Introduction to service:
A very warm welcome to our patronal festival here at St Barnabas. Isn’t it wonderful to have our nine-piece church band here this morning to help us celebrate.
Churches in the Church of England are named after patron saints; these are often figures we read about in the New Testament and we are named after one such person, Barnabas, who was one of the early prominent followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, later called an Apostle, a missionary of the early church. Anyone want to have a guess at how many times he is mentioned in the New Testament? 33 or 29 according to my google search. 24 times in Acts and 5 times in Paul’s letters. Barnabas was a Levite from Cyprus, originally named Joseph, but was nicknamed Barnabas by the apostles, meaning “son of encouragement”. In Aramaic bar meansson of and nebua meansprophecy, son of prophecy, but Luke translates his name into Greek as huios parakleseos, son of encouragement, which I think reflects how the early church experienced the ministry of St Barnabas.
Sermon
He exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with a steadfast devotion, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. Acts 23-24.
I want to speak a few words on the ministry of encouragement this morning, on the day of our patronal festival. I want us to think about this gift of encouragement that was so powerfully evident in the ministry of Barnabas and how we might be called to a community of encouragement here in Southfields.
In our reading from Acts Barnabas is described as exhorting the new believers in Antioch. Exhorting is somewhat of an old-fashioned word which we can also translate as encourage. Barnabas encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with a steadfast devotion. Earlier in Acts Luke introduces Barnabas as someone who gave generously to the church, selling land he owned and laying the proceeds at the apostle’s feet. We see him here being sent to Antioch when the church in Jerusalem hears that not only Jews but Greeks are also turning to Jesus and proclaiming their belief in him. Barnabas sees that God is at work and rejoices in this. His first response is to encourage them to remain faithful to Jesus and then he goes to Tarsus to find Saul/or Paul to help him in the ministry to this rapidly expanding Christian community in Antioch.
Barnabas is someone who does not hog the limelight, he wants to work in partnership with others, which indicates a humility and integrity of character. He is not proud or ambitious for himself. Later in Acts we hear how he wants to give John Mark a second chance when Paul refuses to take him back into his missionary team.
I think Barnabas is one of those people who have a ripple effect on those around them, he inspires and enables others in their gifts, he builds up the community by releasing a sense of shared confidence and purpose that everyone has a part to play in God’s community gathered around Jesus. He was the kind of person that gave a sense of possibility to others, of a community where everyone can grow and thrive in their faith and calling and gifts, who trusts God to be at work in others. St Barnabas has something very important for us here in Southfields, a charism or gift of the Holy Spirit, for us to nurture and grow in together.
Encouragement is a much needed gift in our world today, where is much that might discourage and depress us. We need people with this gift. I think we at St Barnabas are called to be a community that intentionally cultivates this gift in one another. We are all called to this, this is a gift for all of us, not just for a few.
So what does it look like to be an encourager?
I am now going to do something incredibly annoying (!) and ask you to turn to person next to you and discuss what kind of things make a person an encourager of others?
[Use portable mike so people can share their responses]
Becoming Barnabas involves practical actions like actively listening, offering support, celebrating successes, and helping others identify and utilize their gifts. Qualities like empathy, noticing, offering a safe space, friendship and support. Note that a good coach does not try and do the work for the other person but helps that person to find the answers and strength from within themselves.
The Greek word Luke uses for Barnabas, parakleseos, comes from the same root word as the name for Holy Spirit in John’s gospel, paraclete, the one who comes alongside, a close companion, a comforter, one who gives strength, and counsel. The Holy Spirit is one who wants to work in partnership with us, does not do it all for us, but is constantly there to help and support us, in just the same way as we are to do for each other.
For St Barnabas to flourish and in turn to be part of the flourishing of our wider community we are all called to be those who can come alongside, support, listen, comfort, motivate, urge, strengthen, inspire, notice and celebrate the gifts in each other. We want to be supporting and encouraging all the good initiatives and people in our wider community to help and support them in their service to Southfields. We began to see some of that at the Gathering for green week that took place last Tuesday, in our deep connections with SGRA, for the Monday Club which Margaret runs, for Glass Door supervised by Jennie, for the Compline choir, for the music and arts that take place here. We want to be part of helping and supporting and encouraging everything that strengthens and nourishes the good, beautiful and true, what nourishes our humanity here in Southfields.
At the root of the word encourage is the word for heart in French cuer from the Latin cor. And this speaks to the deeper source of where our courage and strength comes from, the mind, the heart, the spirit, the inner person that God wants to renew, strengthen and encourage in all of us. We could summarise the gospel as saying that God loved the world so much that he sent Jesus to encourage us, and when Jesus ascended back to heaven to give us the Holy spirit, as God with us, alongside, to encourage each of us to grow into the gifts and potential given to each of us.
This is my prayer for St Barnabas, that each of us becomes an encourager to one another, and this encouragement flows out to bless the wider community of Southfields.
Amen.
