The Christ OnesAs we begin, we see what is really the rest of the story on the outreach to Antioch, which began in Acts 11:22ff. Barnabas is sent to the church in Antioch. Notice the description of him from 11:23-24: “When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit, and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.” Notice that Barnabas does not bring Christ to the people, he encourages and feeds what God is already doing there. Missionally, this means we are not “people who have it” taking the gospel to those “who don’t have it” (the superior taking something to the inferior, a major flow in USAmerican missions thinking for a long time). We through witness and demonstration make what God is doing more obvious and invite people to participate along with us. As one writer puts it, “Witnessing is really one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread.”
Since becoming pastor at St. Barnabas, I am discovering just how pivotal and dynamic a player he is in the spread of the gospel. His real name was Joseph, but the church called him Barnabas, meaning “son of encouragement.” His “can do” Spirit and his motivation of people to “stay in there” despite persecution characterized his ministry. He was “good,” he was “full of the Holy Spirit” and he was full of “faith.” Zan Holmes, the great preacher of St. Luke’s Community United Methodist Church in Dallas for many years, spoke at a Conference where he invited everyone to take a look at their driver’s licenses and then asked, “Do you look like your picture?” Fortunately, most of us don’t look like our DL pics! But in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-36, we do have pictures of what we are to be like as the Church. Furthermore, we as the St. Barnabas United Methodist Church people, have a namesake. Are we a “can do” people, a motivating people of encouragement, a good people full of the Holy Spirit and faith? Do we look like our biblical picture? This is one we really do want to look like.
Obviously, this blog could have been done in one of the open spots late last week. And there is one more thing from Acts 11 we shouldn’t miss, in verse 26, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” The name “Christian” may actually have been a nickname given us by our detractors. It the late second century, the pagans of the day would jeer at the people of Christ, “Behold, the Christians (the Christ ones) how they love each other.” Their agape love was seen as a sign of weakness. We know for certain that our detractors gave us the name “Methodists,” because we were known to say the same things and do things the same way (always the same “method”). So our two main names “Christian” and “Methodist” were nicknames given us by our critics. Today, we are proud to bear those names, knowing that they are part of who we are as a movement of God for the transformation of the world.
In 12:25, we are introduced to another character that will be important in the church’s story, John Mark. It is he who some twenty years later would pen with the help of Peter, the gospel that bears his name. Tradition has it that John Mark was the boy who ran away naked at the arrest of Jesus (Mark 14:51-52). According to Acts 12:12, when Peter miraculously escaped from prison, it was John Mark’s mother’s home that he went to. Mark accompanies Barnabas and Saul on the first missionary journey as their assistant.
Off They Go (Acts 12:25-13:5)The opening verses of chapter 13 show the central role of the Holy Spirit for the journey. In verses 2 and 3, the Holy Spirit calls for Barnabas and Saul to move out from Antioch and the people lay hands on them and pray, sending them off in the power of the Spirit. In verse 4, we are told that the Holy Spirit is the one who leads them where they should go and with whom they would share the good news. Barnabas and Saul are using two major vehicles already in place to do their ministry. They are following the Roman roads and trade routes and they are using the synagogues in each location as their point of departure. The Christian faith is still being treated as a predominantly Jewish movement.
The Blinding of Elymas (13:6-12)One of the striking things of the New Testament is its constant battle with impostors, false teachers and counterfeit Christianity. Elymas called himself “Bar-Jesus,” which literally means “son of Jesus.” He was a sorcerer who used the cause of Christ to gain an audience (a regrettable thing that has happened throughout Christian history). Saul is careful not to call him “Bar-Jesus,” but rather calls him by his given name and then does one of the negative miracles of scripture on him (afflicting Elymas with temporary blindness). Woah! Stop the tape. This sounds familiar – someone temporarily blinded to get his attention and change his ways. We are not told that Elymas repents, but it was enough for his boss, Sergius Paulus, who becomes a Christian.
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