One Name Under God

Text: Acts 11:19-30

Central Idea of the Text: The church’s prosecution and progress in mission lead to a new title: Christian.

Proposition: The names we are known by carry inherent meaning, and we must live to be known as worthy bearers of the name of Jesus.

Purpose: All hearers should desire to take on the name of Jesus, and be unashamed as a follower of Jesus.

When a label, brand or logo is well known, made and designed? It sticks with us, doesn’t it. Maybe if I even just describe the label, you will know the product in question.

A red label w/ a white script logo on a dark beverage.

A blue oval logo w/ white script on the front of a vehicle.

A six letter website, with the letters composed of different primary colors.

A red logo, with two yellow arches. Perhaps on a cup or fry box.

A purple and orange, five letter logo with a hidden arrow on a shipping box.

A black swoop, that looks like a checkmark. Perhaps on a the side of a shoe.

A yellow arrow, swooping to the right, that looks strangely like smile.

Don’t know if you got 100% on that short quiz, but the point is proven. We live in a day and age when symbols and logos speak, even if you just describe the shape and colors, your mind goes to the thing. You think about the website, drinking the drink, eating the fries, or driving the car. But this is not a new development. Mankind has been thinking and communicating in pictures and symbols, even from the beginning. Yes, even the church. Consider the unifying factor of the following symbols:

The Fish: Jesus taught his followers to be fishers of men, but the symbol also used the Greek word for Ichthus as an acrostic that meant: Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior.

The Dove: God himself used this picture at the baptism of Jesus, when the Holy Spirit appeared as a dove. The church since has always tied the Dove to the Holy Spirit’s work and presence.

The Rainbow: Before it’s more modern high-jacking and misappropriation, Christian’s understood and used the rainbow to remind the church of God’s covenant and promises.

The Butterfly: Because of it’s metamorphosis from the ugly caterpillar to the beautiful butterfly, butterflies

The Triquetra: One of the symbols that points toward the reality of the Father, Spirit and Son, what we call the Trinity.

The Chi-Rho: Another coded symbol of two Greek Letters, the first to letters of the title Christ.

The Cross: We all know it. The symbol of Christ’s torture has become the marker of the event that purchased our salvation.

Each of those symbols points back to the truth and the title: Christian. Today’s text points us to the origin and the meaning of that title. Let’s look at today’s text and the name that is given to the followers of Jesus. Today’s text is Acts 11:19-30. Let’s read it together.

This is the word of the Lord.

Let’s pray: God, thank you for this record that we read in your Word, of the work that you were doing in and through your church that continues to this day. Today as we note the one name that unites the church, may we affirm our unity with the Acts church by proclaiming that Jesus is Lord and seeking to do His will. We pray this in His holy name, amen.

Again, today’s text is not the easiest to preach, as it is a news report of many happenings that has a lot going on. Luke’s narrative here serves to help fill the narrative and help set the table for what is coming. We’ve been following Peter’s actions and work, but we don’t want to forget about Saul, and the status of the church all throughout the region. As we need to at different points, we need to pull out a map that will help us understand what is happening and why. We know how this goes that when we know the places, it becomes easier to track with the story. If I tell you a story that involves me going from Lincoln, to Kansas City, and then back to Falls City, you can track with me, because you know those places. You’ve been to them and you can imagine the things that I’m seeing and the roads I’m traveling. But if I tell you a story involving Antioch, Caesarea, Joppa, Damascus or many of these other places in Acts, we can start to have our eyes gloss over. We don’t live in Israel or Jordan or Turkey. These place names don’t mean much to us because we haven’t travelled these roads. So increasingly, as we go through Acts, we will need to use some atlas tools to help us picture what is happening. And we will continue to pull these maps back out.

The Places we see named in today’s text: First we see Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. It says that the word of what had happened to Stephen and the people who had scattered from that persecution fueled by the Jews led by Saul went as far away from Jerusalem as these three. Interestingly, Phonecia is a region north of Samaria, Cyprus is an island off the coast of Phoenicia, and Antioch is a City far to the north of Jerusalem. In other words the people have spread out, and also the Gospel with them. But it’s not just 400 miles from Jerusalem in Cyprus, or 500 miles from Jerusalem in Antioch. The text says that there are people traveling Cyprus and Cyrene to preach Jesus in Antioch. Check this out … 1200 miles to the west of Jerusalem in modern day Lybia, there sits Cyrene. So they traveled by boat & foot all this way to Antioch. How much do you have to love Jesus to want to travel all that way to preach Jesus? It says something of the passion and witness of the early church that they would travel these great distances to where the message was needed. The text also says that Barnabas would travel clear to Tarsus and retrieve Saul to come back to to Antioch before they would come back to Jerusalem after a year teaching and serving the church.

But now, across all this territory, all these racial lines, all of these language barriers, what could possibly unite a church that is so diverse, and perhaps to some, even disjointed. That brings us to today’s discussion, centered on verse 26 and the last part of that verse “And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” This is the label that this text gives to the early Christians of Acts, and it is a label that sticks well, because we still use it to this day when referring to Followers of Jesus. Prior to this verse in Acts, we have seen the people who follow Jesus called disciples, saints, brothers and followers of the way. But it is designated now that new name and label of Christian be placed upon those who follow Jesus.

