11 July 2011

Psalm 25; 1 Samuel 18:5-16,27b-30; Acts 11:19-30; Mark 1:29-45

Saul begins to be jealous of David while at the same time making him commander of the army. He has seen David’s success and that the Lord was with David and had left Saul. He recognized that as David was capturing the heart of the people through his exploits there was nothing left to him but the kingdom itself and this Saul was certain that David would not have. This happens too regularly in ministry when we see someone, an assistant or other leader enjoying the favor of the Lord and the people and the leader is insecure and jealous. We need to be able to celebrate the way that the Lord is using others in our midst rather than reacting out of jealousy and insecurity. Those two things will ultimately ruin us in usefulness to the Lord. Too many churches are split for this reason and too many critical words are spoken out of envy and jealousy about other churches that are being blessed remarkably.

Jesus knew that if word began to spread He would soon encounter the jealous wrath of the leaders. From the beginning, Jesus knew this reaction was inevitable. His ministry and compassion for the people was bound to attract their attention and their ire. The hearts of the people would surely go after the one who could heal their infirmities and deal with the demonic spirits that oppressed them. It always catches my attention that here, with a leper, Jesus does an amazing thing, he touches the man to heal him. Was that necessary for Jesus? Could He not simply speak the word of healing and effect the transformation? Yes He could but how Jesus’ willingness to touch him, something that was absolutely forbidden by law and by common sense, must have touched more than his flesh. The priest had to certify the cure was complete so that the man could be restored to the community and to the worship of the community but that wasn’t as important to him as what Jesus had done for him and he couldn’t be kept quiet.

Barnabas is an extraordinary man. The Jewish believers were scattering all over after the persecution concerning Stephen but they were preaching the Gospel only to fellow Jews but some decided to preach also to the Hellenists, the Greek speaking world and began to see that the Gospel found fertile soil there. The apostolic band in Jerusalem got word of this and sent Barnabas to make investigation. His reaction was joy and he went to Paul’s hometown of Tarsus and retrieved him to come and reap the harvest. It looks as though Paul had been on the sidelines for a while and Barnabas, rather than taking the glory for himself, was willing to get Paul off the bench and get him in the game, and the rest, they say, is history. Barnabas was a man who seems to not have allowed jealousy to have charge of his life, not in the keeping of the Gospel confined to Judaism or with his own ministry. He was content to allow others the glory and to celebrate their work.

Praise Him for His grace and favor
To our fathers in distress.
Praise Him still the same as ever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glorious in His faithfulness.

Tune