A WORD FOR TODAY, January 19, 2021
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, January 19, 2021
“The elder to Gaius the beloved, whom I love in truth. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers. For I rejoiced greatly when brothers came and testified about your truth, even as you walk in truth. I have no greater joy than this: to hear about my children walking in truth. Beloved, you do a faithful work in whatever you accomplish for those who are brothers and strangers. They have testified about your love before the assembly. You will do well to send them forward on their journey in a way worthy of God, because for the sake of the Name they went out, taking nothing from the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.” 3 John 1:1-8, WEB
I taught preschool part time a few years ago. One of my parents was concerned about the syllabus we were using. We only planned to teach the numbers one through ten, and her child was already counting much higher. She was afraid that the lessons would not be challenging enough for her children. I have to admit that I often wondered the same thing about my children when they were in school because they were very sharp and they were early readers.
I explained to that mother that though there was a focus number for each month, we would expand our activities beyond that number as the children were ready and able. An entire month on the number one, even for our youngest students, would not be unnecessary. As we discussed the issue further, the mother realized that though the child could count up to twenty, there were still things about numbers that she needed to learn like recognizing and writing them properly.
I am sure if we all thought back to our school years, we can all find something we thought was a waste of our time. After all, when do we really use Trigonometry? I haven’t dissected a single worm or frog since graduation. As fast as the world changes, I am not so sure that my seventh grade geography class did me much good. Half the maps I colored are no longer accurate and I can only remember one or two things I am sure I learned in that class, none of which are helpful to adult concerns. And yet, I’m sure that I have remembered those lessons over the years in ways that I don’t even realize.
As we read through the Bible, there are things that seem pointless to us. We skim over the book of Leviticus because so much of the instruction does not seem appropriate to our Christian faith. What do the prophecies of the prophets tell us, except perhaps to point toward God’s promise of salvation? While important, we’d rather focus on the fulfillment of the promise than the promise itself. Even in the New Testament, some of the letters speak to some very specific conditions in very specific churches that seem to have nothing to do with us.
Sometimes I even feel like I am intruding on a private and intimate conversation. What does the personal greetings from the letter writers to their readers have to do with our faith today?
When we read these letters, we can see the intimate relationship that the early Christians had with one another. We also see how they acted toward one another. John’s third letter is one of encouragement, of commendation, of unity in Spirit. We are encouraged, too, when we realize that there were problems even in the early churches when faith was new and strong. People are people in every age. There are the faithful and the wicked. There are those who are humble before God and those who pride themselves in their power, wealth and authority.
The letters were written to encourage those first Christians, but they are also appropriate and necessary for us, too. Through God’s grace, we can see that others have dealt with similar problems as we are experiencing today, and they were able to overcome. We find hope and peace in the midst of our troubles knowing That God has provided us with a look into the intimate relationships of those that came before ua, so that we might know we aren’t the first and we won’t be the last. This gives us the courage to face our troubles and prepare future generations to face them, too. The Church on earth is not perfect because it is made up of all types of people. All we can do is learn to live with one another in love and share in the unity of spirit that God gives us through faith. We do this by reading and studying the witness of those former generations found in all the scriptures, even when we aren’t sure what it means to us today.
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