Introduction

This talk was given at St. Peter’s Church on 15 June 2025. Examining Acts 11:19-29, Revd. Mark Fletcher explores the Church’s mission to reach all people, showing how early believers overcame cultural barriers to share the gospel with Jews and Gentiles. He challenges us to be courageously known as Christians and recognize that there are people only we can reach.

The events of the 24th of August in the year 410 AD sent shock waves of disbelief around the world. Rome, the eternal city, had fallen to the barbarians. The city which had conquered the whole world had itself been conquered. And it wasn’t just the Empire, but the Church, which was shaken to its foundations. For in the hundred years since Christianity had become the official religion of the Empire, they had come to believe that the two were inseparable.

In response to that, the great Saint Augustine wrote a work which became a cornerstone of Western theological thought. It was called The City of God, and he makes the case that God’s kingdom is not tied to any nation—that empires rise and fall, the cities of men may crumble, but the city of God will endure forever.

So over recent weeks, we’ve been thinking about what it means to be Church, and that culminated last week at Pentecost as we celebrated that great event, which is in many ways the birth of the Church. And we talked about it as this revolution—because God was no longer only to be found in sacred places, but because of the outpouring of the Spirit, he could be encountered wherever and whoever you are.

But we said last week that there was another important impetus at Pentecost, and I’d like to look at that today. So the other famous thing that you will remember about Pentecost is this. This is from Acts 4 : “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.” And the crowd was amazed and they asked, “How is it that each of us hears in our native language?”

Up until then, the truth and the wonders of God had only ever really been communicated within one culture and one language. But it seems that it had always been God’s plan to reach out to the whole world, and that symbol of people speaking in all different languages is a powerful sign of that intent.

It would have seemed shocking to many that the sacred was being spoken of in the common language. But this is the mission of God—a mission to the whole world, to every nation, tribe, and tongue. And the fact that today we speak of the wonders of God in our own native language—or for some of you, in your second language—is part of this Pentecost thing.

However, as is often the case, the blessings of Pentecost came hand in hand with a crisis. Did you see? It was mentioned at the start of our reading. It spoke of those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out. When Stephen was killed, there had been this violent reaction to the birth of the Church, and Stephen—a wonderful young man—was killed and became the first Christian martyr. And as a result, the Church was scattered.

Can you imagine the shock, the fear, and the confusion that people would have experienced? How could a dreadful event like this go hand in hand with the blessing of the Lord? But the truth is that God used even that in remarkable ways, because this young Church is scattered in every direction—over land and sea.

And like perhaps a dandelion seed caught in the wind, wherever it went, they carried the germ of good news. It strikes me that the question is not why we live in times of crisis. Really, it’s always times of crisis. The question is how should we live in times of crisis? We were never promised an easy passage through life.

But we were promised that God would be with us in the storms. And God is with them—which brings us to this reading today. So, as we said, they have been scattered in every direction, but it’s very interesting to see that wherever they go, they talk about the good news of Jesus. But they have still only partly grasped the scope of God’s mission.

So in verse 19, did you notice it said they spread the word but only amongst Jews? That they—important though that is—they were only talking to people who were like them. They were talking to people that they could relate to, and the people that they thought would be interested. Or, perhaps even worse than that, they were only talking to people they thought were worth talking to.

And I’m sure that you recognize something of yourself in that—that we all, if we think about it, have categories of people that we simply couldn’t imagine being interested in spiritual things. We simply couldn’t imagine them being in church. I feel like we slightly lack confidence that this good news is actually good news for everyone.

It’s not that we don’t think Christianity is a good thing, or that church would be really good for people. And yet, there are categories of people who we just can’t imagine having that conversation with.

Well, let me suggest: I think we need to think again. And particularly at times like this—at times of crisis in the world, when it seems to be one crisis on top of another, when people’s old confidences are shaken.

I think in the midst of this crisis, God is at work—as he always is. And he is at work in surprising ways and amongst surprising people. It’s as if something is stirring in days like this.

And some of them did get the message. Verse 20: “Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks”—to Gentiles, to non-Jews—“also telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.”

They didn’t stick to the script. I don’t think they had any great strategy. It just seemed like the natural thing to do. But one thing that’s worth noticing about them is that they are outsiders. They’re not those who naturally fit in. So one is from North Africa, another is from Cyprus. And the thing I would say to you is: if you feel like an outsider in church—good. Because church is intended to be a gathering of outsiders.

There is not one culture, or even one language, which is any more important than others. And for some of us, really the only thing that we have in common is Jesus. But if we have Jesus in common, then we have everything.

I was talking the other day to a couple who’d met a remarkable woman who was from Iran. And they were pleased to meet her, but they realized that they had no point of connection at all with this woman—until they discovered that she was a Christian and had become a Christian in amazing circumstances.

