Sermon on Acts 11:19-30 preached at Good Samaritan Anglican Church in May 2021
I chose this passage to look at this morning because it’s such an incredible story.
Here’s a little background. The book of Acts is all about the very early spread of Christianity. It was written by Luke, who as we know from his gospel is a very thorough and detailed guy. We know he was a doctor but when writing you could say he was more like an investigative journalist who was determined to get the story right. Luke follows the story of the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and then the end of the earth.
Acts is filled with amazing events. Jesus leaves, the holy spirit arrives, the gospel is proclaimed, the believers are persecuted, and more people come to faith. Healings take place, visions and dreams direct people’s actions, and the #1 persecutor of disciples becomes a believer himself.
Our reading begins just after something stunning had taken place. The gospel was proclaimed to gentiles who believed and were baptized. Now Jewish followers of Christ were not agreeing on what to do about gentiles following Jesus. But when they saw that gentiles received the holy spirit, they realized that gentile followers were just as valid as Jewish. The divide between Jew and Gentile was huge. This acceptance of gentile believers as equals was countercultural.
And then comes another surprise. Remember that Luke explains at the beginning of Acts that the gospel goes out from Jerusalem. Well, the early church leaders suddenly were informed of a church that existed in Antioch. They had not planted that church. The knew nothing about it.
Let’s explore the details here. (v19) “Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews”. A few chapters back we find the story of Stephen being stoned (with rocks) and many disciples took off and fled Jerusalem. They didn’t want to be the next one killed by people throwing rocks at them. A young man named Saul seemed to be in charge at Stephen’s death and went on to hunt followers of Jesus. That led these Jewish followers of Jesus to Phoenicia, Cypress, and Antioch.
A little geography here puts things in perspective. Phoenicia is in modern day Lebanon, a land up the coast a good distance from Jerusalem. Cypress is an island 100 miles off the coast. Antioch is even further north than Phoenicia. It would be in modern day Turkey, just west of Syria. There were Jews living all over the empire and the believers who fled to these places only told Jews about Jesus. Or so they thought, because v20 tells us that some men from Cypress and Cyrene had come to Antioch and spoke of Jesus to Hellenists – Greek speaking non-Jews. The preaching of the gospel to these Hellenists was very fruitful and many became believers. Just to add to our geography for a moment, Cyrene is in northern Africa.
So (v22) the church in Jerusalem gets wind of this church that sprung up in Antioch and that it had both Jew and Gentile in it. So, they send Barnabas to investigate. Barnabas’ real name was Joseph, but he was given this nickname which meant ‘son of encouragement’. He was an enthusiastic guy with a big heart. Barnabas arrives and sees the grace of God and was glad. He proclaims the gospel as well and the church grew even more. It’s interesting that Luke takes the time to tell us that Barnabas was a good man, full of the holy spirit, and of faith. We don’t find that statement about people in the New Testament.
Barnabas recognizes that the church needs something that he cannot supply. It’s great to see that Barnabas knows his gifting well and is humble enough to call for help. Many leaders in churches would rather do things themselves, especially in a situation like Antioch which was thriving. But Barnabas is a good man, full of the holy spirit, and of faith. He knows that the church at Antioch needs someone else to help. And he knows just the man.
Barnabas sets off for Tarsus (also in modern day Turkey but a little further NW around the sea) to find Saul. We first read about Saul when Stephen was stoned. Saul was instrumental in that. Later in Acts we read of Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. From Damascus he fled to Jerusalem because Jewish people were now trying to kill him. In Jerusalem he caused a stir and had to flee to Caesarea where he was put on a boat and sent to his hometown Tarsus. Nothing had been heard of Saul in nearly a decade, but Barnabas knew that he was the right person to lead the church at Antioch for a while. Here is the most incredible reality… The very guy whose persecution caused the church in Antioch to exist would now come to be its pastor for a bit.
We should notice that Luke tells us how Barnabas went to ‘look for’ Saul and then ‘found him’. The wording here suggests that Saul was not easy to find. Barnabas had to hunt for Saul. Because Saul came from a very devout Jewish family, he was believed to be disowned by them. His faith in Christ caused his family and friends in his hometown to reject him.
