Put'em together and what have you got?
Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.
Sure enough, Paul had a deep desire to spread the word to the farthest reaches of the Mediterranean world. Drane reminds us that Rome already had a church in place, so Paul would shoot for Spain. I hear the oranges are beautiful in Spain. But Paul's not much different than most of us - he wants to get where the action is. Well, the place to be was Rome, and Paul was going to get there - even if he had to get arrested doing it ;-). Alright, that's a really bad joke-like thing, but you know the story; things don't go well in Jerusalem and Paul exercises his rights as a Roman, instead of being killed as a Jew. Seems like a good plan.
So Paul gets taken to Rome, where he promptly sets up his own apartment, and security team. The way that Drane describes the greetings he received from the time he made land at Puteoli, even on to Rome, Paul must have been a rather well known fellow. Dealing with his own mess in Rome, Paul receives word that things are getting messed up in Colossae. That's where the wise words of Cinderella's Fairy Godmother come in. The Colossian church was falling into a trap that would take them captive away from Christ. They were hearing a new Gospel - one of lies and death: take one part mysticism, another of traditional religious law, and another of intellectual philosophy, "put'em together and what have you got? Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!" Whatever it was, it wasn't Christ. I betcha with the ascetic gospel that was being peddled in Colossae, people probably did very painful things to themselves and each other.
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul asks the church to swap letters with the Laodicean church - one that seems to be lost ------ or is it?!?!?!?!? Drane examines the details surrounding the letter the modern reader knows to be to the Ephesian church, and says there is good proof that it is the missing letter. Drane points out that the name Ephesus is "not found in the best and oldest manuscripts of the letter." (p. 354) He also notes that Paul uses no personal greetings in the letter - strange, says Drane, for a man who had good ties in Ephesus. The final point Drane uses is that "Marcion referred to Ephesians as 'the letter to the Laodiceans.'" (p. 356) Marcion? Really? On a matter of Biblical authenticity, Drane references Marcion? All in all, the pieces add up that Ephesus may have been a letter Paul intended for a wider audience than the one church family.
As a sucker for the obvious, allow me to hit you up with some "obvious" - we sure can learn a thing or two form Paul's letter to the Philippians. Drane reminds us about the circumstances under which Paul wrote the letter. Great friends sent him financial and emotional help, yet he needed it because he was being held on "death-row." Do we circle our Christian brothers and sisters in their most difficult times? Do we accept support as readily as Paul did, or are we too proud at times? When the going is its roughest, do we turn back to the source of our strength -praising Christ through His Spirit who indwells us? I dunno - but it seems Paul did.
Paul the Missionary, Paul the Pastor was now Paul the captive. He had seen and dealt with much as he had been a part of the earliest seeds of more than one church. His experiences had given tremendous insight into the hearts of the people who would occupy churches until the day Jesus plants His feet back on the earth. You know, with all the material Paul left in his other letters (Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians) sometimes I think we dismiss the wonderful gift Paul left us in the letters he sent to Timothy and Titus. "Watch out for folks that will try to preach a false Gospel - they'll lead people to hell if you just let them. Friends, keep your strength, relying in the one true faith - the one that saves - the Gospel of God among us. And show others what it's all about - maybe not all the time with the talk, but most of the time with your walk. And as your churches grow, your going to need to invest in people to lead others. Be careful - it's important work!"
You know all that aside, for me, the most important pastoral words Paul writes to Timothy are in the second letter. "Do your best to come to me quickly...When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments...Do your best to get here before winter." (2 Tim. 4:9-21) Winter is coming, and with it uncertainty. What do you know - Paul is human and desires the comfort of a dear friend and things he treasures. It's nice to know that when I feel scared about the days ahead, the greatest missionary and pastor for Christ the world has seen, shared my space once upon a time too.
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