20190331 CCC Sermon Acts 25 The First Christians

One of the things I learned on my overseas missions trips is how, particularly in the Muslim dominated parts of the world, the term “Christian” is synonymous with “American”. Which, you may think, isn’t such a bad thing until you realize that for most in that part of the world, their idea of what “American” means is shaped not by what happens here, but by what Hollywood produces. Certainly, the days of Mayberry and Petticoat Junction are past, but even then, imagine if your view of Christianity was shaped more by what is on television today than what the Bible says. It’s really no wonder that many around the world who have limited exposure to Christianity view it as a decedent and repulsive religion. It took time to explain that our beliefs weren’t reflected in Hollywood.

Even in our own culture, we struggle to define what a Christian is. Is it someone who goes to church? Is it someone who reads their Bible? Is there a difference between a Christian and a disciple? All of these remind us that we need a source or authoritative guide to tell us what a Christ-follower looks like. Without it, we are left to saying “Well, in my mind a Christian is this” or “I believe that a Christian does that”. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you or I believe a Christian is or isn’t - what matters is what the Bible says about the matter. What does the Bible say a Christian looks like, sounds like, talks like. What does the Bible say a Christian does or doesn’t do. That has to be our authority when we try and determine what a Christian is.

Our text today tells us in verse 26 that for the very first time, society called these Christ followers “Christians”. But why? What stood out to them that caused them to say that these people were “of Christ”? I believe that there are three marks in our text today that may not be the only marks that define a Christian but they certainly cannot be left out. Our text shows us that Christians are people who proclaim Christ, make disciples wherever they go and do good works for the benefit of others. The question for you and for me today is do our lives bear these same marks and are we worthy of the name “Christian”.

Christ is Proclaimed (v. 19-21)

Luke is taking us back out to a wide angle view of what is happening in the region. After spending time looking at Saul’s conversion and Peter’s encounter with Cornelius, Luke is shifting the focus at what is happening in a larger context. Remember, we are not that far removed from chapter 7 and the stoning of Stephen and the persecution that followed. As the church is scattered in wake of that persecution, we see the Jewish believers going as far as Phenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, preaching to fellow Jews for their need to repent. Others went to Cyprus and Cyrene proclaiming the gospel to the Hellenists, that is Greek speaking Jews, so that they too might believe. From Jerusalem, the spread of the gospel is now as far as modern day Libya and either Syria or Turkey. Regardless of the exact location, we know the area is large and we know three things about their efforts - these were ordinary, nameless Christians, the hand of the Lord was with them and where they shared, people turned to Christ.

So often, when we read our Bibles, we believe that God only works through the “named” people. King David. The Apostle Peter or Paul. Barnabas. The people who are nameless in the Scriptures, we tend to believe, are the nobodies, the extras on the grand stage of God’s redemptive work. And yet, this is not what we see in this text. Because ultimately it’s not what Peter or Paul did or said but who is at work behind the scenes. God is the one that is working, drawing people to himself. And if this is the case, then our job suddenly becomes less about apologetics or persuasion and more about faithfulness to sharing what God has done in our lives. Ultimately, sharing is about God working in people’s lives and He invites us to participate in it.

These were ordinary people, on the run, persecuted for what they knew to be true about Jesus Christ. And yet, the love of Christ so motivated them that they spoke the word, the gospel, to everyone they met. This was genuine persecution, their lives were in danger and they thought of nothing else but to share the love of Christ, the message of the gospel with those they met while they were on the run. God’s hand doesn’t just rest on the primary names in the Bible, the stars as it were. His hand, his blessing rests on anyone who does his work. The mark of a true Christian is that they talk about Jesus with people in order that these other people would come to know Jesus. I’ll be honest, this passage has convicted me mightily because I don’t speak about Jesus the way that I ought to because I am always making excuses. But, if these people who were persecuted and threatened with death can share Jesus, shouldn’t I speak up as well?

People ask me what is it about Disney World that I love so much and there are many things, but one of the things I love the most is the philosophy of “Every role a starring role”. At a Disney park, you don’t have custodians, food service or ride operators. Instead, they view everything as a giant show and they call everyone “cast members”. And, it was one of Walt’s philosophies that every cast member has the potential to make someone’s day “magical”. It’s why if you drop your ice cream, they give you a new one, no questions asked. It’s why they give a screaming kid a balloon. It’s why they randomly let people come to the front of the line. Because in each of these they remind everyone who works there that they have the opportunity to make someone’s day.

