Tabitha vs. Dismas

After a weekend in which people around the globe wore green, marched in parades, celebrated Irish heritage, and wondered how in the world St. Patrick could have lost to Constance in the first round of Lent Madness 2011, we're back for another full week of saintly thrills and spills! Believe it or not, we're halfway through the Round of 32 with eight contests decided and eight more to go.

To catch everyone up, on Friday, Ephrem of Nisibis routed Mellitus 70% to 30% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen, where he'll face John Chrysostom. Today, we're back to our Biblical saints as Tabitha squares off against Dismas on the plush purple carpet of the Lent Dome.

Stay tuned as later today Tim and Scott will release another epic episode of Monday Madness. For the uninitiated, the award-winning* Monday Madness is a production of the Supreme Executive Committee of Lent Madness, featuring high production values and even higher content value. These brief, split screen videos filmed live and (believe it or not) always in a single take, offer color commentary and inside information on issues related to Lent Madness. For the true aficionado of the Saintly Smackdown it is must-see-TV.

*Fine - "award-winning."

Tabitha

Actions speak louder than words. At least, they do in the story of Tabitha, also known as Dorcas, recorded in the book of Acts. Few words are spoken in the text, and Tabitha herself never speaks, but we learn about her from her own actions and the actions of others on her behalf.

We learn she was always doing good and helping the poor. We learn from the two men who run to Peter to urge him to come at once when Tabitha dies that she is known and loved by the community of believers in Joppa.

We learn from the widows who show up—crying and showing Peter the clothing and robes she has made for them—that her ministry provides for some of the most marginalized in society.

We learn from the words Peter speaks—“Tabitha, get up!”—how important he believes she and her ministry are both to the community and to the early church. We learn from her response, opening her eyes and sitting up when she sees Peter, how powerful the God she served is.

We learn from the fact Peter then presents Tabitha to the disciples—and especially, the text notes, to the widows—how central these women are to Tabitha and to the early church in a patriarchal society in which it was believed women “belonged” to a man and widows were left vulnerable.

Tabitha gives us an example of an ordinary believer in the early church and how the work of the people in the pews quietly providing for others’ needs—collecting school supplies and lining pantry shelves and volunteering for service projects—is just as important as the work of those out front, leading the church.

Today, Tabitha is celebrated in several Christian traditions, oftentimes alongside two other important women in the early church: Lydia, a successful businesswoman and early convert to The Way, and Phoebe, a leader in the church at Cenchreae who delivered Paul’s letter to the Romans. Their varied ministries show there is more than one way for women to follow Jesus.

Collect for Tabitha
Most Holy God, whose servant Tabitha you raised from the dead to display your power and confirm your message that your Son is Lord; grant unto us your grace, that aided by her prayers and example, we may be given a new life in your Spirit to do works pleasing in your sight; Through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

-Emily McFarlan Miller

Dismas

Dismas spent his life as a thief—eyeing something until greed overtook him, looking around to see if anyone could catch him, then maneuvering his body at just the right angle for the sleight of hand.

Why did Dismas do it? Did he need to steal in order to feed his family? Was he taking bread so that he might provide nourishment for eager and hungry mouths?

Or was Dismas consumed with jealousy? He could intuit the value of things and people. So, when Dismas saw the shine of coins or the sparkle of jewels, did he salivate with longing? Did he yearn to possess what belonged to his neighbor? Did he covet what he did not earn?

There are only a few things we know for sure about Dismas: He was a thief. He was caught stealing and sentenced to death. At the end of his life, people mocked Dismas as he hung on a tree. The slow torture happened publicly, as a warning to anyone who might consider stealing.

It’s hard to understand then why Dismas is included in our saintly line-up. What did he do to gain such recognition?

The Roman soldiers crucified Dismas next to two other men—another criminal and Jesus of Nazareth. The other offender mocked Jesus, jeering along with the soldiers and crowds, asking why Jesus wouldn’t save himself.

Dismas stood up to the bully, asking, “Do you not fear God?” Dismas pointed out that Jesus was innocent and didn’t deserve to die. Then Dismas pulled off the greatest heist of his life. While he was hanging on the cross, with the piercing pain of nails in flesh and the humiliating mob below him, as he gasped with collapsing lungs and felt the full weight of his crimes, Dismas asked Jesus for something that he didn’t earn or deserve. He said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus answered: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

The two men died together. They suffered together, feeling their lashed skin stinging in the dry air. And yet, even among that harsh brutality, Dismas had the hope of paradise.

