We met one of my personal heroes a moment ago. His name was
really Joseph but the apostles had nicknamed him Barnabas, a name
that means "Son of Encouragement," or "Son of Consolation." We do
not know why they called him that, but it was obviously a great
compliment. There must have been something about this man that
was very winsome and loving toward all whom he chanced to meet,
and especially to any who might have needed some special boost.
"Son of Encouragement." "Son of Consolation." Barnabas was a
NICE man! And we need all those role models we can get!
We do not know much about his background except that he came
from a Jewish family of the tribe of Levi who lived on the island
of Cyprus. The first time we encounter him in scripture is in
the fourth chapter of Acts - he was a member of the Jerusalem
church - a layperson - who was apparently pretty well off
financially. As many of the people in the congregation did, he
sold some of his property and donated the proceeds to the
fellowship. We can assume that this was fairly valuable
property for two reasons: one is that he hailed from Cyprus which
was a particularly large and fertile land off the coast of Syria.
It was an island famous for its wines, wheats, oils, figs and
honey - to hold land on Cyprus was to own something of
exceptional worth. The second reason we can assume significant
value is that the transaction was mentioned in scripture at all.
If many of the early Christians were doing the same thing, only
something really out of the ordinary would figure to be noted.
Barnabas' gift WAS noted, and so we can surmise that it was
particularly generous.
Of course, this is one of the reasons Barnabas is a hero and
a role model for me. Possessions for him were viewed through the
lens of stewardship rather than ownership. We need more folks
like that. Sad to say, too many who evidence genuine commitment
to Jesus Christ in their lifestyle and activities show very
LITTLE commitment when it comes to worldly goods. The scripture
is clear, in both the Old and New Testaments, concerning God's
standard of giving. It is the TITHE, the tenth. God's standard
is that everyone set aside one-tenth of their income for the work
of the kingdom. This is the floor, not the ceiling. Those who
can afford to do more than that SHOULD do more than that. But
the clear message of the scripture is that NONE should do any
LESS than that. Growing up as a good Jew, Barnabas knew what the
standard was, but that did not matter to him. He wanted to do
MORE than just the minimum, so he gave...not simply a tenth of
the profit he made on that land deal...he gave it all. Barnabas
was a good man, generous with what he had.
The next time we encounter Barnabas in scripture is in the
ninth chapter of Acts. It was after the conversion of Saul whose
name, as you know, eventually became Paul.
If you recall the story, Saul was an extremely zealous
Pharisee, anxious for the purity of the Jewish faith and ready to
quite literally do battle with anyone whom he felt was perverting
it. Under the influence of the temple leaders of the day, Saul
was convinced that this new group, these "Followers of the Way"
as they were called, were doing precisely that - they were
perverting historic Judaism and leading people astray as they
proclaimed that this Jesus who had been crucified was the
promised Messiah. Good Jew that he was, Saul was bent on wiping
out such heresy, by whatever means were necessary - if these
Christians had to be tortured and murdered to stop this teaching,
so be it...Saul would do the torture and murder. But then Saul
met the risen Christ on the Damascus Road and was converted. His
life was turned completely around.
You can imagine the reaction of the early Christians when
they heard about it - they could not believe it. Here was one of
their most violent enemies saying that, now he was not only no
longer an enemy, but actually ONE of them, one of their number,
the newest convert to faith in Jesus Christ. If YOU were one of
those early Christians, would YOU have believed it? After all,
Saul's reputation preceded him. The church people knew what he
had done. It only made good sense for them NOT to welcome Saul
with open arms when they knew full well that he would go to any
lengths (certainly not excluding deception) to do his murderous
work. The early Christians were cautious...and rightly so.
Enter Barnabas. By the time Saul made his way to Jerusalem,
he had already gone through some hair-raising adventures. Word
came to the faithful that he had had to escape from Damascus by
being lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall to
elude his Jewish pursuers. But still the church leaders were not
convinced of his sincerity. After all, Saul's escape could have
been just a clever ruse. But good Barnabas decided to
investigate. He gleaned the details of Saul's conversion; he
found out about those days following in Damascus; he talked with
Saul to find out just how sincere the man really was. And in the
end, Barnabas was so convinced of the legitimacy of what had
happened that he took it upon himself to sponsor Saul before the
apostles.
Here is one more reason I think of Barnabas as a hero and a
role model. He exercised INSIGHT and JUDGMENT when it comes to
managing the affairs of the church. Had it been up to most of
the leadership in Jerusalem, Saul might never have been accepted.
But one good layperson made sure that he was, and the work of the
Kingdom has been immeasurably enhanced ever since.
In our Presbyterian tradition, the laity has always been
involved in the decision-making process of the church. Our
Presbyteries, Synods and General Assembly are composed of at
least as many laypeople as clergy. And the reason is that lay
people can bring insights that, very often, the church
professionals do not have. If you wonder what you can do for the
Lord as a lay person, the exercise of your unique insight and
judgment can be a major contribution, just as it was with
Barnabas.
