Our Daily Bread: This Far By FaithSampel

The Least of These

Dorcas worked sewing beautiful garments and coats for the poor widows in Joppa. Her name was golden among those widows, many of who mourned when she died. They asked the disciple Peter, who was in the area, to visit, knowing Jesus had given miracle-working power to this disciple. When he came, they overwhelmed him with stories about her. They desired he raise her from the dead and God did.

Dorcas no doubt knew about serving others. Jesus insisted that all who name His name understand to whom they minister when they give a cup of water or sew a garment (Matthew 25:35). 

We see Dorcas’s legacy in the African American church. The late Rev. Dr. Frederick G. Sampson led one of those legendary churches in Detroit, Michigan. Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church became known as the place to go when you needed a job, or spiritual counseling, or a place to end your addiction to drugs. He made sure that “Tab,” as it was affectionately known, was a haven for those in need, whom Jesus compares to Himself while others may shun as not “deserving” of help. 

The woman called “Dorcas”, or Tabitha, found herself among those known as faithful (Acts 9:32–42). The historic Black Church finds among its members many more like Tabitha and Rev. Dr. Sampson, who are faithful in Jesus’s name. -Diane Proctor Reeder

We can continue the legacy of serving others.