Phoebe… how can I be like her?
Romans 16 is an interesting chapter especially if you are looking for baby names. I am not sure I have heard any children named after some of those women and men mentioned in this last chapter of Romans, but I do know a Phoebe.
When considering a trait that I would like to emulate in a women mentioned in the Bible I am intrigued by Phoebe. She is mentioned in two verses, but she makes those two verses rich with intention and integrity.
The name Phoebe, the feminine version of Phoebus describing the Greek god, Apollo, meaning, bright, shining and pure. She was born a Gentile, and converted to Christianity.
In that day, letter writing was not the simple cards we send today, nor was it as quickly as we write a thank you. There would need to be a secretary, the copies of papyrus, revision and a final copy to keep and a final copy to send. According to The cost of the Gospels and the Synoptic Problem”, estimates the cost as much as $2100. This would also have to have a protective leather pouch to carry the scrolls, as to protect it from the elements and for safety.
Why does this matter? Enter Phoebe. When Paul mentions in Romans 16:1 “I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you: for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.” Commentaries indicate that this word “helper” includes patron or benefactor. This leads us to believe that she was a women of wealth and position. Someone had to pay for the writing of Romans. It makes sense that the person who was supportive of Paul’s writings and worked with him, would have the trust, integrity and ability to deliver the letter to the church in Rome.
Paul regularly sent his letters with trusted friends and co-workers, yet my question would be why didn’t he use the postal service of ancient Rome? According to Ancient Origins, the Romans were quite organized in their couriers and messengers across the empire creating a network of delivering information which included mail.
The bearer of a letter in the New Testament days also defended the letter and answered questions when the letter was read. Since Phoebe was so well acquainted with Paul, and his descriptions of her defends how much trust and confidence he put in her integrity, she would be able to as a co-worker with Paul, share to the Roman church reading the letter.
What does this mean for me? Phoebe used what she had to help Paul in his ministry. We don’t know what Phoebe’s gifts were, what her talents were, but what we know is that Paul benefitted from her being involved as a servant in the church. Paul wanted the church at Rome to know how much he trusted her. What a combination of words Paul used to describe her devotion to the church in her hometown, the church in the greater world and whatever she could do, to help Paul, Paul is asking the church in Rome to return the favor if she needs anything while she is with them.
Proverbs 11:25 “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” Phoebe had helped Paul, and he was asking those in Rome, to “help” her if she needed help as she had helped Paul and the church where she served.
Much of this is based on historical facts, other’s research and the norms of the day, along with Paul’s words, but what does that mean to me, August of 2024?
Three things I glean from those two verses. Phoebe didn’t let who she was, as a women, affect who she served. She saw a need she met the need. Secondly, Phoebe used her resources to serve. If she was a helper, patron, benefactor as the commentaries point out, she didn’t stop to count the cost, she stopped to pay the cost.
Lastly, she went out of her way to finish strong. From Cenchrea, the eastern harbor of Corinth, to Rome was approximately, 930 miles on land, or about 500 miles crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Both had challenges, both were greatly affected by the weather, and both were culturally different from each other. All we know is Phoebe was from Cenchrea, and she ended up in Rome with two verses of kudo’s from Paul.
Back to Phoebe, how can I use what God has gifted me with to encourage those I rub shoulders with? Perhaps it’s not my wheelhouse, but if I am able, I need to use my influence, my finances, my energy and my time to further the kingdom, regardless of what that may look like. That willingness may take me culturally far away from my comfort zone. I pray that I can have the integrity and trust of the leaders in the church I work alongside so they could offer a letter of recommendation similar to the one Paul shared in Romans 16:1-2.
We spent a couple days enjoying the beauty of watching a grand-baby. I love babies: always have and always will. They are cuddly, they are a miracle, they change quickly, and they give you permission to take a nap when you get them to sleep. It was one of those moments that I got an epiphany: I do get them quite often. Some of them are actually worth talking about! Here is one.
