From Corinth with Love, Paul

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
Romans 16 (click the link)


KEY VERSES:
… I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. (Romans 16:9, NASB)


REFLECTIONS:
Have you ever had the opportunity and pleasure of delivering a gift for someone else? The giver of the gift entrusts you with a precious object that they want to share with a third party—the receiver.  When the time comes to actually place the gift into the receiver’s hands, there is a sense of excitement and responsibility that you have cared for the gift and protected it for a safe delivery. And that you have honored the giver and the receiver. There is accountability, anticipation and thrill. 

I have been fortunate enough to be a deliverer on a few occasions. The two that stick out in my memory are for a friend’s precious gift to an excited bride-to-be and for my grandmother when she wasn’t able to attend a friend’s party. 

In the first situation I knew the young woman getting married and was greeted and welcomed because I was also invited.  The situation for my grandmother was different.  I had met the woman being honored before but didn’t really know her nor did she know me (I’m not sure her memory was such that she remembered anyone new).  I was greeted and welcomed simply because I was Myrtie’s grand-daughter. My grandmother asked me to purchase the gift she had in mind, she approved of it, I wrapped it and delivered it for her.  I had a tinge of nervousness as I went to an unfamiliar place, to people I really didn’t know, and then be present when the gift was opened. I got to watch the woman beam with excitement as she opened the gift and then she talk about how she would enjoy and use the gift. I couldn’t wait to get back to my grandmother and give her a full report including all the well wishes for her.

When Paul writes this letter to the church in Rome he is in Corinth, just west of the port city Cenchrea (Greece). In Cenchrea there is a woman named Phoebe who is a “diakonian” (deacon, servant, minister) of the church there. In verse 1 Paul “commends our sister Phoebe” he is telling the church Phoebe is honorable of being received in a manner worthy of the saints (v2). She most likely was the deliverer of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. Here is someone that Paul knew. From verse 3 we learn that Phoebe has been a helper of many and a helper of Paul’s. 

Paul must have respected and trusted Phoebe. It would appear that Paul also appreciated the way she represented Christ and herself. Paul’s “ask” was huge and Phoebe’s ability to deliver the gift was also huge. As a diakonian in the Cenchrean church, she must have known that the gift she carried was really, really good. I wonder if Phoebe had a tinge of nervousness, excitement, maybe even giddiness as she made her way to the church in Rome.

In this final chapter of Romans, Paul instructs the church in Rome to greet a long list of people including men and women, Jews and gentiles, free and imprisoned, those he knew on a deeper personal level and those he knew of through the church, at least one that had become a believer before him and some that were newer in the faith.  This conglomeration of believers was in ministry for the church, to spread the word.

It seems Paul’s greatest desire though is for each one of the 26 men and women listed and the two families named to be greeted… properly. Each of these early church leaders represents a part of the body of Christ each in their own special ability with their own special gifts. And it seems from chapters 1-16 of this letter, Paul wants the church in Rome to understand beyond a doubt that Christ is for all not just for the selected some. 

So, in this spiritual postcard from Paul he also sends greetings from those close to him in Corinth, including his scribe Tertius. I like that this is personal. The message is personal. Christ is personal. 

Like a true letter, I look at the part after the list of people to greet as the P.S. Sometimes the postscript is just as important as the main part of the letter. Paul gives an urgent warning in verse 17, “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and  hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned and turn away from them.”

It seems the Rome church was going through tough times of confusion about which teachings to follow. I can only imagine there were many false teachers out there trying their best to receive a portion of the glory for themselves. It must have been a common occurrence as this topic is taught several times in the New Testament (e.g.: Matthew 7:15, Galatians 1:8, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14, Titus 3:10, 2 John 10). 

The entire letter to Rome may as well have been a letter to Austin, Spicewood, Dallas, Johnson City, Houston, Marble Falls or San Antonio. The relevance of Romans is as much alive today as it was back in 56/57A.D. 

I think it’s pretty amazing that Paul, a prolific writer of the New Testament and evangelist extraordinaire, entrusted his longest letter to be delivered by someone else, Phoebe. I’ve wondered why Paul felt that this message was important enough to be delivered at this time and not wait until he could deliver the message himself. It seems he felt extremely compelled to be sure that the church in Rome had a message of truth and that is what mattered the most. I’m not sure what the body of Christ would be like today without Paul’s fervent desire to be in ministry for the Lord in whatever way that looked like. But I am grateful for his heart and desire for the truth.

I’m reminded of a quote by John Wesley:

“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” 


PRAYER:
Lord I pray that I might receive Your true diakonians with a proper greeting worthy of the saints and that I may be—in some small way—able to be a deliverer of your message in an earnest and truthful way.  Lord please guide me to be wise in what is good in Your ways and innocent in what is evil.


WHO AM I?
I miss my Mamaw.  She lived to nearly 95-years-old and she could be a fire cracker—sometimes. Not much got by her and she wasn’t opposed to calling out pretty much anyone who got out of line. She was also a gracious, witty, cuddly grandmother who could beat the socks off anyone at scrabble. Oh and she loved her Atlanta Braves. In her retirement years… after 75 she sat for people in the hospital while they recovered from various surgeries or ailments. I appreciate the many life lessons she taught me just because she loved me.