Our text for this morning comes from the book of Acts 9 starting at verse 26 turn there with me if you would and let’s stand together as we read God’s word together.
Acts 9:26-31(ESV) 26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
One of the things that can get lost in our study of the Bible is chronology; we lose a sense of time in certain Bible events. On the surface of this passage and practically speaking we are going from one passage to the next in chapter 9 and one story to the next, previously in this passage Paul was in Damascus preaching the gospel following is conversion on the Damascus road, for those who are unfamiliar with that story Paul, who was a persecutor of those who followed Jesus Christ, had Christ revealed to him on the road going to a region called Damascus. It was in this revelation directly from God that Paul, in repentance came to realize his error in persecuting those who followed Jesus Christ and surrendered himself to Christ’s lordship. It was in that experience that his fervor and passion for God pivoted from wanting to destroy those who he presumed were coming against God, namely Christians, to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in the place where he intended to destroy Christians.
Now if you were to read that story of Paul’s salvation at the beginning of Acts 9, move through chapter 9 and his time preaching the gospel in Damascus to where we find ourselves in todays passage, in verse 26 it all moves rather quickly for us, but in reality as Paul affirms in Galatians 1:18, three years had gone by between verses 25 when Paul left Damascus and 26 as Paul arrives in Jerusalem.
It sheds a whole new light on what we are reading here in this passage. Paul had been a Christ follower for three years, he had been preaching the gospel in other regions and yet in that three years the disciples in Jerusalem, the place where his murderous journey started, weren’t buying it, they didn’t know this new and improved gospel-centered Paul.
Although Paul was now an ardent defender and proclaimer of the gospel, his past actions had consequences in Jerusalem and now he had a reputation for something that was no longer true; fair or unfair, this was all the disciples in Jerusalem had as a witness for Paul up to this point. But despite that narrative Paul had an inescapable desire to align himself with the believers in Jerusalem and to not be an outsider looking in at the church. Paul faced an inescapable reality that every Christian faces:
Move 1: Every Christian Has aDesperate Need for Active Encouragement from Other Christians
Imagine that you are Paul in this moment. You know and feel the weight of your errors, you just left a place where people wanted to kill you for preaching the gospel, you are now in a place where people don’t believe you are who you say you are in the gospel, what do you do?
Do you just go it alone? Do you just become a rogue in the Christian community? I don’t need these disciples anyway, God called me and that’s all that matters!
Friends if COVID 19 has taught you anything, I hope what it has taught you is that you cannot go through the Christian life alone. Detreich Bonhoffer said it best in his book Life Together: “The man who cannot be in community should fear being alone.”
In their flesh they would stand at an impasse, the disciples would be afraid because their only testimony of Paul was what they had previously known about him and Paul couldn’t say enough about himself now to change the narrative.
Thankfully for Paul he wasn’t alone in this, he didn’t have to walk this path by himself. He had a bridge to the fellowship he desperately needed in an encouraging Christian community. As we continue our series Everyday leaders here in Acts 9 we are introduced to an encourager, a cheerleader if you will, a man named Barnabas. Barnabas’ name, according to Acts 4:36, means son of encouragement, but it’s important to note that this wasn’t his given name, according to Acts 4:36 his name is actually Joseph, but Barnabas was what people called him and for good reason, he was a man who was an encourager, a cheerleader, a leader with a knack for saying what people needed to hear, a leader who’s actions and attitudes and words naturally brought encouragement to people around him and as such, the words he would speak would carry a weight to them.
“Oh, Barnabas is saying something friends, we better listen because when he speaks, it’s going to be good.”
Look at what happens here in this passage. Paul had no audience with the disciples, but Barnabas did. And look at how this plays out: Barnabas took him, he took him it says. The word used here denotes the idea of Barnabas taking Paul, grabbing him and bringing him to where he needs to be in that moment.
Paul didn’t seek out Barnabas to be his reference on his resume for the disciples in Jerusalem, Barnabas was the one who served as an active encourager here. Barnabas did the work.
Barnabas is living out a principle we see in another passage in Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV) 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 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.
One of the challenges we face as Christians in the 21st century is the curse of autonomy. The idea that we can go through life on our own, pull ourselves up by our boot straps and weather the storm of the Christian life, but nothing is further from the truth. We all need to live in the posture of Barnabas from two trajectories: We need to be Barnabas and have a Barnabas. Paul needed it, he needed someone to go to bat for him, he needed someone to take a risk on what they knew about his transformed life and that is what Barnabas was willing to do.
This interplay between Paul and the disciples and Barnabas is an image of what should be happening on a grander scale in the body of Christ. There are not shortage of things that make us different from each other, no shortage of backgrounds that would cause us to not fit in with each other, but there is one thing that we need to remind ourselves of that aligns us together, it is something we need to hear everyday from someone in this body and that is that we belong to the family of God, that the blood of Jesus Christ overcomes every difference we could possibly have, every interpersonal struggle, every knit-picky thing we find about each other to not like and not appreciate about another child of God.
Friends I am going to tell you something, there are no shortage of things to knit-pick about me, the list is LONG, and here is what else you need to know; I probably am already knit-picking it about myself. The things that bother you about me, they probably bother me too. The things that I can’t seem to get right that bother you, they bother me too. And that is true for you and that is true for ever follower of Jesus in this room or on our livestream.
A principle I’ve taught for years that has served me well in life is to love people for who they are, don’t hate them for what they are not.
Paul put it this way in Philippians 4:8 (ESV) 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
This is what Barnabas does here in this passage. This is what endears Paul to the disciples, Barnabas focuses in on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise in Paul’s life and what he leads in with, hasn’t changed. Barnabas as an active encourager shared two things about Paul with the disciples in Jerusalem and they are things we need to hear about each other.
