Becoming a Barnabas or a Barnacle, Acts 4:36-37
Eric A. Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ
September 8, 2002
A man interviews some people for a secretary job. First enters a very beautiful woman and the boss asks her:
- "What’s your name?"
- "Lily", says the woman.
- "Why Lilac?" asks the boss.
- "Because when I was born, a lily fell on me from the sky".
Then enters a second woman, more beautiful than the first.....
- "What’s your name?" asks the boss.
- "Rose", says the woman.
- "Why rose?" asks the boss.
- "Because when I was born, a rose fell on me from the sky".
Then enters the third man, hideously ugly......
- "What’s your name?" asks the boss.
- "Piano", says the man.
Have you ever noticed that people tend to look a certain way by the name they are given? For example if your name if your mane is Eric then we all know you are going to be a good looking person. And if your name is Phil, well let me just say I’m sorry.
We spend a lot of time trying to find the perfect name for our children sometimes years before they are born. The reason we spend so much time is because a name describes who we are. In fact you could go out today and buy a book of names and meanings that will help you chose what names you like.
And most of us know what our names mean. And they become part of us.
This is not a new practice. People have been giving their children names with meaning since the beginning of time. In fact when we see God tell Mary that she is going to have a son He tells her to name him Jesus because it means “He shall save”
Names and name meanings are a big deal. Sometimes those names that we were born with don’t stick because there’s a better way to describe us. So those that know us best give us nicknames. My nickname in high school was Snidely whiplash, because of my driving ability. My dad’s name is Dennis but to this day everyone calls him Sam, it was a nickname given by an uncle that just stuck.
The manager of a large office noticed a new man one day and told him to come into his office. "What’s your name?" he asked the new guy.
"John," the new guy replied.
The manager scowled, "Look... I don’t know what kind of a place you worked before, but I don’t call anyone by their first name. It breeds familiarity and that leads to a breakdown in authority. I refer to my employees by their last name only ... Smith, Jones, Baker ... That’s all. I am to be referred to only as Mr. Robertson. Now that we got that straight, what is your last name?"
The new guy sighed, "Darling. My name is John Darling."
"Okay John"
I love to watch the Sienfeld episodes and one of my favorite ones George decides that he wants a cool nick name like t-bone. So he starts ordering t-bone steaks and ends up with the nickname coco.
We don’t get to pick our names and we don’t get to pick our nicknames. Because they are representations of how others see our lives or anticipate what we will do.
Our text today is about a man who had a great name
His name was Joseph and you can find him in Acts 4:36-37
His name was Joseph
Joseph means “God shall add”
What a great name, God shall add. To have a name that describes the promises and prosperity of God that He will add to the life represented here.
I would suggest to you that the first step to understanding the blessings of God is to look at How god has added to your life.
How many Joseph’s do we have in this room today? I was born and they called be Eric, But I have to tell you the Lord has added to my life and I believe that he is going to keep adding to my life.
How many of you believe “God shall add” to your life?
That’s where this man was,
Acts 4:36-37 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Prayer
Believing God will add to your life
This is such an important step in becoming the person God wants you to be. It is hard to be a source of encouragement if you are not encouraged yourself.
I know God has the capability to take care of every person in this room. I know he cares for you because I have experienced His blessings in my life.
Can you see the connection. I have experienced the blessings in life that can only be explained by saying “God cares for me” and because of that I know He can add to your lives as well. I am going to do my best to be an encourager for others .
I know that God will add blessings to my life. If you want God to use you, you have to believe that he will add to your life. I want to point out a difference here. A lot of people here today might say yes I believe that God can add to my life. But the question is not if He is capable it’s “Will He?”
The Name Joseph literally means that “God shall add”
We need to place ourselves in the place which allows God to add to our lives. We have to find a way to place ourselves in His favor.
When we place ourselves in the favor of God he shall add
John Wooden, the successful basketball coach at UCLA during its dynasty years, was asked his secret in producing excellent teams. His answer: "We master the basics. We drill over and over again on the fundamentals."
You say what are the fundamentals. Simply this, trusting God.
You see Joseph has a name that describes the position that we need to take but eventually God made him more than His name.
And because Joseph was blessed beyond the limits of his name he was given a nickname.
A nickname is a name that somewhat describes who you are as a person
I suggest to you today that when you gave your life to Jesus you expected God to add blessings to your life and time has passed and you have made a choice about what you want to be called.
We don’t get to choose our nicknames but the way we act inspires others to give us nicknames that describe us.