It should be said here regarding this word “Christian”. I’m not certain what pastor first said this, but it is very true. “Christian is a great noun, and a terrible adjective.” We call a lot of other things Christian. We’ve got Christian music, Christian movies, Christian books, Christian clothing, Christian home deco, Christian coffee, Christian shops, Christian restaurants, Christian snacks (Testamints, anyone?) But if there’s anything that’s been shown by the assigning “Christian” to these things, it’s that those things can be subpar and lacking, especially as people seek to do “Christian” things and consume “Christian” items rather than actually be “Christian”. That is a good way to have a nation full of people who consumer “Christian” stuff, but whose hearts are far from God. The title Christian is best assigned to people, not to stuff.

Is it a mocking title, one that God’s people should be embarrassed by? I believe that we should not be embarrassed by the Title or run from it, but we should embrace being called a Christian. It is in the name of our own congregation: Auburn Christian Church. As was said in the motto of our own Restoration Movement forefathers: “We are not the only Christians, but we are Christians only.” So, what does this title of Christian mean? Why should we be called a Christian? Today’s text gives us some clues as to their character and identity.

Christians are not wandering, but guided.

As we would even look on the map today, we might wonder, where is the church headed here. Is there a plan of are all these people just going to random places. If you’ve been out of the loop or not paying attention the past few weeks, I hope you’ll get a hold of yourself and tune back in, because what is happening in Acts is the furthest thing from random. It is VERY intentional and guided, even in spite of the persecution that is coming from Jerusalem. God is using the going forward to preach to those who have been prepared to hear the message of Jesus: the Jews. Luke records that as the church goes, they take the message to the Jews and synagogues all throughout these northern regions. So God is using the church’s persecution for his purposes and his glory.

Not only that, but look at what it says in verses 20-21. Those believers that were coming to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene were preaching to Hellenists. Hellenists are Greek-speakers and specifically non-Jewish. Now that Peter and Cornelius have broken the barrier and the Gentiles are being invited to follow Jesus. So how do these Christians know that they are supposed to travel (for some of them) over 1000 miles away to a place where they are communicating the Gospel with Gentiles? It can only be chalked up to the Holy Spirit. Verse 21 says it this way: The Hand of the Lord was with them. Many people came to follow Jesus. But I think this phrase is not just true of the effectiveness of their message, but of all these movements of the church. “The Hand of the Lord was with them.”

Because of their ministry, word gets back to Jerusalem, and the believers there in turn send one of their most effective workers: Barnabas. He goes to Antioch, and the work is even more effective. Then, because he needs more help, Barnabas goes to Tarsus to retrieve Saul, who has been serving the church there. There is great work to be done for the Kingdom, more than these workers can handle, and Saul is needed.

AND IT DOESN’T end there! Because as Saul and Barnabas are doing good work in Antioch, a prophet shows up with a message of famine and a request for aid for the church in Judea/Jerusalem. Because the church desires to be both kind and good stewards, they send help, and they send it in the hands of trusted servants Saul and Barnabas.

Look at the common theme in all of this. The Spirit is guiding the workers where he wants them to be. The Spirit is guiding the work of preaching and leading the church thru the words and actions of the same leaders. Thru all of it, the Spirit is causing the church to grow. All of this work, both incoming and outgoing is centered around this church in Antioch. It is obvious that this is a hub where the church’s mission into the further regions will be well served. It’s a strategic key position, not planned by people, but guided by God. And it is there that Christ’s followers are first called Christians, a name that will stick.

It is as if, definitionally, Christians are not guided by mere chances or whims of people. They are herded by a Good Shepherd, Jesus, and by the power of the Holy Spirit that he would send to empower his church. Do we want to know if we are truly Christians? Then we must be willing to be guided by God, not by our own intentions or plans. If we can say that everything we do is from our own power or minds, we may be off base. Where is the trust in what only God can do? Where is the realization that we are on a journey that we don’t see all the end results of yet? Where is the abandon to go and speak where Jesus is not known? And openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is a defining characteristic of those known as “Christians”.

Christians are not perfect, but forgiven.

To be called a Christian is our day and age carries with it some misconceptions. One of them is on the part of those who are not Christians, who say that Christians put themselves on pedestals and think they are better than everyone else. Some of that critique can be deserved, but some of it is also misperception. Are there people who call themselves Christians that act like they are better than many people? Sure there are! But there are also plenty of people who are not Christians who act the same way. A big reason for this is that they have all forgotten the core truth that Paul talks about in the book of Romans, especially chapters 1-3. There Paul reminds EVERY reader, whether they are a Christian or not: (Romans 3:10–12 )“10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”” He goes on to say in Romans 3:23: “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

We see that this is a defining characteristic of that church at Antioch in verse 21: “And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.” So the workers went and preached. What was their message? I know what it wasn’t: “Hey we are good people. You look like good people. Do you want to come and be good people with us?” And then everybody is like OK sure! And then the church gathers as all the beautiful and perfect people! And everyone is happy! … You know that’s not how this happened. What has been the consistent Gospel message: God is good, we sinned. God sent a savior. You and your sin killed him. And everyone who turns to Jesus, repenting and being baptized will be saved! That has been the consistent gospel message.

