While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off."

         For followers of Christ, the spiritual journey is always one of mission. It is not a journey to salvation or holiness or understanding apart from mission. In other religions or philosophies the spiritual journey might lead to enlightenment or inner serenity, but in Christ the journey always moves us to do his will, to live out the commission of Christ to make disciples of all nations. In this season we are going to use the travels of Paul as a guide for our own spiritual journeys. We will read these sections of Acts looking for guidance in our own spiritual growth and experience of God, aware that our spiritual journey is never self-contained; it is always a missionary journey. Our interest in Journey is not to be on an adventure of discovery or a spiritual quest. We are following the travels of Paul, so we expect the Journey will lead us to Mission, to serving Christ.

         The first question we must ask is how much can we expect to take from the missionary journeys of Paul to bring into our own lives. We must be careful not to over-spiritualize the accounts of Paul's travels. It is the account of Paul's travels, after all, and we will not find that every rock he steps on becomes a spiritual principle with immediate application.

         On the other hand, we don't want to make a travelogue out of the account. A few years ago in Confirmation class I carefully prepared a map of Paul's travels, looking up the scripture to go with each place name along the way. It was fascinating to me to get all the geography straight, and read a bit about each ancient city. But that night a few of the boys needed to come early for the lesson, and I just had 30 minutes to cover all this interesting stuff. I kept condensing the lesson until I realized it had become just colored lines on a piece of paper. Paul might as well have been traveling on Mars. There was no connection that night to the students and what was going on in their lives.

         So, we want to discover in this very real, historical journey of Paul, a living word that connects with our experience and that can guide our discipleship and our mission in Christ.

         What, then do we see today in this record of the beginning of the missionary journey of Paul?

         First, we see that Paul and Barnabas were sent on their journey by the church. This is now the first time in Acts where people go willingly and freely into mission. Up to now, the Gospel has spread because of persecution. Those who are thrown out of one place go and preach in another. But the church in Antioch was at peace; nobody was trying to harm them. They could have stayed right where they were. This was quite a step, to send missionaries without any external compulsion.

         Howard Marshall defines "sending" in this way: "an act of blessing in which the church associates itself with its missionaries and commends them to the grace of God."

Notice that the church willingly released their best leaders for the Missions journey. They chose to move beyond their location willingly; they sent their best leaders; and they associated or identified with them through the laying on of hands. There is no tension between local work and missions; there is no separation between those who stay and those who go.

         One part of becoming a church, a body of Christ, is learning how to bless and identify ourselves with people who are at significant points on their spiritual journey When we have a baptism, as we did a few weeks ago, this is an opportunity for the whole church to gather around and lay hands on those who are confessing their faith at a key moment in their journey of faith.

When we send a team on a missions trip, perhaps to Mexico or maybe closer to home, this is an opportunity for the whole church to own the mission and identify fully with the group that is going. As we lay hands on these people, it becomes "our" trip and the ministry of our whole church.

When people participate in the life of the church by serving on the Council, or teaching in the Sunday School or singing in the choir, and we together pray for them and associate with them, then we know we share the same journey, and they never feel abandoned or alone in their particular area of service to Christ.

         The next thing we notice is that Paul and Barnabas did not go very far from home on their first journey. This was hardly cross-cultural ministry. Cyprus is about 60 miles off the coast from Antioch. Not only that, it was Barnabas' home town, and several in the Antioch church came from Cyprus as evangelists. It was such a peaceful place that the Romans did not station any troops there. Paul and Barnabas start out by going to the synagogue, where they are familiar with all the customs and traditions. So this is not a great, frightening leap of faith for them.

         Maybe that is a good pattern for our spiritual journeys as well. The journey of faith can actually be close to home. It might be best to begin there and then let the Spirit take you to the world. My experience over the years is that those whose hearts are warm to the world are also those whose eyes are most open to their neighbors; and those who are most active in ministry to their neighbors are also most enthusiastic about mission to the whole world.

         A few of us are going to Mexico at the end of September to meet with the leaders of the Jerusalem Covenant Church in Cuernivaca about a possible Mission team going there next summer. I am excited about that, and believe very much in developing a ministry relationship there. But I have also been aware that I have struggled to feel connected to Lake County or Libertyville outside of the church. I have not found that place of entry into the life of this community. I do not have a soccer team to coach and I can't play in the community band. So where do I go to get connected in a missions journey in my own back yard?

         Then it hit me that maybe I don't have to go far. In our little condo community we have two close neighbors, very friendly people, who are facing typical issues concerning aging. One of them asked me to read a book and tell him what I got out of it. Another neighbor was talking to me about some medical ethics issues the other day, and said he had some "theological questions." One neighbor recently welcomed home her son, who is in the Marines, and has been in Iraq three times now. Maybe starting a sense of journey with people who are close to home is a good idea. I don't have to feel bad about "Cyprus" being the first destination. I guess I could pass out a few of those "Imprisoned in Iran" books.

         The final issue is more difficult to talk about. After a period of "smooth sailing" down the island, they run into a conflict. When we serve the Lord, we like the smooth sailing part. But in Paphos they meet a Jewish sorcerer and false-prophet named "Bar-Jesus," "son of Jesus." Here is a man who has wound himself into the centers of political, religious and spiritual power. He serves the Roman governor, he is Jewish, and he practices sorcery. Those three are not supposed to come together in one package, but there he is. He is powerful. He is to be feared. If you are wise you do not cause him grief. He is against the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

         Barnabas is quiet.

         John Mark is quiet.

         Paul confronts him. He calls him "the son of the devil," not "the son of Jesus." He says he is full of deceit and trickery. The word for "deceit" was originally the name of bait that was used in traps. "Trickery" is anything done easily, lightly, to fool people. That is what his life had become. The Holy Spirit through Paul overcomes the power of magic in him and leaves him blind. The fact that Paul was willing to face this powerful, deceptive man brought the Roman proconsul to faith in Jesus Christ.

         There will always be opposition on a spiritual journey. Sometimes the fear of opposition causes us to stop the journey. But when we continue on, and bear witness to the truth, people come to believe in Jesus. When we are sent by Jesus, and warmed by the hands of praying brothers and sisters, we are able to continue the journey. We are able to walk with the one who is faithful, who never leaves us.

We are able to hear the voice of Jesus:

"So send I you, by grace made strong to triumph

O'er hosts of hell, o'er darkness, death, and sin,

My name to bear, and in that name to conquer,

so send I you, my victory to win.

As the Father has sent me, so send I you."

         Amen.