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Every year new words
appear in our vocabulary. Words that at first sound like English, but
soon thereafter seem quite foreign. Only three years ago my daughter
was starting college and she used a word that I wasn’t exactly sure
what it meant. The word was not related to History or Hinduism, it
was not a quote from her psychology class or her urbanization
lecture. The word was “Facebook.”
“What is Facebook?” I
asked.
“It’s kind of like
MySpace only it’s just for college students and not as commercial,”
she said with an air of superiority appropriate for a college freshman
having conquered the world of high school.
I read this week in
Newsweek, that in September of last year Facebook was opened to
anyone – even me. However, I hesitated. Maybe my daughter would
think I was spying on her. She might be uncomfortable if her dad
could read statements and see photos that the person down the street,
who doesn’t even know her, can see. Maybe the other college students
that I know would think such a thing was simply too weird for a pastor
to be doing. I sat there with My Profile, “The Page” for Facebook,
staring back at me as I pondered to whom I might timidly extend a
“Friend Request”.
What
if I sent a request and had it denied? That might be the ultimate
rejection, because at first I will only send friend requests to
my friends. In fact, I started with my best friend, who
apparently has a Facebook profile and I never even knew it. As I
waited for his reply, I wondered what it would have been like if the
early church would have had Facebook. I imagine that Saul would have
had a hard time building his Friends’ List. Look at what happened to
him, when he first tried to establish relationships with people in the
church in Acts 9:26-28. Hear now the Word of the Lord:
26When
he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they
were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a
disciple. 27But Barnabas took him, brought him to the
apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord,
who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the
name of Jesus. 28So he went in and out among them in
Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.
The Word of God for the
people of God. Thanks be to God.
In this passage Luke
reported to his readers, that it took a friend like Barnabas to get
Saul inside the church. I realize in reading this brief scripture
that finding friends has always been a bit risky, and having friends
has always been a human necessity. In fact, I believe that
everyone needs a Barnabas on your Friends List. When you’re
developing your Friends List, whether on MySpace, Facebook, or in your
address book, there are a few qualities in Barnabas that I think you
would do well to consider.
Find a friend who will stand up with you, who knows your
story.
I like Barnabas. I have
from the first day that I read about him. Look at how he addressed
this whole dilemma. Saul, who was yet to be known as Paul, was a man
with a very short Friends List. That part of his profile may have
been completely empty. His old friends were those with whom he had
persecuted the church. They were the ones who threw stones at Stephen
- killing him, perhaps on Saul’s last visit to Jerusalem. Saul had
been on his way to Damascus to take care of the Christ followers, who
had scattered in that direction after the turmoil in Jerusalem
described in Acts 7. That is when Christ knocked him off his feet and
told him to turn his life around. These old friends wanted nothing to
do with the traitor. The new community was not any more accepting.
They too remembered the old Saul – the abuser of the church. They
locked him out until Barnabas came along. Verse 26 reports that he
took Saul and brought him to the apostles. He stood up with
Saul. He knew Saul’s story and was willing to share it.
It is good to have a
friend who knows your story. My first Sunday at this church, three
years ago this week, I said something about growing up at 142 Larkins
Street in Findlay, Ohio. Kent and Judy Nash came up to me and said
they had lived in Findlay, Ohio. Not only that, but Kent had played
in the High School band with my uncle and Judy had lived on Larkins
Street, just on the other side of Waaland’s Florist. An instant bond
was formed. They know about Wilson’s hamburgs, Dietsch’s Ice Cream,
and the Blanchard River.
This
week that river went wild. Apparently, the combination of Tropical
Storm Erin and a stalled front caused my fair city to get over eight
inches of rain. The Blanchard River that flows lazily through Findlay
at about 7 feet deep, crested at 18.5 feet Wednesday afternoon. This
is about seven feet more than the banks can hold. Downtown Findlay
was flooded. My brother, Kris, had eight feet of water in his
basement and about three feet in his garage. Other than that my
family faired pretty well considering everything. The good that came
out of this tense situation was the number of people who asked me
about my family and my hometown. It is comforting to have friends who
know my story. One of the members of this church wrote, “I want to
say how connected we are to the news of flooding in Findlay, Ohio.
Because you reference it in your sermons and talk about your visits
home and your family, we feel attached and feel concerned. What can
we do to help?” The Associate Pastor in Pasadena sent an e-mail
saying, “Well, you did such a good job of indoctrinating everyone
at FUMC-P that all anybody has said to me today is, ‘Did you hear
about the flooding in Findlay, Ohio?’ So how is it with your friends
and family there? Are they okay?” Another friend wrote, “I was
very saddened to learn about the massive flooding in your hometown…We
are praying that the water levels will dissipate and recovery will
begin soon!” How incredible it is to have friends who know my
story.
Tomorrow begins a new
school year for many of you. It is a time to make new friends and
continue old friendships. Remember as you build your Friends List,
whether on MySpace, Facebook, or your address book to include a friend
who will stand up with you, a friend who knows your story.
Everyone needs a Barnabas on your Friends List.
Find a friend who will stand up for you, who acts on
your behalf.
Barnabas not only stood
up with Saul, he stood up for Saul. He
told the disciples how Saul had seen the Lord, heard the Lord’s call
on his life, changed his life completely, and how Saul preached boldly
in Damascus in the name of Jesus. In other words, he told the
disciples that Saul was the real deal. One commentator pointed out
that Saul was the first man whose application to join the Jerusalem
Church was rejected. Barnabas changed that story by standing up
for Saul. He acted on Saul’s behalf and it made all the
difference in the world.
