"We’re called to follow God, but how can we do that if we don’t know much about him?"
One of the joys of regular Bible reading as a part of your Christian
life, apart from the obvious one of getting to know our Scriptures and
have them speak to us, is that you find that it starts to come alive,
the characters in it become real people, not just characters in a book,
and you begin to want to delve a little deeper, know a little more about
them, about what motivated them, what gave so many of them the strength
to die for what they believed and who they followed.
If you are not used to a regular habit of reading the Bible, then I
would encourage you to start now. There are plenty of daily Bible notes
around – Scripture Union do one, we have A Light for our Path
at home. Find one that fits your needs, use one.
This passage is a real case in point. I mean, it’s just a list
of names and a "to do" list, isn’t it? Paul just finishing
off his letter to Timothy with a bit of a moan about a couple of folk,
praising one or two and passing on a greeting from some people we’ve
never heard of before.
And so it would be if we didn’t stop and look at the people that
Paul mentions, and do a little detective work.
Just to put this letter in context, Paul was in prison awaiting trial
in Rome, but he still had great concern for the churches he had established
and the people to whom he had entrusted them. The early church was a
still a child growing into maturity. It hadn’t yet fully come
to terms with the nature of Jesus and the full significance of the Cross
and resurrection – it was a time of learning and growth, and Paul
was concerned that what they believed wasn’t contaminated by the
surrounding culture or society, or indeed false teachings from within.
So here he is, writing to his dear friend Timothy with some pastoral
advice, and at the end of this letter his thoughts centre on some of
the people they both know.
And that’s where it gets interesting! Let’s have a look
at one or two of these characters and try and flesh out their story
a little. I think we’ll find that they’re very much like
us – or to put it another way nothing changes!
First off there’s Demas, who according to Paul "because
he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica."
We don’t know a lot about Demas, just three mentions in the New
Testament. In the very short letter to Philemon we find him listed as
a good chap, one of Paul’s fellow workers, in Colossians he just
gets a mention in passing, and here we find him as a deserter who loved
the world too much.
I wonder if there’s a progression here –
and this is pure speculation – in that Demas was like a lot of
people who commit themselves to Christ without really thinking through
the cost of that commitment? He started off full of enthusiasm, gave
up whatever filled his life previously and became one of Paul’s
missionary team – he was a church worker, building up and organizing
new congregations, working among the local population wherever Paul
and his team were, spreading the Good News of the Gospel.
And he did this enthusiastically for a while. But then maybe there was
a bit of a collision between Demas’ new life and his old, maybe
he missed his old friends, his drinking buddies, the things he used
to enjoy doing. Or maybe he just got weary of the hard work, his initial
love for God’s work gradually worn down – the thrill was
gone.
Maybe when Paul tells Timothy that Demas loved the world it just meant
that he loved the comfortable life more than he loved the Christian
life.
You have to feel a touch of sympathy for Demas because he’s like
so many of us – there’s always the temptation to underachieve
as a Christian because we don’t want to compromise our worldly
comforts.
We don’t hear any more about him. Well, not exactly. Demas is
a shortened form of Demetrius, and in the 3rd letter of John we hear
about a Demetrius
"Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true."
It would be nice to think that Paul’s sadness in Demas’
desertion was not the end of the story – but we’ll never
know!
So much for Demas, a real person, and an interesting person I think!
Passing on from Demas, Paul says "Crescens has gone to Galatia,
and Titus to Dalmatia."
Crescens is a mystery, we know nothing at all about this member of Paul’s
entourage which is a shame. Titus though was one of his most faithful
lieutenants. In the letter we know as Titus, Paul addresses it "To
Titus, my true son in our common faith" and this man had been
one of the people Paul trusted to try and sort out the church in Corinth
when it was struggling.
Paul’s evident love of Titus possibly
means that he was one of Paul’s converts. When Paul had a difficult
journey to make to the church in Jerusalem (where he wasn’t well
liked) he took along with him his trusty sidekick Titus and Barnabas.
Titus was someone you could rely on in a difficult situation, a good
administrator, tough and practical. The church needs people like Titus.
In verse 11 Paul says "Only Luke is
with me…"
Luke accompanied Paul on his last journey to Rome and to prison. This
is the Luke who wrote the Book of Acts, and in chapter 27 he writes
in the first person describing Paul setting out under arrest for Rome
– That’s why we know that Luke was there right at the end
of Paul’s ministry and indeed his life, such was his devotion.
In the letter to the Colossians Luke is described as "The
beloved physician" and as we know that Paul suffered from
some mystery ailment, can we assume therefore that Luke was his personal
physician? He doesn’t seem to have been an evangelist, but just
as importantly he was someone who was prepared to serve, a kind and
considerate person. And the church needs people like that, gracious,
kind, eager to serve.
