One of the most difficult things to grasp is the idea or concept of holiness and a holy God. Too often, we associate the words ‘holy’ or ‘holiness’ with something or someone who is distant or remote. Some, like me, may have grown up in a faith or religion that promotes a God so holy that He is unattainable, unreachable, untouchable. Without full understanding of early passages in Scripture, we can find that perceived distance is difficult to move past. Take for example Moses. God chose Moses to deliver His people from slavery. In chapter 33 of the book of Exodus, Moses speaks to God, “Then show me your glorious presence.” Moses has been in such close contact and communication with God that he desires to see Him in His glory. God responds by saying that He will make His goodness pass before Moses and proclaim His name, but then He tells Moses this: “You cannot see My face, for no man can see me and live!” Imagine for a moment being told that. The God whom you serve cannot be seen by you, or you will die. In 2 Samuel chapter six, King David instructs the priests to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. The Ark was where God’s presence resided. It was holy. Hundreds of years earlier, God had instructed how the Ark was to be moved: With poles inserted through rings and carried on the shoulders of priests. The priests who were moving the Ark failed to move it in the manner instructed. Instead, they placed the Ark on a cart, pulled by oxen. During the move, the Ark began to fall and Uzzah reached out to stabilize it. This was against God’s instructions, for no one was to touch the Ark. What a costly mistake as Uzzah was struck down by God and died. Unseeable. Untouchable. Holy. Moses asked to see God’s glory. In chapter 14 of John’s gospel, Philip makes a similar request of Jesus and asks Him to “show us the Father”, to which Jesus replies “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father.” Uzzah died because he touched the Ark of the Covenant, the very presence of God. We read in chapter nine of Matthew’s gospel the account of a woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. She had spent her resources seeking healing, and in desperation and in faith, believed that if she could touch just the hem of Jesus’ garment, she would be healed. She touched Jesus and instead of death, she received life. (Mathew 9:20-22) In Mark’s gospel, we see a blind man being brought to Jesus, God made flesh, and Jesus spits on his eyes, lays hands on him, and brings him sight (Mark 8:22-25). This man doesn’t touch Jesus, but is touched by Jesus, and now he sees because Jesus, God in the flesh touched him. The Pharisees and religious leaders could not see Jesus for who He was, because they had been blinded by religion. They rejected the concept of how a Holy God could simply walk amongst them, touching, healing, loving and restoring people. Many of us today still cannot see God for who He truly is as we are blinded by religion or bound up in wrong thinking. Yes, God is holy. God is infinite and we are finite beings. This side of heaven His holiness is beyond our full comprehension. But we have Jesus! Jesus walked this Earth as fully God and fully man to reveal to us the full nature of God; a holiness that not only can be seen and touched, but one that sees us and touches us. God became flesh because He desired to be with us and have us be with Him. Much as the woman with the bleeding in the story in Matthew, some of us may have been suffering with pain or a need for years and years. Like her, we need to come to the end of ourselves and find the boldness and faith to reach out and simply grab hold of Jesus. He will not reject you. Or perhaps as with the Pharisees, our flesh and our past have blinded us such that we cannot see Jesus for who He is. If that is you, let God touch you to help you see Him clearly in His fulness and His holiness. No matter where you find yourself, know for certain that God not only sees you, but He desires for you to see Him.
Those who read the Bible (and even those who don’t) are familiar with the names of the more prominent people found in Scripture. Most people are familiar with Adam & Eve, Noah, Joseph and his coat of many colors. We know of King David along with Mary & Joseph, Peter, John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul. And while each of those mentioned play significant roles in the Bible and in history, there are others whose names hardly recognized and yet play critical roles in God’s plan for Israel, the Church and His Kingdom. Take for example Barnabas. The name ‘Barnabas’ is not a common name and when you do a name search on the internet, very little comes up. Readers of the Bible likely associate Barnabas as a man who was a companion to the Apostle Paul but may know little more about him beyond that one fact. In actuality, Barnabas was a hero of the Bible and was instrumental in the start of the New Testament Church. But the key thing to know about Barnabas is the meaning of his name: Son of exhortation or encouragement . Most of us know the story of Paul, and how he persecuted the Church (Acts 8). We know also that Paul experienced a life-changing encounter with Jesus, for he no longer persecuted the Church. Instead, he began to preach the gospel wherever he could, at first in the synagogue to other Jews. Initially many Jews, including the disciples, remained afraid of Paul because of his past persecution of followers of Jesus. This is where Barnabas steps into view. Barnabas’ true name was Joseph, but the apostles called him Barnabas due to his encouraging nature (Acts 4:36). Barnabas hears Paul preach in the synagogue in Damascus after his conversion and personally vouches for him before the apostles (Acts 9:27). This personal validation launches Paul into his ministry, but not all goes well for Paul as he creates an uproar among the people and receives death threats. This is disruptive to the work of building the Church so eventually the apostles pull Paul out of ministry and send him away to his home in Tarsus, for nearly 14 years (Acts 9:29-30). How significant was this? Just read verse 31, after Paul is sent away: “So the Church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace…and continued to increase.” (Acts 9:31). So once Paul was sent away, peace reigned in the Church, and it began to grow. Imagine what that did to Paul and his reputation amongst the apostles and Church leaders. But what does all this have to do with Barnabas? Remember his name: Son of exhortation and encouragement. By chapter 11 of Acts, we see that despite persecution, the Church continues to grow, notably in Antioch. When the apostles hear of this growth, who do they send? Barnabas the encourager, of course! (Acts 11:19-22). And what does Barnabas do? He goes to Tarsus to search for Paul. He brings Paul to Antioch to teach these new believers, where they stayed for a year, teaching a multitude of people. It was there that the disciples were first called Christians (Acts11:26). This was the beginning of the Gentile Church! Paul would travel far and wide, preaching the gospel, planting churches and writing the majority of the New Testament, but were it not for Barnabas risking his reputation by taking a second chance on Paul, Paul might never have left Tarsus. True to his nature, Barnabas doesn’t focus only on Paul. Barnabas had a younger cousin named John-Mark whom he brought along on their early missionary journeys (Acts 12:25). Later we read that John-Mark left them, much to the displeasure of Paul. This creates a split between Paul and Barnabas, but true to his name, Barnabas retrieves John-Mark and brings his cousin on his own journey to Cypress (Acts 15:36-39). While we read that Paul later sees a more mature John-Mark and requests him to accompany him (2 Tim 4:11), it was Barnabas who believed in and restored John-Mark. And it is this John-Mark, known also as Mark, who eventually writes the first gospel, the Gospel of Mark. So, what is our take-away here? It is that at some point we all need a Barnabas in our life. Someone willing to take a risk on us, to vouch for us, to come find us when others have given up on us. Or perhaps we need to become a Barnabas ourselves: One who reaches out to encourage and exhort others. One who sees in others what only God sees at first: A life worth taking a risk on. So, while many of us wish we were a David or a Paul, or maybe even a Peter, imagine what the Church would look like and what influence we would have on the world if we tried to be more like Barnabas?
Throughout our lifetime we will have numerous words, thoughts and opinions spoken to us, about us and over us. Words and thoughts that come from family and friends, teachers and peers, society, media and even ourselves. And whether we recognize it at the time, those words will play an influential role in shaping both our identity and shape our self-value. I recall from my early childhood that my teachers, year after year, would make the same comment on my report card: “ Mark does not work up to his full potential .” School was easy for me then. I never felt challenged and it was more important to me to enjoy the fun side of school, rather than the scholastic side. I’d gladly do minimal work, have more fun time and settle for a ‘B’ than to take extra time to study and do homework to pursue an ‘A’. With each report card, my parents would read those same comments and laugh, so I laughed too. Words that should have challenged me to pursue excellence, instead gave me permission to be content with average. What I did not realize then was those written comments, and my parents’ response, became a mantle which I wore throughout much of my life. This mantle soon permeated other aspects of my life beyond school. We read of another young man who had things spoken over him that greatly impacted his life. His name was Gideon. In chapter six of the book of Judges, we read of Gideon as he is threshing wheat in a wine press. Now if you are not familiar with the background of the story, wheat was to be threshed on a threshing floor, not in a wine press. The threshing floor was outside, in open air so that the wind would blow and separate the wheat from the chaff. Gideon was in a wine press as Israel at this time was in disobedience to God, and neighboring countries would come and raid Israel during harvest time to steal their food. Thus, Gideon was hiding in a wine press out of fear . Suddenly, Gideon is surprised by a divine visitor- the Angel of the Lord, who most scholars agree is the pre-incarnate Jesus. The Angel of the Lord greets Gideon by using the Hebrew word ‘Hayil’, meaning a man of valor or of great stature. That is quite a greeting to someone who is hiding, right? But Gideon, so wrapped up in fear and shame, does not hear it or receive it. In fact, he complains to the Lord! What is most noteworthy is Gideon’s response in verse 15. Gideon questions the Lord “How can he be this man of valor, a deliverer of Israel, when his family is the least of the tribe of Manasseh, and he is the least of the family?” Now where do you think he learned this? Most certainly, this was something ingrained into Gideon from his youth. Whether this came from his father, his extended family, the community, we do not know. But for Gideon to immediately speak this out tells me that not only has he heard this for so long, but he has replayed the words in his mind over and over, such that it was his first response to the greeting from the Lord. “I am the lowest of the least” truly became the mantle which Gideon wore, causing him to reject the declaration of valor spoken by the Lord because he had embraced what was spoken over him by others. While Gideon goes on to accomplish great things for the Lord, we continue to see evidence of his timidity, uncertainty and fearfulness throughout his time as a Judge over Israel. Mantles are hard things to shed. Perhaps you can recall things spoken over you that not only shaped your self-image and identity but became something you carried with you- something that was not of the Lord. I know from my own experience that Satan and the world will want to use their words to define you and to hold you back from all that God has for you. Don’t let that happen! Consider the source! Shed those mantles! Spend time in God’s Word to read repeatedly that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), that you are “the apple of His eye” (Psalm 17:8) and that “you have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). Those words are life-giving mantles that God has for you to wear daily. Afterall- consider the source!