Latest / Chapel Talks / Grace Received, Grace Invested: The Radical Leadership of Barnabas (Part 2) | Chris Howles

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Grace Received, Grace Invested: The Radical Leadership of Barnabas (Part 2) | Chris Howles · Chapel Talks

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Well, good morning, and I'm very pleased to be
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able to bring to you the readings for this morning.
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We're going to carry on looking at some of the
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key events in the life of us. We'll begin with
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Acts chapter 11. This one actually we did have
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last week, but we're going to read a little bit
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further. So some of these verses will be familiar
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to you from last week, but not all of them. Acts
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chapter 11, starting in verse 19. Now those who
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had been scattered by the persecution that broke
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out when Stephen was killed, travelled as far
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as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the
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word only among Jews. Some of them, however,
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men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and
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began to speak to Greeks also. telling them the
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good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand
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was with them and a great number of people believed
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and turned to the Lord. News of this reached
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the church in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas
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to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the
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grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged
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them all to remain true to the Lord with all
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their hearts. He was a good man, full of the
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Holy Spirit and faith. And a great number of
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people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas
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went to Tarsus to look for Saul. And when he
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found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for
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a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the
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church and taught great numbers of people. The
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disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
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During this time, some prophets came down from
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Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus
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stood up and through the Spirit predicted that
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a severe famine would spread over the entire
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Roman world. This happened during the reign of
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Claudius. The disciples, as each one was able,
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decided to provide help for the brothers and
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sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending
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their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
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We'll continue at the very end of chapter 12,
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verse 25 and continuing into chapter 13. The
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story continues. When Barnabas and Saul had finished
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their mission, they returned from Jerusalem,
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taking with them John, also called Mark. Now,
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in the church at Antioch, there were prophets
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and teachers. Barnabas, Simeon, called Niger,
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Lucius of Cyrene, Manan, who had been brought
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up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. While they
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were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy
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Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
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for the work to which I have called them. So
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after they had fasted and prayed, they placed
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their hands on them and sent them off. And if
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you turn forward for our third and final reading
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this morning, that will be in chapter 15, Acts
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chapter 15, verses 36 to the end. Sometime later,
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Paul said to Barnabas, let us go back and visit
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the believers in all the towns where we preach
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the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.
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Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark,
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with them, but Paul did not think it wise to
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take him because he had deserted them in Pamphylia
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and had not continued with them in the work.
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They had such a sharp disagreement that they
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parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed
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for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended
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by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He
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went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening
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If you'd kindly turn back to chapter 11 as we
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pray together. Lord, thank you for these words
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recorded by Luke of Barnabas, a good man full
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of the Holy Spirit and of faith. Please, through
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his story, by your words, in your spirit and
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by your grace, may we also walk with the wise
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that we might see in him the work that you did
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and that we in turn might have hearts and minds
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open to the goodness of the lord jesus christ
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that he would work similarly in us we ask in
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jesus's name amen so this is the second of two
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talks about barnabas i hope you remember last
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week we began with Proverbs chapter 13, which
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says, walk with the wise and become wise, but
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a companion of fools suffers harm. And we thought
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about how the people we walk with will always
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leave a mark on us for good or for ill. And in
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these readings and talks, We're focusing, of
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course, on Barnabas. We're tracing through his
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character and his convictions. And we want to
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see in him what happens when the grace of Christ
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works powerfully in and through a real person.
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And we're walking with him with the aim that
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we too might be wise, that we might be marked
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or moulded by that same transforming gospel grace
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that was so powerfully and evidently at work
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in Barnabas. Our aim, as I said last week, is
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not to lionize him. Luke's center is always the
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Lord Jesus Christ and ours should be too. Last
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week, a quick recap. We looked at chapter four.
