others and they come to receive him, the ripple effect of the impact that makes can be tremendous. And so you look at a town of Lydda. It’s you say to us, like when God’s people are called to go there, they’re not going to these areas where they’re like, give me a soap box, and everyone put your attention on me. They’re just going to make a difference wherever God has them. And it’s the same for you when it comes to what God has called you to do in this world. It’s not saying, look, go to the ends of the earth and create the, the, the biggest platform you can to make a difference, but rather wherever you’re at, whatever you’re doing, whoever might be around you be the hands and feet of Christ. And not only does does Lita have a representation for us in this gospel movement, so does the town of Joppa. And one of the things that’s interesting about Joppa, and I might be taking some liberties here as a pastor, but this is not the first time in Scripture that you read about Joppa.
I think the reason Luke is choosing to talk about Joppa is because he knows what Joppa represented to the Jewish people, and he’s recognizing that that Peter is going through a situation that they are familiar with in terms of the city of Joppa. And what I mean is, if you’re looking at Peter’s story, you realize Peter is going into a place that makes him uncomfortable. He’s reaching out to people groups that he’s not done before in a way that’s unfamiliar and maybe not even feels safe to him. But he’s doing it because the gospel matters and Jesus is transforming his life, and he wants others to experience that transformation, too. But in being moved into these positions, Peter always comes to this place of a decision of what am I going to do? Am I going to continue to lean in to what God has called me to, to reach out the way that God is leading me? Am I going to decide to turn back and just live for myself? If you study the town of Joppa, you’ll find that really, one of the significant times is talked about in Scripture is is in a book called The Book of Jonah. And in the book of Jonah, this was the town Jonah ran to.
When God told Jonah to go to the capital of Nineveh to reach the Assyrians. When God told Jonah to go, Jonah said, no way. I don’t like those people. I know you’re going to be gracious and compassionate, and therefore I’m not going to go minister to them. I’m going in the complete opposite direction. And so Jonah runs to Joppa because it’s a seaport town and he’s like, just give me a ticket anywhere. Now you know how that story unfolds. He ends up in a fish and and eventually, reluctantly, going to to Nineveh. But Joppa is one of those towns that represents a crossroad of. What are you going to follow? What’s your life going to be about? I mean, when you think about the call of Christianity, if you if you look at the evidence of sometimes people that might call themselves Christian, you might think the call of Christianity is to casually give half of your heart to Jesus, but he’ll just be content with whatever you want to give if you just show up on Sunday. That’s what God wants from you. But that’s not what God calls you to. And God calls you to the intimacy of a relationship with him. And you don’t experience that until you’re willing to give all of your life to him or completely trust in him. That’s why the calling in Scripture in Matthew chapter 16 says it like this.
If anyone wishes to follow after me, Jesus says, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Meaning the call of the Christian life is not a part of you. It’s giving all of you entrusting yourself to God and believing that what God has for you is better than anything this world has to offer. It’s not a half end calling. It’s all that you are in pursuit of Jesus to see how Jesus desires to transform your life. And so the the place of light is recognizing for us as believers is a place of influence. And where does God have you? And the place of Joppa is realizing, and all of us at any moment can deny that. But when we give our lives completely to the Lord, he does this incredible work. And Peter, in these moments, he’s discovering this each step of the way. And he eventually, in Acts ten, ends up in this, this in the home of this man named Cornelius, who was the first real Gentile convert that you learn in Scripture. And through that, the rest of the Gentile world is, is, is proclaiming the gospel is proclaimed among them. So how how do we know the gospel is working through us? You follow God beyond what feels familiar and safe. Number two, you embody the heart of Jesus toward the ordinary and overlooked. You embody the heart of Jesus toward the ordinary and overlooked.
Guys, can I just tell you in the most practical sense, if you do our yearly Bible reading we’re finishing up in the next couple of weeks and you’ll, you’ll have announced to you very soon next year’s yearly Bible reading. You can read just through the New Testament, just through the Old Testament if you want. Or you can do both new and the old. But this past week we read through first John, and one of the things that God always strikes me as I read through first John, especially in chapter three and four, is how much he connects. Your life changed in Jesus through the way you treat others. Those two things are distinct, right? God and others. But they’re interconnected. Your relationship with the Lord has impacted on how you treat others. And first, John reminds us of that. And one of the greatest marks I think of a Christian is, is that really makes us different than the world is seen in how you love people when you stand nothing to gain from them. Right. Because what we do as human beings is we’re honoring the intrinsic worth of everyone in this world, in how we treat them, even if they disagree with us, even if they have a different theology and philosophy to life. But we honor Jesus in the way we honor people. And by honoring people doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, by the way, doesn’t mean you compromise on who you are.
