Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Easter
[Acts 12:24 - 13:5 and John 12:44-50]While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabus and Soul for the work to which I have called them." Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off."
The Acts of the Apostles contains a number of "stories within stories." One of these "stories" is the relationship between Barnabus and Saul (Paul). After Paul's conversion he eventually returned to his home town of Tarsus. It was Barnabus who recruited him for the preaching mission. (11:25-26). For several chapters these two are an inseparable team. However, they take on an assistant named John Mark, who apparently refuses to accompany them on one of their trips. Paul appears to have been less willing to forgive this "abandonment" than Barnabus. In Chapter 15:36, when Paul proposes to Barnabus a return trip to some of the missions, Barnabus wants to bring John Mark and Paul refuses. The text says, "So sharp was their disagreement that they separated!" They do not appear to have worked together again. Paul takes on Timothy and Silas as partners. I find these "side stories" worthwhile because of the human dimension that it gives to the scripture. The mission of preaching the gospel is incarnate in a "motley krewe" of human beings, beginning with those whom Jesus himself chose! Even the closest partnerships can be subject to disagreements sharp enough to cause a "divorce." How often have we seen in family feuds the refusal to forgive and it is a stubborn refusal at that! Longstanding business partnerships can suffer the same fate! In the case of Paul and Barnabus, the outcome does not seem to have destroyed "the mission," but it does show that a mission can be endangered when egos and grudges take hold. If it happens in our own time, the experience is nothing new even if it is always unfortunate! AMEN
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