WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.839 Please have the book of Acts open, three readings, 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:10.900 but you can start in Acts chapter 4. I don't 00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:15.740 know if any of you have heard of Tim Ferriss. 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:19.739 He is one of the world's most successful podcasters 00:00:19.739 --> 00:00:23.920 with over a billion downloads. Over the years, 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:27.440 he's interviewed many noteworthy, famous people. 00:00:38.170 --> 00:00:41.549 And he discusses their lives and their habits, 00:00:41.729 --> 00:00:45.850 and he seeks out their wisdom. The question he 00:00:45.850 --> 00:00:48.390 asks each of his guests at the end of the interview 00:00:48.390 --> 00:00:51.450 is always the same. If you could put a single 00:00:51.450 --> 00:00:55.409 quote onto a billboard to get a message out to 00:00:55.409 --> 00:00:59.960 billions of people. What would it be? He gets 00:00:59.960 --> 00:01:03.380 some fascinating answers to that. But when he 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:06.140 himself was asked that question a while ago, 00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:08.939 he answered that he himself would put on that 00:01:08.939 --> 00:01:13.040 billboard, quote, you are the average of the 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:16.019 five people you spend the most amount of time 00:01:16.019 --> 00:01:23.719 with. Striking, isn't it? But not new. The Bible 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:27.219 got there several millennia earlier. And did 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:31.400 it better? Less soundbite, more summons. Proverbs 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:33.599 13, 20, you don't need to turn to it, but it 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:38.060 reads this. Walk with the wise and become wise. 00:01:38.459 --> 00:01:45.719 But a companion of fools suffers harm. Tim Ferriss 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:49.200 and more importantly, the Bible are saying something 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:53.359 significant about that formative power of proximity. 00:01:53.780 --> 00:01:58.219 Who we walk with. matters because the people 00:01:58.219 --> 00:02:02.379 we spend time with shape the people that we become 00:02:02.379 --> 00:02:05.879 spend enough time with someone and they will 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:08.819 rub off on us they'll make a mark on us for good 00:02:08.819 --> 00:02:13.439 or for ill and that in a sense is what we're 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:15.520 going to be doing over these next two chapel 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.080 talks so today obviously and this time next week 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:21.460 we're going to walk with the wise we're going 00:02:21.460 --> 00:02:25.719 to walk with Barnabas We're going to trace through 00:02:25.719 --> 00:02:28.879 his character and his convictions as he's brought 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:31.719 to us through the New Testament. And my hope 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:34.139 and my prayer is that by walking with him, something 00:02:34.139 --> 00:02:37.159 of his wisdom, something of God's grace at work 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:42.500 in him will form and flourish in us too. So let's 00:02:42.500 --> 00:02:46.340 pray. Our Lord, thank you for giving us this 00:02:46.340 --> 00:02:50.000 opportunity to walk with the wise. Please may 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.949 something of... Your grace, powerfully at work 00:02:52.949 --> 00:02:57.750 in Barnabas, shape and form us for good in the 00:02:57.750 --> 00:03:01.770 days and weeks and years to come, we ask in Jesus's 00:03:01.770 --> 00:03:06.949 name. Amen. It's quite unusual in Oak Hill Chapel 00:03:06.949 --> 00:03:09.870 to do a kind of multi -passage character study 00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:13.250 like this. We more commonly preach through a 00:03:13.250 --> 00:03:15.590 single passage, rightly