St Theodore's

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Sermon of the Week
Look up the passage

8/5/05

The Antioch Missionary Project Acts 13

I thought, since last week's reading was so long and we had to squeeze a lot of information into a short period of time and since we have a break in our sermon series on Acts because of the special service at 10am today, that we might look some more at Acts 13, at some of the things that we passed over last week.

Cultural Diversity

   The first thing I want to point out is the cultural diversity of the Church at Antioch. Even here, right at the beginning of the Church we see what a multicultural group the church is. You'll remember that the church at Antioch sprang up as a result of Christians migrating from Jerusalem following the great persecution that arose after the death of Stephen. Mostly these were Jewish Christians and they spoke mainly to Jews, but there were some who came from other parts of the world who began to speak to the Greeks as well. So by the time of these events the Church at Antioch was filled with a whole range of ethnic backgrounds. This is shown to some extent at least by the short list, at the start of the chapter, of the prophets and teachers in the Church. There was Barnabas who's described in ch4 as a Levite from Cyprus. There's Simeon who was called Niger, that is, black, so probably a black African. He may in fact have been the Simon of Cyrene who was made to carry the cross for Jesus. That would certainly explain how Mark came to know the names of his sons (Mk 15:21). There's also Lucius of Cyrene, who was definitely from North Africa. Cyrene, by the way is now Tripoli. Then there was Manaen who's said to be a member of the court of Herod, so clearly an Israelite. And finally there was Saul who came from Tarsus, again a Greek outpost. So the leaders of the church indicate the ethnic and cultural diversity that existed at Antioch.

   The Process of Call and Commissioning

   The next thing to notice is the context in which the call of Saul and Barnabas comes. The church is worshipping the Lord and fasting. So they're in a position where they've opened their minds and hearts to the Lord's direction.

   I wonder whether that's still the case for us. When we come together for worship do we come with minds and hearts open to be led by the Holy Spirit, perhaps even to be led into uncomfortable directions as a church? Or are we just doing it because we've always done it, or because it's the right thing to do. And notice that having heard the call to set Saul and Barnabas apart, they then set themselves to pray and fast some more. Presumably they're praying to assure themselves of God's call as well as asking for God's guidance and protection for Saul and Barnabas. And it's only after praying and fasting some more that they send Saul and Barnabas out from them.

   The Cost of Ministry

   Now I mentioned in passing last week something significant about the fact that it's Saul and Barnabas that get sent out. There's little doubt that these two men have played a vital role in the growth of this church. They're highly gifted. Barnabas is mentioned way back in ch4 as being a leader in the generosity shown by the early church to their poorer members. He's nicknamed Barnabas because he has such a gift of encouragement. Saul's credentials we know well.

   So this call for them to leave this church was a big ask wasn't it? It highlights once again just how costly gospel ministry can be, not just for those who go out and do it, but for those who send them out. But notice that there's not even a hint of any complaint from the church. Nor do they simply take a passive role and say "Oh well, if you must you must." C.S. Lewis once wrote "There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done' and those who say 'All right then, have it your way!'" Well, this church is among those who embrace God's will and so they send Saul and Barnabas out with their blessing.

   Some receive with joy others reject.

   Now last week we looked at the way Saul and Barnabas presented the gospel so we won't look at that again. Rather let's just think about the way the gospel was received by various people.

   For some, the gospel is something of an annoyance. The magician Elymas is greatly threatened by the possibility that his boss might be converted, because then he might lose his livelihood.

   For others the gospel is irresistible. Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man is amazed, not just by Saul's exercise of power over Elymas, but he's equally astonished, we're told, at the teaching about the Lord, as a result of which he believes.

   When they get to Pisidian Antioch the people at the synagogue "urged them to speak about these things again the next sabbath. ⁴³When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God." So the preaching of the gospel began to bear fruit from the first among those whom God was calling.

   Similarly, the following week, as they again preach the gospel and as they particularly highlight the fact that the gospel is intended for Gentiles as much as for Jews, there's great joy among the Gentile listeners that God's grace has been poured out on them. "⁴⁷... the Lord has commanded us, saying, 'I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'" ⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers."

   But at the same time there are others who are less than impressed. The Jewish leaders at first are impressed by Paul and Barnabas, but when they see the huge crowd that comes out to hear them they begin to get a bit jealous.