In fact, I would tell you if you did that, it would be to lose the message of what makes you unique as a Christian. So do not do that. But we get the privilege of honoring the intrinsic worth in every human being in the way that we treat them. And and when Paul is traveling to these towns. This is what he’s demonstrating. He’s demonstrating the love of God in people that are overlooked and forgotten by those around them. In fact, we can even go so far as to say, with a man like I who’s who’s been in the bedridden position for eight years, it was commonly believed in the first century that if you had some sort of ailment, it was because the gods were angry at you. And if you try to do something to help that person, you risked making the gods angry at you too. And so often they would just leave them to whatever took place, just let fate work its course and because, well, you, you have your lot with the gods. But I’m going to follow mine and not let what you did affect me. But in the first century and the transformation of the gospel, what people are beginning to discover is we’re all under a curse of sin. But every human being has the intrinsic value of God on them because they’ve been made in the image of God.
Your worth is not based on what you do. Your worth is based on who you are, regardless of what abilities you have or don’t have. So just because you might be better at something than someone else doesn’t make you more special, but rather, every human being is special and unique, made in the image of God. And so Paul or excuse me, Peter steps into this moment and he ministers to this individual that others may see different than the way Jesus sees them. But but not only does he attribute intrinsic worth and how he cares for him, he also shows that not only is he made in God’s image, but he gets to be remade at the cross, not because of what he’s done, but Jesus. What Jesus has done for him. And it’s the same for us as we move in this world and how we care for people. And so you see it in the life of I, and then you see it in the life of this lady named Tabitha. It says in regarding Tabitha, there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, whose name also was Dorcas. And and both of these names are important to us. Like you read this, you’re like, why did Paul won’t even bother to tell us two names? Could he just tell us one name and move on. And the reason he’s doing this is he’s wanting you to see how the gospel overcomes hurdles.
And the name Tabitha is Aramaic. The name Dorcas is Hebrew. And so it’s communicating to the entire world how God is ministering to everyone. So if a Gentile was to read the Bible or a Hebrew was to read the Bible, they’re just seeing the expansion of the gospel, just reaching souls, because that’s what God’s interested in. But here’s what it says about Dorcas. She was full of good works and Acts of charity. In those days. She became ill and died. And in verse 39, all the widows stood beside Peter, weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas had made while she was with them. When you look at this story, one of the things that’s that’s unique about this, this lady is, you know, she she wasn’t a person that maybe you would consider prominent in Christianity, meaning she didn’t have the title of apostle or pastor. But what she was was a lady that just met people where they were and loved them the way Jesus would. And the people she typically loved on she used used certain gifts that she had, her abilities she had, and the people she loved on were again, people that were often commonly overlooked in society. They were people that were economically vulnerable and socially marginalized, without possibly family protection or income. In fact, when you study the the first century, you find one of the most vulnerable populations would have been widows.
But here’s this lady who sees a need in that need, this beautiful opportunity to shine a light on the grace of God and what Christ has done for her and what Christ could do for them. And she ministers to them in a way that would have been incredibly labor intensive and costly. I mean, you look, this is in a first century where you didn’t just go to the department store to pick up clothing in order to, to create this, this kind of material, it would have cost you significantly. And it took a lot of time to do that. But she knew how much there was a need for these ladies, and so she provided for them what they needed in order to sustain. And so with Dorcas, you’re seeing this, this beautiful picture of care for people where they are. And it’s not about what she gets, but it’s about what she has to give for the glory of God in this world. And it’s the same for for us as well, and how God calls us into this world. And and then it ends with that story related to to Tabitha or Dorcas by saying this in verse 43. And and Peter stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon a tanner. Now, this would have been highly significant for a Jewish person to to read and recognize, because typically for Jewish culture, this would not be a place they would go to at all, because a tanner’s home was considered a place that was unclean.