sitting under its... 00:03:15.900 --> 00:03:18.780 Context and arguments and so on. These kind of 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:21.520 character surveys jumping across chapters or 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:25.280 even books can risk becoming selective or sentimental 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:28.800 or, God forbid, shallow. But there is a corresponding 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:32.740 danger in never doing such a thing. Barnabas's 00:03:32.740 --> 00:03:36.740 New Testament portrayal is fantastic. But do 00:03:36.740 --> 00:03:41.759 we know him? He's named 33 times in the New Testament, 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:44.219 more than Titus and Stephen and Andrew combined, 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:48.900 for example. But he's so dispersed across at 00:03:48.900 --> 00:03:51.729 least 10 different... events and activities, 00:03:52.110 --> 00:03:54.729 mostly in Acts, but a bit in the epistles too, 00:03:54.849 --> 00:03:57.750 that many of us only ever see a snippet of him 00:03:57.750 --> 00:04:01.949 here and there. And so without this sort of testament 00:04:01.949 --> 00:04:06.289 -crossing, book -hopping, multiverse intentionality, 00:04:06.409 --> 00:04:11.110 we so easily miss this rich, cumulative portrait 00:04:11.110 --> 00:04:14.509 that Luke and others give us of this remarkable 00:04:14.509 --> 00:04:18.050 saint. Now, I'm not intending over these two 00:04:18.050 --> 00:04:21.290 talks to kind of romanticize Barnabas. Luke's 00:04:21.290 --> 00:04:24.769 center is always the risen Lord Jesus, advancing 00:04:24.769 --> 00:04:28.189 his words by his spirit, crucially by the power 00:04:28.189 --> 00:04:31.269 of his grace. So we wouldn't be right to lionize 00:04:31.269 --> 00:04:34.430 Barnabas. And I strongly suspect that that's 00:04:34.430 --> 00:04:37.170 not what he would want us to do anyway. So the 00:04:37.170 --> 00:04:40.730 focus here isn't this kind of striving and straining 00:04:40.730 --> 00:04:45.129 to emulate this great man, but our rather enjoying. 00:04:45.930 --> 00:04:49.509 And hopefully experiencing that very same transforming 00:04:49.509 --> 00:04:53.870 grace of God that is so powerfully at work in 00:04:53.870 --> 00:04:57.870 him. These should not be be like Barnabas talks. 00:04:58.129 --> 00:05:01.750 We get wise by walking with Barnabas because 00:05:01.750 --> 00:05:05.389 we get to see the transforming grace of God at 00:05:05.389 --> 00:05:10.129 work in a real human being. So let's take our 00:05:10.129 --> 00:05:13.709 first. step of several steps we'll be taking 00:05:13.709 --> 00:05:16.629 on this walk with Barnabas the first time we 00:05:16.629 --> 00:05:20.449 meet him is in Acts chapter 4 the Jerusalem church 00:05:20.449 --> 00:05:23.850 is experiencing a season of growing unity and 00:05:23.850 --> 00:05:27.709 mutuality and Luke tells us in verse 32 that 00:05:27.709 --> 00:05:31.430 all the believers were one in heart and minds 00:05:31.430 --> 00:05:34.209 that the apostles were testifying with great 00:05:34.209 --> 00:05:37.300 power to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:41.620 And then, verse 33, comes the line that kind 00:05:41.620 --> 00:05:44.319 of sets the scene for Barnabas' introduction. 00:05:44.899 --> 00:05:49.920 Luke says, God's grace was so powerfully at work 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:54.699 in them all. And at that point, Luke brings in 00:05:54.699 --> 00:05:58.100 Barnabas. He explains that there's no needy person 00:05:58.100 --> 00:06:00.139 among the believers because sometimes those who 00:06:00.139 --> 00:06:02.759 had property sold it and donated the proceeds. 00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:06.839 And he gives one named example of this generosity, 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:11.399 Barnabas in verse 36. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus 00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:14.240 whom the apostles called Barnabas, which means 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:17.740 son of encouragement, sold a field he owns and 00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:20.199 brought the money and put it at the apostles' 00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:24.319 feet. Luke's not saying that Barnabas is this 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:27.660 kind of instinctively, innately generous bloke. 00:06:27.660 --> 00:06:30.259 Rather, Luke is showing us that here is God's 00:06:30.259 --> 00:06:33.819 transforming grace powerfully at work. Grace 00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:36.680 that disrupts Barnabas's previous instincts. 00:06:36.699 --> 00:06:39.540 Grace that breaks that very tight bond between 00:06:39.540 --> 00:06:42.379 what a person owns and what they think they have 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:45.660 the right to keep hold of. Now, interestingly. 00:06:46.849 --> 00:06:50.449 One of the mentions of Barnabas in an epistle 00:06:50.449 --> 00:06:53.410 comes on 1 Corinthians 9, where Barnabas is held 00:06:53.410 --> 00:06:56.689 up as an example of someone who's working hard 00:06:56.689 --> 00:07:00.269 to support himself in gospel ministry. And it 00:07:00.269 --> 00:07:02.370 may be speculation, but I think it's reasonable 00:07:02.370 --> 00:07:06.009 to think that maybe Barnabas giving away his 00:07:06.009 --> 00:07:09.769 lands, giving away his wealth, it may have otherwise 00:07:09.769 --> 00:07:12.910 provided him with a financial cushion in ministry. 00:07:13.689 --> 00:07:16.029 If that is indeed the case, then his decision 00:07:16.029 --> 00:07:19.310 to sell his land is powerful grace. It is costly 00:07:19.310 --> 00:07:24.029 grace at work. Barnabas, his real name is Joseph, 00:07:24.149 --> 00:07:26.629 but he's called Barnabas because it means son 00:07:26.629 --> 00:07:29.870 of encouragement. His generosity clearly encourages 00:07:29.870 --> 00:07:33.970 this fledgling church. What's the source of it 00:07:33.970 --> 00:07:38.399 all? Where's it come from? Well, there's no need 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:39.819 to turn to it now because we'll get to it in 00:07:39.819 --> 00:07:42.100 a minute. But one of the readings was chapter 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:45.540 11, where Luke describes Barnabas as a good man 00:07:45.540 --> 00:07:50.389 full of the Holy Spirit and faith. That's the 00:07:50.389 --> 00:07:54.050 divine foundation for this generosity and encouragement 00:07:54.050 --> 00:07:57.470 we see in chapter four. His goodness is not this 00:07:57.470 --> 00:08:01.610 kind of self -generated virtue. It's not a sort 00:08:01.610 --> 00:08:04.269 of his own effort. It is a spiritual work. The 00:08:04.269 --> 00:08:08.410 Holy Spirit is generating goodness in and through 00:08:08.410 --> 00:08:12.980 him by faith. Faith, that posture of Barnabas, 00:08:12.980 --> 00:08:16.500 of dependence to live on what God provides rather 00:08:16.500 --> 00:08:21.620 than what he can grab and gather. And so because 00:08:21.620 --> 00:08:24.439 Barnabas has received from Christ what he can 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:27.800 never earn and what he can never lose, he is 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:31.920 freed to release his grip on things once held 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:36.039 dear. And when we walk with Barnabas, we see 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:39.379 that grace is the very essence. of the Christian 00:08:39.379 --> 00:08:43.340 life. It is not just an entry requirement before 00:08:43.340 --> 00:08:46.460 moving on to the more serious task of becoming 00:08:46.460 --> 00:08:49.019 discipled and disciplined Christians. Rather, 00:08:49.220 --> 00:08:52.659 the grace that saves is the grace that transforms, 00:08:52.980 --> 00:08:58.860 reordering our loves, our ambitions, our relationships, 00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:03.639 our instincts, just like with Barnabas. The Christian 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:06.860 life is not this kind of self -help, moral improvement 00:09:06.860 --> 00:09:10.379 through intense effort. It is the outworking 00:09:10.379 --> 00:09:15.720 of God's grace in us by his spirit through faith. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:20.899 And I think in Barnabas and through that truth, 00:09:21.019 --> 00:09:23.539 I hope there is something useful as we think 00:09:23.539 --> 00:09:26.879 about our Christian formation here at Oak Hill. 00:09:27.389 --> 00:09:30.210 It's easy in any sort of college like this where 00:09:30.210 --> 00:09:33.570 so much of life necessarily has to be measured 00:09:33.570 --> 00:09:36.350 and assessed and documented and reported. It 00:09:36.350 --> 00:09:39.710 is easy to equate Christian maturity with our 00:09:39.710 --> 00:09:44.330 metrics or our productivity in some way. And 00:09:44.330 --> 00:09:47.169 there's a danger that formation, therefore, becomes 00:09:47.169 --> 00:09:50.190 this kind of accumulation of the right knowledge 00:09:50.190 --> 00:09:52.990 and development of the right habits. But walking 00:09:52.990 --> 00:09:56.490 with Barnabas shows us something deeper and better. 00:09:57.049 --> 00:10:00.450 Christian maturity is about becoming dependent 00:10:00.450 --> 00:10:04.509 people in whom the grace of God has so taken 00:10:04.509 --> 00:10:07.850 root that we are freed from ourselves and our 00:10:07.850 --> 00:10:11.009 instincts to grab and grasp and thus made more 00:10:11.009 --> 00:10:15.850 available for God and for others. Our success 00:10:15.850 --> 00:10:18.970 this year at college is not primarily what is 00:10:18.970 --> 00:10:22.269 captured on a transcript or written on a report 00:10:22.269 --> 00:10:26.360 or outlined in an annual review. but rather is 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:30.019 the grace of God cultivating deeper dependence 00:10:30.019 --> 00:10:35.379 on him and freedom for him. One thing I love 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:38.580 about walking with Barnabas is to see how this 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:44.519 man who so receives and reflects God's powerful, 00:10:44.679 --> 00:10:49.059 costly grace in himself is then able as a result 00:10:49.059 --> 00:10:54.379 to recognize and delight in that grace in others 00:10:54.379 --> 00:10:59.799 too. even the unlikeliest and scariest other 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:04.059 imaginable. And so turn a couple of pages to 00:11:04.059 --> 00:11:06.980 Acts chapter 9, where we get to walk another 00:11:06.980 --> 00:11:10.019 step or two with Barnabas. Acts chapter 9 is 00:11:10.019 --> 00:11:13.259 famous for the conversion of Saul. We might be 00:11:13.259 --> 00:11:16.159 familiar with what happens next with the wonderful 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:20.899 Ananias who hosts Saul and restores him in Damascus. 00:11:20.899 --> 00:11:24.950 But many of us miss, crucially, The moment that 00:11:24.950 --> 00:11:29.210 then follows. Because when the murderous persecutor, 00:11:29.210 --> 00:11:32.409 now converted Saul, comes to Jerusalem for the 00:11:32.409 --> 00:11:35.330 first time as a follower of Christ, the response 00:11:35.330 --> 00:11:38.509 of the believers there, understandably, is to 00:11:38.509 --> 00:11:43.169 be fearful and suspicious. Chapter 9, verse 26. 00:11:43.490 --> 00:11:46.769 When he came to Jerusalem, Saul tried to join 00:11:46.769 --> 00:11:50.610 the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, 00:11:50.710 --> 00:11:54.029 not believing that he really was. A disciple. 00:11:54.950 --> 00:11:58.929 And can we blame them? Saul had devoted his life 00:11:58.929 --> 00:12:01.690 to trying to destroy them. He's partaken in the 00:12:01.690 --> 00:12:03.870 killing of their friends and co -workers. Even 00:12:03.870 --> 00:12:08.149 he's arrested many others who can blame them 00:12:08.149 --> 00:12:11.769 for how they're feeling. But amidst this distrust 00:12:11.769 --> 00:12:15.450 and fear, the son of encouragement steps in. 00:12:16.289 --> 00:12:22.000 But Barnabas. Verse 27, but Barnabas took Saul 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:25.679 and brought him to the apostles. He told them 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:28.360 how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:31.620 that the Lord had spoken to him and how in Damascus 00:12:31.620 --> 00:12:34.080 he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:38.360 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:42.480 in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:46.789 the Lord. You may have noticed across the New 00:12:46.789 --> 00:12:51.169 Testament, that little word, but, carries so 00:12:51.169 --> 00:12:54.610 many wonderful moments with