2 Timothy 1:16- But God bless Onesiphorus and his family! Many’s the time I’ve been refreshed in that house. And he wasn’t embarrassed a bit that I was in jail. The first thing he did when he got to Rome was look me up. (The Message Bible)
Sometimes when we think of the church in terms of grand cathedrals or its influence in the sweep of history or the depth of its theology we can forget that it is now and always has been individuals interacting with one another. Here Paul points out one particular man and his family, as he does several places in his letters. The bible sometimes uses the image of a body to speak about the church and just as a body is composed of billions of cells interacting to form muscle and tissue and blood so the church is made up of countless individuals, most whose stories we will never know, living life together under God’s grace and doing the types of things mentioned above. I sometimes remain in a movie theater when the story ends and let the several minutes of credits wash over me just to be reminded again of the army of workers that is required to produce two hours of film. How much more so the church of God in Jesus Christ? The seemingly tiny acts of kindness performed in response to the love of God have infinite value, even if they don’t get mentioned in the bible or recognized by others. To refresh one another in our homes; to not be embarrassed by each other; to look someone up, when done in response to Christ’s grace is priceless. What will be your individual act of God’s goodness this week?
Logan Memorial Presbyterian Church 