Collect for Dismas
God of grace, we thank you for your forgiveness, even when we deserve punishment. We thank you for the gift of those who suffer with us and for the continued hope that we might someday share joy with them. Through Jesus, we pray. Amen.

-Carol Howard Merritt

[poll id="247"]

 

Tabitha: By Wolfymoza [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
Dismas: By Anonymous, Moscow school (Moscow Kremlin) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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177 comments on “Tabitha vs. Dismas”

  1. I'm disturbed that today's intro is all green but does not mention the mosque shooting in New Zealand. I hope this is because the blurbs were drafted in advance, but still...

    1. FYI, we posted this on the Lent Madness Facebook page the morning after the shooting: We briefly interrupt Lent Madness to offer our heartfelt prayers for our siblings in New Zealand following the tragic shootings at two mosques in Christchurch. We pray that divisions may cease, that hatred may be driven from our hearts, and that we may be united in love by the God who continually seeks to tear down the walls that divide us. May the Lord have mercy upon the dead, comfort those who grieve, and heal a nation that mourns.

  2. Voted for Dismas because he ultimately believed, though it was with his (almost) last breath. We concur with the comment from Are ye Able. We also enjoyed immensely Carol Merritt’s writeup of Dismas, how he was a common thief, but in the end was Jesus’ final defender on the cross.

  3. I went with Dismas. I wanted to vote Tabitha, in recognition of her amazing work, but I felt like I'd be judging Dismas's life over if I didn't acknowledge him today. I'm happy with my vote, and that's all one need to say for the madness of Lent Madness 🙂

  4. Tabitha. Woman who sewed for & cared for the widows. Gets my vote. The quiet one behind the scenes lives out the daily walk with Jesus

  5. I am often leery of "death bed conversions"; however, this time around I see the Spirit at work. Dismiss is the only one to try and stand up for Jesus on a day that was fated to be his loneliest. Perhaps he was given to Jesus in order to provide a little moral support at the end after Jesus cried out to his Father? We all have had people who come when we need them the most and they are often from a segment of our world we would least expect. "You will always have the poor, but you will only have me for a short time."

  6. I appreciate so much Carol's stirring write-up of Dismas, but clearly, Tabitha is the true saint.

  7. Tabitha is certainly admirable and served an important role, and looks like the shoo-in for this round. But I have to vote for and identify with Dismas. I'm not a thief, but who among us truly feels worthy of forgiveness and of entering the Kingdom? I know I don't. Yet, Dismas is saved by repentance in his last moments. He is deemed worthy not only of Salvation, but of some of Jesus' last precious breaths. Powerful stuff for all of us sinners to contemplate.

  8. I actually had a grandmother with the name of Keziah! So I must honor that with a yea.

  9. Tabitha for sure. Women's work is so central to the Church's mission and its survival throughout the centuries, but it's usually ignored. And she was ministering to the poor and marginalized, which Peter clearly thought was important work!

    I don't think Dismas was a thief. I think he was an insurrectionist. If what I've learned on the matter is correct, crucifixion was reserved for insurrectionists, escaped slaves, and others who reached beyond their station in life. That's what Rome thought Jesus was up to as well. And I've also heard that the Romans called insurrectionists something like "bandit," so the word "thief" in the Gospels might be a code for that. Neither here nor there as far as Lent Madness goes, but if this is true, then Dismas is making a very powerful statement by affirming Jesus' lordship. He's repenting (turning away) from both Rome and his own vision for overthrowing the Roman colonizers, and affirming the reign of God which had come in Jesus - at precisely the moment when Jesus' movement seemed most like a failure.

    Still, I'm going with Tabitha.

  10. In memory of my late mother, Tabitha/Dorcas has my vote today. The women's group at her church was "Dorcas" and she spent one day every week of her life mending and sewing for our local nursing home. She and Tabitha deserve to be remembered today.

