I Corinthians 16
Dear RTB’ers,
I was noticing Paul’s concern for his fellow workers. First, Timothy: When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace… (vv. 10-11a) We know from Acts and other epistles of Paul’s special relationship to Timothy, so I’m not surprised that Paul would be concerned for his welfare. Second, Paul mentions Apollos in verse 12, but not with particular concern for his welfare. He had already covered that in I Corinthians 3.
Paul’s third mention today is Stephanas: … you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints— be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. (vv. 15b-16) Paul is lauding Stephanas and his household for their ministry to fellow believers. I got online for more information on Stephanas – mostly I was interested in whether he shows up anywhere else in Paul’s epistles. I’m glad I did that! I had forgotten that we read just a couple of weeks ago that Paul had baptized Stephanas’ entire family (I Cor. 1:16). So again, here’s another of Paul’s special relationships.
Paul cares about his fellow laborers. It’s nice to see that in writing.
Blessings!
I would like to build on what Fred highlighted today–the care of the saints. We have been in Slovakia for two months, with just over a month to go before we head back to Kentucky. So lately I have been musing about our role here (aside from teaching). How have we built the Kingdom? What good have we done? At times I feel that I have not “done” enough (even while knowing that it is God’s work to change hearts), wanting desperately to see our atheist colleagues come to know Jesus, for example. I wish I were an evangelist enabled to shout the message from the hills above the town!
So I wrestle with this question: how do we evaluate our time; has our presence here made a difference? And today’s reading emphasized the message we heard from a young Christian friend we met with a few days ago when I asked her that question. She replied, “Oh, believe me, it just helps that you’re here!” This echoed sentiments of fellow Christians in Uganda when Kerry, Brian, and I went two summers ago; I wondered if the money spent for airfare and all wouldn’t be better spent digging wells for villages that had no clean water. But no, we were told that COMING was important, just being there was a blessing.
So Paul sends Timothy and Apollos (verses 10 and 12) and others to the churches. And he is blessed by the COMING of Stephanas and company: “I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit …” (I Cor. 16:17, 18a).
So that should encourage us all to just BE THERE for each other. Sometimes that’s all we can do. But sometimes that’s enough.