The Gift of Helps

Gift of Helps

Acts 9: 36-39

36 At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. 

37 But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 

38 And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. 

39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. 

   In the church my mom and grandmother went to, there was a group of women who met after Sunday night service for coffee and to chat for awhile.  Most of them had what was called a gift in the church – the gift of helps.  I don’t hear people talk of this gift much anymore, but then it was talked about and appreciated by many members of the church.  They would do little things for others to help out; cook a meal, gather at someone’s house to Spring clean, babysit, whatever needed to be done.  I smile at the memory of sitting in church one morning with a loose button on my jacket, and my sister sitting next to me pulling out a needle and thread and sewing the button on during the sermon (while I was still wearing the jacket.) 

   A new mother, in church one Sunday morning, was struggling with putting a diaper on a squirming, screaming baby.  She had tears running down her face and looked like she was on the edge of a major meltdown.  My mom stepped up next to her and gently took the diaper and showed her how to put it on snugly and quickly while soothing the baby with soft words.  She spent the morning sitting with the new mother. 

   She often invited people into our kitchen for coffee and donuts and a little free advice.  I saw her show young women how to cook, how to care for babies, how to clean their homes, and all the time caring for her own family.  The gift of helps involved being willing to lend a hand to someone in need, and these ladies never turned away anyone in need. 

   This gift is not just for the ladies, either.  Dad had a gift with wood that was something to see, and once a young man in church said he’d just bought a house and discovered that most of the windows were hard to open.  Dad showed up one morning with me in tow and began taking windows apart one by one and fixing them.  The only pay he got was dinner, and he never complained and never asked for anything for his work. 

   Anyone can display this gift of helps, and you don’t, and shouldn’t, have to wait until someone tells you there are people in need.  If you know anyone sick, or just had an operation, or is out of work, or is a new parent, or whatever the need is, you probably can lend a hand and lighten the burden on that person’s shoulders.  Become a doer of the Word, and not just a “hearer” of the Word. 

Stephen Cram                                           May 8, 2011                   Colossians 2:8