But suddenly, any differences in culture evaporate. Because we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all outsiders, and we are all welcomed here.

And these outsiders in this story kind of didn’t follow the script, and they spoke to other outsiders. And I’m really struck that if you feel like an outsider, it may well be that you have a particular role to play—that there may be particular people who you can reach that others can’t reach.

And look what it is that they are sharing. It’s a nice phrase that says “they were telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.” It’s a lovely, simple expression: telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. I think it’s got quite a lot of content to it, but I love its simplicity.

So, the good news is the word gospel. They are interchangeable words—gospel means good news. But they’re simply, it seems, telling them what they have experienced about Jesus that is good. They’re telling their own stories of their experience of the goodness and the love and the mercy that they’ve found in Jesus. And that’s not a hard thing to do.

Telling your own gospel—your own story of good news—is: why would you not do that? If you found something good, why wouldn’t you share it with those that you meet?

Why is Jesus good news to you? I was thinking it’s because I’ve experienced love and acceptance and someone who makes sense of a chaotic world—and that I’ve found peace. Why would I not want to share that with people?

I’m also struck—they use this phrase: “sharing the good news of the Lord Jesus.” And that phrase is quite a significant one, because of course, if Jesus is Lord of all, then all of the kings and emperors and tyrants of this world are not. To say that Jesus is Lord is to say that the actual Lord of the universe is humble, and loving, and compassionate, and merciful, and good—and that is really good news in a world like ours.

Verse 21: “The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” It turns out that this good news was not just for religious people, not just for one type of people.

And in the same way, we should not be surprised that people do respond to the good news in remarkable ways.

And so this church—this remarkable church actually—in Antioch is born. And did you see there was a lovely story about Barnabas coming to visit, and then going to find Saul, who would become Paul, and that the two of them spent a year teaching and investing in that church. And this church in Antioch becomes a really significant one.

It is the first major church outside the Holy Land, and it becomes a really missional powerhouse. They send out people all over the world with the good news from it.

And there is a sense in which this church kind of adapts to its culture in really significant ways. And one of the ways that it did that is—did you spot the fascinating fact?—that at Antioch, believers were first called Christians.

Interesting. So before that, I think the phrase would be, they would speak about people being followers of the Way. And here they take on a name, which may have been pejorative. Often, that’s how these names work, aren’t they? It’s imposed on them—and then they embrace it.

And so the word Christian means little Christs, which is quite a nice name, actually. I’m happy to embrace that. Aren’t you? And so they take on this Greek word, which I think communicates much more effectively in the culture that they are part of. And they are known for the first time as Christians.

And this new identity was the first step towards becoming a sort of global Church.

I have a question for you: Do people know that you are a Christian?

It’s a good question. It’s an important question.

I’ve just been rereading the wonderful autobiography of C. S. Lewis. And I was going to say it’s his journey to faith, but in many ways it’s the opposite of that—it’s his journey trying to fight against becoming a Christian and failing. And it’s a super book. It’s called Surprised by Joy.

And one of the lovely little motifs in the book is that God places remarkable people along his way. And he’ll meet somebody who he really likes and respects and who really stands out—and then he disappointingly discovers that they’re Christians. Most famously among them, J. R. R. Tolkien. And God uses people like you in other people’s journeys.

But if they don’t know that you are a Christian, how can God use you like that?

Do people know that you are a Christian—even in subtle and gentle ways? You don’t need to shove it in people’s faces, but you need to be courageous enough, willing to be known as a Christian.

So what we’re saying is that the other great thrust of Pentecost is this mission of the Church. We have good news to proclaim—and my goodness, does the world need it more than ever right now. And that is for everyone, and it is all of our job. God has laid this upon us.

And in fact, somebody said very well: God does not have a mission for his Church; he has a Church for his mission.That’s good, isn’t it?

This is the mission of God to the world. God, who so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

And if we are to be authentically Church, then we need to recognize that responsibility—to be present in this world, to be salt and light, to be known as followers of Jesus.

There is no one who is beyond the reach of the gospel. No one who God is not interested in. You don’t need all the answers. You just need the courage to say, This is who I am. This is what I have found. And it is good.

Are you known as a Christian?

Are there people that you can reach that nobody else can reach?

And when the world seems shaken, and when the things that we thought we could put our confidence in seem to crumble, that good news is more important than ever.

Don’t be afraid. The hope that life will be a smooth journey across a calm ocean is naïve. It was never going to be like that. But when the storms come, we learn to sail—and the Church is here to be a lifeboat for the world.

Do the simple things. Learn to pray. Learn to put your trust in God, who will not let you down. He is your refuge and your strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.

And though empires might crumble, the city of God will endure forever.

Amen.