it. Ephesians 2, 00:12:54.710 --> 00:12:59.429 but God being rich in mercy. Philippians 3, but 00:12:59.429 --> 00:13:03.009 whatever gain I had, I now count as loss. 1 Peter 00:13:03.009 --> 00:13:07.429 2, but you are a chosen people. So many wonderful 00:13:07.429 --> 00:13:11.169 buts, but this one might be my favourite. But 00:13:11.169 --> 00:13:16.980 Barnabas. But Barnabas took Saul and brought 00:13:16.980 --> 00:13:21.000 him to the apostles. Is there a more significant 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:24.720 turning point in all of church history than that 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:29.440 one? Not many. Our grace -filled, grace -giving 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:32.440 friend Barnabas becomes a bridge between a suspicious 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:36.570 church and a controversial convert. Now, it's 00:13:36.570 --> 00:13:38.730 not that Barnabas is being gullible. He does 00:13:38.730 --> 00:13:41.750 not say that everyone who claims a dramatic conversion 00:13:41.750 --> 00:13:44.870 should immediately be given trust in a platform, 00:13:44.970 --> 00:13:48.090 but he has listened to Saul's story. He retells 00:13:48.090 --> 00:13:51.149 it accurately and he trusts in the power of God's 00:13:51.149 --> 00:13:54.789 transformative grace so deeply that he is willing 00:13:54.789 --> 00:13:58.750 to rest every single ounce of his own credibility 00:13:58.750 --> 00:14:03.590 on this unimaginably high stakes decision to 00:14:03.590 --> 00:14:08.960 advocate for Saul. This isn't a personality trait 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:13.220 of Barnabas. His behavior here is generated by 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:17.279 the gospel. The grace at work in him readies 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:20.840 him to advocate for the potential of that same 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:24.159 transforming grace in others. He does not deny 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:27.259 what Saul has done. He's not playing around with 00:14:27.259 --> 00:14:30.299 danger, but he believes that what Christ is doing 00:14:30.299 --> 00:14:34.419 in Saul is more decisive than what Saul has done. 00:14:36.729 --> 00:14:41.909 Striking, isn't it? It is surprisingly easy to 00:14:41.909 --> 00:14:45.970 speak of transformation in theory, yet still 00:14:45.970 --> 00:14:50.090 keep people filed under the heading of what they 00:14:50.090 --> 00:14:54.570 used to be. Of course, safeguarding and serious 00:14:54.570 --> 00:14:59.789 wisdom are non -negotiable things. But Barnabas' 00:14:59.789 --> 00:15:02.610 story asks us whether our theology of grace has 00:15:02.610 --> 00:15:08.649 room. for the unlikeliest of people. Perhaps 00:15:08.649 --> 00:15:12.610 this challenges our tendency to recognize grace 00:15:12.610 --> 00:15:16.450 most readily in people who already belong to 00:15:16.450 --> 00:15:19.330 our theological tribe or who practice ministry 00:15:19.330 --> 00:15:22.529 in similar ways to us or who run a Bible study 00:15:22.529 --> 00:15:25.850 as we would or pray in similar terms as we might 00:15:25.850 --> 00:15:28.190 or who have come from a particular background 00:15:28.190 --> 00:15:32.139 or through particular pathways to get here. We 00:15:32.139 --> 00:15:37.059 need grace to resist confusing theological or 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:40.639 cultural familiarity with spiritual maturity. 00:15:41.700 --> 00:15:44.000 Perhaps we need to learn to look for what God 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.120 is doing before we start looking for what we 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:53.940 would change. But as we move to a close, there 00:15:53.940 --> 00:15:57.980 is one more step I want us to take with Barnabas 00:15:57.980 --> 00:16:01.919 for today, at least. More next week, I assure 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:06.340 you. Barnabas is being sent somewhere where the 00:16:06.340 --> 00:16:09.399 challenge is no longer simply to recognize grace 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:13.179 in one unexpected person like Saul, but actually 00:16:13.179 --> 00:16:16.820 in an entire community where ethnic and cultural 00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:22.179 identity lies way beyond his own familiar boundaries. 