OnFire Encouragement Letter

OnFire #166 The Lesson of the Leaky Pipe

Hi Folks:

Jan has been away to her pastors’ wives retreat, and as always, she enjoyed herself. This is one of the events she looks forward to every year. She arrived home Sunday night, and left Monday to visit friends in Nova Scotia since the boys had a few days off school.

Last night I talked with some friends from our former churches, a few from Shelburne, and one from Grand Manan. It is always good to catch up on the news and find out how people are doing.

We continue our series on hardly-known people of the New Testament. We continue in Romans 16 with Phoebe.

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Sunday I arrived at church early and did my normal rounds to check the building, making sure classrooms were ready and the heat was turned on. As I walked into the youth room I saw water pouring out of the ceiling and running down a drain pipe onto the floor. Since this was the top floor of the building, and I could see it was raining outside, I knew it was the something to do with the roof and not some other problem.

Someone else would have to take care of the roof problem. My concern was with the Sunday school class that would meet in the room in less than an hour’s time. There was no way I could expect a teacher to try to overcome the distraction of water dripping, buckets filling, and puddles growing.

What to do? There was no other room large enough not being used. Perhaps we could combine or shuffle some other classes. With this notion in mind, I found one of our Sunday school leaders and asked her opinion. She had a better idea and together we got an office ready. What a big help she was when time was critical.

That experience of the leaky drain led me back through my mind to some of the other people who have been so helpful to me and to the churches we’ve served in together. There was the lady who chose our worship music each week. There was the crew who helped us clean our house this summer. There was a crew who cleaned up after vandals sprayed fire extinguishers around the gym. Countless people who set up chairs and tore down tables, directed programs, taught classes and cared for people, brought or bought food, and even painted houses and chopped wood.

In Romans 16:1-2, Paul gives a wonderful reference for Phoebe to the church in Rome. He tells them to receive her in a “way worthy of the saints” (NIV) and to give her any help she needs because she had been such a great help to him and to others.

When I was in college, we argued a lot over Phoebe because Paul called her a “servant,” which is the same word in Greek for “deacon.” In our debates over whether Paul endorsed women in the office of deacon, we lost sight of something very important in these verses.  We lost sight of her example. Theological debate is important, but may we never lose sight of her character and her life of helpfulness.

I hate to ask for help. Sometimes its just determination, sometimes pride, sometimes the fear of inconveniencing someone. I don’t fully understand this side of my character. But I do know how much it means when someone offers to help.

And so I write this week about Phoebe because I am thankful for so many people like her whose nature and character is to be helpful.

I also write as a reminder to encourage all of us in this area of helpfulness. It would be sad if the people who had been most helpful did not receive the help they need. And it would be a shame if those who need help did not receive it.

I hope this helps. Be on fire.

Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. This letter published Nov 11, 2008. To subscribe or reply, email him at onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com