Saint Barnabas

Text: Mark 6:7-13 and Acts 11:19-30, 13:1-3

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It's all a wonderful and frightening story in the Gospel today; Jesus sends His disciples out two by two. These disciples go out with absolutely nothing to their names.

He commanded these disciples “to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts.”

The ministry they were to bring was to be all about Jesus.

Additionally, there was no governance, constitution, structure, or means of earthly protection for these men – just a Word of repentance and the sweet balm of the Gospel.

This is the Church in its purest form. The ministry of bringing the reign of God to man – the healing Words of Jesus.

And yet, the instruction Jesus provides His disciples also reveals how some would not receive His Word, and when this happens, He says, “shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

This is pretty gnarly – how’d you like to go out on this journey? Jesus says when someone doesn't receive you in kindness and charity, shake off the dust of your feet as a testimony of God's judgment against them. To be honest, this sounds dangerous.

Still, since Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, Jesus has been sending out His Apostles into parts unknown, with nothing but His Word. This is a good time to remember that a disciple is a student, and an apostle is one that is sent out.

We see this with Paul and Barnabas in the epistle today as they continued to take the message of repentance and forgiveness to those who would listen.

This message is what makes Christianity different from all other religions.

Yet, the Church has had to remain on guard throughout the centuries for error, distractions, or a departure from this message of Jesus.

Luther saw this in the Roman Catholic Church of his time, which is why, when he “rediscovered” the Gospel in reading the book of Romans, he sought to confess God's Word with the likeness of the first apostles. Luther desired to see the Church return to Jesus's words. Thus, the term “Reformation” is a return to the original form. 

What were those words of Paul that reformed Luther, this,
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

To summarize, God forgives, and a forgiven person will then want to help his or her neighbor.

Is this an image of the Church today?

In the first of confessional documents presented by Lutherans before Charles the V, the Augsburg Confession layouts in a methodical order what the ministry and Church are to be.

Article V of the Augsburg Confession, regarding the ministry, states,
So that we may obtain this faith (the faith of justification and forgiveness), the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given [John 20:22]. He works faith when and where it pleases God [John 3:8], in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ's sake. This happens not through our own merits but for Christ's sake.[1]

Further, Article VII of the Augsburg Confession, regarding the Church, states,
Our churches teach that one holy Church is to remain forever. The Church is the congregation of saints [Psalm 149:1] in which the Gospel is purely taught, and the Sacraments are correctly administered. For the true unity of the Church, it is enough to agree about the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments…. As Paul says, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:5–6).[2]

Did you hear this, “For the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree about the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments.”

So the Church is pure when doctrine (the teachings of God's Word) and the Sacraments are administered correctly, and the purpose of the Office of Holy Ministry is to deliver these beautiful gifts to you, God's holy children.

But was this the image of the Church at the time of the Reformation? Or, as you examine the Church (capital "C") today, is this the image of the Church you see?

The Lutheran theologian Hermann Sasse once wrote an observation of the Christian Faith and the Church:
If one asks what the one characteristic feature of the Christian faith is, distinguishing it from all religions in the world, then we would have to say: It is the forgiveness of sins. The pious Jew and even a pious Mohammedan may hope for God's pardon. Forgiveness is a real gift, the full assurance of forgiveness that is the gift of the Gospel.

To proclaim the Gospel of forgiveness, to declare to repentant sinners the forgiveness of their sins, to distribute the Sacraments with all the gifts of divine grace contained in them, this and nothing else, is the proper task of the minister of Christ as it was the official proprium [proper office] of Christ Himself. This the Church had to learn in the great crisis of the second century. . . . The church administration in Europe follows the patterns of the administration of the state, while in America, the great business organizations seem to be unknowingly imitated by the churches. The consequence is that also the parish minister becomes more and more of an administrator and organizer who rushes from meeting to meeting and has not enough time for his proper calling as a shepherd. (Hermann Sasse, “The Crisis of the Christian Ministry,” The Lonely Way: Selected Essays and Letters, Volume 2, Page 371)

Do you agree with these words of Sasse?

It's an interesting observation when compared to how Jesus sent out the disciples in today's Gospel and, later, how the ministry and Church are presented in our Lutheran Confessions.

Has the world around us seeped into the Church? Has the Church taken on an image that follows the blueprint of our time’s great American business organizations?

I’ve always believed where we spend the most time reveals not only what we believe to be most important but the image of what genuinely guides our hearts.

So, do we spend more time in the meetings and business of the Church or in the Divine Service itself, receiving the gifts of God? Do we find ourselves arrested by fear and anger with one another or scheduling time for reconciling and prayer for and with our neighbors? Are pastors of our day hopping from meeting to meeting, as Sasse says, or are they sent off with the likes of the apostles to carry out the frightening and beautiful work they receive from Jesus Himself, to shepherd the flock with the words of repentance and forgiveness?

These are hard questions to wrestle with and may make us even more uncomfortable. But these words of Sasse are also such a blessing as they remind us of the characteristic feature of the Christian faith, “The forgiveness of sins.”

For this reason alone, today, the Church should observe St. Barnabas.

First, a little background, Barnabas’ real name was Joseph, and he was a Jewish Levite. After hearing the Gospel, he sold some of his earthly possessions and laid the money at the feet of the disciples – he desired to aid the poor in Jerusalem and support the Church. For this, the Apostles called him Barnabas, which means “Son of Encouragement.” That’s a nice name, isn’t it?

This encouragement is another way to lift another person’s spirits or comfort and provide consolation. I cannot think of a better place and way to receive such encouragement than in the Church of God – where the tired, those burdened by the world, and those who require refuge can come to receive the healing balm of Christ Jesus. 

While Barnabas did indeed support the ministry of the apostles through financial means, he also journeyed with Paul to Antioch to carry out the ministry entrusted to them by Christ Himself. It was here we heard, “And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.”

Another beautiful name and title because where there is a Christian, there is a heart led not only to receive the gifts of God's forgiveness but a forgiven person with a desire to forgive and help his or her neighbor.

This is the Church in its purest form.

As we remember Barnabas and all the apostles, we should take the words of the collect we prayed to heart as we petitioned God, “Grant that we may follow [the] example [of Barnabas] in lives given to charity and the proclamation of the Gospel.”

When you get to it, this is truly beautiful and frightening - confessing sin, forgiving others, and extending charity.

But, like Barnabas, it’s who we, as the Church, are called to be. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Associate Pastor, Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Alexandria, VA

[1] McCain, P. T. (Ed.). (2005). Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (p. 33). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

[2] McCain, P. T. (Ed.). (2005). Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (p. 34). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.