Open Hands, Open Heart

Acts 4:36–37 KJV (WS)

36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, 37 Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

Introduction

I want to get back to talking and thinking about our theme for the year.

Do you remember it?

Open Heart; Open Doors.

We’ve seen some open doors this year.

Two great Bible clubs at the local schools.

Nearly 500 people in attendance for Easter.

An excellent VBS with over 25 kids getting saved.

Just last Saturday many of you were out at Hogs and Hot Rods passing out tracts.

All of these open doors require people who have open hearts.

You see the value or the need in having a part in these outreach events.

You are willing to give of your time or your resources to see these events accomplished.

Your open heart leads to open doors for our church.

Over the next few weeks, I want us to study the life of a man who demonstrated this year’s theme.

Barnabas is a favorite of mine, as I have studied him in the past.

I hope that as we study his life together, he will become an favorite of yours as well.

He was a man who demonstrated an open heart in serving God.

In our introduction to his life, we see signs of what kind of man Barnabas was.

Who is Barnabas?

Well, his real name is Joses.

This is the name we would recognize as Joseph.

Joseph is a very strong, traditional Jewish name.

The kind of name that any jewish man would be glad to carry.

But, we don’t recognize this man as Joses.

We recognize him as Barnabas.

Barnabas was his surname.

A surname was a name that was added to someone’s original name.

The text is clear that the apostles were the ones who had given Joses this name.

Why would they call Joses something other than his name?

What does this name Barnabas even mean?

According to the text, Barnabas means the son of consolation.

This could also be the son of comfort or the son of encouragement.

His name reflects his character and abilities.

After this introduction, we will find that Barnabas was…

Known for his charitable nature.

His skill in preaching and exhortation.

His ability to comfort others.

For Joseph, the name he was given at birth became less meaningful than the name he received from his brothers in Christ.

We see some other things about Barnabas in this passage.

He was a Levite.

The Levites are not well represented in the NT.

They were part of the spiritual elite that vocally opposed Jesus and his ministry.

Barnabas represents a crack in their walls.

One author stated that Barnabas may have been the first Levite to get saved and then plugged in to the church.

A levite would have been a great asset to the church.

He would have brought a great wealth of Bible knowledge.

The Levites studied the OT thoroughly.

As a believer, Barnabas could, no doubt, use his knowledge of the OT to teach people about why Jesus is the Messiah.

His tribe would have also opened up different doors of opportunity for him.

He could talk to different people.

He could witness to some who would not listen to someone else.

He was from Cyprus.

Cyprus is that Island out in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

This little Island will be the mission field for the first missionary team sent out from the church at Antioch.

Of course, Barnabas will be on that team, but so will a young man named Saul.

Barnabas would help open the door for Saul to discover God’s will for his life.

This and many events in Barnabas’ life are still future.

Luke gives a present example of Barnabas’ character by sharing an event that happened early on in his spiritual journey.

What is the first thing that we see him doing?

He sold some property.

The early church had nothing.

Remember, the apostles weren’t even from Jerusalem.

They were mostly from Galilee.

So, they were very dependent upon others helping them to meet the needs of ministry.

Barnabas had a sister in Jerusalem who was letting the church meet in her house.

John Mark’s mother.

This is the same Mark who wrote the book of Mark that we are studying on Sunday nights.

It is possible that this is the same house where Jesus had the last supper.

The same house where the disciples had waited for the Holy Spirit.

The same house where the early church gathered.

Perhaps Barnabas had been touched by his sister’s generosity.

In any case, Barnabas sold the property.

He brought the money.

Since the property was his, so was the money.

He could have done anything with it.

He could have even just brought a portion of the proceeds to donate and it would have been a blessing, I’m sure.

But that’s not what he did.

He brought the entirety of the proceeds from the sale.

Laid at the apostles’ feet.

No strings attached.

No expectations or stipulations.

Just a free gift to be used wherever it was needed.

As long as there has been money, people have used it to try and gain influence.

Barnabas was not that way.

He gave his gift out of a heart of generosity.

No wonder his church called him Barnabas.

Barnabas’ open heart that was sensitive to the direction of God would open doors for his ministry throughout his life.

Application

What about you, what nickname would your church give you?

I’ve met a lot of Barnabas’ at the Baptist Tabernacle.

I hope someone would call me a Barnabas.

Barnabas is a good reminder that church community is not all about what we can get, but what we can give.

To whom can I be a encouragement?

Do I add to others or do I only take?

If I do give, can I do so with no strings attached?

So many American Christians view giving as if they are paying their dues to a country club.

This is evidenced by the common use of the phrase of “I’m a tithing member…”

If we view our giving as membership payment, then we will expect certain perks.

We have to be careful about expecting to be rewarded by men for our gifts that are supposed to be for God.

Barnabas gave without such expectations.

This is part of why he was an encouragement to his church.

This is also why he was given greater and greater opportunities to minister to others in his life.

He had an open heart.

God gave him open doors.

Conclusion

I want more open doors for ministry.

Maybe you do too.

If you do, then we have an example to follow.

Barnabas’ open heart was demonstrated through his generosity.

It lead to more opportunities to be an encouragement to others.

We will see this more and more as we follow his life.

This morning I want to ask you to do two things.

Pray that God will give you an open heart for ministry.

Examine your giving to see if it is like Barnabas’.