   This is perhaps the saddest part of this story. Here's Saul telling them that all the things God had promised have now been fulfilled. He's just told them that "by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses" (v39). Yet they reject it because they feel threatened by his popularity. What's more the verse that Saul quotes to them from Is 49: 'I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth' was a verse intended for them. But they've forgotten what they're here for. They think they're just here to continue the Jewish religion. They're so intent on maintaining their separateness that they've missed the bigger picture. They've forgotten that God's intention was that they be there to bring all nations into the Kingdom of God.

   This is a warning for us isn't it? It's all too easy for us to think that we're just on about maintaining an Anglican presence in the area, or perpetuating an Anglican way of worship. But the reality is that we have a larger purpose than that. In fact being Anglican is probably the least important thing in God's eyes. Much more important is our willingness and desire to see his kingdom grow. If that means sending out those who are of most value to us to serve somewhere else, then maybe we'll have to do it. It might mean stopping doing some of the things we do so we can put our energy into something more important. It might even mean giving up our identity as St Theodore's to combine with another church so we increase our resource base to something more helpful to the gospel ministry we're doing here.

   Whatever it is, we need to be clear where our priorities lie. The kingdom of God is what really matters. The preaching of the gospel to the ends of the earth is what we're on about.

   Opposition from the power brokers.

   Finally, I wanted to point out the way the power brokers of the town are enlisted to oppose Paul and Barnabas. Look at v50: "But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region." It's interesting, isn't it, that despite it being such a patriarchal society, the real power brokers are the devout women of high standing. Again there's a warning here isn't there. The same thing can happen today. Women still have a great influence in the community for good or evil, whether or not they're part of our decision making bodies. So as much as the decision makers might make good decisions for a church, it's possible for the so-called devout women to very effectively oppose the work of the gospel if they get it into their mind that they don't like it. So we need to be on our guard against such a thing happening. We need to be careful that we enlist all the church in the important decisions that are made. That may be why the setting for the call of Saul and Barnabas was during the worship of the whole church. So all the community was involved in the decision to send them out.

   Let's make sure that we do all we can to encourage the work of the gospel whether it's here in Surrey Hills or overseas where our link missionaries are working. Let's make sure that we're willing to give what we can, whether it's financial support or the even more valuable gift of our local human resources. And let's make sure that we never oppose the work of the gospel out of jealousy or fear that we'll lose something that we have at the moment.

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	Sermon of the Week	Look up the passage
	8/5/05
	The Antioch Missionary Project	Acts 13

