A Prayer of Appreciation

The Refreshment of Onesiphorus

May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me

and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me

earnestly and found me— may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord

on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus. 2 Timothy 1:16-18

We've all done it. Admit it. You know you have. You plan a time to sit down and read your

Bible, and you've carved out some time specifically for that purpose. However, you also know

that you have X, Y, and Z to get done today, and before you realize it...you are speeding through

your Bible reading thinking more about what has to be done NEXT rather than what you're doing

right NOW.

It's a shame, really. When we allow ourselves to simply "go through the motions" with our Bible

reading, we may end us missing out on some amazing encouragement because God gave us

the Bible...including all those details we are tempted to skim over in a rush to finish.

This is such a passage.

Onesiphorus...who was this guy?

We don't know much. In fact, we know almost nothing about Onesiphorus. Aside from

the reference above, he is only mentioned one other time in Scripture (2 Timothy 4:19), and

that doesn't give us any new information about him. But, just because we can't answer the

question "Who was he?" doesn't mean we quit! It means we ask a different question...

Onesiphorus...why did Paul mention this guy?

Paul tells us three specific things that Onesiphorus did for which Paul was very thankful.

1. "he often refreshed [Paul]"
2. he was "not ashamed of [Paul's] chains"
3. and "when he arrived in Roman he searched for [Paul] earnestly and found [him]"

Three simply reasons, but I want to unpack them a little.

Refreshing

"for he often refreshed me" doesn't tell us much, but we can draw some inferences just by considering the words, and the context of Paul's ministry. First, what is refreshment? I always think of two things when I think about the word 'refreshment': Sprite, and Marathon runners.

Personally, I have never run a marathon. I'm not a runner. I'm built like an offensive lineman, so my running is limited to 3-5 yards at a time, and I'm done. But those who do run marathons understand just how precious, and REFRESHING the picture to the left can be. After a long leg of a run, a simple paper cup of cold, clean water can bring a great deal of refreshment! I can ease the suffering of running, stave off dehydration, and even lift the spirits of those participating in the run. That is the idea of MERCY that we also see Paul praying for the household of Onesiphorus: an easy in suffering.

So Onesiphorus brought some kind of refreshment to Paul's life. The passage doesn't tell us exactly what he did, but we can deduce from Scripture that Paul was not without a need for the ease of suffering. Paul suffered greatly, and spent many days in prison for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Unashamed

Paul tells us many times in scripture that he has spent time in prison, in chains, and even under house arrest. Paul was not a rabble-rouser, but his passion for preaching the Gospel, despite local and political opposition, made him an easy target. "Perhaps if we throw Paul into prison, or give him a sound beating, others may think twice before preaching in the name of Jesus!" I'm sure that was their line of thinking. But what all happened to Paul? He tells us in another letter...

"...far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and cold and exposure." 2 Corinthians 11:23-27

Wow! Beatings, lashes, being stoned, shipwrecked, adrift at sea, treacherous journeys, danger from all directions, hungry, thirsty, cold and exposed...could that get any worse? Well, yes it could. Paul goes on to tell us that, "apart from other things [as if those physical burdens weren't enough], there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches." 2 Corinthians 11:28

There were clearly a great many opportunities in Paul's life to ease his suffering. He had plenty of sufferings from which to choose! Just take your pick! The text doesn't tell us specifically how Onesiphorus refreshed Paul while he was in prison, but seeing the list of Paul's physical, mental, and spiritual burdens, we could imagine a few.

• Perhaps bandages and ointments for Paul's wounds (beaten, lashed, and stoned)
• Possibly a fresh tunic or robe (lashed, cold, exposed, traveling, robbers)
• Could have been news brought from one of the many churches that Paul helped to plant
• Maybe pens, ink, and parchment for Paul to continue writing to those churches for which he cared so much
• Could he have carried a letter from Paul to someone, or another church? Possible, yes.

There were a great many ways that Onesiphorus could have refreshed Paul, but WHAT he did isn't the point of this prayer.

Searched

"Ok, Jessie, seriously? What's the big deal about this one?" Well, when we read the text, we may be tempted to think just that. But when we read the Bible, we need to pay close attention to WHAT was said, but also WHEN it was said, and about WHERE is was talking.

"when [Onesiphorus] arrived in Rome" -- Paul did his writing during the mid, to late First Century AD, and we actually have a lot of information as to what Rome was like during that time. There was a wall around the perimeter of the city, and that wall was 12 miles long. If you had a circle with a circumference of 12 miles, the area within that circle would be around 3,000 acres of land! Also, during this time in history, it is believed that Rome could have been a city whose occupants numbered upwards of ONE MILLION people! That's a crazy huge haystack for Onesiphorus to be seeking one tiny, imprisoned little needle. But he did seek, and he DID find. He did not give up.

Appreciation

The point of this prayer is actually not about Onesiphorus, although Paul is specifically taking time to be appreciative for him and his service. The point of this prayer is the APPRECIATION. We live in world today that DOESN'T APPRECIATE ANYTHING. Most people, including those who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ, walk around with a sense of "everyone owes me something". The word for that is entitlement. We are thankful for nothing because no matter what is done for us or given to us in a time of need, it is never sufficient.

Paul, in writing to Timothy what was likely his last letter before he died, takes a moment to lift up a prayer on behalf of Onesiphorus. He prayed that God would grant him the same mercy that had been extended to Paul. How different would our days be if we made the effort to find things for which we could be thankful? How different would our lives be if rather than seeing all that we DIDN'T have, we took time to thank God for what we DID have?

Paul gave us another great example of this when he prayed for his thorn to be removed (2 Corinthians 12:7). He asked God three times to revive the thorn, but God said no. He said, "My grace is sufficient." God's grace in Jesus Christ, if we never received another good thing in this world again, would still be more than enough for us. When we have that kind of appreciation for all we have in Jesus Christ, we will find that it is much easier to appreciate those small actions of refreshment that God sends our way through our brothers and sisters in Christ.

God help us be appreciative, and to never become ungrateful.

Thank you for your goodness and your grace, Lord! Amen