We’re in a series of sermons on the remarkable story
of Jesus by going through the Gospel of Mark. Mark,
the author, is also a remarkable story. Mark is
mentioned on ten occasions in the Bible using either
his Jewish name of ‘John’ or his Roman name ‘Mark.’
Mark was most likely introduced to Christianity
through his mother’s activities. It would seem she
had a large enough home for the early church to meet
and gather there (Acts 12:12). Some even believe it
was her house that held the upper room where Jesus
washed the feet of His disciples which would then
support that Mark knew Jesus.
Later on in Acts, Mark will accompany Paul and
Barnabas on their first missionary journey, around
46 A.D. However, there will be a problem, and Mark
will leave them prior to the completion of that
journey (Acts 13:13). This will not sit well with
the Apostle Paul. In fact, Paul and Barnabas will
have a significant dispute over whether to allow
Mark to rejoin them on the second missionary journey
(Acts 15:37-39). In Paul’s mind, Mark was a quitter.
There is a good ending to this story. Later, Paul
and Mark are reconciled. And even later than that,
Paul will compliment Mark several times as being a
very important ministry partner (Col 4:10, 11; Phil
24; 2 Tim 4:11). Mark was nearly lost to the cause
because he quit but got himself back in the game.
In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe
Pioneer 10. The satellite’s primary mission was to
reach Jupiter, photograph the planet and its moons,
and beam data to earth about Jupiter’s magnetic
field, radiation belts, and atmosphere. Scientists
regarded this as a bold plan, for at that time no
earth satellite had ever gone beyond Mars, and they
feared the asteroid belt would destroy the satellite
before it could reach its target.
But Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and much,
much more. Swinging past the giant planet in
November 1973, Jupiter’s immense gravity hurled
Pioneer 10 at a higher rate of speed toward the edge
of the solar system. At one billion miles from the
sun, Pioneer 10 passed Saturn. At some two billion
miles, it hurtled past Uranus; Neptune at nearly
three billion miles; Pluto at almost four billion
miles. By 1997, twenty-five years after its launch,
Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the
sun.
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And despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10
continued to beam back radio signals to scientists
on Earth. According to Time Magazine, “Perhaps most
remarkable, those signals emanate from an 8-watt
transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a
bedroom night light and takes more than nine hours
to reach Earth.”
The Little Satellite That Could was not qualified to
do what it did. Engineers designed Pioneer 10 with a
useful life of just three years. But it kept going
and going. By simple longevity, its tiny 8-watt
transmitter radio accomplished more than anyone
thought possible. Three years became thirty. For 30
years, Pioneer 10 sent signals back to earth. The
last signal received happened on January 23, 2003.
So it is with God who can work through anyone, even
someone with only 8-watt abilities. In some ways,
that could be considered Mark. God cannot work
however, through someone who quits…through someone
who gives up! The lesson of Mark’s life is simple,
“Don’t give up!”
Current Sermon Series
Mar 8- What Jesus Stands For! (Mk 10)
Mar 15- Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Mk 11:1–12:44)
Mar 22- Jesus Unveils the Future (Mk 13)
Mar 29- Jesus—Suffering King? (Mk 14:1–15:20)
Apr 5- Jesus Finishes His Work (Mk 15:21–16:20)
[Ron Otto, preaching Minister at Lincoln
Christian Church] |
