Acts 8:4-8,26 13:1-4
The length of stays of Salvation Army officers in appointments has gradually increased over the years. In the early days it would just be a few months or weeks before they were moved again. William Booth even said at one time that no officer should stay in a corps for more than six months! Even I remember the days when the normal length of stay was two years. Short stays have their advantages, stop officers from thinking like locals, constantly having new points of view, not blinded by habit. Also it could prevent over reliance on the officer to do everything. However they do have the disadvantage of making it difficult for plans to be carried through. But in recent times stays are much longer. The army has caught on to the importance of continuity of leadership and stability (although it might be missing out now on some of the advantages of short stays). Just like short stays, long stays have advantages. Officers given time to carry out their plans. There is consistency in approach. Kate and Gordon have been here eight years, a length of stay that would have been unthinkable in the past.
The Church at Antioch had a settled leadership team with five members. It seems that their ministry was flourishing. The Church was growing and was happy with their leadership, and they were contented where they were. There appeared to be no reason whatsoever to upset the apple-cart and move two of them. Surely it was right for them to be in long-term ministry where they were.
To many people in the Church, the move would have come as something of a surprise, or even a shock, to the people. People who had come to faith under the ministry of certain leaders would suddenly lose them. People would have missed them, experienced a sense of loss. There might have been fear and apprehension about the future within the Church. Others might have wondered why on earth Saul and Barnabas were given their farewell orders. For others it might just have been a sense of loss, similar to a bereavement. Similar feelings to those many people in this corps are feeling at the moment. Some might even have murmured about the rest of the leadership team for allowing it to happen.
Whose silly idea was it to wreck the leadership team of the Church in Antioch?
We are told clearly in verse 2 of Acts 13. It was none other than the Holy Spirit, God himself. We are not told what means the Holy Spirit used to give this instruction, but it does not appear to have been a private revelation, but to be given to the leadership of the Church as a whole, possibly through the words of one of the prophets. But it was not just Saul and Barnabas going off on a tangent of their own.
Human wisdom would certainly have said “Stay!” But God’s wisdom said “Go!”
Saul and Barnabas were having a successful ministry in Antioch. By all the rules of healthy Churches, they should not have moved. But God, in his eternal wisdom, chose to move them on. They might have been tempted to disobey, to argue and to try to stay on in Antioch. But, realising that the wisdom of God far surpasses the wisdom of man, they obeyed.
The Church could have chosen to be selfish, and to try to keep hold of them, to try to prevent them moving on so that they could continue to enjoy their ministry. They could have been obstructive but instead they gave them their blessing and sent them on their way joyfully. The result was the greatest mission in the early Church. The gospel was spread throughout the Mediterranean world; many people were saved and reached who would not have been if they had stayed. The work of Saul and Barnabas became the springboard for the spreading of the gospel throughout the world. His letters to the new Churches were the first theological formulation of what the gospel really is. None of this was clear to them when they were called away. All that they knew was that they were called away to a different ministry.
But what about the Church in Antioch that they left behind? Its sacrifice might have looked like it was going to be costly. We know from other sources that God did not allow it to suffer or to decline as a result of its obedience. It continued to flourish.
Just like Philip in Samaria. He was preaching the gospel and people were being reached and saved. His Church plant was a great success. Continuity of leadership and ministry was the obvious way forward. Meddling with the leadership and moving him looked like a clear backwards step.
But God had other work for him. I have read this passage from Acts 8 many times, and I must admit that this is the first time that I have noticed the means by which he was given this message. It was through an angel. How he was given this message from God, however, is not as important as the fact that he obeyed it. He left his flourishing, successful ministry and set off towards Gaza, walking along the road. He had no idea what lay ahead of him, or why he was told to go. It was there that he met the Ethiopian Eunuch and was able to tell him the gospel. As a result Ethiopia became one of the first Christian nations.
Captain and Mrs Cotterill have had an excellent ministry here for eight years. The corps is flourishing. But the Holy Spirit, speaking through the Salvation Army leadership, has chosen to move them. We have a system whereby the decisions about the moves and appointments of officers are not made by individual corps or officers, but are made centrally. The Holy Spirit spoke to the people responsible for these decisions. It might have seemed strange to them, and they might have been tempted to keep them here as things were going well and smoothly.
Just like God did to Saul and Barnabas at Antioch, and to Stephen at Samaria, he has called Kate and Gordon to new work. We do not know what will come about as a result of this move, but we do know, that, as it is God’s will and decision for them to move, that the result will be better than if the Salvation Army leadership had disobeyed and had decided to keep them at Poplar for longer.
K+G moving on to new ministry, corps moving on to new phase of its life, but, like Church at Antioch, we know that we will not suffer for obeying the call of the Spirit.