I had the honor of “putting Wade to sleep” when he was done eating, pooping, and playing. Sometimes that happened all at once but for the most part he was fed, he was changed, pooped again, played, and cooed and then it was time to get him to sleep and that was my part. I sang Billy Joel, Credence Clearwater Revival, the theme to Hill Street Blues, ok I hummed that one, but I pulled out all the stops to get the little man to sleep. Most of the time, if I gave you a percentage, it would be 80% of the time I nailed it. Then because I could, I kept holding him and watching the miracle sleep. However, there are exceptions, but sometimes he wanted his mommy and what his mommy could offer him.
One time I was sitting in the chair while she went to nurse him, and after about 10 minutes she said, “He doesn’t want to eat, he just wants to use me as a human pacifier.”
I told my daughter, “There are times you are a human pacifier. He doesn’t really want to eat, he doesn’t really want what will fill him, he just wants to be near you and feel your presence but not take all you have to offer.”
Then, I went down a rabbit hole. Or if you have a dog, “squirrel” or I had an epiphany.
We do this all the time with God. We want to be close to him and use his presence but not really take all he has to offer. We want to say we are a Christian, dress like we are a Christian (whatever that means), speak like we are a Christian, and use God so it feels like we are a Christian, but we are not taking in what God really has to offer. We just want God to be our pacifier. We want to feel good, feel satisfied, feel loved and feel like we are godly, but we don’t (sorry for the graphic) “Latch on”. A baby can snuggle with mama all day but if they don’t latch on, they won’t be fed. They will be near mama, smell mama, feel mama but if they don’t commit, they won’t get the nourishment mama has to give.
We want God, but don’t want to commit all the way to what God has to offer. We just want to use God as a pacifier: the closeness quiets us but doesn’t give us what we need. It’s not God’s problem, it’s ours.
I held that perfect little boy after the screaming, rocking, singing, and making up poetry that didn’t make any sense, as he soundly slept. I looked at his perfect little nose, and the serenity that a sleeping baby oozes, and I wonder if God sees me as a sleeping baby when I have finally accepted all he has to offer? I will never be satisfied using God as a pacifier. I will never be satisfied but I think I am.
Being close to God makes me feel better, for the moment. Using God’s presence makes me feel more of a Christian than being in God’s presence: being in Gods presence involves a commitment from me. Sometimes I want to use God as a “pacifier,”- something that quiets my heart, but not “be with God” which is what changes my heart!
Memories sometimes hurt the heart
34 years ago we had a memorial service for my mother-in-law. Mary. We had just been married one month and one day when she died.
22 years ago was my grandma Campbell’s service. Time waits for none. Mary would have loved on her grandchildren and great grandchildren: she didn’t have the chance. She would have taught them to knit, taken them to Awanas , had all the holidays at the house, laughed loudly and teased much. She would have bought the grandma gifts cuz it was on sale and made monster cookies with all of the kids piled on the counter.
Grandma Campbell had the chance living over 37 years longer than Mary. She had the chance and we were all wiser and better for having her live on the same farm as us. For us that meant cookies, scones, a typewriter for homework, a Kasson Mantorville phone line- we had a west concord line.. it also meant taking her to get her hair done, shopping at Erdmans and listening to that story every night when we tucked her in bed when she stayed at our house. I can still remember waking up to the clunking of the walker and her whistle.
So what? I live in the house Mary lived her entire married life in. I wondered if these walls could talk what they would tell us? All the memories that Mary made, all the things Grandma did while living with us and all the moments we have made in the past 25 years living here. God is in these walls. Mary loved the Lord. It makes me want to keep up the faith. Grandma was a prayer warrior. That makes me want to pray more and circle stuff in my Bible. Are you leaving behind anything worth copying for whoever lives in the spaces you have occupied when you are gone? Are you worth imitating? Gives us something to think about eh?
The Bethels of life.
I can’t forget Aunt Bethel. I don’t remember much about her except she was old! Of course I was very young. She was in a wheelchair when I knew her and she had the coolest house with counters low so she could bake. We would go with Grandma to visit and she always had a smile, or maybe she was laughing at us, but she always seemed cheery, and she was in a wheelchair.
