Gtcotr/ws052621
In AD62 history records that two men left Rome carrying a valuable treasure. They had been commissioned as couriers to deliver documents written in Rome by a Roman prisoner. These sworn documents were of the utmost importance and the men were chosen well, even though one of them was a former run-away-slave.
The second man, and perhaps the leader of the two, was a man named Tychicus. The documents included at least 3 important letters. One was to be left at the capital of the Roman Province of Asia, the city of Ephesus; a second at Colosse; and a third letter was to be hand delivered by Onesimus directly to his master, Philemon, who lived in the region of Phrygia.
I have wondered with what regard and safety these two men protected these treasured letters. They could not be replaced. I doubt they understood the true value and lasting impact the documents they carried would have on their intended recipients.
Did they roll them up and place them in a tube for safe transport? Or perhaps they folded them and put them into a sheepskin satchel. Surely, they didn’t just carry them in their coat pockets or in their baggage along with their clothes and other personal affects. I can’t imagine what I would do or what could be done in AD62.
These men left Rome on foot before boarding a ship. The whole journey would be more than 1000 miles as the crow flies, (providing they could walk much of the way on water), and perhaps closer to 1500 miles by way of the most traveled routes across land and sea. Finally they arrived at in the Roman Province of Asia, entered the city of Ephesus, where Tychicus delivered the first letter.
Then we understand the two journeyed by foot about 100 miles farther east to the city of Colosse and left the second letter there. From Colosse, no doubt Onesimus went on to the home of Philemon and hand delivered the letter intended for him.
We no longer have the original documents, but we do have copies and they have been scholarly translated into English, Russian, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Farsi, Urdu, Swahili, Telegu, Thai, German, French, and so many others that I can’t even count the number.
This evening I would like to read just a little from one of these 2000-year-old letters written by the Apostle Paul during his imprisonment. Let’s look briefly at a small portion of the letter Tychicus and Onesimus delivered from Paul to the Church at Colosse.
Colossians 1 NLT
1 ¶ This letter is from Paul,
chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our
brother Timothy.
2 We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.
28 So we tell others about
Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has
given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to
Christ.
29 That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.
Not only did the Apostle Paul feel responsible and work hard while being completely dependent on the power of Jesus Christ inside of him, but that’s also why Tychicus and Onesimus braved land and sea on their long and arduous journey against the perils of an anti-Christian Roman Empire and religious zealots who were endeavoring to rid the world of the followers of Christ.
I can’t imagine Tychicus or Onesimus understood the importance and eternal impact of the letters and the message they carried. They had been entrusted with the Word of Almighty God. The Churches of their day and indeed the whole world since that time would have suffered greatly if they had not have taken their responsibility seriously and endured the hardships associated with carrying the Good News of the Gospel of Christ back to their hometowns, their neighboring cities, and ultimately the world.
Without these two couriers of the Gospel of Christ taking their responsibilities seriously, so much would have been lost and forgotten forever. They did all they did and yet I imagine they had no idea how important it was.
Perhaps neither do we fully understand the current value and the eternal impact of the message we have been commissioned to carry for Christ. Generations hang in the balance, neighbors wait in the wings, Churches hunger to be built, while nations yearn for someone to bring the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ to their borders.
We are not just the best couriers Jesus has; we are the only ones Jesus has. We are God’s hope for this generation. Can He depend on us to carry His Word to the lost and dying today? I believe He can … but more importantly, He believes He can, and He hopes we will. Nothing in life is so important as the salvation of the soul. That’s why we work and struggle so hard. That’s why we are fully dependent on the power of Christ within us.
Make no mistake … You have been chosen and commissioned by God to be a courier for Christ just like those two were chosen by Paul in Rome that day. Jesus is asking you to take the word you have been given to carry and protect it and make sure it is delivered to each one of the intended recipients. It is a priceless treasure, and it will still change the world.
Will
you be a trusted courier for Christ today?
