“Involvement”

Acts 9=26-31 

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Spring Cleaning

Last Saturday, we have our annual Spring Cleaning here at our church building. It was a great day for everyone who came and got involved. Some preferred to work outside, others worked inside; and all who came participated. Everyone enjoyed what they were doing and it was a fun time of togetherness.

There are many ways on how we can be involved in the church aside from physical aspects. In the spiritual aspect of church life, each believer can be involved as the Holy Spirit leads.

As we become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, we get involved more. Using our strength and creativity to get involved in the church activities bring much fun. That excitement of getting involved is a concrete and tangible manifestation of enjoyment of being an integral part of the church-the body of Christ.

As the Holy Spirit led, the first century disciples were very much involved in the church.

When Saul started preaching, non-believer Jewish people in Damascus wanted to kill him. In Jerusalem, the Hellenistic Jews whom Saul debated with tried to kill him also. Hellenistic Jews were Jewish people who were exposed and practiced Greek culture. They spoke the Greek language; they engaged in debates to challenge new ideas.

But by God’s grace, Saul escaped all attempts of non-Christian Jews to kill him.

 26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 

The Lord said that Saul will suffer much for Jesus’ name and indeed, Saul suffered much. Saul constantly faced and met dangers from non-believers who tried to kill him. Moreover, the disciples in Jerusalem were not ready to embrace him as one of them.

God did not leave His work in the life of Saul unfinished; Barnabas was there to gather.

1.  Gather

27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 

In Jerusalem, the disciples were all afraid of Saul; they did not believe he was transformed. One of the disciples named Barnabas took Saul and brought him to the Apostles.

In Jerusalem, Barnabas was not the pastor but he gathered the disciples together. Barnabas introduced Saul to the disciples; he told them that the Lord spoke to Saul, and he described how in Damascus Saul preached in the name of Jesus without fear.

The particular involvement of Barnabas in the ministry was not to lead a church but to gather disciples who needed encouragement to keep on keeping on.

Barnabas was the Levite named Joseph mentioned in Acts 4:36-37, 36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Barnabas was an encouragement to Saul and to the disciples who were afraid of Saul. Being a Levite, Joseph or Barnabas could identify with Saul when the disciples in Jerusalem were scared of him. It might be that being a Levite, Barnabas had experienced it; he might have not readily accepted by the disciples just like Saul. How could that be?

Saul was Pharisee; Barnabas was a Levite; Pharisees and Levites were religious leaders. Religious leaders were active adversaries to the Christian movement. However, Barnabas had proven his sincerity as a disciple of Christ when he brought the money from the sales of his field and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Saul, for his part, had proven that he was a genuine disciple when in Damascus and in Jerusalem he preached in the name of Jesus boldly.

Have you experienced it when you wanted to prove you were a believer but it seems like nobody wanted to believe you?

Lily

In the mission field, we had our first batch of students to be baptized at a local church. One of the student leaders, named Lily, decided not to join the baptism ceremony. Later on, she confessed that she is a student leader of the communist political party.

As much as Lily wanted to be baptized, she was conscious of the possibility that a communist party spy will be there in the church where the baptism will be held.  As much as she wanted to prove she’s a believer, Lily was scared of the communist party.

On our part, by God’s grace, we were not scared of and did not even entertain any possible consequence of having Lily, a communist leader, joined one of our Bible Study groups. That grace of God is the same God’s grace that Saul had when he preached in the name of Jesus without fear among hostile environment. That grace of God is the same God’s grace that Barnabas had when he took and brought Saul without any hesitation to the Apostles in Jerusalem.

By God’s grace, Barnabas gathered the disciples to come together when there was suspicion, skepticism, and doubts among the disciples about Saul’s transformation.

Personal safety has been a serious hindrance that would discourage one to be more involved. Danger or personal safety is another opportunity to assess the genuineness of faith in God. When Saul was in danger, the Lord mobilized disciples to guard his safety.

2. Guard

28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

Gather not scatter, guard not endanger were remarkable attributes of genuine disciples. Jesus made it clear that Saul will suffer for His name but He kept Saul safe and secured. The Lord provided help and guarded Saul to accomplish His plan for Saul.

The Hellenistic Jews tried to kill Saul when he discussed and debated with them. That’s a biblical example that to be engaged in debate about Jesus invites trouble. Saul was on fire and being an educated Pharisee, he cannot help but to use his intelligence. Saul’s experience proved that human intelligence cannot persuade others to believe in God.

Anyhow, God knows that Saul was in trouble and mobilized the disciples to guard his safety. The disciples brought Saul to Caesarea where they sent him off to his home city, Tarsus.

Saul was always moving; Bible scholars had traced 4 missionary journeys of Saul. Saul was called to be an apostle, a missionary; Saul was not called to be a pastor.

Not all preachers are called to pastor; Saul preached the gospel but he was a missionary. While it is widely accepted for missionaries to be addressed as “pastors,” there are distinctive elements between pastors and missionaries. Missionaries don’t necessarily remain or stay longer in churches while pastors remain. Pastors would stay longer in churches to shepherd the flock, the church members. Missionaries are always on the go, moving from one place to another, planting churches.

Pastors are shepherds guarding the safety of the flock, the church members. One role of pastors is to protect the church from harmful intruders or dangerous doctrines.

Disciples who keep the church safe don’t necessarily be addressed or called to be pastors. The disciples who took Saul to Caesarea were not pastors but they made sure he was safe. Disciples who keep the church safe and secured are not necessarily favorable to outsiders.

Kuya Max

This church is blessed to have Kuya Max whom God uses to protect the church. Many pretenders, those who have no commitment at all are not impressed with him. But those who are genuinely in-tuned with God would find out that the role or the church involvement God has designed for Kuya Max is really a difficult task.

By the grace of God, Kuya Max continued to serve the Lord in every capacity God has given him; with or without appreciation he has peace in his heart.

That was exactly what Paul wanted us to know in Philippians 4:7,  7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Aspire to gain and have the peace of God and don’t quit, don’t stop until you experience it.

To be involved in gathering and guarding the safety of the church is God-given task. We may not understand everything but God’s peace will guard our heart and our mind not to entertain the thoughts of quitting but to keep on keeping on, whatever task we are called into.

31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

When the Holy Spirit is allowed to perform His authority in the life of the believers, increase in numbers is a very tangible result. The Holy Spirit himself inspires and encourages disciples to gather not scatter, to guard not endanger other believers.

God will enable other believers to observe and join us get involved in the ministry.

Seek, know, and get involved in the task God has designed for us.

To gather or to guard, whatever involvement we are called into, let us seek the Holy Spirit to lead us as He performs His authority in us and through us.

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