00:16:22.379 --> 00:16:28.659 Turn the page, please, to Acts chapter 11. In 00:16:28.659 --> 00:16:31.960 verse 19, Luke tells us how those who had been 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:34.820 scattered by the persecution that broke out when 00:16:34.820 --> 00:16:38.679 Stephen was killed, traveled as far as Phoenicia, 00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:42.320 Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the words only 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:46.700 among the Jews. Then we get to the magnificent 00:16:46.700 --> 00:16:51.759 verse 20. Up to this point, the gospel is spreading, 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:55.080 but it is still mostly moving within the familiar 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:59.980 channels of Jewish cultural identity. But everything 00:16:59.980 --> 00:17:03.039 changes in verse 20. Actually, there's a good 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:05.200 case here to say that this is the single most 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:08.960 consequential event in all mission history. Maybe 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.819 that surprises you. At first glance, verse 20 00:17:11.819 --> 00:17:15.000 just looks like a simple kind of Lucan transition 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:18.160 verse, a quick summary of what's going on before 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:21.039 we move on to the next action or character where, 00:17:21.140 --> 00:17:23.799 you know, the fun really kicks in. But look more 00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:27.920 closely. This apparently ordinary verse contains 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:30.799 the seeds of why we can even sit here today. 00:17:31.539 --> 00:17:36.490 Verse 20. Some of them, however. Men from Cyprus 00:17:36.490 --> 00:17:40.109 and Cyrene went to Antioch and began to speak 00:17:40.109 --> 00:17:44.789 to Greeks also, telling them the good news about 00:17:44.789 --> 00:17:48.849 the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them 00:17:48.849 --> 00:17:52.609 and a great number of people believed and turned 00:17:52.609 --> 00:17:58.849 to the Lord. This is not simply one God -fearing 00:17:58.849 --> 00:18:01.789 Gentile household coming to faith, important 00:18:01.789 --> 00:18:04.410 as the Cornelius story is in the previous chapters. 00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:09.710 This is Gentiles en masse. coming to Christ and 00:18:09.710 --> 00:18:14.210 a genuinely multi -ethnic community taking shape 00:18:14.210 --> 00:18:18.109 in Antioch, far from Jerusalem. This is the moment 00:18:18.109 --> 00:18:21.430 when the gospel decisively breaks free beyond 00:18:21.430 --> 00:18:24.329 the ethnic boundaries within which the early 00:18:24.329 --> 00:18:27.650 church had understood itself. This is the moment 00:18:27.650 --> 00:18:30.710 when the promise of a people drawn from every 00:18:30.710 --> 00:18:34.670 nation begins to take visible shape in the church. 00:18:34.849 --> 00:18:37.849 This is a head -spinning, boundary breaking, 00:18:38.170 --> 00:18:41.849 paradigm shifting, earth shattering bombshell 00:18:41.849 --> 00:18:46.089 for any Christian in Jerusalem, for the apostles 00:18:46.089 --> 00:18:49.309 and the Christians there. And moments like this 00:18:49.309 --> 00:18:53.950 require people with the spiritual maturity to 00:18:53.950 --> 00:18:57.430 recognize grace where it has appeared somewhere 00:18:57.430 --> 00:19:01.970 very unexpected. Do we know anyone like that? 00:19:02.910 --> 00:19:08.059 Well, the apostles did. Verse 22. News of this 00:19:08.059 --> 00:19:10.980 reached the church in Jerusalem and they sent 00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:17.680 Barnabas to investigate. He's a Levite, so he 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.619 has impeccable Jewish credentials, but he's also 00:19:20.619 --> 00:19:24.230 from Cyprus. A diaspora Jew who knows something 00:19:24.230 --> 00:19:27.349 of life beyond Jerusalem and Judea. He's connected 00:19:27.349 --> 00:19:30.289 enough to Jerusalem to be trusted there, but 00:19:30.289 --> 00:19:33.470 culturally mobile enough not to be paralyzed 00:19:33.470 --> 00:19:36.890 by the thought of cultural difference up in Antioch. 