INTRODUCTION
The late Bishop Fulton Sheen once entered a greasy-spoon restaurant for breakfast, and when the waitress, groggy and disinterested, took his order, he replied, “Bring me some ham and eggs and a few kind words.”
When she returned 15 minutes later, she set the food before him and said, “There.”
“What about the kind words?”
The server looked him over a moment, then replied, “I'd advise you not to eat them eggs!”
Although it may not be what we expect to hear, we all need kind and encouraging words from time to time. God’s Word is a great source of encouragement for us as Christians, and that is one of the many reasons why daily Bible reading and study is essential to our maturation in Christlikeness.
Other than the Bible, however, the greatest words you could receive are encouraging ones from a fellow believer, someone who has been where you are now, someone empathetic and sympathetic with your plight. Often have I received just the encouragement I needed from someone who spoke words of life to me, or sometimes just came near to be with me.
Jim Burns, in his book The Youth Builder, said, “For every critical comment we receive, it takes nine affirming comments to even out the negative effect in our life.” Dr. Julius Segal wrote this in his book, Winning Life’s Toughest Battles: “Many of our daily conversations are actually mutual counseling sessions whereby we exchange the reassurance and advice that helps us deal with routine stresses.”
BACKGROUND
In our continuing series Unlikely Heroes, we turn today to a man about whom we actually know very little from the pages of the Bible. He is first introduced as Joseph, a man born in Cyprus. He is, though, a man of Jewish parents, and from the tribe of Levi. One of his parents may have been from the Jerusalem area, for he spends some time there. He appears to have been of some means, and owned land either in Cyprus or near Jerusalem. Barnabas may have been a personal friend of the Apostle Paul, perhaps learning with him from Gamaliel.
That is all of the background information we have about him, except for one other fact. When he is first introduced in Acts 4:36, Luke, the author of Acts, informs us that he has a name given to him by the apostles, a name which suggests a special trait of his. He is called Barnabas, a name for which Luke provides the definition: son of encouragement.
Barnabas is our subject today, and this unlikely hero exhibited encouragement in the few other passages of
Scripture which speak of him. We know he played a part in the development of the church at Antioch. He also assisted Paul in his first missionary travels. But, as we shall see, his encouraging nature set him apart.
Our text today is found in Acts 4:32-37. READ
Of Barnabas we discover that
I. He Was an Encourager through Helping Believers (Acts 4:32-37)
The early church in Jerusalem, following the great outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost, began to face persecution and hardship because of her proclamation of the gospel of the risen Lord. Times were so tough that they sometimes faced economic challenges because Jews often refused to sell to those who openly followed Jesus of Nazareth.
This produced an opportunity for some in the Christian community to step up and assist their brothers and sisters in Christ. We find that those who possessed land voluntarily sold their land and brought the money to the apostles for distribution. In this way, equal distribution of funds ensured aid for everyone.
As an example, Luke singles out Joseph, renamed Barnabas, as such a contributor. He owned some land, sold it, and brought the money unselfishly to the apostles to be utilized to provide for the poorer and unfortunate Christians facing this suffering. What an encouragement that must have been, not only for those who received the benefit but also for other Christians who witnessed such a selfless act.
Author Robert Fulghum sometimes would attend lectures, and at the end during questions and answers, would ask, “What is the meaning of life?” Most times the speakers would shrug off the question.
On one occasion, he went to hear doctor Alexander Papaderos, a Greek philosopher from the island of Crete. At
the end of the lecture, he asked the same question he asked at other lectures: “What is the meaning of life?” Dr. Papaderos held up his hand, and said, “I will answer your question.” He took from his pocket a small round mirror, about the size of a quarter. He said his family was poor as they grew up during World War II, and he had few toys. One day he found the broken pieces of a mirror, leftover from the wreck of a German motorcycle. He discarded all but the largest piece and scratched it on a stone until he made it round. He began to play with it as a toy, fascinated by the fact that he could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine. It became a game for him to get light into the most inaccessible places he could find.
He said, “I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but a metaphor for what I might do in my life.
“With what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world – into the black places in the hearts of men – and change some things in some people.”
Having said that, Dr. Papaderos took his small mirror and, holding it carefully, caught the rays of daylight streaming through the window and reflected them in Robert Fulghum's face.
What good works are you performing that encourage others? How are you assisting other believers in a way that encourages them in their faith? What can you do today to be an encourager? It may be as simple as a visit, a phone call, a note, or even something that will cost you time, money, or effort. Whatever it is, be someone’s encouragement this week!
II. He Was an Encourager through Teaching the Church (Acts 11:19-26)
In Acts 11 we discover that the Word of God was being declared in Antioch not only to Jews, but also to Greek-speaking Gentiles, and was finding much fruitfulness. The apostles in Jerusalem heard of it, and dispatched Barnabas to investigate. Upon his arrival, he discovered what the grace of God was doing in the lives of these people and exhorted them to remain faithful.
