2 Timothy 1:13 Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. 14 Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.
15 As you know, everyone from the province of Asia has deserted me—even Phygelus and Hermogenes.
16 May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains. 17 When he came to Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me. 18 May the Lord show him special kindness on the day of Christ’s return. And you know very well how helpful he was in Ephesus.
“I don’t want to hear any more advice from people who live shrink-wrapped lives!” It was 1990, and we had just returned from a grueling first mission term. Despite knowing that the project on which we were being sent had many problems, the mission agency had blamed us and had cut our term short. Now we were back in America, trying to put our lives together…and receiving all kinds of well-intentioned but misguided advice in the process. One of the most irritating parts of the situation was the huge amount of advice we were receiving from people who had never suffered and who were speaking out of sheer ignorance. In my frustration, I referred to these people as having lived shrink-wrapped lives.
In American, various kinds of food are packaged in clear plastic so that nothing can damage or contaminate the food. That clear plastic is referred to as shrink wrap. We found that the people most willing to offer advice were generally those whose lives had always worked-no sicknesses, no problems with jobs, no family disturbances. The people whose counsel was most helpful were those who had rebounded from bad situations. Generally, these people were far less likely to offer gratuitous advice and far more likely to simply listen. These friends had earned doctorates in suffering and understood that there are many challenges for which there are no easy answers.
Here in this second letter to Timothy, Paul reveals one of the major sources of his suffering, the desertion of friends on whom he thought he could count, Phygelus and Hermogenes. During the American Revolution, when things appeared quite dark, Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet entitled The American Crisis No. 1. The opening sentence of this pamphlet has become one of the most quoted in all of American history.“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” In Paul’s eyes, these two men were summer soldiers, willing to stand for Christ as long as things weren’t too difficult but unwilling to stay the course.
In contrast to these two men, there was Onesiphorus. According to Orthodox tradition, Saint Onesiphorus was one of the seventy disciples chosen and sent by Jesus to preach. They were chosen some time after the selection of the Twelve Apostles (Luke 10:1-24). St Onesiphorus was bishop at Colophon (Asia Minor), and later at Corinth. Both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches hold that he died a martyr in the city of Parium on the shores of the Hellespont… Remarkably, Onesiphorus made a 1000-mile journey, over three large bodies of water from one continent to another (from Ephesus to Rome) — to specifically search for and find Paul in prison, so as to comfort him. (Wikipedia)
Why was this act of Onesiphorus so important? By searching for Paul, Onesiphorus immediately identified himself as a Christian at a time when Emperor Nero was ramping up his persecution of Christians. Declaring oneself a Christian in Rome was both brave and dangerous, for soldiers might come to arrest Onesiphorus at any moment. It’s likely that there were informers following Onesiphorus to the doors of Pauls’ prison, craftily listening to gain any information they might pass on for a reward. One can only hope that some of these informers accepted Christ in the process!
Throughout the world, Christians in closed countries huddle together, whispering prayers and hymns because to speak them aloud is to invite attack, arrest, and certain death. Anyone naming Christ as Savior in such countries knows that he/she might die for their faith.
Today, as we consider the bravery of Onesiphorus, let us pray for all those in the persecuted churches around the world, that someone might come to them to encourage them as Onesiphorus encouraged Paul. And let us be brave enough to share the good news of the Gospel with all those around us.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, You know those who need encouragement today. Please raise up help and strength that only You can give. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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