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You don't need to turn there, but we saw that
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wonderful description of the church where Luke
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tells us that God's grace was powerfully at work
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in them all. Barnabas sells a field and lays
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the proceeds of that at the apostles' feet. And
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because he had received from Christ what he could
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never earn and could never lose, it does seem
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that he is freed to release his grip even on
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his possessions. That powerful grace at work
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in him, that costly grace. We then looked at
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Acts 9 and we saw this new convert, Saul, who
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comes into Jerusalem. And we saw how the Christians
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there and the apostles were afraid of him. After
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all, this was, or in their minds might still
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be, the high priest hatchet man, persecuting
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and imprisoning and killing Christians. So they
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don't easily accept him. But along comes the
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grace -filled Barnabas. who doesn't naively overlook
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Saul's past, but because he knows grace, he can
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recognize it and he stakes his entire credibility,
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his life even, you might say, on Saul, trusting
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that through the powerful work of grace in Saul,
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the old has gone and the new has come. And of
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course, he was right. And then again, last week,
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we saw in chapter 11 how the apostles were apparently
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bemused and confused by all that was taking place
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up in Antioch, where a large number of Gentiles
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were coming to Christ. And this unprecedented
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intercultural church was forming all of it outside
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the control and leadership and direction of the
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church in Jerusalem. Humanly speaking, this was
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a moment of enormous significance. Will the church
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remain funded? centered on Jerusalem and bound
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by Jewish cultural identity? Or will it be released
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to become a multicultural, polycentric, decentralized
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global people of God? The apostles needed someone
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with grace -filled eyes and grace -filled heart
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to see God's bigger purposes, so they sent Barnabas.
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Remember what Luke says happened? He arrived
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there and saw what the grace of God had done
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and he was glad. So today we're going to take
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some more steps on our journey with Barnabas,
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walking with the wise. Some are characteristically
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encouraging for us. Some will feel sadder, even
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painful. We'll begin with Acts 11. We left the
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story last week in 24 with that grace -filled
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gladness of Barnabas arriving in Antioch. See
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what happens next. Chapter 11, verse 25. So Barnabas
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went to Tarsus to look for Saul. And when he
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found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for
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a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the
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church and taught great numbers of people. The
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disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.
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Barnabas is apparently heading up this rapidly
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growing new international multicultural church
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in the Roman Empire's third largest city. And
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it seems that his instinct is not to embed and
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establish himself as its sole front man and figurehead,
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but rather to seek out Saul and bring in this
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newer leader. For a whole year, they teach together.
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It's intentional. Barnabas is not just defending
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Saul now like he did in Jerusalem back in chapter
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9. He's developing him. Barnabas is spending
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his own social capital and leadership influence
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on all that he believes God can and will do through
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Saul. Barnabas is the one with the platform and
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the opportunities and the experience and the
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status and the connections and the authority.
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He's the gatekeeper. wide open for others rather
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than slamming it shut and defending it for his
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own privileges and so that year in or after that
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year in Antioch they then head down to Jerusalem
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at the end of chapter 11 a second visit together
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to Jerusalem this time they're entrusted with
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money for famine relief for the brothers and
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sisters who are suffering in Judea. And then
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after Luke gives us a sort of interlude in Barnabas'
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story with Peter in chapter 12, we then get to
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chapter 13. Famously, the Holy Spirit directs
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the church to set apart Barnabas and Saul for
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the work to which he's called them. And the church
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prophets and teachers, they fast and they pray
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and they lay hands on this pair and send them
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out. And so Barnabas and Saul begin that first
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missionary journey together. And of course, many
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of us are so used to calling it Paul's first
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missionary journey that we sometimes miss Luke's
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deliberate ordering. They set out repeatedly
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as Barnabas and Saul. Does seem to be intentional.
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Barnabas as the established leader, Saul as the
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younger convert. But as that story of that missionary
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journey unfolds throughout chapters 13 and 14,
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that ordering starts to get reversed. Have you
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ever noticed that? Increasingly, Luke uses the
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phrase Saul and Barnabas or Paul, later Paul
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and Barnabas. And even later the phrase Paul
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and his companions. Barnabas is still there,
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but Paul and his companions. Luke does seem to
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be indicating that the dynamic is shifting with
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Paul increasingly growing into the leading role.
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At Lystra in chapter 14, the crowd calls Barnabas
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Zeus and Paul Hermes. And Luke tells us that's
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because Paul was the chief speaker. So Barnabas
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is senior, but Paul is speaking. And as Acts
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moves on and as that journey moves on, it is
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hard to escape the conclusion that Barnabas is
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willingly and consistently investing deeply in
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training and raising a co -leader whose influence
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and standing is eclipsing his own. Let's think
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about that for a moment. So often the metric
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we use when we're measuring a leader. is evaluating
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what they have done or what they have achieved.
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But maybe another criteria we can and should
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use is to ask, who have they enabled? By that
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measure, Barnabas is flying. He's minimizing
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his own platform and prominence to see that the
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grace of God is multiplied and magnified in others.
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particularly through Saul. And in this way, and
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we can assume with God's smile upon him, his
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success secures in history and memory his own
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lesser status. I don't know about you, that makes
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me ponder my journey, leadership journey. We
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all have leadership journeys to reflect on, ongoing,
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I assume, for all of us. Maybe we look back in
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our past and Recognize gatekeepers in our lives
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who have released their grip to empower us to
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move forward in leadership? I've certainly got
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people in my life like that. Or maybe we're wondering
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if we will be, like Barnabas, leader makers in
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the future. Not just leaders, but leader makers.