  11. It came as quite a surprise to find myself going back and forth between Dismas and Tabitha today. I thought Tabitha/Dorcas would be a slam dunk for me. Yet there was this man, hanging on his cross in agony, who looked to Jesus and just knew who Jesus was, why he was there and what that meant. In that eternal moment, hopelessness, repentance of the most real kind, glimpses of Love hanging next to him, led to passionate testimony to the other suffering person whose agony led him to lash out (and we can have no idea what Dismas’ words did in the other crucified man’s deepest being), and a plea for undeserved kindness of the sort God longs to give if we will only receive. There have been times in my life when I utterly despaired of myself – feeling myself a totally, hopeless failure whom God could not possibly tolerate, let alone love. (OK, I get a bit overly dramatic at times.) In those times I could have used these insights into Dismas and into the Love that has nothing to do with what we deserve – only what we most need. I can’t live up to Tabitha, though I admire, respect and honor her. I know many Tabitha’s whose lives of lived love leave me in awe. Dismas is a sign of hope I need when I face those parts of myself that are still seriously ugly. I guess this is why Lent Madness is so popular and challenging. I’d have missed the gift of Dismas without it. Thanks, SEC.

    1. I was unable to make a decision until I read your comment, which I found very moving. Dismas it is. Thank you.

  12. Although as a widow and seamstress myself, it’s hard for me not to vote for Tabitha, Dismas is such a poster child for the power of last-minute chances and Jesus’ mercy and love. I think it wasn’t just his implied profession of some sort of faith that moved Jesus. It was also that in his own most extreme personal suffering, he showed compassion for another, as he told the other thief to eff off and stop tormenting an innocent man. And he was so modest—all he asked was to be remembered. Dismas for me.

  13. VOTE TABITHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She came back after peter said to. Peter was part of her life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  14. Voted for Dismas since he was the defender of Jesus. Spoke out when most would not. Recognized in the end aided for forgiveness as we all should do everyday

  15. A beautiful, beautiful commentary on Dismas . I always loved his shining words during all the bleakness Of the crucifixion gospels. However Tabitha got my vote. Her ministry to women just touched my heart.

    1. I think that preaching on Dismas on Good Friday in the manner this commentator did would be a rather refreshing but powerful sermon. A reminder to call on Jesus no matter how low we’ve gone or felt. Btw who the heck wrote this? Beautiful.

  16. Most challenging match of all. I rejoice in those who are not idealized and celebrated and whose quietude makes them but grains of sand on a beach. It is those people that give me faith in the goodness of humankind for they are truly one of us.

  17. I want to vote for both. Tabitha shows ANYONE can have an important role in the church, but DIMAS... I always liked him. And Jesus promised him Paradise.
    flipping a coin...

  18. A lifetime of service to others versus a deathbed conversion? Hmmm. No contest for me. Tabitha-Dorcas gets my vote.

  19. Dimas and Tabitha might have been a little thin in the biographical facts department, yet the authors created wonderfully contemplative pieces. A true photo finish for the “coaches” of today’s bracket.

  20. Definitely Tabitha for me as she is one of the faithful whose lives are "ordinary, laborious and obscure" (as the Cistercians put it) which is how the 99.9% of us are. Living a quiet life of faith she made a difference in the lives of the people in the community around her. That to me is a real saint; at work sharing her faith probably as she sat with other women working on garments stitch by stitch and just talking. Besides which, our Mother Founder of the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, Hannah Grier Coome, (who came up in the bracket last week) shares much in common with Tabitha: she had been widowed before she began the Sisterhood, and had been an incredible seamstress and church embroiderer (shout out to all who belong to Church embroidery guilds). There are churches across Canada and some in the States who have liturgical vestments Hannah had embroidered, honing her craft when she was with the Community of St. Mary at Peekskill, NY for her Novitiate training. So I'm all for Tabitha today!

  21. Tabitha was a woman of good works and no doubt earned her place in paradise. But I voted for Dismas, because I know of a place called Dismas House in Vermont) which houses those released from prison, and helps them to rejoin the world.

  22. This was a tough one. As my congregation struggles to welcome seekers and incorporate many who did not grow up in a worshiping community, I wanted to affirm Tabitha’s contribution. But Dismas is wonderful too, and I love the Taize chant, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

  23. I went with Dismas. Picture the sinful one dying along with the Sinless One and both receiving God's good favor! God is the Great Equalizer! I love it!

  24. Dismas's agonized expiration beside the Saviour is certainly noteworthy on his celestial CV, but my vote is for Dorcas. Her succour to the most marginalized of her day is reason enough. But she also seems to exemplify the spirit of selfless and tireless voluntarism without which places of worship would not be able to conduct their ministries. So here's to Dorcas, and to all the women and men who toil in the background.