One of the greatest contributions that ANYONE has made to
the church in the twentieth century, the movement toward
ecumenism, was made by a modern-day Barnabas - a layman by the
name of John R. Mott. As a youngster, he was distressed by all
the divisions he saw in the church and he resolved to do
something about it. Through many years of Mott's hard work, the
World Council of Churches was born. John Mott's insight has
moved us closer to the realization of Jesus' prayer in the 17th
chapter of the Gospel of John, "that they may be one as You and I
are one," than any other man in the history of the church. John
R. Mott was a layman, a Barnabas, and the insight he exercised in
the furtherance of God's kingdom was a marvelous gift to us all.
The next time we meet Barnabas in scripture is in the 11th
chapter of Acts, the lesson we read this morning. The
persecution of the church had scattered the faithful throughout
the known world and churches were springing up wherever believers
were settling. People were witnessing to their new friends and
neighbors and many were becoming followers of Jesus. At first,
that witnessing only took place to Jews, but in one particular
place, Antioch, some began witnessing to Gentiles, and according
to the biblical account, a great number were being converted and
coming into the church. This was new. There had never been any
Gentiles in the church before, and the leadership in Jerusalem
did not know what to make of it. So they decided to investigate.
They sent Barnabas up to Antioch to find out what was going on.
He went, was delighted with what he saw, and encouraged them as
best he could.
One more mark of a hero and a role model here - a
willingness to respond when the church needs some particular work
done. With Barnabas, it meant a willingness to travel to a
missionary outpost. With you, it might mean a willingness to
teach a Sunday School class, or serve on the Session or a
committee, or participate in a visitation program, or sing in the
choir, or be a greeter, or help clean up after a Wednesday Night
supper. There is MUCH to be done, and the example of Barnabas
shows that what is needed to accomplish anything is that WILLING
SPIRIT without which nothing would ever happen at all.
Back to the story. Once Barnabas got to Antioch and saw
what a great work was going on there and heard how much help that
little church needed in the way of solid instruction, he
apparently felt that he was not able to handle the task all
alone. So he decided to make a quick trip to Tarsus and
recruited Saul to come down and help. Saul DID come down and the
two of them worked together in Antioch for another year with the
result that many MORE people were brought into the fellowship of
the church.
Barnabas was an exceptional man. He was one of those
insightful people who realized his own limitations and was not
embarrassed to ask for help. It seems to me that this is another
mark of the hero - he or she does not TRY TO BE a hero and is not
afraid to ask for help.
In recent years, the church has heard a great deal about the
dangers of BURN-OUT among both clergy and laity. People are
heavily involved in the work of the church, working unstintingly
at the great task which confronts us, keeping their nose to the
grindstone to such an extent that finally they grind themselves
into the ground. And that is not right. Barnabas is an
excellent role model in reminding us of the need for an
occasional cry for help. Barnabas did not let himself get
burned-out. He saw that there was more work there in Antioch
than he could properly do, so he got someone to join in with him.
Please note that he did not quit working himself; he just got
someone else to carry some of the load.
Of course, that is not all we hear of Barnabas. We meet him
again in Acts 13...and here his situation changes. He and Paul
had gone from Antioch to Jerusalem to report on the progress of
the Syrian church. While they were there, word came of a serious
famine that was spreading over the Roman world and the two were
sent back to Antioch taking with them a special offering which
had been collected for famine relief in their area (the first
Pennies-for-Hunger campaign). Once they got back, they
distributed the gifts to those who had need and then continued
their work of preaching and teaching. But as they did, the Holy
Spirit let the church know that Saul and Barnabas should not
remain there. There were many more people in the world to whom
the message of the Gospel should be brought, and God wanted those
two to bear the glad tidings...officially. And the result was
that both were ordained, commissioned as the first Christian
missionaries. Barnabas was no longer a lay person.
Now, needless to say, seeing Barnabas as a role-model does
not mean that every lay person should go into a full-time
Christian vocation. If anything, he shows that every lay person
is ALREADY in full-time service to the Lord, no matter WHAT the
vocation might be - our tradition calls it the Sanctity of the
Common Life. But the lesson is that there are times when God
DOES call lay people into specific service to the church, and
when that call comes, there should be a willingness to respond...
just as Barnabas did.
God does NOT call every Christian to a church vocation.
That would not make sense. But God DOES call SOME to those
tasks, even after many years of doing something else. Right now,
there are literally thousands of students in seminaries around
the world who have responded to God's call to the ministry of the
Gospel who have changed their careers to answer that call.
Barnabas was a good man - a good role-model. He was
generous with his possessions; he had insight and judgment that
he used for the furtherance of the church; he had a willingness
to do the work the church asked of him; he was smart enough to
realize his own limitations and ask for help; and finally, he was
even willing to respond to God's special call to service. All of
those are wonderful traits to emulate, but, in the final
analysis, what really draws me to this man is that nickname:
Barnabas - "Son of Encouragement" or "Son of Consolation." Boy,
do we need more of those!
I recall hearing of a little girl and her bedtime prayer.
"Dear Lord, make the bad people good and the good people nice."
Amen and Amen! Barnabas was NICE. He had many wonderful
qualities worth emulating, but, in my mind, the best was this.
He was nice.
Yes, tis sadly true there are too few heroes and role
models for us anymore. But we still have some, and one of the
best is Barnabas.
Amen!
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