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People pleased to make ourselves smaller without
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becoming bitter for the growth and benefit of
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others. Because that's the way of Christ and
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that's the way of Christ in Barnabas. And it
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can be the way of Christ in us. It does require
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a renewed gospel mind and a deep gospel identity.
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Because after all, if my worth depends on my
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influence, then I need to protect my platform.
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And another person's growth becomes a threat
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to that. But if the all -surpassing joy of knowing
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Christ Jesus, my Lord, means that status and
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significance is worth as nothing to me for the
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sake of Christ, then I am free, wonderfully free,
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to spend whatever significance I may have or
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may have been gifted on someone else, on their
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fruitfulness. I'm reminded of former Oak Hill
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principal Mike Ovi. He preached the sermon at
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an ordination service in 2015, two years before
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he died, and said to that small group of new
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Christian leaders these words, quote, we want
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you to be better than us. We want you to be more
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faithful than us. We want you, spiritually speaking,
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to tower above us so that the cross of the Lord
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Jesus Christ stands high in this land and that
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men and women may know the blessings of eternal
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life. That is our dream for you. That is our
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prayer for you. Not that you are as we are, but
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that you are better. Seems to me that is the
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grace of God at work in a very Barnabasian way.
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Those who have gone before us, investing themselves
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in us, that we might even surpass them in faithfulness
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and fruitfulness. Followed, of course, by our
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doing the same for those who follow us. Grace
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received becomes grace invested, generation after
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generation. after generation. That is the grip
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-loosening grace of God. We've seen that grace
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of God at work in Barnabas that loosens his grip
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on his possessions, that loosens his grip on
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his assumptions, his suspicions, and now grace
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that loosens his grip on his status and his significance.
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And again, I don't know about you, but I find
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myself crying out, That's who I want to be. Or
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more specifically, that's what I long for the
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grace of God to do in and through me. God, give
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me, give each of us, as with Barnabas, an open
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heart and willing spirit to turn grace received
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into grace invested. This principle of grace
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received, grace invested, we thought about it
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there on a personal level for us, perhaps as
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individuals, as leaders. But I am so supremely
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not sorry to think again, like last week, about
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applying this principle, not just on a micro
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level to us as individuals, but on a macro level
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to the global church. We talked last week about
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how in recent decades, Christianity has become
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a genuine global polycentric faith with a demographic
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center of gravity now lying decisively in Africa,
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Asia and Latin America. Yet. Institutional power,
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money, accreditation, cultural influence and
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public platforms remain. disproportionately concentrated
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in Western centres. You know where this is going,
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don't you? Are we, like Barnabas, willing to
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recognise this moment, invest in others globally,
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and see multiply what God is doing around the
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world, even if this decentres or diminishes us
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here in the Western church? Now, friends, I do
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understand that increasingly and wonderfully,
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not everyone sitting in Oak Hill College Chapel
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this morning locates themselves ethnically or
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culturally within Western Christianity. Some
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of you I know have been formed principally in
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churches within the majority world. But I don't
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think any of us can stand outside of this challenge
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because after all, we're all being formed in
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a college located in the West. And the challenge
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is this, again, are we in the Western church
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willing to move from merely a welcome to others
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and inclusion of others towards a genuine mutual
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partnership with others? That's the challenge.
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It's more than merely inviting others into the
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church structures and ministry systems and assumptions
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that we in the West have designed and continue
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to manage. It is actually more than that. It
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is empowering brothers and sisters from elsewhere,
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not only to contribute to conversations, but
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also to help determine what those conversations
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are. Let's put it this way. I heard a story from
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a U .S. missiologist, Todd Johnson. He tells
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the story of sitting at a conference next to
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an African Christian leader. And when the American
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speaker talked about the goodness of sharing
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a table together as representatives from every
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continent, the African leader leaned over to
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him and whispered, it's good if you invite us
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to the table, but it's far better if you let
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us into the kitchen. You see, the table is where
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the meal has already been decided and delivered.
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The kitchen is where the recipes are worked out
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and the meal itself is made. And that's the challenge.
