25 April 2010 Acts 9:36-43

Acts 9:36-43
Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, ‘Please come to us without delay.’ So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.

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The Acts of the Apostles, usually abbreviated to Acts, is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke by the same author. Acts tells the story of the birth and expansion of church from the time of Jesus' death to the arrival of Paul in Rome. The story in this week's lectionary, where Peter raises Tabitha from the dead, links Peter and the early church's spiritual authority to Jesus who raised the dead. Just as similar stories about Jesus linked him to the Old Testament prophets Elijah and Elisha. Elijah and Elisha were men of God who raised the dead, Jesus was a man of God who raised the dead, and Peter is a man of God who raises the dead. God, through earthly surrogates, is still active in the world and Peter, and by implication the church, is his agent.

I'm not a theist, I'm agnostic, and don't subscribe to Luke's world view of a God working through human agents. Or do I?