St. Mark, Evangelist
April 25, 2010
How God Used a Quitter
Acts 15:36-41
Mark was a quitter, from a long ling of quitters in the Bible.
There was Moses who was desparate to quit before he even began... the work God commanded him to do. When the Lord spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Moses tried to excuse himself from leading the Hebrews slaves out of Egypt. For example Moses' fourth excuse, which was quite clever, went like this: “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” (Exodus 4:10)
We read about the prophet Elijah who was on the run from Queen Jezebel who was trying to kill him. Elijah ended up in the desert under a broom tree and said, ”I have had enough, Lord” (see 1 Kings 19:4).
And who can forget Peter quitting Jesus not once, not twice, but three times? Peter pretended that he didn't know Jesus while Jesus was been introgated by the Jewish leaders. [Peter called] down curses on himself, and he swore to them, “I don't know this man you're talking about” (Mark 14:71).
Moses, Elijah, Peter, and Mark. Mark abandoned Paul just before Paul headed off to southern Turkey to tell people about Jesus there. Instead of going with Paul, Mark (also known as John) went home: From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). Mark quit.
We know a few things about Mark. His family in Jerusalem must have been rather well-to-do because their home was used as a church, a place for early Christians to gather and pray. We learn of this house church when an angel of God broke Peter out of prison. (Peter had been thrown in jail because he was telling people about Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.) When Peter finally realized this jail break was real and not a dream, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying (Acts 12:12).
So we're pretty sure that Mark was a rich young man. Dr. Peter Scaer thinks that perhaps Mark was the infamous rich young man in Mark 10. Here's what happened:
As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call Me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me."
At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. (Mark 10:17-22)
Dr. Scaer also thinks that Mark is the young man who ran away from Jesus after Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized Him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. (Mark 14:51-52)
Bottom line is that we don't know if Mark really was the rich young man or the young man in Gethsemane. But we do know that Mark quit on Paul when Paul was counting on him.
Mark reminds us of ourselves. He is a man who lived a comfortable life. If he was the rich young man, he wasn't a dilettante. He didn't dabble in religion. He took it seriously. But his involvement was at his own pace and leisure. As long as he decided what commandments he wanted to follow, he did well. When Christ asked him to take all of God's Word seriously, then he walked away.
As long as I ask you to do things I already know you are doing, everything's fine. As long as I encourage you to do things that are easy, no problem. We can go about our business of “church” and everybody's happy.
The devil is delighted when the sermon never probes too deeply into the Ten Commandments. As people set free by Christ's blood, are you being faithful to God and putting Him as the priority above everything and everyone else? Is one hour and 10 minutes the limit of our time in God's Word every week? The question needs to be asked, and only you can answer that question. But please be honest with yourself when you answer it.
If Mark is the rich young man and the young man in Gethsemane, then Mark abandoning Paul was the third time that Mark had bailed on Jesus. Mark kept quitting when he was asked the hard questions.
Jesus said, not to Mark in particular, but to all who follow Him: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the Gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:34-36)
Mark was a quitter. But here's the thing that's really amazing. God used this quitter to double the spread of the Gospel. What happened? Paul and Barnabas were planning another trip to tell people about Jesus.
Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (Acts 15:36-41)
Instead of just going to the island of Cyprus or just to Syria and Cilicia, they split up and did missionary work in both places! This wouldn't have happened without Mark's history of quitting. Time and time again God uses quitters to serve His purpose of telling people about the Savior from sin. Moses, Elijah, Peter, and Mark—quitters who served God's purpose.
Moses took God's people to the Promised Land. Elijah stood up to evil pagan kings and queens. Peter confessed Christ to the Jews and Gentiles. And Mark wrote one of the Gospels, one of the historical accounts of the life of Christ.
And later in life, Mark left his quitting ways behind, and was a faithful helper to Paul and to Peter.
Paul wrote:
My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (Colossians 4:10)
Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. (2 Timothy 4:11)
And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers. (Philemon 1:24)
And Peter wrote:
She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. (1 Peter 5:13)
Mark gave up. So do we. To our great shame, we all quit, we all run away from our crosses when it suits us. But Jesus never quits. Remember the hidden glory of the cross? Jesus walked to His cross and never ran away from it. He didn't quit so that He might wash your sins away in Baptism, Communion, and Absolution. Through these Means of Grace, He sends His Holy Spirit to bring us into and keep us in His family, along with Moses, Elijah, Peter, and Mark.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment