Last week I asked you to consider how you might finish the statement, I Like Church But,….. The question was intended make you look at the simple problems in the church, the things that tend to irritate us. The kind of things that an outsider might find a roadblock to Jesus Christ. I hope that I never have to explain to God Why I, or something I did, was a road block separating anyone from Jesus Christ and Salvation. God, is protective of his children.
The Question last week was to motivate you to resolve the issues with the intent of making our church a place people yearn to be.
This church at Antioch became the place where God was moving. It seems that Jerusalem activity had slowed. We don’t know of a reason or excuse. All we know is that the Jews that left there, years ago, testified about the Good News. They shared their experiences especially the blessings and people responded and God’s hand was on them in Antioch. In Antioch the Good news was shared not just with the Jews, but also the Gentiles.
Antioch became the place that God moved and the Church grew, in a way it replaced Jerusalem. All because people could not keep their mouths shut.
This week I want to pickup their and move forwarding the text. The news of stuff happening in Antioch gets back to the apostles in Jerusalem. They talk it over and decide that someone needs to go over there and see what they are up to. The church leaders send Barnabas to find out what is going on.
I wonder why Peter or some other apostle doesn’t volunteer or one selected to make the trip. It seems like they decide to send Apostle light, Barnabas, to check things out. Maybe, they are afraid of what is really going on. Perhaps they are worried that these people are not what they claim to be.
Are these Church leaders threatened by success?
Barnabas is sent to spy on these foreigners and perhaps try to squash the new movement.
From the scripture, I don’t think so. The scripture says it this way, “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.”
Barnabas gets there and he finds that something is going on. He sees evidence of the grace of God.
Evidence seems like an interesting word to me.
Renee will tell you that I watch a lot of Law and Order on TV. On the show they are always talking about evidence. The first half of the show always starts with the detectives being sent to a crime scene. They are looking for physical evidence and talking to witnesses about what happened, what did they see and do. Sometimes the evidence is thrown out as being invalid and the information never gets to court.
When Barnabas arrives on the scene he is looking for evidence. He is not disappointed or threatened by what he sees he is glad.
I believe that he arrived looking for signs that something would be there to solve the mystery they heard about. He did not go with his mind already made up. He went as a detective with an open mind.
When Barnabas arrives, what evidence do you think he found?
• I think he found people sharing true testimony.
• He found people telling accurate facts abut he good news of Jesus Christ.
• I think he found people that did not limit the grace of God by deciding who should receive the good news. (Gentile or Jew)
• I believe that he found a group of believers that had received the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
Barnabas knew the real thing when he saw it.
What he found was Vival, the exciting time when God first moves in the life of the church or an individual. You can never really have Vival twice. Today we are always seeking vival again … we call it Re-VIVAL. I constantly pray that we will be swept away by a movement of God. I hope that you do as well.
I don’t think that Barnabas was sent to squash the church, or to take over the church and control what was happening there. I believe that Barnabas was going in the role of teacher and encourager. Barnabas has a reputation as a person that can make things happen, like bringing people together. (The story about Barnabas introducing Saul/Paul to the apostles is a good example.) He seems to have had several gifts. Barnabas was a nick name, His real name is Joseph, but everybody called him Barnabas, son of encouragement.
Barnabas had several attributes that made him perfect for the Job. He was raised in a Greek culture. He spoke the language. He was a Jew and yet he had a heart for the gentiles. Barnabas was a man that wanted to be where God was working and do all he could.
Today’s scripture describes him like this, “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith,” That is a pretty nice description. I don’t think that he went to cause trouble. I think that he was there to fulfill the great commission on behalf of the leaders in Jerusalem. (To go and make disciples.) The scripture goes on to tell his results “and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.”
Barnabas just responded to what God was already doing and helped the new disciples mature in their faith.
I think that the number of people in the church kept growing because they were taught and nurtured and as a result they were empowered and started talking.
Then it all got out of control, there were too many people. Barnabas could not handle it all by himself and he went to find his old friend Paul. Together they worked side by side to disciple this exploding church.
Today, I still want you to understand that for a church to be a place people yearn for the people already inside must become Disciples of Jesus Christ and go into the world talking too much.
Do you think it is important that it is mentioned that Antioch was the first place believers were called Christians? In Antioch, the believers were very different than others places. Up to this time the people in the church were primarily Jewish people that believe the promised messiah has come. Starting from this time there is a distinct separation between Judaism and Christianity. Antioch is the separation point, primarily because of the direct outreach to Gentiles. So the new name associates this group with their leader The Christ.
The last part of our scripture describes the arrival of prophets from Jerusalem and a prediction of a great Famine in the entire Roman world. The event had not started yet. There in no mention that the prophets said, “You aught to send some money to Judah”.. as far as we can tell, they just share the bad news.
The amazing thing is that the Christians at Antioch respond. They take up an offering and send it.
What is so amazing about that? Perhaps just a few details will explain. The differences between Jerusalem and Antioch are big. The nationalities are different and opposing in many cases. They don’t speak the same language. They are 500 miles apart. Antioch has a church makeup that has drastically more Jews than Gentiles. In a way it seems like there would be some mistrust between them.
This response is another sign that I believe points to a church being a place that people yearn to be. People want to be a part of something that does big things. A place that makes a difference I their lives and in the lives of others.
Evidently the church at Antioch already was changed, this event they proves it. When I think of their response, I come t understand that this is a really big deal.
First, the event is not happening yet. There is no famine at the moment, it is simply a prediction.
Second, it appears that the whole church was involved, according to their ability.
