and the third and fourth as well, seventy times seven

Paul and Barnabas had such a serious argument about this that they separated and went different ways. Acts 15:39

I forget sometimes that these early Christians were flawed sinners just like me. Paul doesn’t forget: For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

This must be one of those moments.  

Here, Barnabas, whose real name was Joseph, but was nicknamed, “Son of Encouragement,” which is the same word Luke uses for the Holy Spirit, Paraclete, stood against a decision of Paul.  And it’s pretty fun to imagine what kind of guy Barnabas must have been, that he was nicknamed, “Son of the Holy Spirit,” and how closely that is tied up with encouragement and walking alongside the outcast, the stumbling, the discouraged.  This was the guy who stuck up for Paul when everyone else rejected him, and sought him out.  And brought him into the community.  

And so John Mark had wimped out, been a goof ball of some sort, and headed back to Jerusalem before the trip was over. Or the commentators guess that he wasn’t so happy with the Law-less Paul’s mission to the heathens. And the important thing is that Paul was tired of messing with him.  John Mark just slowed him down. But Barnabas clued into what was important, of the Holy Spirit, and gave him another chance.  And thus, we have a gospel which grips the reader with the immediate passion and active voice of Jesus.  Who later earned the name of “John Mark the Evangelist.” Who was later a comfort to a lonely, imprisoned Paul. 

We serve the God of second chances.

Shrouded by the descending fog of His presence.

 When 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,  for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. Acts 11:23-24

A dense fog has desended onto Chicago. So dense that I cannot see past the wobbling rod iron fence separating me from the thirty-three story dropdown to State Street and the normally sparkling Chicago River. What is most striking of all is the silence. Downtown Chicago is always honking and shouting and blaring sirens and rattling. Not now. It has all been muffled into a distant, almost gentle roar, like sea surf. And this morning, this seems an apt metaphor. May the clutter of my culture and previous experience and head knowledge be muffled. And may I focus only on Him, and what He has to say to me about His love and power at work in this teeming world. Much as when His presence would descend onto the tabernacle as a swirling fog, and fill the space.

Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? By their fruit you shall know them.

The early church leaders were pretty upset at Peter had broken the Law and shared bread with the uncircumcised under their own roof. Peter told his story about the vision and the dream and the Holy Spirit's presence, and they were still unconvinced. It is noteworthy that this is the early Church that I so revere for their sense of community and oneness that is actually quite limited and exclusionary, as well as missing a big chunk of the picture, blinded by their cultural safety net of what should and shouldn't be. Barnabas the Encourager took off to see what was happening and witnessed the grace of God manifest. And I am once again reminded that God is bigger than I.

And John reminds us that it is all about Him and His love, and not about who we are, Greek or Jew, male or female, slave or free, nor what rules we obey or doctrinal statements we sign. He is the vine and we are the branches. And the telltale fruit is His. And He knows the true Big Picture.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed His love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.

 This is how we know that we live in Him and He in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. 1 John 4:7-16

 Dear LORD, let me be open to Your Spirit, which is new every morning, at work in this world to Your good purposes, to bring all to a saving knowledge of Your love and forgiveness. May I not rely on my own wisdom and understanding, but look to You and Your eternal Truths being revealed in each beloved soul. As I wander the streets of Chicago, under the rumbling train tracks or pass the hunched over man rattling his coin can on the bridge, may I hear Your voice. May I notice and be mindful to only You and Yours.

With steadfast purpose

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.  Acts 11:25

Let me take the time and effort to be a Barnabas.  Barnabas didn’t just make good decisions of reconciliation and encouragement when things happened around him, which would be pretty cool.

He noticed who was missing and sought them out.  It’s one thing to notice the people sitting alongside the edge of the party by themselves.  It’s another to remember who isn’t even there.  

Paul wasn’t there.  He had fled to Tarsus because people were trying to kill him.  Pretty much his whole life: his training, his family connections, his purpose, was in tatters.  And although Tarsus is a lovely town nestled in sea cliffs, things could seem pretty bleak.

And Barnabas, a good man, full of faith and the Holy Spirit, went to Tarsus and looked for Saul.  And then hung out with him for a year, discipling him, walking through this new faith with him, even though surely he could not have been everyone’s favorite person.  But Barnabas stuck it out.  And then he gave Paul a good project for making friends, gathering together gifts to take to the Christians in Jerusalem, who were suffering from famine.

So this are the sort of things a good and faithful person is doing.  And he was the go-to guy when the Gentiles needed to be included into the body.  Up until now, for their whole entire lives, the Jews had been trained to not even talk to Gentiles.  This was the shocking behavior of Jesus though, like when he hung out with the woman at the well.  But when the Gentiles received the word of God, old Barnabas included them as well, and encouraged them, and urged them to be steadfast.  And of course, there’s John Mark.  I guess he was sort of a goofball and messed around and was unreliable and a piece of work.  But that was ok for Barnabas.  He invited him along on the adventure and led him into strength and maturity.  

May I be Barnabas today, looking for who is not seen.  Who is in the highways and byways and seek them out for rebuilding and restoration to calling.