Move 2: We Need to Encourage One Another With Our Salvation Stories
Acts 9:27b (ESV) Barnabas…declared to them how on the road he (Paul) had seen the Lord, who spoke to him.
There is nothing more lovely than a salvation story friends. There is nothing more commendable about someone else in this room than hearing how God broke through the veil of darkness in their hearts, pierced it with the light of his Spirit and called us into his kingdom. Paul was a sanctioner of murder, Paul was a sanctioner of murdering Christians, Paul may have even sanctioned the murder of family members of some of these disciples, but it was the blood of Jesus Christ that overcame that, it was his salvation story; everything that happened in Paul’s life that precedes this passage that mattered in his life right now and Barnabas knows that and that is what he leads in with.
Our elders as a regular practice are doing this with one another. Once a month when we meet together part of our time is dedicated to sitting down with a different elder each time just to hear each other’s salvation stories. There is such encouragement in this for people to hear, this is what moves the needle in relationships amongst God’s people and quite frankly, it is a remarkable evangelism tool because when you hear someone else’s story, I’ve had it happen and you’ve had it happen, I know you have because I’ve heard it enough times, when you hear the testimony of someone coming to faith in Jesus Christ, someone pops into your head and you say, “I wish so and so could hear this story.”
This comes back to the community centered nature of the church and the myth that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the ultimate goal. The salvation stories present in this room, or with those watching at home, they are our stories as a people. Your “personal relationship with Jesus” only goes so far as your “community relationship with Jesus”. My salvation story, it isn’t for me, it’s for others, it’s for you as I share my story of how God moved me from darkness to light, but that is not only my story to share it’s your story to share, these are our stories of salvation and what God does to draw those to him who are called by his name.
Barnabas led in with the disciples in Jerusalem with how Paul came to know Jesus Christ, but he continued with something very important.
Move 3: we Need to Encourage One Another With Our Transformation Stories
Acts 9:27c Barnabas…declared…how at Damascus he (Paul) had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.
It wasn’t enough for Barnabas to share that Paul was now saved, he took it further, there was even more encouragement to be had, more stories to tell, Paul did not only become a follower of Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road, there was an effect on his life there was a transition in him that caused him to do something different with his life as a result of his salvation experience with Jesus that the community could celebrate, and Barnabas points it out as a result of what happen to Paul on the Damascus Road; he went from Murder Sanctioner to Christ Proclaimer.
This was a massive reality for Paul and for the church in Jerusalem. Paul was going to need this community of believers for his own sake, they were going to need him for their sake and there is a very particular reason why. This is why Paul needed Barnabas to be an active encourager, what does he say Paul did in Damascus? Preached boldly the name of Jesus. Do you know why Paul left Damascus? Because people wanted to kill him for doing that.
And now that Paul is in Jerusalem what does he do?
Acts 9:28 (ESV) So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
And how do the people in Jerusalem respond? Acts 9:29 (ESV) And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him.
Paul wasn’t just rescued on the Damascus Road, the whole trajectory of his life was changed and it all pointed toward Jesus Christ and when the door was opened by an encourager named Barnabas it was enough to open the door for Paul to show them that he was exactly what Barnabas said he was. Notice again in verse 28, it doesn’t say that Paul was a Lone Ranger preacher in Jerusalem, it says that he went in and out among the disciples, he was with them in proclaiming the message of hope that came through the blood of Jesus Christ.
And this was the life changing reality of the ancient Mediterranean world; as a result of this one encouraging word from Barnabas, going out on a limb for Paul, being a person who was known to be an encourager, a person who when he spoke people would stop and listen, look at what happens in Acts 9:31 (ESV) So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
The word So is very important here. So is a coordinating conjunction, it connects what was previously stated with certain consequences or results that follow. By starting verse 31 with the word so
what Luke is saying is that as a result of Barnabas going to bat for Paul and Paul being accepted by the disciples and going in and out among them preaching boldly in the name of the Lord the church multiplied.
Bottom Line: OneGood WordCan Go ALong Way
Who needs to hear that one Good word from you? Who are you going to be a Barnabas to? Who are the Barnabas’ you’ve surrounded yourself with? I’m not talking about the flatterers, the tell you what you want to hear people, who is that person who is going to give you that good word to point you to God’s greatest good? Who do you need to do that for in the life of someone else?
How far exactly does one good word go for the kingdom of God? This far: today we are celebrating World Communion Sunday. On the first Sunday in October, Christian churches celebrate the global connection we have with other believers in different parts of the world, recognizing that the grounds of our hope, the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ isn’t just a community reality here in Oswego, it isn’t just happening in our city or in our district or in our country, it is happening all over the world. People all over the globe today are celebrating the Lord’s Supper with other believers who have come to know Jesus Christ and with the same good word Paul gave as a Barnabas to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.
I’ve asked our mission team to connect with our missionaries and as part of our celebration this morning I will read the words of institution as given by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, but what we are also going to see on the screen while we take communion together are believers, some who are missionaries and some who have had the good news brought to them by missionaries, reading those same words from 1 Corinthians 11 in their native tongue. That’s how far one good word extends friends.
So as you take communion this morning you will hear these videos on the screen and quite frankly, you probably will not be able to understand a word of it, but it should be a worshipful moment for you to know that what they are saying is also said in your tongue and in your language and we recite the same thing and it is the same body and same blood that unites us that overcomes language, culture, and everything else that could separate people form each other. It’s the good word of transformation that impacted your life, my life and their life. I am going to take as I read the words of institution, but what I would encourage you to do is to take the bread and the cup while you watch these videos at your own pace and reflect on how the words of encouragement from the testimony of believers is reaching you today through these brothers and sisters and how you can do the same in our world.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (ESV) 23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
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