Today in the church calendar is the day set aside to
recognize Barnabas. Do you remember him?
Acts 4:36
36 "Joseph, a Levite
from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of
encouragement”),"
When the early church in Acts was first being established,
all who came to Christ had a big decision to make. "Coming out"
to say Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, usually meant being kicked out of the
synagogue. Those who did choose to make that decision began the nucleus
of the early church.
The church grew as more and more found the truth of life in
Christ. Barnabas was named Joseph at birth, a common Jewish name, but
along the way became known as "Barnabas" which mean the "son of
encouragement", and that is what he was. What made him an encourager
was his generosity...on many levels.
For example, vs 37, immediately after the verse above, says:
37"(he) sold a field he owned and brought the
money and put it at the apostles’ feet."
The church was not made up of the well-to-do, so his gift of
the money from the sale was a great encouragement to the church's financial
needs.
Later on his generosity was towards a person, Saul, who
would become Paul. When Saul was saved on the road to Damascus, he became
a follower of Jesus, but the early church was suspicious. They only knew
of him as one who arrested and sought to destroy the church...so they stayed
clear of him. But not Barnabas.
Acts 9:27
27 But Barnabas took
him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had
seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he
had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.
He was the kind of person who saw in people
possibilities...not their past, but their future, and he wanted them to know
acceptance and grace...that's a generous spirit, and an encourager.
When the early church began to grow outside of Jerusalem,
one of the early growth centers was in the north of Syria, in Antioch. It
was in Antioch that the name "Christian" was first applied to the
early church believers. In chapter 11 of Acts, the scripture describes
what he did.
19 Now those who had been scattered by
the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as
Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20 Some
of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to
Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good
news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was
with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22 News of this reached the church in
Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he
arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged
them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He
was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of
people were brought to the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas went to
Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he
brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the
church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called
Christians first at Antioch.
I love those verses as they describe how Barnabas saw -
first, what God was doing, and secondly, what needed to be done.
Encouragers are like that.
They are cup-half-full people.
They see possibilities, not problems.
They see people, not things.
They see "grace" not organization.
They have glad hearts...because they see God.
In honor of Barnabas' day, I want to be a Barnabas...
Peace
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