And if a Jewish person were to step into that home, they would become ceremonially unclean and able to worship at the temple because it’s dealing with dead things. And if a Jewish person touched something that was dead, they had to go through a ritual before they were able to go back to the temple again. And it took us several days to do it. But for Peter to to come to this place, it’s recognizing he’s no longer concerned with death and what it represents to his people, because now he knows the living God who overcame the grave. And this is communicating just an incredible message to the Jewish community and the way the gospel is moving forward. And it’s even a challenge to us to think about the places Peter was willing to go and how he was able to step into those moments, even in broken situations, for the glory of God to the benefit of of others. And so here’s here’s Peter staying in his home. Which brings us to point number three. And this is what makes us unique from really all other groups who may even do this for good reasons. Like any group can follow what they call God and and familiar, and let go of what feels familiar and safe.
And and we can embody the heart of of God towards ordinary and overlooked people. Like we can do that in a generic sense. But how do we know it’s really about the gospel? How do we know it’s really about Jesus? Well, point number three, you point people to the greater miracle, the gospel. You point people to the greater miracle, which is the gospel. You know, Luke could have told us all sorts of stories as to how the gospel moved in this world, but he chose these particular stories. Why? You know, when you when you look at the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Luke, chapter seven, Luke tells some particular stories in chapter seven where Jesus visits someone who’s suffering from an ailment and he heals them, and then he visits someone who’s passed away and he raises him from the dead. And so, as if you to to not let you miss that when you get to Luke chapter eight, Jesus does the same thing. He heals someone suffering from an ailment and he raises them from the dead. And then when you get to the book of Acts in chapter nine, here, you see Peter doing the same thing. He’s healing someone from an ailment and he’s raising someone from the dead. Why is he doing that? Sometimes, if you’re not careful, I have found that some people will pick up the Bible, read a story like this, and make the whole focus the miracle.
Can I tell you that’s not the point? It’s wonderful that this miracle took place. I mean, if you’re ever in a position in life where you get to see someone that’s dead, be undead again if it’s a zombie, run. But if they’re really coming back to life, like, thank God you got to be that. But I’ve never been in that situation. And so when I just look at that story and I make it in, in and of itself, it becomes a miss to me of being able to answer the question, well, how does that relate to my life? And the answer is very simple. This it’s it’s it’s not the point of the story, but rather here’s the point. When Jesus walked the earth and these miracles happened, that’s wonderful. But now Jesus isn’t on the earth. And the question they should ask is, well, is his message still relevant? And can the gospel still? Can the gospel still do what Jesus proclaimed that it would do? And seeing Peter move throughout these towns with the power that Jesus had present with him, is affirming to the people that the message in which Jesus shared that’s now being passed on through his people, still has the power to rescue us today. It’s not about the mini miracle, which is important, but the greater miracle that is Christ. These mini miracles are pointing to the greater miracle.
And so when you, when you, when you think about the idea of a miracle. I know some of us, we go through difficult things in life and we pray, and sometimes we ask God to to take those things away. And sometimes God answers. Sometimes the answer’s yes. And and, well, God always answers. But sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is no. But can I just tell you if if you pray for something miraculous and it happens or doesn’t happen, no matter what, it’s always temporal. It’s just temporal. Because eventually in this world, all of us will pass away. But there is one thing that is eternal, and that thing matters beyond all other things, and that is the gospel that frees our souls. And so the the reason for these miracles that that Peter is doing, these he tells us in verse 40, look, when he’s raising Tabitha from the dead, look what it says at the beginning. He put them all outside. All the ladies that are around weeping. He puts them all outside and kneels down and prays. And turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, arise. Peters even saying to us, it’s not about the performance, it’s not about the attention. It’s not about people looking at me thinking, this is great or I’m great. I don’t want them to lose sight of that. And because I don’t want them to lose sight of that, I’m going to tell him to get out of here because I want him to know the greater story, which is Jesus.