00:19:36.950 --> 00:19:40.190 But most of all, verse 24, we read it again. 00:19:40.410 --> 00:19:44.309 He is a good man, full of faith and the Holy 00:19:44.309 --> 00:19:48.839 Spirit. He is a man who knows grace. How to receive 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:51.740 it, how to rejoice in it, how to rely on it, 00:19:51.779 --> 00:19:55.420 how to recognize it in others and how to radiate 00:19:55.420 --> 00:20:01.059 it outwards as well. So verse 23, when he arrives 00:20:01.059 --> 00:20:04.579 in Antioch and saw what the grace of God had 00:20:04.579 --> 00:20:08.660 done, he was glad and encouraged them to remain 00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:13.890 true to the Lord with all of their hearts. Not 00:20:13.890 --> 00:20:16.710 when he arrived in Antioch and saw what the grace 00:20:16.710 --> 00:20:20.509 of God had done. He pulled out his checklist 00:20:20.509 --> 00:20:22.890 and complained, you guys, this is not really 00:20:22.890 --> 00:20:25.930 how we do things back at the Jerusalem HQ. No, 00:20:26.069 --> 00:20:31.319 he was glad and encouraged them. Barnas could 00:20:31.319 --> 00:20:34.220 have assumed that unfamiliarity was unfaithfulness. 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:37.960 He could have worried about control and language 00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:40.500 and leadership structures or the fact that this 00:20:40.500 --> 00:20:43.200 church had emerged without a kind of Jerusalem 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:48.000 planning it. But instead, he discerns where the 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:52.390 grace of God is at play. He's not abandoning 00:20:52.390 --> 00:20:55.329 his convictions. The opposite of cultural arrogance 00:20:55.329 --> 00:20:59.190 is not a kind of theological naivety. His theological 00:20:59.190 --> 00:21:03.470 discernment is mature enough to distinguish God's 00:21:03.470 --> 00:21:07.849 grace at work beyond his own personal and preferred 00:21:07.849 --> 00:21:11.089 cultural expressions of God's grace at work. 00:21:11.329 --> 00:21:14.049 What I'm saying is this, Barnabas can recognize 00:21:14.049 --> 00:21:17.410 the same Christ in a different form of Christianity. 00:21:18.910 --> 00:21:22.720 And I've got to say, That's who I want to be. 00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:28.380 It really is. I want grace to fill my heart so 00:21:28.380 --> 00:21:32.980 richly and shape my instincts so deeply that 00:21:32.980 --> 00:21:35.940 when I encounter something unfamiliar, my thought 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:38.480 isn't firstly, they're not doing it properly, 00:21:38.579 --> 00:21:43.180 but rather, where is God at work here? I need 00:21:43.180 --> 00:21:46.829 to walk with Barnabas. And learn from him how 00:21:46.829 --> 00:21:50.410 to look for grace, to notice where Christ is 00:21:50.410 --> 00:21:53.069 being honored, where the spirit is producing 00:21:53.069 --> 00:21:55.950 faith, where people are growing in holiness. 00:21:56.069 --> 00:21:59.529 And I need to learn to be genuinely glad when 00:21:59.529 --> 00:22:02.930 I find it. And actually, that's not just who 00:22:02.930 --> 00:22:07.390 I want to be. I think for all of us in this moment, 00:22:07.450 --> 00:22:11.990 it's who we need to be. Because we are living 00:22:11.990 --> 00:22:17.990 through our own. Acts 11. The last 50 years has 00:22:17.990 --> 00:22:21.150 brought more radical change in the worldwide 00:22:21.150 --> 00:22:25.309 church than at any point since the first 50 years 00:22:25.309 --> 00:22:29.069 of the church. You don't have to sit in my classes 00:22:29.069 --> 00:22:31.150 for long or follow me much on Twitter before 00:22:31.150 --> 00:22:35.470 you start hearing me talk about how Christianity's 00:22:35.470 --> 00:22:39.210 center of gravity has radically shifted from 00:22:39.210 --> 00:22:43.089 a millennia of North Atlantic domination. It 00:22:43.089 --> 00:22:46.549 has moved southwards to the majority world of 00:22:46.549 --> 00:22:50.210 Africa, Asia and Latin America. Christianity 00:22:50.210 --> 00:22:57.339 is now unfathomably