Hitting the Mark of Reconciliation

Scripture Focus: 2 Timothy 4
Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.

Reflection: Hitting the Mark of Reconciliation
By John Tillman

Mark is a key figure in the New Testament who served as Peter’s secretary (1 Peter 5.13) and according to Clement of Alexandria and Origen, wrote the gospel of Mark based on his records of Peter’s preaching and personal accounts. Mark was himself an eyewitness to parts of his gospel account, as the detail of the young man fleeing Gethsemane naked (Mark 14.51-52) fits the typical way authors of the time would mention themselves without using their name. (John referring to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” is another example.)

But Mark and Paul had a spotty history. Mark was a relative of Barnabas, who traveled with Paul and Barnabas on one of their early trips. It did not go well. 

We don’t know exactly what happened but in Acts 13, Luke states that Mark “left them” for Jerusalem. But in Acts 15, it is clear that, at least in Paul’s mind, Mark  “deserted” them in Pamphylia (Acts 13.13; 15.38). 

Whatever the nature of the desertion, Paul refused to take Mark on a future trip. Paul and Barnabas disagreed so strongly that they stopped working together. Not exactly a church split, but more akin to the dissolving of a church planting ministry organization. It is one of those moments that, if the New Testament was fiction, would be edited out.

But woven through the rest of the New Testament, we see God’s work of restoration and reconciliation in the relationship of Paul and Mark. When Paul writes Colossians in the early 60s, we see him give instructions that Mark, if he comes to the church, is to be welcomed. (Colossians 4.10) And here, in the final letter of his ministry, we see the words, “he is helpful to me…” The gospel can move those we would refuse to work with today toward being those who are helpful to us.

Time does no such thing as heal wounds. But the gospel has the power to resurrect dead relationships just as it has the power to resurrect our souls and our physical bodies. When we know Christ as Paul describes we should, the power of the gospel and the forgiveness of our own sins empowers us to pass on to others the forgiveness of Jesus. 

Just as Paul sat in isolation in prison, extending redemption and reconciliation to those who had wronged him, may we, struggling in isolation, discover in the resources of Christ within us, the power to extend forgiveness to someone in our lives.

*As we have said before, forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. Forgiveness can be one-sided and does not require restoration of the same relationship, especially in cases of abuse. God can help us forgive anyone of anything regardless of whether they are repentant or not. Reconciliation is beyond that—it requires something of both sides. True accountability, confession, repentance, and demonstration of change may be required before allowing someone back into one’s life. All things are possible with God, but we must also be cautious and wise, especially concerning the protection of ourselves and those for whom we are responsible.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; wash me, and I shall be clean indeed. — Psalm 51.8

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ecclesiastes 8 (Listen – 2:41) 
2 Timothy 4 (Listen -2:48)

Read more about A Christian Response to Offense
Our culture is unable to bear offense and simultaneously unable to bear forgiveness.

Read more about Praying for Repentance
Defending correct doctrine is the task Paul is quite seriously commanding Timothy to prepare for. We need to prepare for it too.

Praying for Repentance :: A Guided Prayer

Scripture Focus: 2 Timothy 4.3-4
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Reflection: Praying for Repentance :: A Guided Prayer
By John Tillman

Paul says that the “time will come,” when people will not put up with sound doctrine. He sounds like he is speaking of the future, but it certainly seems as if there were a lot of Paul’s past experiences in Acts that might be described as people not putting up with sound doctrine.

Being stoned, being beaten, being imprisoned, and being run out of town by mobs doesn’t exactly sound like acceptance or tolerance. Doctrinal diligence is needed in every age of the church. Defending correct doctrine is the task Paul is quite seriously commanding Timothy to prepare for. We need to prepare for it too.

But as we think of these people Paul writes of, who will gather teachers to suit their own desires, we need to think about our desires. As we pray for people who turn their ears away from the truth, we need to think about how often we turn away from facts that don’t fit our paradigms. Let us remember that people are not our enemies, only sin.

Let us pray for our culture and ourselves this weekend, a prayer of repentance. Our prayer today is based on yesterday’s readings from chapter 3, verses 2-5 and Paul’s description of sinful, self-interested people who are lovers of themselves. 

A Prayer for Repentance
Lord we remember your prophecy from yesterday’s reading about how sinful people would become. Empower us to confess and repent of these sins, reversing them in our lives to bless others. 

May we pray this passage not as an accusative attack against our culture, but as a lament for the condition of our own hearts and the heart of Christ’s church.

Lord rather then become like the people Paul warned Timothy of, 
May we be found by you and seen by the world as we are:
Showing love to outsiders
Shunning the allure of money and wealth
Praising others not ourselves
Being humble
Healing others in words and deed
Honoring our elders and parents
Living in gratitude
Being made holy by the Holy Spirit
Indwelt by love beyond ourselves
Forgiving
Truth telling and affirming
Calming
Tender and caring
Loving the good
Showing loyalty,
Sharing wisdom,
Shunning the spotlight
And sacrificing our pleasure to serve others.

May our repentance bring glory to Christ and not to ourselves and may Jesus’ name be praised.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Our God will come and will not keep silence; before him there is a consuming flame and round about him a raging storm. — Psalm 50.3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
2 Kings 14 (Listen – 5:06)
2 Timothy 4 (Listen -2:48)

This Weekend’s Readings
2 Kings 15 (Listen – 6:21), Titus 1 (Listen -2:24)
2 Kings 16 (Listen – 3:46), Titus 2 (Listen -2:01)

Thank You!
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Read more about Confessing, Instead of Weaponizing PropheRather than weaponize Paul’s words to attack our culture with an accusing cry, we should instead cry for forgiveness and mercy as we recognize that these faults are also in us.

#WeaponizingTheBible #ConfessingSin #KingdomOfPriests #Repentance

https://theparkforum.org/843-acres/confessing-instead-of-weaponizing-prophecy/

Read more about Praying as Priests
As followers of God today, a part of our identity is as carriers of the blessings of God that are intended for the world.