“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. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles” (Acts 9:26–27).
This is a pivotal chapter in the life of the church. Here we see Saul the Jewish Inquisitor become Paul the Apostle. In the same chapter, we also see Peter becoming Peter the Pastor. Even though he was commanded to go make disciples of all nations, we find him instead traveling about the country and visiting the relocated church members in Lydda and Joppa and environs. And yes, he does a great work there … which shows that the Spirit can step in and make good out of even less-than-optimum choices. Indeed, once again, we see a good deed (the raising of Dorcas) being leveraged by the Spirit and by the church so that “many people believed in the Lord.”
Okay, back to the verses at hand … the ones that intrigued me this morning. Saul has a change of heart, but the church members and leaders are all pretty skeptical. But notice, no one there in Jerusalem even gives him a chance. Instead, they essentially ignore him and avoid him. Until Barnabas, whose name means Son of Encouragement, finds him, listens to his story, and then sponsors him into the congregation.
When a first-time visitor happens into RCC, how does the congregation respond? “Oh, we’re a friendly church” is the normal response. And yes, I suspect we are. But I also know that we’re not nearly as welcoming with visitors and guests as we think we are (no church is). The problem is found in the first sentence of this paragraph: “How does the congregation respond?” When we look at the “congregation” we’ve stopped looking in a mirror. Instead of taking personal responsibility for providing a welcome, we “expect” someone else is doing that. The real question about welcome each of us has to answer is “How do I respond?”
Barnabas took personal responsibility to get to know Saul … metaphorically he crossed “the room,” stuck out his hand and said, “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Barnabas.”
This next Sunday, let me invite you to practice the 3:3 ratio of hospitality. Before AND after worship wait three minutes before you speak to anyone you know, and instead go introduce yourself to three people you don’t know (or don’t know well). Be a Barnabas and get to know someone … and sponsor them into the congregation.
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