dispersed. Diasporic, multilingual, 00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:02.200 intercultural and polycentric. Many of the most 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:05.079 vibrant churches and ministries in the world 00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:08.859 today, and even in the UK today, do not look 00:23:08.859 --> 00:23:13.440 or sound or organise themselves like many of 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:18.539 us instinctively regard as good and proper. Cultures 00:23:18.539 --> 00:23:22.180 are meeting and mixing and mingling in unprecedented 00:23:22.180 --> 00:23:26.720 ways. And what is needed now is exactly what 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:30.180 was needed back then in Acts 11. Disciples like 00:23:30.180 --> 00:23:33.740 Barnabas, whose hearts have been shaped so deeply 00:23:33.740 --> 00:23:40.200 by powerful, costly grace, that they can recognize 00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:43.559 the work of God when it appears somewhere unexpected 00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:50.160 and be glad. Now, one of the things we're trying 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:52.779 to do here rightly at college is learn how to 00:23:52.779 --> 00:23:56.359 detect and discern error. Absolutely correct 00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:59.299 and essential that we do so. We rightly want 00:23:59.299 --> 00:24:01.619 and need to be those who can distinguish categories, 00:24:01.940 --> 00:24:05.359 notice exegetical weaknesses, identify theological 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:09.079 confusion, challenge bad argumentation and so 00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:12.980 on. But there is a danger that our theological 00:24:12.980 --> 00:24:18.200 vision becomes asymmetrical. We become highly 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:21.779 trained to recognize error, but correspondingly 00:24:21.779 --> 00:24:25.720 poor to recognize grace. We can become attuned 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:28.619 to seek out what can be challenged rather than 00:24:28.619 --> 00:24:31.339 what can be celebrated. What a gift it would 00:24:31.339 --> 00:24:34.720 be for God's church locally and globally for 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:38.680 Oak Hillers to grow in this Barnabas -like wisdom, 00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:42.420 to enter into a church or a culture or a conversation 00:24:42.420 --> 00:24:45.940 and notice what God is already doing there. And 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:49.240 then have the grace to be glad and be able to 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:53.039 nurture and encourage it. What a gift that would 00:24:53.039 --> 00:25:00.579 be. We need to finish. I very much enjoy walking 00:25:00.579 --> 00:25:03.259 with Barnabas. I enjoy seeing what grace does 00:25:03.259 --> 00:25:08.599 and has done to his spiritual eyesight. In Acts 00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:11.079 4, he recognizes that his possessions are not 00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:14.319 ultimately his own. In Acts 9, he recognizes 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:17.039 that Saul is not ultimately defined by his past. 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:20.660 In Acts 11, he recognizes the church is not ultimately 00:25:20.660 --> 00:25:25.640 defined by Jerusalem's familiar cultural forms. 00:25:25.859 --> 00:25:30.640 Grace loosens his grip on possessions, on fear, 00:25:30.819 --> 00:25:36.279 on control, on prejudices. Next week, we'll walk 00:25:36.279 --> 00:25:41.269 even further with Barnabas. Watching as he invests 00:25:41.269 --> 00:25:45.390 in and magnifies God's grace in others and even 00:25:45.390 --> 00:25:50.910 has others do that to him, sometimes painfully. 00:25:51.369 --> 00:25:56.730 But for now, perhaps the prayer is simple. Lord, 00:25:56.750 --> 00:26:00.950 make us people who by faith and the power of 00:26:00.950 --> 00:26:05.210 your spirit have so deeply received your grace 00:26:05.210 --> 00:26:10.680 that we can recognize. and rejoice in it wherever 00:26:10.680 --> 00:26:12.200 you give it.