This text says that he was a generous man and the disciples called him Barnabas
This text says that Barnabas means “son of encouragement”
But at a deeper study into the language it was written in it could mean
Son of encouragement
Son of prophecy
Son of refreshment
Son of comfort
Son of consolation
Son of preacher
Whatever the true meaning is in this text it is clear that Barnabas was a person who helped the church move forward. We often don’t think of him because he was not one of the apostles. But he is mentioned around 50 times in the New Testament.
He is a church planter in with Paul. He is a hard worker. He was the person who introduced Paul to people who were afraid. He was very much in the center of the early church history.
Without him the church would have continued to grow and things would have been fine but the journey would have been even more difficult. He was truly an encourager. One who helped the progress of Jesus’ message.
I don’t know about you but that’s where I want to be. I want to be someone who helps the kingdom of God move forward. I want to see as many people come to Jesus as possible. I want my life to count and matter.
We see Barnabas in all kinds of different situations. He is willing to be used in whatever way is necessary for the advancement of the cause. We see him leading and selecting church leaders. And other times we see him just introducing the speaker. We find him speaking boldly and we see him doing the most humble of jobs and performing manual labor.
He was an encourager, He was a speaker, and he was one who offered consolation. It started because He believed God would add to his life.
As you read through the book of Acts you will find that God added to his life in a very profound way. Barnabas added to the church but God added to his influence, his insight, his understanding and his devotion.
When we think God is going to add to our lives we often think of blessings that strictly belong to us. Such as My family is going to get bigger. or my paychecks are going to get bigger.
Often when God adds to our lives he adds to our area of influence. He helps us become instrumental in a project that is not temporary or earthly but he adds eternal blessings to our lives.
Barnabas was someone who really helped the progress of the church. You may have been baptized a Joseph but God wants to nickname you Barnabas.
Can you imaging if every church were filled with people named Barnabas? If every person here decided to be a source of encouragement I can tell you exactly what would happen. This place would explode with the kindness and love of Jesus. We would have standing room only because a Barnabas tells people: God wants to do something more with your life.
A Barnabas says Our church is an incredible place and the message of God gets better each time you hear it. A Barnabas is a person who sacrifices for the good of the kingdom. A Barnabas is a person who says I want to use all of my abilities to help this place go forward. A Barnabas is a person who stands up in defense of their church.
They are people who don’t let others talk negative about their elders. They are defensive about their place of worship. They are people who curtail malicious talk and say don’t you talk about that person like that. I know he had a bad past but the last time I checked we all had some sin in our past.
They are people who love people without labeling them and they are people who bring people into the presence of God. Who wants to be a Barnabas. Who wants to help this great ship sail. People who are nicknamed Barnabas bring progress.
But there is another alternative. It’s not a good alternative, and in fact it’s just the opposite. There are those who are not encouragers. They are not selfless. In fact the next chapter talks about a man who was the opposite. His name was Annanias. The bible says that He was not given a nickname but if he had received one it would have had to be Barnacle.
He lied to the church leaders he was clearly out to make himself look better. And hopefully we have all learned that the church is not the place for selfishness. In fact there is no place for selfishness in the followers life. Selfishness only hinders the progress of the kingdom.
This man was a barnacle on the side of the hull. He was a crustation living on the scum that formed on the ship’s bow and the apostles make it clear that there is no room for selfish barnacles as part of the kingdom. They only slow it down and they are not useful.
They are critical, point out every problem without offering a solution and eventually they are scraped from the hull.
I have heard some say that every church needs to have a few Barnabas’s
The truth is every church needs to be full of encouragers, We need to be full of people who are active with their faith. We need to have people who can take the place of leadership, step up into a classroom setting, or make some hospital visits.
Now I don’t know exactly where you are today. But I know where the breakdown usually happens. It happens in how we perceive the blessings of God.
Everyone in this room who started out believing God will add to your name should find that he has given you the tools to become an encourager in some way.
It’s really easy to fall into the mode that says I’m just going to attach myself here where nobody can see me. I’ll soak it all in and I won’t have to contribute.
If you are in that mode It’s not too late to find a place to serve. You may have heard ever sermon for the last 10 years but if you have not found a way to use your gifts then I encourage you to find a way to help us move forward.
There are a number of things that can be done to help us run smoothly but more importantly there is much to be done if we are going to influence this area for Jesus Christ.
Signal player
You might be here today thinking what a rough message. But 2 things are clear Jesus said that every branch must produce fruit. And for the branch that does not produce fruit, it gets pruned.
The other thing that is clear is that all of us at some point have probably hindered the purpose of the church. That’s not an excuse to allow it to continue. But Peter probably felt like a barnacle on the side of the ship after he denied knowing Jesus. Paul was a gross crustation breaking apart early church meetings, And Annanias was just living off the scraps when he allowed his selfishness to get the best of him.
You can change all that today. You can make it count. Become an encourager
