June 14, 2020 -- (Pentecost 03, Barnabas) Sermon Text – Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3; Matthew 10:7-16
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June 14, 2020 -- (Pentecost 03, Barnabas) Sermon Text – Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3; Matthew 10:7-16 - They sent Barnabas to Antioch…for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord…and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called “Christians.” …While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. - Today, we begin our summer preaching series with the story of Barnabas. We’re calling series “Bold Witnesses.” Each week we’ll be taking a look at a witness or witnesses who spoke out boldly to proclaim the good news of Jesus. What we know about Barnabas from our readings this morning is that “he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” But before we get to that, let’s review for a moment what we learned about Barnabas last summer. First, he was a Jewish believer from the Mediterranean Island of Cyprus. Tradition says that he was numbered among the first of Jesus’ followers. He may likely have been included in the seventy whom Jesus sent out to spread the good news of the gospel to the local communities in Luke, chapter 10, but we can’t be sure of that because we don’t have a definite list. He was the cousin of John Mark, who may have written the Gospel that bears his name. And he was certainly among the first, and in many ways one of the most important, of the travelling companions of St. Paul. Their missionary journeys took them to Antioch, Cyprus, and to the southcentral parts of modern-day Turkey. In Lystra, the people of the town mistook them for Greek gods, calling Paul Hermes, the messenger god, because he did most of the talking, and Barnabas Zeus, I guess because he was the strong, silent 2 type. And Barnabas was a participant at the first Council in Jerusalem, where it was decided that Peter, James and John, would continue preaching to the Jewish population, while Paul and Barnabas and others would carry out that work among the Gentiles. Eventually, Paul and Barnabas would go their separate ways. Paul joining up with Silas and others, and Barnabas going off with John Mark, his cousin, to continue spreading the gospel to other places. Tradition also says that he became a bishop in Milan, Italy and that he was martyred in Salamis, Cyprus in the year 61 AD. He is credited with founding the Cypriot Orthodox Church and is considered to be the patron saint of Cyprus. It’s easy for us to think about Paul as a “Bold Witness.” We have all those letters he wrote and we’re pretty sure of all the places he visited, but not so much with Barnabas. But in the earliest years, it was Barnabas, who may have been the most important. In the early part of Acts, it’s Barnabas whose name is listed first, then Saul (Paul’s Hebrew name). It’s Barnabas who goes to get Saul and brings him to Antioch to help with the ministry. It’s Barnabas who introduces Saul to the rest of the disciples when they’re still afraid of him because of his earlier activity of persecuting the Christians. And it’s Barnabas who leads by example selling the land that he owns and bringing the proceeds to the disciples to support the new faith community. It’s only later in Acts that the author begins to list them as Paul and Barnabas. Barnabas is much more than just a sidekick. He is “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” He is a man who uses what he has to proclaim the good news. He has a field. He sells it. And he brings the money as a gift to provide for the work of the early 3 church. He speaks Greek; so, when the Hellenists (the Greek speaking Jews) in Antioch begin to believe, he goes to help with the preaching and teaching of the faith. When more help is needed, he reaches out and recruits Saul, another natural Greek speaker, to aid in the work he is doing in Antioch. We often don’t think about how important this early work was in the life of the church, but Antioch was crucial. The church in Jerusalem was poor. It was suffering the effects of a severe drought. The people there were starving. Without the help of outsiders, it never would have made it. The Christians of Antioch resolve to help as each one of them was able. And they send the gift to them with their most trusted workers, Barnabas and Saul. All of which prompted one of my colleagues to remark at our text study this week that, “if the ministry at Antioch had failed, that may have been the end of the early church altogether.” It was that important, becoming one of the four regional centers of early Christian activity, along with Alexandria in Egypt, Constantinople (today Istanbul) in Turkey and Rome in Italy. What does all this, I suppose you are wondering, have to say to us in our world today? Well, I think we can take it as a word of encouragement. As much as we don’t normally think about it, these early years of the church were not so different from some of the situations we face today. Remember that our reading began with the words “now those who were scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch…” There was a lot of civil unrest happening in those days. Stephen had died at the hands of the civil authorities just outside the city gates of Jerusalem. They weren’t the police 4 really, but they had the power to stone an innocent man to death in front of the eyes of onlookers who recorded his words to the crowds and to the heavens as he was dying. It’s not exactly a George Floyd situations, but you can see the parallels. As a result, there are protests and persecutions. The followers of Jesus are labelled as troublemakers and forced to go into hiding or flee from the town. As a result, some go to the seacoast, the islands in the Mediterranean or north to Antioch. The mission begins to spread outward, from Judea and Samaria toward the ends of the earth. There is no worldwide pandemic, but Agabus predicts a worldwide famine. It’s still a plague of sorts. And, while historians can find no evidence that it covered the entire world, it did affect the church in Jerusalem, making the conditions all that much more difficult for them to survive in that place. In contrast to all that, the work of Barnabas and the others with him provides a shining example of what a bold and faithful witness looks like. It’s hard to see amidst the protests, the violence, and the destruction that gets all the coverage in the media, but the work of the church continues. Behind the scenes, faithful followers are providing food and water, first aid and counseling, facilities and a place to rest. I have younger and bolder colleagues who have heard the call and have gone to volunteer as chaplains and workers to help with the effort to be a faithful witness in the midst of the chaos and unrest. I have chosen less bold alternatives. But the story of Barnabas makes me wonder. He was ready to go. He was ready to serve. When the community discerned that there was a need, and he had the skills and abilities to fill it, they sent him to Antioch, and Barnabas made it happen. We need to remember 5 that. God has blessed all of you. Use what you have. Heed the call. And make it happen. Amen. .