A Second Chance in Life

The setting of today’s sermon is a church in the city of Antioch. It is the largest city of Syria at the time. Located 300 miles north of Jerusalem, it has become a settlement for many Jewish people. A church has been started and the congregation has been growing and prospering. The Bible tells that the believers are first called Christians in this church. And things have gone well, but now God is forcing their hand to get beyond their doors. And the congregation responds by sending out the very first missionary team.

The team consisted of Paul, Barnabas, as well as young John Mark. Who was John Mark? We learn in the book of Colossians that John Mark was a cousin, sometimes translated nephew, to Barnabas. His mother, Mary had a house in Jerusalem where the believers would meet regularly.

He was a young man with the right connections and though young in his faith, he was given the opportunity to be a part of the first great missionary journey; a journey that would go down in the pages of the Bible to be remembered for all time. What a great opportunity and he had to be so excited to be a part of it.

The glorious sounding journey has been transformed into the day to day struggle of sailing and working and toiling. Food is scarce, the journey is long. The sun beats down every day. And these long dreary days are interrupted by moments of opposition, rejection and even persecution.

I know someone who works for the railroad. He told me that this life on the train consists of huge stretches of boredom interspersed with terrifying moments of panic. There is very little in between. I think that was probably what life was like of John Mark.

And after a while, he decided that this perhaps was not what he wanted to do with his life. Chapter 15, verses 37-38 tells us very clearly that John Mark had deserted Paul and Barnabas in the middle of their journey. Deserted is a strong word. They needed him and he was not there.

So here we have a young man that in one sense is a failure, he quit, and he gave up. John Mark was entrusted with a great responsibility, yet he failed in it. If that was the end of the story, it would be depressing.

Let me tell you the story of another man. This man went bankrupt at 22. The year he went into politics he was defeated. The next year he started in business again and failed. The next year he was elected to legislature. At 29 he had a nervous breakdown and everyone thought he was finished in politics. A few years later he was defeated for speaker of the house. A few years later defeated for office of state elector. At 34 he ran for land officer and was defeated. That same year he ran for congress and was defeated. Two years later he ran for congress and was defeated again. A few years later ran for congress and were defeated for the third time. Later ran for senate and was defeated. Following year he lost in Vice President Nomination. A few years later he was defeated in second bid for senate. Yet in 1860 he was elected as the 16th President of the United States of America. This was Abraham Lincoln, who was beaten to his knees time and time again. He was called a failure. He was ridiculed, but he gained strength through God, understood second chances, and led the United States through one of her toughest times.

History of every nation is filled with those who stumbled but came back stronger.

A failure is not someone that falls down, but someone who never even tries, never gets up, never learns that God is their only source of strength, and never learns about the glories of grace and the wonders of a second chance.

John Mark failed but John Mark would not stay a failure. That is the key. Failure is part of life. Every one has failed one time or other.

The reason we fail is that we risk something. We try new things, changing jobs, falling in love, starting a business. We risk failure when we try anything new. The only way to avoid failure is to never reach out, remaining fixed where you are. We will never become what God wants us to be unless we risk failure.

So we need to remember that everybody fails. It is universal.

And we need to understand that it is impossible to succeed without some measure of failure.

When a child learns to walk they fall down. It takes failure at times to learn and grow. How did you learn to ride a bicycle? You fell down and got back up. And so success is really a matter of getting up one more time.

And we need a positive mindset, maybe I have messed up, but God will give me a second chance and I will make the most of it. This failure can shape me and strengthened me and make me stronger. It is just adding to the overall picture of my life, a picture not of failure but overcoming adversity.

Some people do not understand that until later on in life. Sometimes they never see it. In this world, often our life seems like a jumble of poor choices, bad breaks and crushing failures, but viewed from the top side we will be able to see how those trials were shaping the picture of our life.

Cross-stitching is taking the thread and basically sewing a picture onto canvas. But if your ever looked at the underside of a cross stitch, it looks like a total mess from the back. But if you look at it from the top, you see it makes sense.