Third and probably most significant. The prediction was not just about a problem in Judah. It was for the whole Roman World. Antioch is sitting right in the middle of the Roman World. That means that when they made their offering they did not know how bad it would get for them. They did not know if they would go hungry. They gave according to their ability, with no mention of keeping extra, just in case.
What did the churches in Judah do to deserve their generosity?
We don’t have a clue that they felt anything more than they should do something.
I met a Young man a few years ago that described one of the things he did as his personal ministry. He called it random acts of kindness. An example of what he did, when he was getting Gas in his car, he would sometimes step to another pump as the person pulled up and say, Jesus wants to pay for you fuel today.
Then he would put his charge card in the pump and let the person fill up their tank. He acted in an anonymous fashion, never telling them who he was. If they asked why, he would invite them to visit his church. He was not the pastor; he was a young member of a large church. He got a kick out of surprising people with a blessing from Jesus.
The people at Antioch seem to have responded in a big way. They had a burden for people that did not know, would probably never meet that were very different and even foreign to what they knew. This burden led them to being and instrument of Grace. They gathered funds and sent them off as a form of Grace.
Grace means “unmerited favor.” They saw a need and met it.
Have you ever experienced grace from a stranger? Maybe you were driving down the road and your tire went flat. Someone who didn’t know you helped you fix it, and you don’t know who they were. It happens all the time, people do little things for us.
I have been blessed to be the person that facilitated God’s grace. Often times someone else paid the bill and I got to tell them. Perhaps it was funding for a mission trip or a water bill.
What is your reaction to grace given to you? Are you suspicious of the giver, worried about their real intentions?
Yesterday at the Memorial Day celebration, I handed out bottles of water. All I said was would you like a bottle of water. Almost everyone I asked had a suspicious look on their face. I had to complain how heavy the bag was and assure them that it was free. I did not put a sales pitch on them, because I knew that I would be introduced to offer the closing prayer and then the message would speak to them. My intention was to spread seeds that God would make grow for his purposes.
I read about a church in Cincinnati decided to see if grace would work in our society. The church was new and only had 35 people. They agreed to an experiment to reach out into their community with acts of kindness.
They were stupid things that couldn’t possibly work or make any difference. Like wash people’s windshields and tell them that God loved them. They would offer free car washes to the community. People tried to pay, but they refused, saying that God loved them and they wanted to express that love to other people.
They handed out soft drinks on hot days. They handed out hot coffee on cold nights. They wrapped Christmas gifts at the mall for free. They raked leaves in their neighborhood. They gave away free newspapers. They had birthday parties at nursing homes, and they offered tutoring after school. They bagged groceries at the local grocery store. They had reduced gas prices at the local gas station and paid the difference. They did hundreds of different things.
You know what happened? After experiencing this grace, people began to ask why. The church members answered by saying that they had experienced God’s goodness in their lives and wanted to share it with others.
People were drawn to the church which went from a membership of 35 to 3,000 to 6,000 in 20 years, all because they applied Acts 11 and gave people an experience of grace.
I wonder what would happen in our community if we as a church made the decision once a month to do some small act of unmerited kindness to our neighbors.
I think people would notice. I think people would ask why? I think people would have a yeaning that they don’t understand that would draw them into the place that demonstrated unmerited love.
If we adopted a method of reaching out to people on a regular basis we would be recognized as a church that loves people and our community. We might even be known as thoes people that make a difference around here, the place where people experience God’s grace
Antioch did two things. They spoke about Jesus Christ in their lives, and they expressed his love through simple acts of kindness. I think this would touch people’s lives today.
One thing I like about simple acts-of-kindness is that it is simple, it is do-able, it helps those who are shy in talking about their faith because instead of talking about Jesus Christ you show others his love, it is an expression of grace, it is non-threatening, it causes people to ask, and it is limited.
Imagine what God can do through a church that turns from being focused inward to being focused outward to serve their community. God can only imagine it. Let’s dream as well.
Lord God, on Memorial Day, help all of us to remember that it is not just a day off work. It is not just the beginning of Summer. It is not a day to be taken lightly. It is a day of grief because of the loss of men and women that had value and worth as our neighbors, friends and family. It is a day to acknowledge the wonderful life we enjoy, had a cost paid by people most of us never knew. Let us notice that their families and friends were forever changed at a cost that none of us could ever repay. Let none of us take for granted the pain and loss felt by families living in grief and loss wither long past or in recent days.
We pray for Your Guidance and Blessing on our President and each and everyone serving all of us in any way, near or far away, in the cause of righteousness and peace.
We remember those of our Shannon Family who have made the transition into the peace and pleasure of Your Presence. At the same time, our prayers go up to You on behalf of all veterans and families who may, more and more, need Your encouragement and comforting Grace.
We bring before You, in remembrance and for Your blessing, not only those of past wars and battles but, also, all those who presently are making sacrifices to overcome evil and are working to preserve our blessed way of life.
Father we ask for your blessing upon your community, your state, & your nation.
As we go from this day and this place let none of us forget that the battle for freedom continues. That our nation needs our dedication to stand firm for what is right. It is our duty to support and respect thoes that step forward and risk their vary lives because they want to do their part.
Father, help us to recognize that it is our responsibility to offer the families who suffer loss of separation weather temporary or permanent the knowledge that we will never forget. That we recognize the cost by living lives that respect the high price of our freedom.
Gracious Father, we pray for the gift of your peace and your comfort to be on the families and friends of our fallen and on all of us as your people.
In the loving and Holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen
