A Sandwich with a Difference

 Good morning,

Thanks for all your prayers and concerns from the last couple of weeks. I'm happy to announce that both Tony and I are MUCH recovered, both physically and emotionally.

So today I want to talk about BLT sandwiches.  Yes, you heard right.  My son told us that his 15-yr-old came bounding in from school all excited. "Dad, I just discovered this amazing sandwich.

It’s toast with slices of bacon, lettuce and tomato, and man, I think I could eat it 4 or 5 times a day!!"

"Yes", my son said, "that's called a 'BLT' and it’s been around for generations." 

Trying not to look too deflated that he hadn't 'discovered' it, he rolled his eyes and left the room.

Now let me tell you what we've been doing in one of our Bible studies.  We have a new teacher (not Tony) and the other evening he had us all do a 'quiz' about the New Testament character known as “Barnabas". We've all heard about him, but how well did we know him?   We were tasked with figuring out why the disciples nicknamed him Barnabas, what he was noted for, etc. Soon we were all scrambling for information, even consulting Google! And what we finally came up with was pretty enlightening.

Apparently, he was a Jewish Cypriot (from Cyprus), who came over to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem the same year of that Pentecost most of you remember, just weeks after Jesus' resurrection.  Remember the scene? It all started with flames of fire coming down on the heads of the disciples, then moved out into the city where they spoke to crowds. Everyone heard the message in his or her own language, and before the day was over, around 3000 people had come into the church. You can read about it in Acts 2:8-11.

One of those new converts was none other than Barnabas (whose real name was Joseph from Cyprus). 

If you keep following the Scriptures into Acts 9 or so, you’ll see that Barnabas had taken this new faith very seriously, going as far as to sell his property and then giving the money to the emerging Christian church.  

A hint at the kind of man he was obvious a few years later. Saul, who had once persecuted Christians wherever he could find them, had his “come to Jesus moment” on the road to Damascus. He became a believer and set out at once to meet up with the early church leaders in Jerusalem. Those leaders were not all that excited to see him, however, suspecting that he was just trying to infiltrate the group so he could persecute them. 

Enter Barnabas. He talks with Saul-become-Paul and then brings him into the group, vouching for his sincerity and announcing his intention to join up with the mission to the Gentiles. 

Later, after a few mission trips around the area with Paul, Barnabas goes to bat for John Mark, who had abandoned Paul on a previous journey. When Paul announces that he will strike out again, but this time with Silas, Barnabas volunteers to take on John Mark as a new partner. While it isn’t told, we sense that his plan is to stabilize him and help him mature.

Our Bible study group talked about this and decided that Barnabas was a guy who saw the potential in people – Paul and John Mark included – and laid it all on the line to encourage them in whatever God was doing in their lives.   

Oh, and one last thing, remember that I said that Barnabas was originally known as Joseph? After proving himself time and again, the name Barnabas was given him by the disciples. That name, by the way, means “Son of Encouragement”. 

Now back to the sandwich.

Tony and I were dating, it was the summer of 1967, and to be honest, it could have gone either way with him. I mean, yeah, he had a few things going for him, but the deal breaker in my eyes was the fact that he was not planning to go into ministry (a decision I had made years earlier in secret). But that’s another story.

I had agreed to a Friday night date, but I explained that I had to babysit my nephew for a few hours before we could go anywhere. He agreed, but then my nephew began showing signs of being sick.  He had a significant fever, and I just couldn’t leave him with anyone else. 

Finally, I had to make that hard phone call ...... and cancelled our date. He said he was fine about it, but I wondered.   Now I could just sit there and wait till whenever my sister and her husband would come home.

But wait!  Did I hear that 1964 Ford Falcon convertible with no muffler tearing up the mountain to the house? Before I could collect myself, I saw Tony jumping out of the car juggling two bags of groceries, and without a word he set to in the kitchen making, you guessed it "BLT sandwiches".

I didn't know much at 17 but I do remember thinking, "He can COOK! " And, "He cared enough about me to want to ease my burden. I think this one may be a keeper!"  From that night, I came to love both the man and the sandwiches!  

Barnabas was also that kind of guy.  Helper, comforter, always thinking of others and working out what he could do, in order to make it better for THEM, not himself.  

We concluded the Bible Study by saying these qualities have not changed one iota in their need or attraction throughout the millennia.  We thank GOD for every one of you!

Let's dedicate ourselves this week to seeing where we can make a difference in someone's situation!

All the best, 

Marsha