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It is easy for those of us located in the Western
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Church to celebrate African, Asian, Latin American
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Christians and Christianity, describe them as
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partners in mission, while still quietly assuming
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that our theology is normative and theirs is
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contextual. That our biblical exegesis is rigorous
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and theirs is immature. That our ways of organizing
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churches and ministries are default and theirs
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is exotic. Like Barnabas, is the Western church
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willing to recognize grace beyond our own familiar
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world and then relinquish enough control to see
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that grace flourish? And there are few questions,
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I believe, that will determine the future of
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the church in the 21st century more than that
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one. Let's go back, though, directly to the story
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of Barnabas. It continues. So he left him and
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Saul on that missionary journey in Acts 13, sent
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out by the church in Antioch. It takes about
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two years, that missionary journey, and it involves
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extensive travel around modern day Cyprus and
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Turkey. It is anything but easy. They encounter
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opposition and spiritual conflict. They are chased
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away from some places. They are mistreated and
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abused in others. In Lystra, the crowds mistake
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them for gods and then with a kind of terrifying
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volatility, then turn against them. Paul is stoned
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and dragged out of the city and left for dead.
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But brave Barnabas and courageous Paul continue.
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They even returned to some of those places where
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they had been previously attacked in order to
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strengthen the churches there. Paul and Barnabas
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are preaching, we must go, a quote from them
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that Luke records, we must go through many hardships
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to enter the kingdom of God. That's what they're
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preaching. Barnabas, the son of encouragement
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with Paul, is strengthening people through his
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words and his example to remain faithful where
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grace is costly. After that journey, they return
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at the end of chapter 14 back to Antioch where
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they started and they report back to the church
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all that God has done and how he's opened a door
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of faith to the Gentiles. And that question then
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explodes into the great controversy of Acts chapter
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15. Must Gentile believers become Jewish? In
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order to truly belong to the people of God. And
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so, of course, the apostles convene a council
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to discuss that question. Barnabas is right there
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in the heart of it as he and the apostles reach
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that wonderful conclusion that salvation is by
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the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and Gentiles
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belong fully to him without first becoming culturally.
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That is the foundation stone. That decision is
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the foundation stone on which the whole expansion
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of the church since then to the ends of the earth
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is built on. That's the moment that Christianity
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becomes translatable, movable, migratory, contextual,
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multicultural and ultimately universal. And Barnabas
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is right there in the thick of it. Representing.
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And again, advocating for voices of others, these
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Gentiles in Antioch, from the margins who had
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no voice there in Jerusalem, but his. I'd love
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to end Barnabas' story there, because he's so
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great, isn't he? I think so. And I'd love to
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end it there. A man who has helped to recognize
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and mature and nurture. and defend some of the
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great gospel breakthroughs of the early church.
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Let's end it there. But of course, Scripture
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refuses to give us quite such a neat portrait
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because there are two messier moments that remain.
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And we must finally, albeit briefly, look at
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those two incidents as they occur chronologically,
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starting with the Jew -Gentile table fellowship
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incident. of Galatians 2 and then we'll look
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at Barnabas's parting from Paul that we read
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in Acts chapter 15. As I say that those two incidents
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we're looking at them in that order Galatians
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2 then Acts chapter 15 the parting that that
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chronology is debated the question revolves on
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how Paul's visits to Jerusalem in Galatians line
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up with how Luke records Paul's visits to Jerusalem
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in the book of Acts and whether therefore the
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Galatians 2 incident happens before or after
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the Jerusalem council. We're not going to get
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into that now. I'm following the more common
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and I think more convincing view that the Galatians
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2 incident happens before the council of Jerusalem
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in Acts chapter 15 and therefore before the split
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between Paul and Barnabas. So Galatians 2, let's
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turn to it. I didn't read it earlier. But let's
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turn to it, Galatians chapter 2. This is one
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of the most uncomfortable moments in the New
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Testament, don't you think? Let's read from verse
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11. Paul says this, when Cephas, Peter obviously,
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came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because
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he stood condemned. For before certain men came
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from James, He used to, Peter, used to eat with
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the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began
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to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles
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because he was afraid of those who belonged to
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the circumcision group. The other Jews joined
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him in his hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy,
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even Barnabas was led astray. Do you feel the
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heartache in that as I do? Even Barnabas, I think
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you can even hear Paul's shock and sadness as
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he writes. Barnabas. The man sent to Antioch
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because he could recognize grace at work among
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the Gentiles. Barnabas, who had rejoiced in the
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culturally mixed church growing there. Barnabas,
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who had led and nurtured a Gentile church and
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suffered on mission to Gentiles and advocated
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for Gentile inclusion. Even Barnabas is now allowing
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pressure from Jewish background believers from
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Jerusalem to pull him away from eating. It's
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heartbreaking. The grace of God made him so open
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-hearted and open -handed. What's happened here?
