7-29-13. Acts 12:25-13:12. Missio Dei –my devotional

Acts 12:25-13:12                                                                                            Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 13:2                                                                                              7-29-13

^“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (ESV)

Dear Lord Jesus Christ. Fill us with your love and your hope, your wisdom and your truth. Make us a channel of your peace. Work through us to make the Gospel known the nations. I pray for the UBF International summer conference. May it inspire people to live for you. Please help all attendees to renew their love for Christ and the body of Christ. Help Julie and I to head up the marriage seminar. Grant us your spirit and your wisdom. Please help me to reveal what I have learned about being part of a team that is on a mission. Grant me your word today. I pray in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!

Part 1: An Obedient Church (12:25-13:3)

In this passage we see missionary team members being prayed for and sent out by a local church. Look at verses 12:25-13-;3, “And Barnabas and Saul returned fromJerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark. Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”

Barnabas and Saul finished their mission to bring an offering for famine relief to Jerusalem. (Acts 11:30) and returned to Antioch. They took Barnabas’ cousin, John Mark, with them. Then, while the elders in Antioch were worshiping God and praying, the Holy Spirit directed them to send out missionaries. So, they commissioned and sent out Barnabas and Saul, mature Christian leaders in the church and close team members. They were sent out by God into Gentile territory to challenge the stronghold of Satan on the front lines of world mission.

I can see that they were fasting and praying to the Lord.  They were following God’s direction to send out a team. They were obeying the Lord. It was not their own direction. It was from God. God had work for Paul and Barnanbas to do. This is the difference between a missional church and a church that has a mission. A church may have lots of missions going on in but it may not be a missional church. A missional church in follows the Mission Dei, the mission of God. Such a church does not dictate what the mission of God is. They are not just praying and fasting that God may bless their mission. They are praying to being sensitive to God’s mission and obeying the call of God to fulfill that mission. That is what the Antioch church is doing here in this passage. “the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”  It was the Holy Spirit telling them what to do and not them telling the Holy Spirit what to do. They were open and very flexible to the spirits leading. They were not trying to control the outcomes. They were willing to send off their best Bible teachers and missionaries in obedience to God’s calling. Did they know the outcomes of their sending out of Paul and Barnabas? No. Did the sending out of this missionary team serve to build up the program of the local church? There was no guarantee. The elders of the Antioch church trusted the Lord and simply obeyed with no agenda and no conditions.

We need to mission centered, yes. But we along with mission centered, we need to be missional and be sensitive to follow the mission of God as it is revealed to us by the work of the Holy Spirit. It is hard to be a congregation like this, because we can not control the outcome of our efforts. We may not get any credit or recognition for our efforts. It calls for a church to offer up its resources with nothing to count on for a return other than pleasing the Lord.  It means abandoning our own program and entrusting that God will manifest his own program in us and through us. It is not easy to be a missional church but it precisely what we need to be.

I spent the 26 years praying to God to fulfill my mission agenda, with almost no concern with what God wanted to do through me and in my family. But over the last year I have been discovering what it means to be missional. God has been manifesting a unique mission in and through my family. We are doing the Art of Marriage. We are getting involved in the Network of Nations. I have a few 1:1 Bible studies and I am helping to send missionaries to NW Ontario. My kids are finding their own calling in the Lord. My son is asking questions about God’s existence lately. This is good. Jenn is growing in her knowledge of God and serving in the church. God is doing great things. But they are things that I did not plan. They are plans and missions that I have been led into by God and I am thankful. I pray that my family can be more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and support the mission of God.

In this passage I can also see that they sent out a team. It was Paul and Barnabas. They could support each other and encourage each other. The numbers of their team grew as others joined it. God’s work is done by a team. When I came to NIU we were a single family house church. There was  no team. Our family life was very busy. I was enforcing a legalistic lifestyle in my home. There was very little laughter. There was only complete business, year after year. The five kids were constantly being pushed by me to practice music, clean the house and do homework and have systematic Bible study. Anyone who came to my home could sense the busyness and the self discipline and lack of laughter. Why would anyone want to hang out with us?  This happened partly because were not sent out as a team. Our family was it and my kids were the team members. We actually needed several spiritually mature families, with some experience in church planting to be together with us. And even with several families we needed to be missional in order to follow the Missio Dei” the mission of God.

But in this passage I can see the team approach is best. The team approach is Biblical. The team approach is what is needed. I thank God for God slowly and wisely forming a team for the sending of missionaries to NW Ontario. A foundation is being laid. The two couples that are going have a friendship and a history together. They truly love each other in Christ. There is a growing relationship between KBC and a missions agency (TET) that is getting stronger. There is a receiving church in Canada and receiving missionaries. God is forming his team. God is building up the network of Christian that can be the seeds of a mission movement. The strength of what is happening is team building led by the Holy Spirit.

Part 2: To Cyprus (4-12)

God worked through this missionary team very powerfully. Look at verses 4-12, “So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. ⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. ⁷ He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰ and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? ¹¹ And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” (ESV)

Look at what can happen when a missions team is established and is called and sent out by the Holy Spirit. Barnabas and Saul sailed to Cyprus, taking John Mark as their assistant. Barnabas was the team leader. They traveled throughout the island, preaching in synagogues, until they arrived in Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer named Elymas. He worked for Sergius Paulus, the proconsul. The proconsul wanted to hear the word of God, so he sent for them. When Elymas tried to block their ministry, Saul rebuked him strongly. The Lord struck Elymas blind. That was enough for the proconsul–he became a believer. Verse 12 reads, “¹² Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” Wow! What a great work of God happening here.

Can we expect such a powerful work of God today? Can we expect people to be astonished at the teachings of the Lord? Yes…I believe we can, but we need to be sent out and led by the Holy Spirit. We need to let go of our own agenda. We need to be free to obey the Lord every step of the way. We need to be missional as well as mission centered. We need to be tuned into and supporting the Missio Dei, the mission of God.

I can get a taste of the exciting missions that God is leading us into. There are fantastic opportunities in NW Ontario. There exciting things happening among married couples. There is exciting things happening with International students at NIU with Network of Nations. I am excited to think about what God wants to accomplish through UBF at this International Conference. I am excited about what is unfolding in my own home with Jenn’s spiritual excitement and Augie’s inquisitive questions about God’s existence. God is working. I thank God for making serving Jesus exciting again. I pray for countless young people in our nation to be excited at the teachings of the Lord.

This brings to mind the adventure of serving the Lord. I am about to dig into a book called “The Faith of Leap”. It is concerning the theology of adventure. I have not read it yet, but I bet the theology of adventure has to do with Missio Dei, the mission of God and being led and sent out by the Holy Spirit. I will let you know.

Prayer: Lord, give me faith and courage to follow and support the mission of God.

One Word: Missio Dei!