Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale
a tale of a fateful trip
that started from this tropic port,
aboard this tiny ship
The mate was a mighty sailing man,
the Skipper brave and sure,
five passengers set sail that day
for a three hour tour,
a three hour tour.
In Acts 13:13 scripture says, From Paphos, Paul and company put out to sea, sailing on to Perga in Pamphylia. That’s where John called it quits and went back to Jerusalem. From Perga the rest of them traveled on to Antioch in Pisidia.
They set sail for Perga to continue sharing the message of Christ on this first missionary journey. The journey lost one of it's travelers though as John Mark called it quits and went back to Jerusalem. For whatever reason, John Mark decided he did not want to keep the pace of Paul and Barnabas and called it quits. Maybe he thought the buy in was too much, or maybe he missed his family, or maybe he did not totally believe in the mission. Whatever reason for his going back, he quit them....Just when they needed him the most.
Why? Because Paul and Barnabas were about to rock the world of Pisidian Antioch with the awesome message of what Jesus did on the cross for those people. They went to the synagogue and when they get there the leader of the meeting asks them "Do you have anything you want to say? A word of encouragement perhaps?" The leader did not realize what he was doing when asking Paul to speak about Jesus, so Paul gave him both barrels. In verses16-20 it says Paul took a deep breath and laid out the whole thing. All the way from the old testament writings to present day Antioch. He spoke about the delivery of the children of Israel from Pharaoh and the rise of King David, and the lineage all the way to Jesus. Paul even spoke about John the Baptist preparing the way of the Lord and all the intricacies of God moving at that time. He brought them right up to the time of Jesus and shared the Good News in a passionate way that astounded them. He ended by saying "we are here to bring you this Good News!! " Wow. What a message!! Boy, John Mark missed the blessing of seeing these hearts opened to God. What an encouragement it could have been to him, but he missed it. John Mark was stranded on his own island of non commitment. It was John Mark's Island. The poet John Donne wrote "No man Is An Island!" But we can be an island if we choose to. We can become stranded in the unexpected storms of life and lose our way and end up on an island of indifference. By the way, there will be many different people on that same island, stranded, lifeless. Paul was not going to be that kind of man though and his trip to the island of Perga was just a part of his missionary journey because there were more locations to travel to and more people to hear the message.
So, are you Paul and Barnabas or are you John Mark? Are you in it for the long haul or are you turning back to a life of ease and weak commitment to the "easy life?" It's time to make a decision who you are and what God is calling you to do and GO!! In reality Gilligan became comfortable on the island and really didn't give much effort to get off the island because he didn't have anywhere pressing to go. Paul had a mission to accomplish, so Perga was just a stop off. We have a mission to accomplish, so get off your island of non activity and start serving the Lord again. It is time and that time is now!
The Pilgrimage continues....
David Warren
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