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Well, it seems to me that Barnabas' weakness
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actually here may be a misdirection of his strength.
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Those very instincts that made him generous,
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have also made him vulnerable to this sort of
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relational pressure. He's caught in the gravitational
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pull of these people from Jerusalem whose fellowship
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matters to him such that what he knows to be
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true about Gentile inclusion is momentarily overridden
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by the social cost of living that out in his
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life. At the beginning of Paul's Christian life,
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Paul needed someone with a willingness to advocate
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for an outsider. Up stepped Barnabas. Now, years
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later, Barnabas needs someone with a harder edge
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of doctrinal clarity to correct him where his
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relational instincts have led him astray. Up
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steps Paul in return. What a kindness of the
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Lord to bring the two of them. together. Wonderfully,
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though, by the time of the Jerusalem Council
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in Acts 15, Barnabas is once again, as we saw,
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standing with Paul and indeed the gospel, testifying
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to God's work among the Gentiles and defending
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their full inclusion in Christ. God's grace remains
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as evident in him as ever, this time through
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his readiness to be rebuked by the gospel through
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Paul and then realigned with the gospel. So there
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is a happy ending after a painful incident. And
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so we turn finally, and perhaps even more painfully,
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to that second messy moment, I said, in Barnabas's
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life. This is just going to be inappropriately
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brief. Our time is almost done. But it is a troubling
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moment. Acts chapter 15. Go back to that, if
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you would. The split from Paul after the Jerusalem
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Council. Let's look at it again. Acts 15 from
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verse 36. Oh, that stings as well, doesn't it?
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Does that sting for you? This extraordinarily
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beautiful and fruitful ministry partnership ends
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in a disagreement sharp enough that Paul and
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Barnabas can no longer continue together. Who's
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to blame? Well, it seems, doesn't it, that Luke
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is remarkably reluctant to direct us one way
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or the other. on that question. Paul has a serious
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point. Mark has left them on the previous journey
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and taking someone back into a demanding pioneer
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missionary journey again is not a trivial decision
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and he doesn't want to do that with Mark who
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he feels can't be trusted. Barnabas also has
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a serious point. The man who once saw beyond
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Saul's past It is unwilling to let someone's
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previous failure become their final word. He's
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unwilling to let Mark, his cousin, go. They cannot
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agree. And so after 15 years of Christian friendship
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and ministry partnership, they separate. Paul
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takes Silas and Luke follows him in the story
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of Acts. And Barnabas takes Mark and heads off
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to Cyprus and effectively out of the biblical
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narrative. Is there a gracious goodness in God's
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providence here as one missionary team becomes
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two? Maybe, maybe yes. But perhaps we shouldn't
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rush too quickly to that happy, hopeful conclusion.
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We cannot simply appeal to God's providence and
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provision in a way that kind of simplifies the
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hurt and loss. of this painful Christian division.
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The fact that God can sovereignly work in and
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through relational breakdown does not inherently
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make that breakdown good. And ministry expansion
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does not, of course, somehow cancel out the pain
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of Christian brothers pulling away from one another
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like this. And I think at this point in Acts
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15, we're just being asked to sit uncomfortably
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in lament and faith. As we read about this parting.
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It is good to know, isn't it, that a few years
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later, Paul does mention Barnabas in his epistle
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to the church in Corinth. And he mentions Barnabas
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in a complimentary and admiring way. And he's
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also, Paul, many years later, is desperate to
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have Mark come and join him in his ministry.
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So the rupture does not appear to become permanent
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or permanently hostile. The grace of Christ at
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work in Barnabas and Paul, of course, keeps pressing
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them towards repentance and restoration and reconciliation,
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as it must, of course, in our own lives and relationships.
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So let's end where we began in Proverbs 13, walk
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with the wise and become wise. For two chapel
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talks, we've walked with Barnabas. And I hope
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we've seen the transforming grace of Christ in
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a real person. Grace received, grace recognized,
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grace relied on, grace rejoiced in, and grace
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that radiates out to others. It is a grace that
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loosens our grip on things of this world and
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gives us something better to hold on to. Because
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in Christ, of course, we, like Barnabas, have
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received what we could never earn and never lose.
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And so our standing before God is not secured
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by our usefulness, our reputation, our possessions,
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our success. It is secured by Christ alone. Let's
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pray. Our Lord Jesus, may your grace, so present
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and evident in Barnabas, both flourish and form
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in us too. For the name, for your name and glory
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we ask it. Amen.