It’s time that the church adopts this philosophy as well. But I’ll tweak it just a bit - every role a speaking role. I’m not saying we all need to go out, standing on street corners shouting about Jesus. But, we all need to be people who speak about how God is at work, what he does in the lives of people all around us, sharing the hope of the gospel in order that people might come to know Jesus. Not everyone will - and that’s not our job. Our job is to speak to what God has done. That is the work of a witness. And when we do that, we have no idea what will happen. We may remain nameless, but the people we share with might do something remarkable. We need to be people who proclaim Christ as we are going about our daily lives. One mark of a Christian is that they proclaim the gospel found in Christ Jesus.

Disciples Are Made (v.22-26)

As we continue in our text today. we see in verse 22 that word gets back to Jerusalem that there are a whole bunch of new Christians. So, the church sends Barnabas to Antioch to instruct and exhort the new followers of Christ. As even more people came to know Christ in a saving way, Barnabas realized he needed help in this work. So, he went and recruited Saul of Tarsus for this work. Together, they worked for a year to disciple these new converts and they became known as people of Christ or as Christians. Here we see that the second mark of these people called Christians is that they aren’t satisfied merely with identifying with a set of beliefs. Rather, these people wanted genuine gospel transformation. The heart of Christianity is not simply conversion but instead a disciple making transformation that can only happen with teaching what Jesus taught as guided by the Holy Spirit.

If there has been a crime in the church over the last couple of generations is a shift away from discipleship and a focus instead on getting conversions. And yet, the focus of the church’s Great Commission isn’t to simply make converts that can then go off and do whatever they want but instead to go and make disciples, people who are taught all that Jesus taught in such a way that transformation is the goal. Somewhere we’ve allowed people to become a Christian and then decide later to follow Jesus. This is so far from what happened in the early church that it’s depressing. We need to realize that to be a “Christian” as we read here is to be a disciple who helps make disciples who helps make disciples. Our job is to make followers of Christ - people identified with the one we follow!

While the word disciple should mean

That’s the thing with a disciple - you can tell the one that they follow just by how they act, what they say and what they believe. The latest rage is this idea of minimalism and tidying up as made popular with Marie Kondo. Now, I’m ok with decluttering - I probably need to do some of that myself. Her mission in life is “to spark joy in the world through tidying.” So, if I see someone on Facebook or I hear someone say they are decluttering all the things that “don’t spark joy”, I know that they are disciples of Marie Kondo. Again, it’s ok, although I think our ultimate joy is found in Christ, but the truth is you can tell someone who has watched her show by how they talk. As disciples of Christ, we should likewise be known for what we say and how we say it - and it should all reflect Christ.

If we say we are Christians, we must be a people who observe all that Jesus taught. That begins with an acknowledgement that we are all people who sin and miss God’s mark. Those sins then require us to humbly repent and ask for forgiveness. Once that is done, we then ask the Holy Spirit to change our hearts so that we look more like Jesus. This is why we teach all that Jesus taught because the gospel isn’t just that Jesus died and rose again so someday we we can go to heaven. It’s a message of hope that God, through the work of Jesus Christ, is making all things new - both the world as a whole and the individual believer. This is the work of discipleship.

This is what it means to follow Jesus together. We want to make people who look like Jesus, sound like Jesus, act like Jesus - this is literally what the phrase “Christian”. A Parisian is a person of Paris. An Iowan is a person of Iowa. An American is a person of America. Thus, a Christian is a person, quite literally, of Christ. We need to be people that the world can look at us and say, “I see the work of Christ in you.” That’s hard, but disciples look like their leader and thus if we are Christians we must look more and more like Jesus and help one another do the same.

Discipleship is a work of the Holy Spirit.