This week this church
lost a friend. Virginia Johnson had been a part of this church’s
ministry for a number of years. She was friend to our Long-term Bible
Studies, having taken most of the Disciple classes. She was a friend
to the Prayer Team, having offered prayers many times on behalf of the
church members and our families. She was a friend to the Music
Ministry, having a deep love for the music that unlocks our souls to
God. She was friend to the Open Arms Sunday School class, being the
surrogate grandmother to many of the children of members of that
class. Virginia died Thursday morning after a difficult battle with
pneumonia. I noticed during this acute illness how many friends
Virginia had who stood up for her and acted on her
behalf. One of her friends was reading the Bible to Virginia when I
walked into the room. Another friend brought a hymnal and was going
to sing all the songs that were sung last Sunday night at the District
Hymn Sing. Still another friend offered the most beautiful prayers on
Virginia’s behalf, when she had grown too weak to speak. Let me tell
you something, we have a lot of Barnabases around this church, friends
who will stand up for you and act on your behalf. What a wonderful
quality to find in a friend.
In one of the articles
about Facebook in Newsweek Magazine, Kurt Soller wrote about the 1,042
friends he has. He wrote, “As summer days passed and friend
requests poured in, it didn't matter that I'd never met these people.”
It matters to me. I want to know my friends and I want to know
that they know me. I need friends who will stand up with
me, who know my story and friends who will stand up for
me, who will act on my behalf. I need a friend like Barnabas.
Everyone needs a Barnabas on a Friends List.
Find a friend who will stand up to you, who brings out
the best in you.
This was not the first
time Barnabas appears in the book of Acts and it isn’t the last time.
His given name was Joseph, but everyone called him Barnabas, which
means “Son of Encouragement.” That is who he was. In Acts 4 he is
introduced and reported to have sold a field and given all the money
to the church to be used for this start up ministry that was spreading
like wildfire. His gift encouraged generosity, bringing out the best
in the people around him who felt inspired by his example. In Acts 11
he is said to have gone looking for Saul to join him in ministry at
Antioch, which is where and when people first started calling
disciples, “Christians.” In Acts 13 Barnabas, Saul, and Barnabas’
cousin (John Mark), begin to do missionary work throughout Turkey.
John Mark got a little homesick on this trip and went home early. So
in Acts 15 when the duo was about to go on another missionary journey,
Saul (who is called Paul from this chapter on) refused to take the
former deserter. Barnabas stood up to Paul even as he
had stood up for him earlier. This freedom to confront
brought out the best in the disciples in chapter nine, brought out the
best of Paul, and I would say with the inclusion of the Gospel of Mark
in our New Testament, brought out the best in John Mark.
Patrick Henry Hughes has
such a friend in the one who bears the same first and last name.
Patrick Henry Hughes is a member of the University of Louisville
Marching Band. He does this in spite of being born without eyes and
unable to straighten his arms or his legs, confined to a wheelchair.
What he does have is incredible musical talent and a father whose
commitment inspires me. Patrick John Hughes, the dad, works the
graveyard shift for UPS so that he can attend classes and band
practice with his son. The father admitted in a recent visit at the
Willow Creek Leadership Summit, that the road has not been easy. He
was devastated by the broken dreams resulting from the news of all the
physical limitations of his son. There would be no game of catch for
him and his boy. There would be no shouting on the sideline as his
son played football on the field. Then the parents of Patrick Henry
Hughes discovered that he was musically gifted, able to play the piano
at the age of two. He later took up the trumpet and singing.
The son said, “God
made me blind and unable to walk. Big deal. He gave me the ability to
play the trumpet and the piano.” He went on to say, “My dad is
a wonderful man giving me the message that if he can do it, I can do
it.”
Patrick the dad said,
“Big Deal. It’s not a sacrifice to spend time with my son. It’s an
honor, a blessing.” These two bring out the best in each other.
Now I know a little bit of the father-son relationship and I know that
there are times when each one has to stand up to the
other. I also know that no one has the power to bring out the best in
someone than one who is willing to stand up to that person and cheer
for that person throughout life.
Howard Hendricks once
addressed a group of men at Promise Keepers saying, “Every man
needs a Barnabas in his life – someone who will get in your face and
confront you about important matters.” I believe this is not
limited to men. If you have a friend who will stand up to you about
the important things in life, you have an incredible gift in your
life, who will bring out the best in you. Remember as you build your
Friends List, whether on MySpace, Facebook, or your address book to
include a friend who will stand up to you, a friend who
will bring out the best in you. Everyone needs a Barnabas on a
Friends List
Well, at last count I
have seven friends on Facebook. That is a few less than the 444
friends that my daughter has listed on her Facebook, but with one
million new members to Facebook every week, I am bound to get a few
more. I just hope that among them, there will be Barnabas -
●
A friend who will stand up with me, who knows my
story
●
A friend who will stand up for me, who acts on my
behalf
●
A friend who will stand up to me, who brings out
the best in me
Who’s on your Friends
List? Remember as you build your Friends List, whether on MySpace,
Facebook, or your address book to include a friend like Barnabas.
Everyone needs a Barnabas on a Friends List. Amen.
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