“Bring Mark”

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 (NIV)

Paul sits alone in the Roman dungeon. Despite his words of encouragement to Timothy, despite the hope of an eternal reward that awaits him, there is no mistaking the heaviness of heart he feels as he awaits his appointment with the executioner that he knows is imminent. Paul’s final words of this the final letter are filled with loneliness…

Demas has deserted me.
Crescens left me too.
So did Titus.
Only Luke is with me.
Please come quickly.

Then Paul makes an unusual request.

Get Mark and bring him with you. I need his help.

The personal greetings in the letters of the New Testament don’t get much attention from casual readers. The names are strange, there’s no real context, and the message doesn’t have any real meaning for the reader. But those personal greetings often point to stories that are full of meaning and Paul’s request for Mark to come to him is one.

Mark was known as John Mark. He was a young man when he and his mother became followers of Jesus. Mark was present in the garden when Jesus was arrested. His mother’s house became a hideout for the disciples and Jesus’ followers during and after the crucifixion. When Paul set off on his first missionary journey to take Jesus’ message to the Gentiles in Greece and Asia Minor, young Mark was part of the entourage.

Wherever Paul went, he stirred the pot. When Paul stirred the pot things got hard. Persecution, riots, getting arrested, getting beaten, death threats, and getting stoned were what came with the territory.

Mark couldn’t handle it. He bailed on Paul and Barnabas and went home.

A few years later, Paul approached Barnabas about taking a road trip to visit all the local gatherings they’d planted on that earlier journey. Barnabas wanted to bring Mark with them. Paul wanted nothing to do with having Mark along after he wimped out on them before. Things got heated. Words were exchanged. Paul and Barnabas parted ways. Barnabas took Mark with him. Paul went in the opposite direction.

Fast forward to Paul in the final days of his earthly journey sitting alone in darkness and chains. Among the final words of this his final letter he writes:

Get Mark and bring him with you. I need his help.

We don’t know the whole story, but it is obvious that there was a reconciliation between Mark and Paul. Mark regained Paul’s trust. Paul forgave Mark for deserting him on that first journey. Their relationship was not only restored but grew. Mark became indispensable to Paul in his later years, his imprisonments, and his tireless work of spreading Jesus’ message.

As I look back at my life journey, there have been conflicts with people I love very much. I have my own moments of disagreement when things got heated, words got exchanged, and when I and my friend walked away in opposite directions. Life gets messy. I hear Jesus’ words echo in my soul as I type this in the quiet:

“This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God. Or say you’re out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don’t lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. “
Matthew 5:23-25 (MSG)

I wish I could say that every broken relationship gets reconciled this side of heaven. That has not been my experience, but some do and as a disciple of Jesus my job is to do my part in creating the atmosphere in which reconciliation might happen. I can’t control the other person, but I do control myself. I can forgive. I can be gracious. I can reach out. I can make the first move.

Paul’s desire to have Mark by his side at the end of his earthly journey is a reminder to never give up trying to make things right in relationship.

Note: I’m out on a business trip the next two days. Will plan to be back on the chapter-a-day trek on Friday.