A lesson from Barnabas

Unless you happen to be from Cyprus, where St. Barnabas was born and martyred, St. Barnabas is probably not among your top ten most influential saints or your ten favorite saints or maybe, he’s not even on your list of saints at all. 

The early church, though, thought highly of Barnabas and appreciated his role in the with great fondness.  He is called an apostle, yet he is never mentioned in the Gospels.  He is the first post-Pentecost convert whose name is given to us by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles.  This was a clue that he was to play a major role.  It was such a large role that if it wasn’t for his contribution, there is a very good chance that many, many of us would not even be Christians today.

To explain, we have to know a bit about St. Paul.  Unlike the story of Barnabas, most of us are pretty familiar with the outlines of Saul/Paul.  Starting out as a persecutor of the early Christians, Saul is struck down on the road to Damascus and experiences a great conversion.  He goes out into the desert to discern his mission, comes back to Damascus and, shocking most everyone, preaches Jesus as the messiah.  He goes to Jerusalem for a meet-and-greet with the apostles and then it’s off to convert the Gentiles, which he does with great success.  He is a prolific letter writer, and many of his writings are revered as sacred scripture – and that’s what they become! 

Many consider Paul the first Christian theologian.  As such, he argued that faith in Jesus is the only determinant of our salvation, making adherence to the Jewish law unnecessary.  This opened us Christianity to the 99% of the world that wasn’t Jewish!  Without Paul, it is easy to argue that there would be many, many fewer Christians in the world and we wouldn’t be among their number.  But none of this happens without Barnabas.

After Saul visits the disciples in Jerusalem – where he is introduced to the disciples by our friend Barnabas – he doesn’t immediately go off to fame and glory.  In fact, he disappears!  We hear nothing of him for roughly ten years.  They are like Jesus’ “hidden years,” for there is no mention of Saul or Paul or whatever he might be doing.  Presumably, he simply goes back to his home town of Tarsus, making tents – the family trade – for that that is where we next hear of him.

Meanwhile, the church is growing rapidly, particularly in Antioch.  The apostles in Jerusalem decide to send Barnabas to minister to and oversee the Christians there.  After Barnabas arrives, as we hear today in Acts, the church continues to grow rapidly, and Barnabas seeks help for his mission.  What does he do?  He goes off to Tarsus and encourages his old acquaintance Saul to join him.  After working a year or so together in Antioch, the church there is thriving and the leaders are inspired by the Spirit to send Barnabas and Saul out on mission to the Gentiles.  (Acts 11:19-26; 13:1-3)  The rest, as they say, is history.

But if Barnabas doesn’t decide to get Saul out of Tarsus, it may not have happened at all.  His small act had great consequences.

This reminds us that even our own smallest acts of charity, of mercy, and of love, or our simplest words of encouragement can have larger implications than we can possibly imagine.  Often times, I find myself reluctant to act since I think I have so little to offer.  I think I can’t possibly make a difference.  St. Barnabas encourages me, as he encourages you, to act anyways.  Let God multiply your works as only He can.

And if we are encouraged by the example and prayers of St. Barnabas, that is a particularly apt and auspicious thing!  When he first joined the disciples, his name was Joseph.  They changed his name to Barnabas, meaning “son of encouragement.”  (Acts 4:36)  They must have known something, even then.

St. Barnabas, son of encouragement, pray for us.