The word here for what the people are doing in the Greek is epistrepho, to turn, to turn around or to return. It is the idea behind repenting. There is a right way. You are going the wrong way. You should turn around and go the right way. To do this what do you have to admit? You are a sinner. You have done wrong things. You feel guilt and you are under God’s judgment. This is necessary to come to God. It is because of this that they submit themselves to God and identify as Christians in their baptism. It is an admission that they don’t have it all together, and they are not better than anyone.

There is an old saying: “Christians are not perfect, just forgiven.” We must never lose sight of this. Because we remember both the place God rescued us from, and the tendencies that we have to desire what is wrong, we are NEVER above anyone else. But in Jesus we have a new identity as the forgiven. Because of this, our guilt, shame, and debt are gone. We are free in Jesus. And our time in communion as believers reminds us weekly that the ground at the foot of the cross is level. I’m not better than you, and you are not better than me. Those who are in Jesus are simply, the forgiven, the Christians.

Christians are not nameless, but are known.

I want to bring our focus again back to verse 26. “And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” What is significant about this place and this name as it’s applied to the church. Well, Antioch is a place among all the places where we see in Acts where everything that we’ve seen of ministry throughout the book is brought together for great effect. Missionary push. Clear preaching. Outreach to Jews AND Gentiles. Clear and Bountiful Gospel Responses. Effective teaching and discipleship. And it is there that these people get called “Christians.”

Now there are some people who hypothesize that the church was called Christians in a mocking tone by those outside the church. “Oh look at those little Christs, they love that murdered messiah. Hopefully they can share his same fate.” They also may have been called Christians by those outside of the church simply because of their numbers and significant gatherings. It may have been that the Jews or others wanted to differentiate between themselves and the followers of Jesus. The name “Christian” would suffice to separate them. OR it may have been that the Christian was given by the Christians and for the the Christians, to remind themselves that they bear the name of Jesus wherever they go. As they had been buried with Jesus in his death, so they had been raised up to walk in the new life of the Savior.

Honestly, I think there is an element of each of these three in play. As people would use it as a term of mocking, Christians would welcome the chance to be mocked for the sake of Jesus. As people who use it as a term of definition, Christians would be glad to be noted as separate from other Jews as followers of the one who was the Messiah. And as the church would use it as a term of identity, Christians would be glad for the daily reminder that Christ had given them his name, identity and forgiveness. They would wear it with Joy.

We only see the term “Christian” used 2 other times in the New Testament. But that doesn’t mean it was not important or unused. In 1 Peter 4:16, Peter writes: “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” To bear the name of Jesus and to suffer is to suffer with the savior and have the opportunity to glorify God in that moment. The name speaks to the identity and the opportunity of the Christian. We wear his name. Not on a t-shirt. Not on a gold cross around the neck. But in our very identities.

This morning we have heard the testimony of the Antioch believers who were first called Christians. As Christians, they were illustrating that they were guided by the Spirit, and the church was booming as a result. As Christians, they were displaying that they were forgiven, as they were turning from their sin to find the Savior. As Christians, they were wearing the name and identity of Jesus, unashamed to be known as his followers.

This morning, the invitation is open: Be a Christian. Don’t just eat Christian food, wear Christian clothes, listen to Christian music. Actually be a Christian. This goes out to two types of people.

If you do not know Jesus as your savior and Lord, today could be that day. We are sinful, but Jesus is the perfect Savior. Do you desire to know what it is to be free from your sin, guilt and shame? Then you need to respond to the Savior. It starts when you believe Jesus lived for you and died for you. He calls you to turn away from your sin and turn toward him. Pray: Jesus, I’m a sinner. I need you to forgive me and live in me as my Lord and Savior.” Yield your life to him and respond in baptism as he commanded us to. Don’t put off obedience to the Lord today! And don’t be secret in your following. Let the church celebrate together in your confession and baptism that the lost has been found.

And today, if you have followed Jesus, do you wear the name of Christian daily? Are you mindful of it, seeking to represent Jesus and make much of him in your life? If not, why not? Would the people who see you daily say: That guy is a Christian. That lady is a Christian. They follow Jesus. A song that always challenged me is the song “Could I be called a Christian?” by Steve Camp. In the song, reflects on the ways that we may not be wearing the name of Christian each day.

Could I be Called a Christian

by Steve Camp

Could I be called a Christian And believe not his Holy Word If I take Him as my Savior And then refuse Him as my Lord If I could not love the outcast And am not burdened for the lost If I fail the deny myself And each day take up my cross To obey all He's commanded To do all that He said To be his true disciple To place no confidence in the flesh To glory in Christ Jesus It's He who justifies How to find your life you must lose it To live you first must die Let every man examine his own life Could I be called a Christian?

If they could not say that you re a Christian, and if you could not say it, then repent! Do what Christ has called you to do. Be public, and live the transformed life that Christ has called you to. May you be called a Christian.