And this is exactly what Peter does. He uses the opportunity of the resurrection to then tell them why this took place, to point them to Jesus. And it tells you at the end of the story that Peter stays in Joppa many days because of the number of people coming to Christ. In fact, when you look at the end of both of these miracles in verse 35 and verse 42, it says it like this. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him eioneus and they turned to the Lord. They saw the miracle of Eioneus and they turned to the Lord. And then when it came to Tabitha and it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. See, Luke ends each of those stories to tell you. This is the point. White. This is what God’s about. God’s pursuing hearts. He. He. He desires your heart. He desires the hearts of others. God is after our hearts to rescue our lives and him. That’s the greater miracle. You read a story like this and you can be so thankful. But miracles, these miracles in Acts, they’re not an end in of themselves, but they’re a sign pointing us to a greater hope, no matter how great the miracle might be. They’re just temporal in comparison to what Christ offers you and me, which I’ll I’ll close in with with this story for I’m going to be a little bit selfish and for a moment share about our family.
I am I often don’t like to share stories of my family because, I mean, who wants a dad up on stage where your kids got to listen to you share a story, right? But this week was a pretty significant week for our family. It was a week that we had already walked in. We just had to wait for the government to catch up. But this past Thursday, we were finally able to adopt officially adopt Robert into our family. And Robert, you could tell who he is on that screen because he’s got a better tan than the rest of us. We, no matter how hard we try, we just can’t compete with him. He’s good. Good at that. But my family had the privilege of meeting Robert in 2020, and he happened to get to the States out of out of some generosity of some doctors who believe they could do a surgery on Robert’s to help him walk. We met Robert in 2020. He was 12 years old, unable to walk, didn’t know English and had never had formal education. And for the last five years, we have been pursuing adoption with him. It’s taken that long because our immigration system is so messed up.
What was supposed to be six months has expanded to five plus years. But during that time we’ve seen Robert gain the ability to walk, learn English so well that you probably wouldn’t even know that he’s he’s bilingual and he’s in his senior year of high school with a 4.0 GPA, and it’s a pretty incredible one. One of the things that is incredible as a father is also seeing the way God brought that family together right from day one in our home, as we’re going through all the rehab and things from his surgery he had to go through it was just instantaneous. From that moment. It just it was easy for Stacy and I to see he belongs to our family. And that’s when we immediately started to, to pursue adoption. And and on Thursday, some of you were there and were a part of it and which I still don’t know how that happened because I didn’t tell anybody that this was happening. I was honestly even worried going into the court, like, is this going to work out? And I didn’t want to say that out loud, but I was I was nervous about my wife, I think was sharing that with people. And so some of you showed up, and if you didn’t show up, it’s okay. I don’t we’re not I don’t it’s not about that. But but but this beautiful moment at the end of it, the judge just took a moment and to share a little bit of personally in that situation, she said, you know I had difficulty having a children, and I finally was able to have one.
And she talked about, you know, the joy of having kids biologically and and that’s wonderful, right? Like, it’s a miracle to be able to have kids that way. But but then she said this. But when you have a kid biologically, you get what you get, right? Like it just you don’t you don’t get any choice on that. It’s it’s a wonderful miracle, right. But you don’t get any choice of that. But then she said, but you know, the unique thing about adoption is that no one forces you to do this, but but you choose. And in that way, it makes it beautiful that a family chooses a child. Now, in this case, Robert’s older, so he got to choose and return to. Right. So so here is his family coming together before the courts. And and they’re choosing one another. And and she was just sharing that. And as she’s sharing I just thought, man, that’s the hand of the gospel all over it. And that’s the beauty of what Jesus is for us as people. When you think about the message of the gospel, in fact, that’s the way God describes all of us. It says in Ephesians chapter one verse four, For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
And that holy and blameless is not by your power, and the things that you do to make you holy and blameless, but rather what Christ does for you. And so here’s a guy that you can’t obligate yourself to him. You can’t force him to receive you. But despite your sin, despite your brokenness, he he does not give up on you. He pursues you. He chooses you. And it says he’s predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will. Meaning all that belongs to him belongs to you. Christ opens up his kingdom for your presence. And that’s the beauty of the gospel that God chooses you. You think about Acts chapter nine and what’s unfolding in the story. That’s this message. That’s why they they leave the familiar and the safe to to to move forward in what God’s called them, to go to places where people may be overlooked, but they understand the value of human beings because of of what God has done. And they’re willing to step into that, to point into the greatest miracle of what Christ has accomplished for you. And guys, when we think about Acts chapter nine, it’s an encouragement to all of us, wherever we are in life, to live in the beauty of what Jesus has done for us, both in receiving it and letting the evidence be made known in this world.