Sermon for the Second Sunday of Epiphany: What's in a Name?

Acts 11: 19-25

19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

John 1.35-42

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

“The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.”

The Church at Antioch had been founded by Jewish Christians from Cyprus and Cyrene, who went to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks there, “telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.” They were soon joined by Barnabas and Paul, who “for a whole year...met with the church and taught great numbers of people.”

So the term 'Christian', meaning a follower of Christ, only came about after the persecution in Jerusalem had forced the early Church to spread around the Mediterranean, and the good news had been accepted by some of the Greek population of Antioch.

The Latin suffix '-ian' was commonly added to names to indicate followers or adherents of someone, as in 'Herodian' for supporters of Herod. This may explain why followers of Christ came to be called 'Christians'—perhaps as a label given by outsiders. It is possible that the majority population of Antioch who did not convert used the term 'Christian' to identify those who did became followers of Jesus. If so, this was not Christians identifying themselves, it was non-Christians deciding what to call us.

So, what were the followers of Jesus called before the Church became established in Antioch?

In Acts 1:15 they had been called disciples.

In Acts 9:13 they had been called saints.

In Acts 5:14 they had been called believers.

In Acts 6:3 they had been called brothers.

In Acts 5:32 they had been called witnesses.

In Acts 9:2 they had been called followers of the way.

Then we get to our passage in Acts 11, and the term 'Christian', but following this, in Acts 24:5, they are called Nazarenes.

I say, 'they', I perhaps ought to say, 'we', as these are our forebears in the Faith.

We are disciples, we are saints, we are believers, we are brothers and sisters, we are witnesses, we are followers of the way, we are Christians, we are Nazarenes.

If anyone asks you your religion, if you want them to easily understand then you can say 'Christian', but if you want to challenge them, and make them think, then consider saying you are a Nazarene, or a follower of the way, or a saint, or one of those other names that identified the first disciples of Jesus.

The original term, and I think the most useful, is 'disciple.' That's what Jesus called his followers, and that's what he called his followers to do. In our reading from John we heard Jesus calling Andrew and Peter to be his disciples. Some might object that there were twelve disciples, and that we cannot claim that title, but in Matthew 28 Jesus instructed his disciples to “Go... and make disciples of all the nations.”

Down the road from that commandment was Antioch, and Ephesus, and Corinth, and Philippi, and Colossae, and Galatia, and Rome, and from Rome a path to the shores of our island.

Disciples of Jesus are called to go out and make new disciples.

The job of the Church is to make, and nurture, Disciples of Christ.

The call to be a disciple is a call to be generative.

I know this makes many Christians uncomfortable, but if you believe that Jesus is good news, how can it be right to keep that good news to yourself?

It might help to remember what Jesus asked his disciples to do, because this is what we are inviting people to be a part of, this is what we are passing on from Jesus.

Mark 1:15, Jesus tells his disciples to repent, and believe the good news.

Luke 9:1-2, Jesus tells his disciples to 'preach the kingdom of God, and heal the sick.'

Matthew 16:24, Jesus says,' follow me,' — 'deny yourself, and take up your cross.'

John 13:34-35, 'love one another, as I have loved you.'

Matthew 22:37-39, 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself.'

Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, using the Lord's prayer as a model.

Matthew 6:14, 'forgive others so that your Father may forgive you.'

Matthew 5:44, 'love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.'

John 14:15, 'If you love me, keep my commands.'

Thankfully, because all that is very challenging, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to his disciples to inspire and empower them.

The New Testament Greek word for "disciple" is “mathetes”, meaning "to learn."

Being a disciple of Jesus is clearly going to be a learning process, not a one off event.

'Mathetes' can be translated as 'apprentice', so this is going to be a practical as well as a theoretical learning process.

That means if we do not meet the high standards Jesus asks of us as his disciples, we can repent and keep trying, and gradually by the grace of God make progress.

As disciples of Jesus we are to proclaim and embody the good news, that in Jesus the Kingdom of Heaven has drawn near, we are to bring healing and forgiveness to those around us, we are to pray for ourselves and those around us, we are to love our neighbours and our enemies alike, in fact we are to love as Christ loved us, and we are to do this with the same strength of purpose as Jesus showed in going to the cross.

It does sound different, inviting someone to be a disciple of Jesus, rather than inviting them to be a Christian. So much that falls short of Christ, or contradicts Christ, has gotten mixed in with the meaning of Christianity down through the centuries, for instance, it would be hard to disentangle the Christ-like from a religion that has both supported slavery and campaigned against slavery.

In all those years since Antioch much has happened to obscure the true meaning of 'Christian' – that is one who follows the teachings of Jesus.

I know many Christians are uncomfortable about inviting others to become followers of Christ because the term 'Christian' has become almost pejorative, but also because we know our lives, like the history of the Church, do not live up to the standards we proclaim. Christians fall short of Christ, that is why we should practice the humility and repentance that Jesus taught. If we are honest about our failings we can be honest about our salvation. Inviting others to be disciples of Jesus must never be to point out the speck in the eye of another, whilst ignoring the beam in our own.

In all four New Testament accounts of the life of Jesus, the disciples consistently fail to grasp Christ's meaning, they argue with each other, doubt, become afraid, even abandon him, and then only gradually dd they begin to understand who Jesus really was. They fall so far short of Christ, yet they changed the world.

May we, like them, be disciples of Christ.

Amen.