I am sure that John Mark, at this point, thought his life resembled the back of the cross stitch. But he was given a second chance and he made the most of it and his life became a beautiful picture for God.

What is it that you have stumbled at? What do you need a second chance at? I am sure you can think of something. We all can. You see John Mark is one person we can all relate to.

I think it is so easy when we read the stories in the Bible to put ourselves in the position of the person who is right. If it is the story of the rich man and Lazarus, we see ourselves as Lazarus. If it is the Pharisee and the taxman praying at the temple, we picture ourselves as the taxman whose prayer was pleasing to God.

But in the story of John Mark, and his desertion, it has never occurred to me to put myself in the place of Paul or Barnabas. I always see myself as John Mark, because I know how often I fail. I am John Mark. You are John Mark. We all Fail.

What is it you are failing in? Prayer time? Tithing? Involvement in Church? Morality? Sharing your faith?

There was a woman who failed in marriage so many times. One day she sat in a restaurant staring at a gentleman…finally he went over to her and said, “Do I know you, you kept on staring at me. She said, “I was thinking, you look just like my third husband.” He said, oh, you been married three times? She said, “No, twice.”

Well, some fail in marriage, some fail in business, some financially, some spiritually and morally. What do you need a second chance in?

Have you ever set a goal and failed to reach it? I have. Have you ever striven to be a spiritual giant, and ended up being disappointed? I have. And so we all need a John Mark, someone we can look to with empathy, and learn from, because we have been there too.

What happened to John Mark? We do not know why he went home, but as we saw a moment ago, the writer of Acts uses a word, translated as deserted; it is the same Greek word we get apostasy from.

Giving up is a serious matter, because the road was too tough, home was too far way, and the courage was not there yet. Does any of this sound familiar to you? Maybe it was not a sudden thing. Maybe the spiritual fire inside has not gone out, but it has gotten less and less over time. Somewhere alone the line, it started downhill. We try to live on level ground all the time, but life has its valleys as well. Maybe we were not ready for that, and we all of a sudden started to go downhill.

Maybe priorities got mixed up. What used to be first is now third place. Maybe that is how it is with us. Tithing used to be important, but now, I will give a few dollars if I think about it. Reading our Bible and praying used to be up on the list, but you know I am so busy these days. The family used to be here and the job here, but now no longer the case. We need to make a decision to put our priorities back where they belong.

Let us go back to John Mark, only this time the setting is in Jerusalem. There he is sitting at home, and no matter where he looks or what he sees; it has a way of reminding him of his uncle and Paul still out there. It kept on reminding him, “John you lost your chance. You had one of the greatest opportunities a young man ever had. You could have been with these two Godly men on a journey that will forever be remembered in history, but you could not take it. You gave up, you failed. There is not much greater than the regret of saying, “I blew it.”

The saddest words of tongue or pen are these four words, “It might have been.”

I had an opportunity to get that job, buy that property, invite those people to church, help that person in need, make that decision for Christ. The voice of remorse always seems to remind us of these things. I pray that no one here, will get to the end of their life and that could be any day, and have to regret in not making a decision to give their life to Christ, because that is a regret that will last for eternity.

Well, John surely has a great deal of regret and you can almost hear his conscience. “John Mark, I wonder where Paul is tonight. I wonder if your uncle is hungry. I wonder if they are in danger. I wonder if you could help them. I wonder if they need you now.”

And so his conscience eats at him. Many of the Christians in Jerusalem would meet at his home to observe the Lord’s Supper. What is he thinking every time he sits around the Lord’s Table? He is thinking, Jesus, Jesus, you went to the cross, you stuck it out for me, but I could not stick it out for you.” And his conscience eats at him. And I imagine John Mark repented and begged God for a second chance.

