A DESIRE FOR CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 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 Timothy 4:9-13, 21a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Imagine that you had spent a good portion of your life traveling from place to place and engaging with people while committed to a mission to try and save everyone you could by introducing them to the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Yes, there were plenty of trials and tribulations, even dangers, that seemed to be lurking around every corner but it was exciting and rewarding work in obedience to the Lord’s calling.

And then, it all came to a screeching halt.

You were arrested and incarcerated, no longer free to go forth and do anything. There was no more social interaction outside of those who were guarding you, those few people who were imprisoned with you that you could communicate with, and even fewer people who cared enough to visit and see how you were doing.

How would you feel in the midst of these circumstances?

Well, I think if we all really considered this with serious contemplation, we would be able to empathize with the Apostle Paul as he writes to Timothy, his ministry companion and pastor of the church in Ephesus. For as we see in some of his closing words in 2 Timothy, Paul was lonely and in dire need of Christian fellowship. Look again at his words here:

Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments. 4:9-13

In the verses preceding these, we found Paul resigned to the fact that he was probably never going to be free to leave his prison. He had “fought the good fight” and “finished the race” all the while keeping “the faith”, positioned to receive his “crown of righteousness”, the promise of eternal life through his belief in Jesus (Vv. 7-8).

But as we move to verse 9, we find Paul shift gears, hopeful that Timothy might be able to come and see him along with Mark, who was “helpful” to Paul in his ministry despite them having a falling out at one point (Acts 15:36-41).

Paul goes onto share his current situation, one void of fellow Christian believers he could interact with and be encouraged by outside of Luke, the Gospel and Acts author, who was with him.

Demas, once a partner in ministry, had “deserted” Paul and “gone to Thessalonica” because “he loved” the world.

Crescens, only mentioned here in the scriptures, had “gone to Galatia” while Titus, to whom Paul wrote a letter found in the New Testament, left Rome and went to Dalmatia.

Paul had “sent Tychicus to Ephesus”, no doubt to update them on his condition. Tychicus may have also been tasked with delivering this letter to Timothy as he has done before while traveling to the Ephesian church (Ephesians 6:21-22).

As we see at the end of our passage for today, Paul not only had a desire for fellowship but for some other items that would bring him encouragement and comfort. Specifically, we find him mentioning a “cloak” he had left with Carpus (only mentioned here in the scriptures) at Troas and his “scrolls, especially the parchments”.

Now, we don’t know if Timothy ever made it to Paul. We have no evidence of it in the Word but we do get a glimpse inside Paul’s heart here and the loneliness he was feeling in isolation. It reminds us of how God created us for relationship and just as it wasn’t good for Adam to not have a companion, so too is it not good for people to not be able to share fellowship with fellow believers in Christ.

Today, we have many people who are incarcerated or possibly sick and homebound. Like Paul, they are isolated from others, imprisoned due to sin they committed or by their health issues. They also have a deep yearning for accessing Christian fellowship.

With this, every church should be intentional about caring and loving those who are incarcerated or shut-in. Some churches participate in a prison ministry such as Kairos, going inside correctional centers to share the good news of Jesus with those who are serving time as punishment for their wrongs.

Some churches also give focused attention on the homebound, scheduling regular in home visits by church members. These visits can go a long way to making people still feel valued by others and encouraged by like minded people in Christ Jesus.

In both these instances and others, we need to remember these words from our Savior, who calls us to bring fellowship and love to those in need as He speaks to our hearts in the Gospel of Matthew:

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.”

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?”

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.” Matthew 25:34-40

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.