Understanding our Differences March 12th, 2023
Gracious God, open our minds to understanding, bless your church and continue to teach our hearts to love. Strengthen our wills to carry out the mission of your Word to all who need it despite our differences. Help us fortify our faith and knowledge so that our connection with you grows stronger everyday. Amen.
As we look towards Easter, which is always a time of reflection, if I had to summarize what we’ve learned over the last number of weeks from our readings from the book of Acts in one sentence it would be this, “God uses imperfect people to accomplish His perfect purposes.” What we’ve seen is that our two missionaries, the Apostle Paul and his traveling companion, Barnabas, were sent out by the leaders of the Christian church in Jerusalem to spread the gospel message in the large area of what is modern day Turkey. They had been on the road for about a year and a half and had gained many converts in the towns and villages which they had passed through.
But at the same time, they had undergone a lot of trials, being accused of lying, as well as had threats of physical violence and even been railroaded out of towns by angry mobs. At one point Paul was stoned and left for dead. And to top it all off, Paul and Barnabas were recalled to Jerusalem where they were forced to defend their teachings in front of the leaders of the Church. But even with all these hardships their work was a success and Christianity had its first foothold outside the region of Israel. In the end, the message of the Bible is all about God, not about the messenger and it was obvious that God was at work.
And now this morning we heard about the beginning of the second missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas, and it was off to a rough start. Here’s how the Apostle Luke describes that scene, “And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are.” 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 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.”
Not the best of beginnings, after all the battles they had gone through with others, and no doubt with many more to come, and now they started to fight between themselves. Paul and Barnabas got into a dispute over one of their travelling companions and so they split up and went their separate ways.
It seems that this man, by the name of John Mark, had been with them at some point during their first mission trip but had gotten cold feet and went home. Paul felt that he had let them down and didn’t want to take a risk on him again while Barnabas wanted to give him a second chance. We’re not told why Barnabas was willing to do this, but perhaps he had seen something in John Mark that made him want to bring him along. At any rate, as Luke says, “there arose a sharp disagreement”, sharp enough that the two men who had been through so much together over the past couple of years went their separate ways and would never work together again.
As a matter of interest, this John Mark is better known to us by his second name Mark. His name had come up earlier in the book of Acts, when the disciple Peter, who had been thrown in jail by governor of Jerusalem, Herod, had been set free by an angel of the Lord. Luke says that Peter then went to the house of a woman by the name of Mary, who was the mother of Mark. Perhaps this is where Mark first met Peter, for it’s thought that this is the same Mark who was the author of the Gospel of Mark, which relies heavily on the teachings of Peter.
In the book of Acts, we are told “Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.” And what did Paul do? Luke says, “Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.” By the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit there are now two missionary journeys, one going east and one going west, each with tried and tested leaders at the helm. This will be the last we’ll hear of Barnabas in the book of Acts although Paul does mention him later on in his life in several of his letters that he wrote to the various churches in Asia. There is no doubt Barnabas was blessed by God and a major contributor to the growth of the early church.
Paul would continue on to be a major figure in the rest of the Bible. He is the author of 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament. But for the moment we find him returning to a couple of villages where he had already established churches, Derbe and Lystra, and gaining another traveling companion. Luke tells us, “Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.”
So, Timothy would join Paul and Silas on this second missionary journey. Silas was one of the two men who had been sent by the leaders of the church in Jerusalem to give support to Paul and Barnabas, he was a good worker and so Paul asked him to join him in his missionary endeavors. Along with his newest companion Timothy, they would spend the next three years spreading the gospel throughout southern Europe and eastern Asia. Luke describes the beginning of that journey this way, “As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So, the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.”
Thus, by the providence of God, his Church would continue to flourish. Paul and Barnabas had endured a lot of persecution during the eighteen months they had been together on their missionary journey, undergoing both mental and physical abuse from their fellow man, yet they had continued on together to carry out God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. But now the sinful nature of man had reared its ugly head and caused a quarrel between them which resulted in them parting company. But the Holy Spirit continued to work in their lives and brought to them other companions who would support and strengthen them. Despite the parting of Paul and Barnabas, God’s word spread even further with the two missions. As we experience over and over, God always finds a way!
And there are times in all our lives when differences of opinion cause friction, even between spouses, family, co-workers or the closest of friends. But we must always be on guard against this for it is not what God wants from us. Certainly, it was the will of God that Barnabas should take Mark and go to Cyprus, because it had not been visited since the churches there had been founded. And it was the will of God for Paul to take Silas and go into Syria and Cilicia, because the churches there needed his particular ministry. But it was not the will of God that they quarrel to such an extent that would cause them to part company forever. Their quarreling was not right but a fault of our human nature. It was the will of God for them to go on separate missions, but it was not the will of God for them to quarrel.
Many of us today, like Paul and Barnabas, experience the same pride and stubbornness that lead to these quarrels which can cause much hurt and pain. We need to be always watchful and seek God’s wisdom to guide us through these differences. There are times when the Spirit of God does lead Christians to go separate ways, but they should always do so with mutual understanding.
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, grant us the gift of understanding. Help us to understand the feelings of others, the desires of others, the goals of others. At the same time, help us to understand ourselves in our actions and reactions. Widen our vision beyond our own small world to embrace with love and knowledge the lives of others. Help us Lord, to always see you at work in our lives and in the lives of others. Through increased faith, bring us greater understanding in all things, Lord. Amen.