That’s Luke for you!
"Get Mark and bring him with you, because
he is helpful to me in my ministry." says Paul. Perhaps a better understanding of this
phrase would be "Bring me Mark, he’s a useful chap to
have about the place!"
Mark was young when the fledgling church began. It was to his mother’s
house that Peter went to when he escaped from prison, and it was probably
one the main meeting places for the Jerusalem congregation. Mark went
with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, as an assistant
– maybe it was an early mission apprenticeship. Exciting stuff
for a young man! But it didn’t go according to plan, because when
the going got tough Mark chickened out, left them and went home.
When it came to sorting out a team for Paul’s second missionary
journey, he absolutely refused to have Mark with them after he had let
them down once. Paul argued with and fell out with Barnabas over that
decision!
We don’t really know what happened to Mark after that. Possibly
he went to Egypt (there is a tradition that he started the Egyptian
church), but he must have been working for the cause of the Gospel,
and Paul must have been checking up on him because when Paul was in
prison and writing to the Colossian church, who is there with him but
Mark, and he commends the young man to the church at Colossae. The reconciliation
is now complete, as facing trial and death he wants Timothy, Luke and
Mark to be with him.
Mark was the one who failed in his duty when faced with danger, and
yet picked himself up and became someone who was of great service to
Paul and the church. He’s someone who, as he matured in the faith
also gained courage to face whatever the world would throw at him. Christians
are allowed to fail now and then, you know! We’re only human after
all.
Who’s next? Now Paul mentions that "I
sent Tychicus to Ephesus."And we can read that Paul
sent Tychicus with letters to both the Colossian and Ephesian churches
– he was another of Paul’s faithful fellow workers who were
being used to help look after the growing number of Christian congregations
meeting throughout that area. He was someone that was trustworthy, and
someone who was willing to be used in service. We need more Tychicus’
in the church.
There’s a lovely little passage next. "When
you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls,
especially the parchments"
We don’t know who Carpus was, but I guess that Paul stayed at
his or her house sometime, and seems to have left his coat behind. The
cloak was a bit like a poncho, and would have offered Paul some warmth
in his prison cell. So Carpus, among his or her other virtues was someone
who offered hospitality.
Then there’s the bad apple, Alexander the metalworker. "You
too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed
our message."
We don’t know exactly what Alexander did to make himself such
a nuisance to the church and to Paul, but chances are that, as well
as rubbishing the message that was being preached, he was informing
on Paul to the authorities, maybe saying false things against him that
would later be used at his trial to convict him. There are quite often
people within churches who seem somehow to be working against everyone
else – They don’t have the best interests of the congregation
at heart and you wonder why they are there in the first place.
Lots of people, different people with their own back stories, their
differing journeys of faith and their different ways of service. Some
are strong, others show weakness, but real people like you and I.
Then at the end of the letter there’s a sudden rush of names as
Paul rounds up his message. Greetings to people from him and others.
"Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers."
There’s greetings to Priscilla and Aquila whose house was a meeting place for the church, and who in the past had risked their lives for Paul’s sake (Acts 18:2, Romans 16:3 and 1 Corinthians 16:19).
Greetings to Onesiphorus who we read had sought out Paul in prison
in Rome, and may have paid for his loyalty later with his life. Erastus,
another trusted worker, and Trophimus, who is an interesting character.
Paul got into awful trouble for bringing him into the temple precincts,
because he was a Gentile, and this landed Paul into prison.
Lastly there are greetings from Linus, Prudens and Claudia. Of these
we’re fairly sure that Linus became the first bishop of Rome.
This passage is one that can so easily be skated over, simply because
it seems to be just a list of names. But if we delve a little deeper
we find that there are real people, real stories and not only that we
can actually start to see people who are a little like us.
Some of them
are strong, others weak. Some are faithful and steady, and others easily
led astray. But each one had their part to play in the early church.
Most were builders, working together to strengthen, unite and encourage.
One or two were a disappointment, falling away or actively disrupting
the fellowship. But they were real people!
Do we recognize ourselves in these descriptions?
More than anything, does an exercise like this make you want to look
a little deeper into the Bible, get beneath the surface and see what
it has to say to you? You don’t have to be a theologian to do
what I’ve done, just have a good commentary!
We’re called to follow God, but how can we do that if we don’t
know much about him. We can be challenged about our faith, about the
relevance and truth of the Bible. If we don’t know it, how can
we defend it?
Read it, let it talk to you!
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