Bible Text: John 11:5 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. John 11:5
If you have taken the time to read the last chapter of Paul’s insightful letter to Christians at Rome, you have probably stumbled over the list of some 26 names that you find there about like you do when you hit traffic bumps in the pavement going too fast in your car. You say, “What an exercise in weird names like, Epenetus, Adronicus, Aristobullus, and, yes, that pair of women by the names of Tryphena and Tryphosa. About then, you skip on to the last paragraph and put the book behind you.
But there’s something about that list that intrigues me. Why? It’s the power of friendship and relationships. Let me give you some background that can provide guidelines for you in a 21st century world where relationships are strained, fragmented, and often broken.
First, you need to realize Paul’s world was that of the first century, a day when you wrote a letter and sent it with a traveler or dispatched it on a ship which took weeks to cross the Mediterranean and reach the recipient. There were no faxes, no e- mail, no telephone, no text messages. Communication was slow and laborious.
Each of these 26 individuals had a story to tell, and Paul connected with every one of them. Listen to how he relates to them. Priscilla and Aquila had risked their very lives for Paul. A house church met in their home. Epenetus was Paul’s first convert in Asia, a special trophy of grace. He mentions women who had worked hard for the cause of Christ—Mary, Tryphena, and Tryphosa, along with Persis. You can never have too many in that category. He sends greetings to Adronicus and Junias, his relatives who had been imprisoned with him. “Greet Rufus and his mother,” he writes, adding that she had also been a mother to him; and on he goes.
Hey, though Paul had never been to Rome at that point, he valued the friendship of each one and wanted to keep the relationship healthy.
Stop for a moment and fast forward to the 21st century, and focus on your world. Here’s a tough question for you. How many real friends—the kind who would go to the wall with you, like the couple, Priscilla and Aquila, who put their lives on the line for Paul—how many of those do you have? True, you have lots of acquaintances, but probably you could count your real friends on one hand, right?
Yet we live in a world of vastly improved communications—cell phones, faxes, e-mail, and what have you. What’s the difference? Could it be the pace at which we live—no time for friends, too busy to return phone calls, letters, text messages or e-mail that is virtually ignored? We think we’ll get caught up next week, but next week you find yourself a bit further behind and more things have piled up than you have to do right now. No wonder we end up alone, isolated, depressed, and without friends and family.
Something is wrong, and that something may well be the lifestyle of the person looking back at you when you look in the mirror. It’s like the letter which allegedly was written to a newspaper, that read, “The problem with the world is me!” No time for that sort of thing, you conclude. If so, something is wrong.
Is it possible that you are trying to do far more than God ever intended you to do, which means your relationships are neglected and you suffer from burnout. No wonder you have few real friends.
Remember, we chose to do what we do, and when our choices are unwise, we suffer. Read Romans 15 and ask yourself who are the ones in your life whom you owe the same kind of gratitude Paul expressed. It may change your life.
Resource reading: Romans 16