Good Works Are Done (v.27-30)

So far, our text has shown us that if we claim to be Christians, we must proclaim Jesus and make disciples. But there is one more thing that we see in our text today as a mark of a Christian. If we are truly transformed people, we will find ways to serve others through good works. Verse 27 begins a section where Luke records for us how prophets, empowered by the Holy Spirit, warned of an impending famine in the land. Because of this, the Christians in Antioch felt it appropriate to take a collection to provide for the Christians in Judea who were suffering. They then sent this on to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Saul, which we will see in the upcoming weeks. The point is that as we recently discussed that people are saved for inclusion in a larger body, these Christians provided for the early church and her needs.

Now, a couple of specific words about this work that we can learn from and then a brief word on how we can apply that today. We see that the disciples determined on their own to do this. This was not a forced or compulsory effort. Nor did everyone give the same amount. Instead, each gave as they could to make this gift happen. Just as we take a voluntary offering every week for the work of the ministry here in our community and we take up a quarterly offering to assist another ministry or missionary, these people voluntarily gave of their resources in order to help their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem out and to demonstrate that the Spirit had indeed changed their heart. This means that the best good works done for people are helpful, voluntary and proportional to a person’s income or ability.

As Christians, when we see people in need, especially fellow believers, we must, as we are able, find ways to alleviate that suffering. Likewise, we must find ways to support the work of ministry whether we have a lot or a little. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I am planning a trip overseas to help train pastors in preparing Biblical sermons and to use the Bible to teach and make disciples. In many respects, I’m going like Barnabas and Saul, although I’m not nearly as important as those two. One of the guys who heads up this project tells of a time when they went to a new area and said to the point person they had $300 for lunch for the four days. When the time was done, they got a bill for $400. This didn’t go over well. The trainer explained that the people in the local church need to help as they can in order to feed their pastors while they take this training. The next time they came, the bill was $280. The following time it was around $150. The next time, they asked for the bill and didn’t get one. Instead, they were told by the pastors that a person in their church gave some chickens and another pastor in another town said that someone from their church gave the rice. And, the pastors were fed because the people valued the disciple making ministry that happened.

The point is that Christians live generously with their time, talents and treasures to ensure that good works are done in the name of Jesus Christ. Where suffering happens, we work to end it as we can. Where there is a need for discipleship to happen, we work diligently to make that happen as well. The point is that we view what we have as tools to help the gospel go forth and to care for those in need rather than something to be hoarded by individuals. Not compulsory, but voluntarily given in order that others may see their needs met. This is why I’m so excited to see the women’s group start this meal ministry for those who are in need. I’m excited to see what God might do through their efforts to help those who are going through a tough time. What makes me the most excited is that I didn’t tell them to do it - they did it because of what the Holy Spirit is doing in their life.

Let me challenge each of us to find ways to do good for those around us - not so that we might get the credit but that people would see Christ working in us and through us. May you find ways to be generous with your resources for the ultimate purpose of making disciples of all people. These are the marks of a Christian, for better or for worse, that we are people who proclaim Christ to make disciples and do good works to those in need. May our lives reflect Jesus in such a way that the world says that we are “of Christ.”

Conclusion

Over the past several years, many in the church have encouraged Christians to be known for what they are for rather than what they are against. So, rather than being against a certain act we are known for our love and compassion. Others have countered and said that Christians ought to be known for being against sin as much as they are known for being for love. There are even some, and I’ve done this too, used different language such as Christ followers rather than Christians because the term is so laden with misunderstanding and political ramifications. It seems that we can’t settle on what we are to be or what we are to be called.

It is interesting that the name “Christian” was born in a city like Antioch. In the ancient world, Antioch stood as modern as any city today. Known for its decadence and temple of immorality, these people of the Kingdom defied any categorization. As such, the city had to come up with a new category - the people of Christ or Christian. They bore the marks of true faith - bold sharing of the gospel and of Jesus, making true disciples of all who would come to faith and then that faith prompting a different way to see those in need and how to help. Whether they meant it in a positive or negative way, and there are arguments for both, the truth is that these “Christians turned the world upside down because of their faithful obedience to Christ.

What if instead of being known for something or against something we, as Christians, were known as “people of Christ” and thus different than the world around us. What if our sharing of Jesus and gospel charity made it possible to see more people come to faith and thus become disciples. Rather than being known for something or against something we are known for being different than the world - known for being Christians that proclaim Christ, make disciples and do good works for the benefit of others. And in that, we find ourselves serving as Kingdom agents to the end of the earth.