But he also did more. He went to Tarsus, the home-place of Paul, and found his old friend. Together they returned to Antioch, and, for a whole year, they taught these new converts in this church. We are even informed that the name “Christian” was first used of the disciples in Antioch.
Barnabas could have simply returned to Jerusalem and given his report, and that would have been it. But instead, he saw an opportunity to encourage these new converts, not only by exhorting them to faithfulness, but teaching them what faithfulness to God entailed. His enlisting the help of Paul proved that he was serious about the well-being of these babes in Christ.
You may think that you could never be a teacher of others, but you have the opportunities! If you have children or grandchildren, you can show them the way of the Lord and teach them how Christians should live.
In Titus 2, young Titus is encouraged to teach older men to be dignified and strong in their faith. He was to teach younger men how to be self-controlled. Paul also exhorts older women to be teachers to the younger women about Christian principles for marriage, raising children, and household duties.
The story is told of a discouraged young minister. Everything seemed to have gone wrong with this man. He had built a church for his people, for he had been a carpenter; but when it was completed his wife, who had worked by his side, died. Then another trying experience left him broken and defeated. Then he heard over the radio a sermon by a well-known minister. He felt sure that this man could encourage him and teach him, and he went to see him. He was cordially received and stayed in the minister’s study for a long time, and when he came out there was a new light in his eyes.
He said, “When I went into his office all the stars had fallen out of my skies – but one by one he put them back again.”
For whom can you put the stars back in their sky? Whose life can you encourage through teaching them the ways of the Lord?
III. He Was an Encourager through Discipling Individuals (Acts 12:25; 15:37-39)
Barnabas seemed to have a unique ability to be what God needed him to be wherever he was. In Acts 12:25, when Barnabas and Paul left Jerusalem, they took with them a young man named John Mark. In Colossians 4:10, he is called the cousin of Barnabas, and it appears Barnabas was taking his young cousin under his wing to disciple him in the ministry. He is mentioned two other times as being the assistant to the two apostles.
However, on their first missionary journey, something happened. They went first to Cyprus, the island home of Barnabas. But when they left to sail to Asia Minor, Mark returned to Jerusalem, but Luke does not record a reason for his action. Later, in Acts 15, Paul suggests to Barnabas that they take a second journey, retracing their steps to encourage and disciple the converts from the first journey. Barnabas suggested they take Mark with them, but Paul sharply disagreed, citing Mark’s abandonment of them on the first journey. The disagreement led to the two apostles splitting up, with Paul taking Silas with him instead.
Barnabas was not finished with Mark yet, though, and he took Mark and the pair sailed for Cyprus. I believe Barnabas saw something in Mark worth salvaging, and he decided to continue the discipleship process. How successful was he in discipling and restoring Mark? In Colossians 4:10 and Philemon 1:24 we find Mark is with Paul as he is writing those letters! He would even request of Timothy, in 2 Timothy 4:11, that when he came to visit to “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.” The work of Barnabas in discipling his young cousin paid dividends to the ministry of the Apostle Paul.
I believe that discipleship is one of the more important concepts for the church today. Older believers must take younger believers under their tutelage and disciple them in the way of God, not only in how to live but also how to minister.
The legendary coach of Alabama's Crimson Tide, Bear Bryant, knew what it was like to disciple young men. He once said: “I'm just a plow hand from Arkansas, but I have learned how to hold a team together. How to lift some men up, how to calm others down, until finally they've got one heartbeat together, a team. There's just three things I'd ever say:
• if anything goes bad, I did it
• if anything goes semi-good, then we did it.
• If anything goes real good, then you did it.”
Who will you disciple? Who will you encourage in their Christian life? God needs you!
CONCLUSION
In 1933, Dawson Trotman founded an organization called the Navigators. Dawson was always an encourager, and his organization was founded on the principles of encouragement and discipleship. That organization continues today, producing literature to enable the body of Christ to encourage and disciple new generations of Christians.
In 1956, Trotman, along with a young woman and a young man, was enjoying a wonderful time on a small boat on Schroon Lake in New York. Suddenly, the boat lurched, and the young woman fell overboard. Without hesitation, Dawson went into the lake to attempt to save the young woman, who could not swim, from drowning. He was able to get to her, and lifted her from the water one time, then two, then three, when the young man on the boat was finally able to grab her. As he came to the surface for the fourth time, he suddenly sank and was drowned.
His funeral was a large one, attended by many to whom he had been such an encouragement in their Christian walk. The New York Times ran an article about Trotman, and underneath his picture were these words: “Always holding somebody up.”
That should be the caption for the life of every Christian. It was the writer of Hebrews who said to the believers of His day, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Someone needs your encouragement today. Will you be their hero?
