March 27, 2022
When a disaster or something terrible happens, we often ask questions, like, why is this happening? Whose fault is it? There are no easy answers, it’s complicated. Right after it happens, it’s not important whose fault it is.
When someone needs help, maybe they’re sick or lose their job, or their country is invaded, what questions should we ask before we help?
Today we are going to hear about a need some Christians heard about, and the questions they asked. We’ll read some of the book of Acts to hear the situation the early Christians faced.
In Acts of the Apostles, Stephen is a Gentile Christian who is killed for his faith. The religious leaders threw stones at him because Stephen preached to them that they betrayed and murdered Jesus, the righteous one.
And Saul was there when Stephen was killed. Acts 8:1 says, And Saul approved of Stephen’s murder. “On that day, a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.”
Because of persecutions, and for other reasons, Christians moved out of Jerusalem. Christianity spread to cities throughout the Roman empire.
Saul was a Jew who at first, who hated Christians. So, he would travel to synagogues in different cities to see if he could find any who follow the Way, as the Christians were called, so he could arrest them and send them to prison.
But when he was in Syria, the Lord struck him down and Saul’s heart changed. He became a Christian. Then he became a Christian teacher and a missionary. He wrote many letters to churches and his writings are now part of our Bible. Those letters have shaped our faith.
In Acts 11 we hear that Christians who had been persecuted in Jerusalem moved 100s of miles away. They start telling people about Jesus. First, they tell Jews the good news. Then they tell Gentiles in Antioch the good news. And Acts 11 says great numbers of people believed and turned to the Lord. So, the Christians needed help teaching all the people about Jesus.
Barnabus came from Jerusalem to help, and he brought Saul. Barnabus and Saul met with the church in Antioch and taught people for a year. Acts 11:27-29 tells of something really unique happening. A prophet named Agabus came from Jerusalem. And the Spirit of God inspired him to tell everyone that there would be a severe famine that would spread over the entire Roman world.
V. 29-30 says, the disciples, (that is, all the Christians in Antioch,) as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
Which is wonderful! The Christians in Antioch decided to take up a collection for the Christians in Jerusalem and Judea. We can tell what questions they asked themselves by the actions they took after receiving news of the famine.
Their first question was, who is at risk? They heard there would be famine throughout the Roman empire, and that meant they would also be affected in Antioch. Antioch was a big commercial city. They knew they could get by. But they heard from people like Barnabus what life was like for the Christians in Jerusalem. They knew they would need help. So, they asked, “Who is at risk?” They thought about it and answered: the Christians in Judea and Jerusalem are at risk.
The second question the Christians in Antioch asked was, how can we help? They decided they could help by sending money, as each of them was able. Everybody could pitch in.
The third question they asked was who should we send? There was no way to wire money or send a check in the mail. Somebody trustworthy would have to travel 900 miles with this gift to bring it to the Christians in Jerusalem. They chose Barnabas and Saul to deliver their offering.
Notice, the Antioch Christians didn’t ask, why are these Christians in Jerusalem and Judea poor? Is it their fault they might be hungry in the famine: they haven’t been storing up food for a rainy day?
Instead, they asked, who is at risk? How can we help? Who should we send? Today with, for example, Ukraine, we ask the same thing. Who is at risk? All the Ukrainians are at risk. How can we help? We can send donations. Who should we send it through? UCC Disaster Ministries.
Everybody matters to God, so Christians are called to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
When the church in Antioch decided to send an offering to Jerusalem, it was a very unusual thing for a people to send money to strangers far away. The Christians in Antioch were Gentile Christians, for the most part. They were pagans before they became Christian. They were not Jewish Christians like the Jerusalem Christians. The Antioch Christians were giving to strangers who were very different from them. Their generosity and compassion for far away strangers was a new and unique thing.
Among the Gentiles, giving to a stranger was considered weakness and foolishness. Now we see it as a virtue. The Gentile Christians learned something different from their new faith. They learned that giving is part of following Jesus. Jesus said Love your neighbor. When asked, who is my neighbor? Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. This is a story about a Samaritan, an enemy of the Jews, who sees a beaten Jewish man left by the side of the road and takes care of him. Our neighbor includes people we don’t know, who are very different from us.
Everybody matters to God, so Christians are called to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
There’s something inside us that doesn’t like to give, that says, “What I have is mine!” Because we want to have a lot of money! And we think you don’t get rich by being generous and sharing. There’s a Scripture verse, 1 Timothy, that helps us think of another way to be rich. 1 Timothy 6:18 says: “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” You feel rich when you know children are not going to be hungry, because you are rich in good deeds and generous. You feel rich when you know families in faraway places can afford to send their children to school because you gave.
Today is our One Great Hour of Sharing offering, and it’s a wonderful way to be rich in good deeds. Let’s encourage one another. You may not be a billionaire. But when you help someone, you are rich. Rich in good deeds. So, tell the person to your right, and to your left. You are rich!
When tragedy happens, we can wonder if God is punishing the victims, or if what happened to them is their fault. But some Christians in Antioch over 1,900 years ago heard of a famine and asked different questions: Who is at risk, how can we help, and who should we send? It was a new way of thinking for a people to care about strangers far away and send some of their leaders on a long dangerous journey to provide for them.
The story of that offering helps us understand who we are as Christians. We take care of our neighbors. And we are all rich—because we share. Amen.
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