restoration

Maybe – Just Maybe!

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. Acts 15:37-38 ESV

Sometimes I wonder, how after going on such an incredible missionary journey together, that Barnabas and Paul, could have such a falling out over Mark going home to Jerusalem. Of course, we will not know for sure until we meet in glory, but maybe – just maybe, the reason is just a few pages back, where we find the gospel of Mark. You see, tradition tells us that Mark wrote HIs account from what he had learned from the Apostle Peter. Any idea where Peter was living? Yup, you guessed it: Jerusalem! Secondly, who was one of those who got to spend plenty of time with Paul in Mark’s absence? Oh yes: That would be Luke, the author of the book of Acts from which we are reading, along with the gospel that bears his name. I am pretty sure Paul didn’t think Mark’s departure was God’s plan…but it was! And maybe – just maybe – in that same way, God has a plan that we don’t approve of for the people around us. But I love that this story didn’t end there. Instead, just a few years later, Paul begins writing his final letter, and guess who is He is asking for? Yes, believe it or not, He wants to see Mark!

Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 
2 Timothy 4:11 ESV

Sush a story of restoration and grace, maybe – just maybe, will encourage you today about severed friendships, broken relationships, and trusts betrayed. Because God sees to the end of our stories, and He chooses for each of us, the chapters we must write!

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

Come and Rest

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And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. Mark 6:31-32 NKJV

Jesus’ invitation to rest must have sounded wonderful to his tired and hungry disciples. The busyness of the ministry had denied them even a few minutes downtime to eat. Though Mark doesn’t fill in all the details, it may have been that they set out late in the afternoon and spent a quiet evening sailing across the lake looking forward to a day snoozing on a faraway beach. But in the morning as they approached shore, the sight that greeted them was not at all what they had expected. Let’s listen in on what their conversation might have been:

“Wake up Peter! Hoy smokes! Look at all the people on the beach!” John blurted out. Peter, still rubbing sleep from his eyes, sat up and peered over the side of the boat and groaned.

“Oh no! You better go and wake up the rest of the guys. It sure looks like we aren’t getting the day off after all!”

Remember, these twelve men were just regular, nine to five, working guys. Though they had committed to following Jesus with all their hearts, their everyday mannerisms were not those of professional clergymen, monks, or mystics. That morning, I am sure they wondered what had happened to the rest Jesus promised. It seemed like, the needy crowd had thwarted Jesus’ original plans. Did He somehow get off track? Absolutely not! Instead, Jesus was showing them (and us) that real rest is more than just kicking back in our recliner or peering over the side of a cruise ship. The rest that God invites us to is about resting in the work that He gives us today. Whether visiting a sick friend or listening to a family member venting their hurt and frustrations, Jesus offers us both strength for service and rest for our hearts as we yield to His plans.

So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. 
Mark 6:42-43 NKJV

Now, as we come to the end of the day, and we need to remember that the disciples had been invited to rest because there hadn’t been time for them to eat, and Jesus surprised them with twelve baskets full of bread and fish! Not only had He supplied plenty for them to eat, but with each bite they could also say: “This is miracle bread! This is miracle fish!” I don’t know what you are facing, but Jesus does, and He calls us to come and rest. But, as we come, we need to prepare for God’s unexpected call to service and be ready for the real rest and the greater miracle, that He has planned for us all along!

The Sabbath is a Gift

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And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27 ESV

It has been a delight reading all the comments about those, who, like me, have struggled with figuring out what to do with the Sabbath. Let’s remember that the Sabbath is more than just God’s design or one of the ten commandments, it was also God’s first gift to us. Today’s verse comes from a story about Jesus and HIs disciples walking through fields and picking a few heads of grain to eat. Though most of us have never heard a single message preached from these verses, Matthew, Mark, and Luke each considered this passage so important that they included it among their highlights of Jesus’ teaching. Our cooperate loss of understanding about the Sabbath makes me think of when we visited a village in Switzerland many years ago. It was Sunday morning and the family we were staying with wasn’t going to church, so I went out for a long walk. While climbing up through the steep hills surrounding our valley, I came upon an ancient looking stone church. There, as I paused to admire it and rest, a man drove up, parked his car, got out and unlocked the door. After, he went in a few minutes later the bells began to ring, and their lovely sound echoed out as they pealed over the valley. Once he finished his duties, the man, locked the doors behind him, got back in his car and drove away. His faithful ringing of those bells sometimes reminds me of how on Sunday, we ring the bells, remembering vaguely that it is God’s day, then pause only long enough to catch our spiritual breath, get back in our cars and drive off. In the story leading up to today’s verse, the Pharisees just didn’t get what Sabbath was either. They angrily criticized the disciples’ behavior on the seventh day, because they thought that picking a few ears of corn, was an act of harvest. But, Jesus made it clear that God’s purpose for the Sabbath was for it to be a day of blessing for man and not a burden. He reminds us that God did not create man so that a Sabbath could be observed, but He had created the Sabbath as a gift. Jesus wanted us to know that Sabbath rest is the wonderful gift of refreshing from which we can go out to do all He has called us to do. Remember also that enjoying God’s Sabbath, keeps its blessing pouring out, not only for us but for our children and grandchildren and every generation until Jesus returns and we enter His amazing eternal and wonderful day of rest!