What does God do whenever any of us come and say, “God, I blew up! I quit. I made a mess of it. And I want another chance.” It is called repentance. We repent when we become Christians, but it does not end there. Repentance is not just sorrow, it is a change of action, a change of character and it continues as long as we fail, which is throughout our lives.

Five years later in the Bible, there is a second missionary journey that is being planned. Paul and Barnabas are planning on going again….Paul has already lined up a young man by the name of Silas to go with him, but John Mark has had five years of growing up, five years to think about his failure. And he comes and says, “Let me go. I blew the first chance, I quit, I know, but I am sorry, and I won’t fail you again. Please let me go.” And Paul said “NO!”

I am not sure what to make of this? We can be quick to condemn Paul, but he had his reasons. He was devoted to the Lord’s work, and obviously thought it would be better not take John Mark.

However, John’s uncle Barnabas is wiling to give him a second chance. Paul and Barnabas decide then, to split up. Paul took Silas, and Barnabas took John Mark.

Thank God for the Barnabases in life that pat you on the back and say, hey, don’t worry about it, let us try it again.” Barnabas name means encouragement, and that is what he was to John Mark. He gave John a second chance, and that is what the great grace and mercy of God is all about. He gives His children second chances and third and fourth and fifth.

We need to learn that when it is over it is over. God forgives. You may remember that date, or that marriage, or that thing that took place in your life. But God forgives us, he gives us another chance. And the Barnabases in life that say, I believe in you, I forgive you, I know you make a mess, but I love you. We need to take that advice and get on with our lives, get back right with God, and do our best not to fail him again.

Five years had gone by, and John Mark had his second chance. Did he make the most of it? Well we do not know much about the specifics of Barnabas and John Mark’s journey because the focus shifted to Paul. But we do know ten years later the Apostle Simon Peter writes a letter to the church in Asia.

In 1 Peter 5:13, he says, “The church in Babylon sends you her greeting, as does my son John Mark.”

His son in the ministry. John Mark came a long way. And I think Peter knew John as a boy, and I think he knew of John’s failure, and I think Peter got a hold of him and said, “Son, look at me, do you know who I am? I denied the Lord three times of the very night of his death.”

And he took John Mark under his wing and John served the Lord faithfully.

And what of Paul, Paul who refused to let John Mark go again? Listen to the words of 2 Timothy 4:9-13:

Do your best to come to be quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmaia. Only Luke is with me. Get John Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.

Did you see it? Bring my cloak, my scrolls, the parchments, and what else? That’s right, BRING JOHN MARK!

What happened to John Mark in the end? What happened to this scared boy, who failed the first time and went running home? He got his second chance and he made the most of it. John Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark, which is considered to be the oldest of the Gospels. It is the Gospel that gives the overview of Jesus’ life. It was written to bring people to the confession or understanding that Jesus really was the Messiah.

It was written, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, by young John Mark. Church history tells us that the churches in Ethiopia and Egypt were started by John Mark. The symbol that was used in the early church to stand for the name of Mark was a lion. A lion does not sound like a chicken. A lion does not sound like a coward. A lion does not sound like a quitter.

We need to see the roadblocks in life just as barriers that need to be crossed and gone around and through. They are a part of life, and they are needed. There is an old song that says “There is no victory without a battle, no crown without a cross, no resurrection without a death, no empty tomb without a Calvary, no sunrise without a sunset, no maturity without hardship, no successes without failures.”

Each and every one of us here today will face setbacks in our life, and I want to emphasize that some of those will hit at your faith in God. The good news is that God always gives us second chances.

Maybe your life has not been worth much up till now, maybe you have made a mess of it, maybe you failed. I just want to emphasis this morning that it can all be changed by the touch of the Master’s Hand.

Ephesians 2:4 says “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.”

I want to tell you this morning that our God is rich in mercy. We have a God that delights in second chances. If you need one, repent of your sins and confess him as Lord. Pledge your heart to god and you will receive your second chance.

If you have already received one, make the most of it. May His name be blessed day by day. Amen.