The Bethel however I am referring to, is from Genesis 28. Jacob had a long day and settled down for the night. He had just been sent away from home and directed to go find a women that was the “right one” not a “Canaanite”. He was sleeping with a rock for a pillow. Just saying so you don’t misunderstand me, I would not have been sleeping had I had a rock pillow. Say what you will about “My pillow” and it’s ads (It’s a guy from Minnesota) but it is guaranteed not to be hard as a rock! Jacob also had a few other things on his mind. When I go to sleep thinking, I usually have really odd dreams. Really odd dreams.
So amidst all going through Jacob’s mind, God pulls out the speech.
Genesis 28:15 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
The Bethel crisis in Jacob’s life reminds me of a couple things. Jacob’s best line is, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.”
In the crisis of my life often I see everything else but God. I am hurt, I am angry, I blame others, I crucify them in my mind, I plan my revenge, and then I lie down to sleep. I somehow fail to see the Lord in this place because I chose not to see him. I don’t sleep well either by the way even with MYPILLOW tucked under my head.
God has given me so many promises to being with me, and keeping me wherever I go, but I get caught up in where I am and don’t see the Lord in my place… wherever that place may be. My Bethel moment doesn’t always end as gracious as Jacobs. I don’t get up in the morning and pick up my rock and pour oil on it and bless it, I get up in the morning with my rock ready to throw it at someone.
Lord let me see you everywhere you are even when I don’t want to see you. In my Bethel crisis moments, made by myself or made by others I simply don’t want to see the truth. . Help me to trust you that you will be with me and keep me, even if I don’t think you are doing a good job or meeting my wants. Remind me that I do much better when I allow you to do the leading and I follow in your steps. And Aunt Bethel, it’s interesting that I never heard her complain about being in a wheelchair. She seemed to have had a Bethel crisis and not only did she know the Lord was in this place but she let him be with her and keep her. And one other thing, she always had cookies for us!
I hate reptiles
If you wonder, there is nothing spiritual about this post except that the Holy Spirit kept my self control, definitely controlled! Not just that I don’t like, I don’t go near reptiles. I grew up on the farm and nothing freaks me out, but I choose to have an intense dislike for things that are called reptiles or slightly resemble garden hoses which our culture refers to as snakes. There is no reason for them, I don’t see any purpose in being around them and to make it worse we have a family member who loves one… So I act nice, but inside, you don’t want to be there.
So imagine my surprise as I was judging a fair yesterday near Duluth when a kid sat down and put this “thing” on the table. It helped greatly that he (the boy) was cute. I should have known that was just the beginning. There would be several more of these reptiles put in front of me with smiling children talking about their pet in “show a pet” project area.
I told the gal I would judge “whatever”. “Whatever” now changed to the “forbidden!” I will be more careful in my statements of “Whatever”, however I did learn a few things. I didn’t scream when one jumped; the helper beside me did. I was so proud of myself. I also didn’t jump up the rafters of the 4-H building when it began to crawl toward me. Even with a bad knee, I am sure the first 15 feet I would have made quite easily because of my fear factor. Okay I don’t mean “fear” I mean extremely uncomfortable and dislike how they look at me, stick their tongue out at me and sneer. Yes, reptiles sneer.
One girl talked nonstop about her collection and then I asked her if she had a snake to which she said yes and then told me she worked at the Snake Pit in Duluth. I looked at her and said, “of course you do” and thanked her for leaving the snakes at home, in the pit, or wherever they needed to be a long ways away from me.
So to end my day and the long drive home after such trauma, I stopped at the Guitar Center in Roseville. After all, it’s cheaper than therapy- well maybe not cheaper!
I did learn a few things about geckos, bearded dragons and reptiles of which I could have easily lived my life without knowing. It also wasn’t fair to not give a blue ribbon to a smiling young 4H’ers face, simply because of my inner turmoil and intense dislike with their choice of project. So of course they all got blue ribbons. However, the trophy did go to the girl who showed off what her dog could do with tricks. Was I slightly bias? Yes!!! But if that bearded dragon could have done what that pup did, I would have had to change my mind. He just sat and looked at me with beady eyes as if to say, “no, I don’t care for you either!”
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