But why did Barnabas choose Saul? The church at Antioch were new converts and many were gentile. Saul would become the apostle to gentiles. But why him? What Saul offers is a knowledge of the scriptures that gentiles would not have had. By scriptures of course I am referring to what we now call the Old Testament. The spread of the gospel required a lot of teaching and Saul would spend a year in Antioch teaching the new believers. Remember that Jesus told us that the scriptures all point to him. So, if we want to understand the larger picture, we need to learn the OT. Saul had been a devoted student of one of the best teachers in Jerusalem. He could provide foundational teaching to new believers.
Barnabas and Saul minister together in Antioch for a year. And we see that this is the turning point in Saul’s life and ministry. Barnabas and Saul in Acts 11 becomes Paul and Barnabas as the story unfolds. Saul is a Hebrew name and Paul is its Greek equivalent. Luke when writing Acts used the Hebrew name until his extensive ministry to gentiles was underway.
Luke makes one more note that we could miss but is important. It was in Antioch that they were first called Christians. The early use of the word was meant as an insult. It was like “oh, you are one of those ‘Christ followers.’ The term was not used in the church or by its people but rather by outsiders describing “those” people. Jewish people would certainly not call them Christians because they rejected the idea that Jesus was the Christ or messiah. The believers in Antioch were known as Christ followers because they talked about him so often and followed his ways. It’s the kind of insult you might welcome because it confirms that others can tell who you follow.
Our passage finishes off with another insight about the church at Antioch. A prophet comes to Antioch who predicts a great famine. The church responded by sending help to the believers in Judea. We know from history that there was a flood in 45 AD which is the time frame of this passage of scripture. A flood of the Nile river caused the grain crops to fail and a famine resulted for a few years, particularly affecting Judea. The church in Antioch provided aid. Luke is pointing out the generous hearts of the people of Antioch.
Now that we have combed over the passage, let’s see what we can learn from the church in Antioch. Here’s 3 observations about the church in Antioch and how they speak to us today.
Antioch was a church of many ethnicities
Did you know that Christianity has always been multi-ethnic? The first day of the church is considered to be Pentecost. There were people from all over the known world present. The holy spirit was received, and the gospel spread from there. Soon we see Philip ministering to an Ethiopian who came to faith. We see the church in Antioch – Jews, Greeks, Syrians, & Africans.
Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman empire with half a million people. It was a city divided into sections and everyone lived in their ethnic grouping. The church has now brought together people of different ethnicities. While there could have been a church for each ethnicity, that was not the way the church developed. This diversity was shocking to the world around them who had co-existed in their own groupings. Rather than being Jew or Gentile, the believers in Antioch were known as Christians!
How is it that the church has always been multi-ethnic? Well, the gospel is a message of reconciliation. Salvation is an act of reconciliation. We are reconciled to God through Jesus. And when we are in Christ reconciled to God, we are reconciled to one another. Jesus taught this. Paul taught this. To the Corinthians Paul writes…
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, … and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.”
To the Ephesians in speaking about the division between Jew and Gentile, Paul says that Christ “is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility… and reconciled us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”
We have been made one! It’s time for the church to be clear about this!
Antioch was a church that was all about Jesus
Consider the amazing description of what was going on. They came “preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.” Then Barnabas “came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.” “And a great many people were added to the Lord.”
This church was not planted from the leaders of the early church who were based in Jerusalem but by believers who came to Antioch. It was born out of the passion of everyday people whose lives had been transformed by the gospel. People who could not stop talking about the Lord! It’s a significant statement that they were first called Christians in Antioch!
Do we have that passion for Jesus? Are we known as people that talk about the Lord? If we were charged with being ‘Christians’ would there be enough evidence to convict us?
Antioch was a church that took action to bless others
On hearing about a coming famine “…the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.”
Good Samaritan Church was named because of a vision to be a blessing to the community around us. And this little church plant we have seeks to feed the hungry, provide provisions for those in need, and blesses teachers who work with the most challenging students in the district at Givans School. I hope that we never lose sight of the reason the church is named for the good Samaritan of the bible.
I’ll close with this word of encouragement – even though I am no Barnabas. May we be a people who are so faithful to the Lord, filled with the spirit, and formed as one; that we may be a blessing to the world around us. Amen? Amen!
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