Give, Encourage, Stand Up: The Life and Witness of Saint Barnabas

Life in Jerusalem in this passage from Acts was getting more and more difficult, as the followers of the Way (Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life) were having to pool together their money just to survive. Add to this that Stephen was just stoned to death for telling off the High Priest’s council. This council accused Stephen of blaspheming, but in an eloquent speech he turns this accusation back on the religious leaders, not to mention they were ignoring the Holy Spirit. Immediately after Stephen's death a man named Saul went on a killing spree that lead to the death of many early church members. Life back then was economically troublesome, politically problematic, and even full of religious terrorism. That world does not sound all that different from today: Economic disparity, political power plays, and domestic terrorism have all been in the headlines in the past two days.

The world of Acts full of problems, as it was, possessed a good deal of hope. This was the world in which a Levite, a Jewish priest from Cyprus, named Joseph choose to follow something different than this depressing status quo. Being a man of some means he sold a field he owned, brought the money from it, and gave it to the disciples. At a time when the apostles were struggling to survive, Joseph gave them a pick-me-up that led to a new nickname. The apostles began calling Joseph Barnabas, which sounds funny to us, but the translation means Son of Encouragement. In the midst of a very troubling financial period, Barnabas defied the economic model of scarcity to show God's abundance.

When Stephen was martyred, many of the followers scattered, especially as Saul went on his killing spree.
As the followers of Jesus went away they were terrified of stepping outside their comfort zone and spoke only to Jews that they trusted. Yet some, encouraged by Holy Spirit preached beyond the safety nets they knew, as they began to evangelize to some Hellenists (read: Gentiles). In the wake of this the Church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to encourage these now emboldened leaders of the faith. Barnabas, this good man full of the Holy Spirit and faith exhorted them to step outside the familiar, religious world that they knew, and many were brought into the Church. As religious and political powers intimidated many followers of Jesus, Barnabas put his hope in Christ and encouraged these Christians to bring in new members.

Barnabas did not stop here though. Saul's murderous rampage ended in a blinding moment of conversion, as he repented and turned to Jesus. Yet, no Christian wanted to have anything to do with him. Imagine if a Muslim extremist today spoke of an encounter with Jesus that led him to convert, how willing would we be to trust this new Christian? Yet, Barnabas went to find the newly named Paul. Without Barnabas’ encouragement Paul would have remained the murderous Saul. Barnabas’ encouragement and his ability to step outside the comfortable confines of what is familiar enabled the young Christian community to blossom even in the face of terrorism. Barnabas even died spreading this message of Christ’s redemptive love, as he preached in a synagogue some religious authorities were jealous, so they dragged Barnabas out, tortured him, and stoned him to death.

The story does not stop there though, as we are heirs of Barnabas' faith in Christ Jesus. We may find it hard to identify with dying for our faith, especially in a place where our religious freedom as Christians is pretty well protected, yet in a world full of economic disparity, political bickering, and continuing violence we are called to stand up like Barnabas did. Jesus tells us that we are being sent out as sheep among wolves, which is a profound and difficult call as Christians. We must step out being wise as serpents, yet innocent as doves living our lives like Saint Barnabas. Barnabas shows that Christ’s love can overcome a world of economic, political, and violent struggle. Barnabas sold what he owned to give to the poor. He stood up to the religious/political authorities of the day. He responded to violence not by more violence, but by giving up his life, like Jesus did. Today and everyday let us celebrate the life of Barnabas by giving, by standing up, and by encouraging, through which we share the redemptive love of Christ.