	I thought, since last week's reading was so long and we had to squeeze a lot of information into a short period of time and since we have a break in our sermon series on Acts because of the special service at 10am today, that we might look some more at Acts 13, at some of the things that we passed over last week.
	Cultural Diversity
	The first thing I want to point out is the cultural diversity of the Church at Antioch. Even here, right at the beginning of the Church we see what a multicultural group the church is. You'll remember that the church at Antioch sprang up as a result of Christians migrating from Jerusalem following the great persecution that arose after the death of Stephen. Mostly these were Jewish Christians and they spoke mainly to Jews, but there were some who came from other parts of the world who began to speak to the Greeks as well. So by the time of these events the Church at Antioch was filled with a whole range of ethnic backgrounds. This is shown to some extent at least by the short list, at the start of the chapter, of the prophets and teachers in the Church. There was Barnabas who's described in ch4 as a Levite from Cyprus. There's Simeon who was called Niger, that is, black, so probably a black African. He may in fact have been the Simon of Cyrene who was made to carry the cross for Jesus. That would certainly explain how Mark came to know the names of his sons (Mk 15:21). There's also Lucius of Cyrene, who was definitely from North Africa. Cyrene, by the way is now Tripoli. Then there was Manaen who's said to be a member of the court of Herod, so clearly an Israelite. And finally there was Saul who came from Tarsus, again a Greek outpost. So the leaders of the church indicate the ethnic and cultural diversity that existed at Antioch.
	The Process of Call and Commissioning
	The next thing to notice is the context in which the call of Saul and Barnabas comes. The church is worshipping the Lord and fasting. So they're in a position where they've opened their minds and hearts to the Lord's direction.
	I wonder whether that's still the case for us. When we come together for worship do we come with minds and hearts open to be led by the Holy Spirit, perhaps even to be led into uncomfortable directions as a church? Or are we just doing it because we've always done it, or because it's the right thing to do. And notice that having heard the call to set Saul and Barnabas apart, they then set themselves to pray and fast some more. Presumably they're praying to assure themselves of God's call as well as asking for God's guidance and protection for Saul and Barnabas. And it's only after praying and fasting some more that they send Saul and Barnabas out from them.
	The Cost of Ministry
	Now I mentioned in passing last week something significant about the fact that it's Saul and Barnabas that get sent out. There's little doubt that these two men have played a vital role in the growth of this church. They're highly gifted. Barnabas is mentioned way back in ch4 as being a leader in the generosity shown by the early church to their poorer members. He's nicknamed Barnabas because he has such a gift of encouragement. Saul's credentials we know well.
	So this call for them to leave this church was a big ask wasn't it? It highlights once again just how costly gospel ministry can be, not just for those who go out and do it, but for those who send them out. But notice that there's not even a hint of any complaint from the church. Nor do they simply take a passive role and say "Oh well, if you must you must." C.S. Lewis once wrote "There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done' and those who say 'All right then, have it your way!'" Well, this church is among those who embrace God's will and so they send Saul and Barnabas out with their blessing.
	Some receive with joy others reject.
	Now last week we looked at the way Saul and Barnabas presented the gospel so we won't look at that again. Rather let's just think about the way the gospel was received by various people.
	For some, the gospel is something of an annoyance. The magician Elymas is greatly threatened by the possibility that his boss might be converted, because then he might lose his livelihood.
	For others the gospel is irresistible. Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man is amazed, not just by Saul's exercise of power over Elymas, but he's equally astonished, we're told, at the teaching about the Lord, as a result of which he believes.
	When they get to Pisidian Antioch the people at the synagogue "urged them to speak about these things again the next sabbath. ⁴³When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God." So the preaching of the gospel began to bear fruit from the first among those whom God was calling.
	Similarly, the following week, as they again preach the gospel and as they particularly highlight the fact that the gospel is intended for Gentiles as much as for Jews, there's great joy among the Gentile listeners that God's grace has been poured out on them. "⁴⁷... the Lord has commanded us, saying, 'I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'" ⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers."
	But at the same time there are others who are less than impressed. The Jewish leaders at first are impressed by Paul and Barnabas, but when they see the huge crowd that comes out to hear them they begin to get a bit jealous.
	This is perhaps the saddest part of this story. Here's Saul telling them that all the things God had promised have now been fulfilled. He's just told them that "by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses" (v39). Yet they reject it because they feel threatened by his popularity. What's more the verse that Saul quotes to them from Is 49: 'I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth' was a verse intended for them. But they've forgotten what they're here for. They think they're just here to continue the Jewish religion. They're so intent on maintaining their separateness that they've missed the bigger picture. They've forgotten that God's intention was that they be there to bring all nations into the Kingdom of God.
	This is a warning for us isn't it? It's all too easy for us to think that we're just on about maintaining an Anglican presence in the area, or perpetuating an Anglican way of worship. But the reality is that we have a larger purpose than that. In fact being Anglican is probably the least important thing in God's eyes. Much more important is our willingness and desire to see his kingdom grow. If that means sending out those who are of most value to us to serve somewhere else, then maybe we'll have to do it. It might mean stopping doing some of the things we do so we can put our energy into something more important. It might even mean giving up our identity as St Theodore's to combine with another church so we increase our resource base to something more helpful to the gospel ministry we're doing here.
	Whatever it is, we need to be clear where our priorities lie. The kingdom of God is what really matters. The preaching of the gospel to the ends of the earth is what we're on about.
	Opposition from the power brokers.
	Finally, I wanted to point out the way the power brokers of the town are enlisted to oppose Paul and Barnabas. Look at v50: "But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region." It's interesting, isn't it, that despite it being such a patriarchal society, the real power brokers are the devout women of high standing. Again there's a warning here isn't there. The same thing can happen today. Women still have a great influence in the community for good or evil, whether or not they're part of our decision making bodies. So as much as the decision makers might make good decisions for a church, it's possible for the so-called devout women to very effectively oppose the work of the gospel if they get it into their mind that they don't like it. So we need to be on our guard against such a thing happening. We need to be careful that we enlist all the church in the important decisions that are made. That may be why the setting for the call of Saul and Barnabas was during the worship of the whole church. So all the community was involved in the decision to send them out.
	Let's make sure that we do all we can to encourage the work of the gospel whether it's here in Surrey Hills or overseas where our link missionaries are working. Let's make sure that we're willing to give what we can, whether it's financial support or the even more valuable gift of our local human resources. And let's make sure that we never oppose the work of the gospel out of jealousy or fear that we'll lose something that we have at the moment.