SERMON FOR RSCM MUSIC SUNDAY AND BARNABAS
11th June 2023
11am
In the name of God, Creator, redeemer, and sustainer. Amen.
Today is the Royal School of Church Music’s ‘Music Sunday’, a day that encourages people to highlight the important role that music plays – pun definitely intended – in the life of the Church. Being a Cathedral, you could argue that every Sunday is Music Sunday. It would be easy to quote the phrase in Job ‘and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy’ and make a nice link to music, or to wonder how many musical settings there are of the opening phrase of our gospel reading, “‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’” RSCM Music Sunday sufficiently mentioned, tick, tick, move on.
However, what I want to do is less obvious but far more meaningful. As today is the feast day of Barnabas the Apostle, I am going to show you why this combination of music and Barnabas is a winning one.
In 2004, David and I had the unforgettable experience of seeing Simon and Garfunkel in concert at Hyde Park in one of their reunion tours. I did my research and learnt that it was Art Garfunkel who approached Paul Simon to form a duo. Their partnership was hugely successful and influential, but ultimately the pair went their separate ways to pursue solo careers, with Paul Simon’s arguably eclipsing that of Art Garfunkel’s.
Throughout history there have been cases of a partnership where the first artist invites the second to join / support them, they have a successful joint career and then the protégé outperforms their teacher. I put out a plea on Facebook earlier in the week for examples. I made a cheeky comment about not being too modern, e.g., rap / hip-hop as perhaps the congregation at the earlier service might be more concerned with their hip ops…then I promptly twisted my right knee and hip picking up one of our dogs in an awkward position…serves me right!! Anyway, here are some of their responses: Buxtehude and Bach, Clara and Robert Schumann, Leopold Mozart then his son, Sonny and Cher, Ike and Tina Turner, Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael, Dr Dre and Eminem, Jaz-O and Jay-Z, and my favourites, Tony Hart and Morph, Gonzo and Rizo the rat…but I particularly liked Simon and Garfunkel because I have seen them live, but also because he is called PAUL, and Garfunkel approached Simon to form a duo, and Barnabas travelled to Tarsus to invite Paul to do missionary work together. Paul effectively starts as a sidekick to Barnabas, a warmup act, then ends up headlining across the Mediterranean.
Barnabas is mentioned 23 times in the Book of Acts and 5 times in Paul’s letters. He was a big deal. But who was he? He was a Cypriot Jew. He was likely to be reasonably wealthy and have good social standing. He was probably in Jerusalem for Passover when he encountered the original apostles. So taken by the exhortation to sell your possessions and give to the poor, Barnabas sold a field, handing over the proceeds to the apostles for their good works. He also worked to support himself in his missions, not relying on donations.
Though his name was Joseph, he was known by his nickname, Barnabas, which means ‘son of encouragement’, because he was a great encourager. It is in this reading that we learn these followers of Jesus are first called Christians, rather than followers of ‘The Way’. A nickname that stuck, just like Barnabas.
News of an increase in Christians in Antioch meant that Barnabas was sent there to support them. “When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord.” Barnabas encouraged many people to become Christians.
He set out to Tarsus to find Paul and bring him back to Antioch, where they stayed, and even more people came to faith. Barnabas invited Paul of Tarsus, Art Garfunkel invited Paul Simon. Whilst the original apostles were wary of Paul – the zeal of a convert was strong in him! – it was Barnabas who persuaded, or should I say encouraged, them to welcome him into the fold. Towards the end of the passage, Barnabas and Paul were sent to deliver aid to Judea after a famine, showing that they were trusted by the apostles.
They also play a key role in shaping how Greek Christians – non-Jewish Christians – converted. At the start it was Jews as followers of Jesus, but as the faith grew, people were wanting to convert from pagan beliefs. Should they be accepted as Jewish first then Christian, or could they get a speedy boarding pass and go straight to being Christian? At the Jerusalem Council, Barnabas and Paul argued that the followers of Christ were moving away from a faith shown by obedience to the laws in the Torah, so speedy boarding was the way forward.
Later in the Book of Acts they are in Antioch planning a missionary journey and the cracks start to show. As with many of these great partnerships, artistic differences got in the way, and they split up. They fell out over who else to bring into the band. Barnabas wanted to include his cousin, John Mark, but Paul was against this as he had previously deserted them, though we are not given a full explanation as to why. Perhaps the life of an itinerant apostle got too much, and he needed some time out? I don’t blame him. Barnabas wanted to include John Henry again. Perhaps he spotted potential in him, like he had with Paul beforehand? I think Paul could have been more gracious to John Mark, after all, before his conversion he enjoyed persecuting Christians. Barnabas was more forgiving. Encouragers often are, but maybe this was just the catalyst for a change in direction. These disciples were no longer going in one direction…the front rows of the choir are more likely to get that one that those in the pews!
He and Paul had a “sharp disagreement”, the word used for this indicates a sudden and violent outburst. In the end, Barnabas and his cousin travelled to Cyprus, and Paul and Silas went to Syria and Cilicia. At the start of their ministry, they are referred to as Barnabas and Paul, then there was a gradual shift towards Paul and Barnabas. After a long period of ‘the sound of silence’ there is a resolution of sorts, with Paul offering ‘a bridge over troubled waters.’ There end my Simon and Garfunkel puns, I promise! We know no more about what Barnabas got up to whereas we know a lot about Paul.
What lessons can we take from Barnabas? First, that things change, band mates come and go, the spirit moves in unexpected ways, so we need to as well. Years ago, I was training for ordained ministry, but I stand before you as a Lay Reader. This is my calling. It took me years to face the reality that I was supposed to be a religious studies teacher even though I hated school and behaved appallingly in my RS lessons. Things change. We mustn’t be brittle sticks, or we might get snapped by the wind. We need to let the spirit move us.
Secondly, Barnabas and Paul’s falling out shows that there has always been division and disagreement in Christianity. Any faith, for that matter. Even those who have achieved great things for the gospel are flawed and fall out with each other, and those of us who achieve small things for the gospel are flawed and fall out, but hopefully we can reconcile. I hope that the Church of England can still hold diverse strands together.
Finally, Barnabas achieved extraordinary things by being himself, not someone else. There is a super phrase, “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” He committed to following the commandment. “…that you love one another as I have loved you.” How did he show this love? By encouraging people. We need encouragers. Encouraging people to develop in their faith is a special calling. Encouraging people to develop their talents, such as music, is a special calling. The Royal School of Church music was set up to support the musical life of the Church, recognising music’s pivotal role in the worshipping life of Christians. The sad truth is that many parish choirs have not reformed after the pandemic, which is nothing short of a tragedy. We must not take for granted what we have here. So, let us be sons, daughters, offspring of encouragement rather than of critique and cynicism. With songs in our hearts and on our lips, this day and for evermore. Amen.