Sermon for June 5th, 2016

Acts 15:36-41

36After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. 39The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. 41He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

First Church: They Parted Company

Today's sermon is about breaking up, something which I've heard is hard to do. It's so hard to do that even when a relationship comes to that point where breaking up is absolutely necessary, we still don't want to do it. We end relationships with letters, text messages, or no messages at all in attempt to avoid the pain of confrontation. We come up with tired and shallow cliches to try to smooth over that pain--It's not you, it's me. This is for the best, really. We can still be friends.

I know this is probably nearly impossible for any of you to imagine, but I myself have been on the receiving end of some of these lines, perhaps more than a few times in my life. In fact, I think that, before Amy finally agreed to marry me (which was only 9.5 years after the first time I proposed to her) I was beginning to become somewhat of an expert judge of bad breakup lines. And so with that expertise, I thought I'd share a few really bad, really classic ones with you today:

• It's not you, sweetheart, it's me...and my absolutely horrible taste in men.
• Darling, I think you are just perfect...for anyone else but me.
• You know, I was utterly lost before you found me. And I've decided I kind of liked it better that way.
• I think maybe we should start annoying other people.
• There are too many religious differences between us...you believe you're God, and I don't.
• I'm sure you'll make someone else very happy...for about three weeks before they get to know you.
• Do you remember the first time we met? Of course you do. You would tell me about it every chance you had. Over and over and over. You would tell me how I took your breath away, how my smile captivated you, how beautiful I looked in that yellow shirt. But here's the thing: I don't own a yellow shirt. I never have. And that is why we're breaking up.

Just last week, we heard about the coming together of Barnabas and Paul--the power duo of the New Testament. So you might be a little confused to seem them splitting up just one week later.