GREETINGS!
In my Church Leaders newsletter Thursday, they had an article about suicide prevention because it was world suicide prevention day. It covered a variety of subjects pertaining to suicide but it also highlighted that it was on the rise during COVID. This is understandable, with all the restrictions that have limited social interaction. This creates a greater need to reach out to people; especially during COVID and especially to those who are more socially vulnerable.
This article along with some conversations I had recently got me thinking about the times in the bible where Paul and others included greetings in their letters. What's the significance of that and is that something I need to be focused on doing? Let's find out.
1) Greetings!
Romans is a deep letter dealing with some intense, theological topics. Paul talks about sin and judgment as well as love and grace. He talks about the law and that no one is righteous. He goes after sexual immorality and the need to put sin to death. He gives commands and encouragements. He talks about the need to stay connected to God. But when we get to the final chapter, Paul switches gears and goes into greet mode.
Rom. 16:3-16, "Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings."
Here we see a list of people Paul wants the Romans to greet. Paul doesn't say, 'tell everyone I said, hi'; he's specific. Paul uses the word greet 17 times! Greet this one and that one and greet so and so, etc. And he gives details to many of them. Greet Pricilla and Aquila, my fellow workers who risked their lives for me. Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ, and so on.
He finishes the list of greetings by saying, "greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings." "Holy kiss". Paul reiterates this in his two letters to the Corinthians as well as 1 Thess. 5:26. In 1 Pet. 5:14 it says, "greet one another with a kiss of love". This would be like what certain cultures practice today when they give each other a quick kiss on each cheek. For us it would be the hug or handshake.
But Paul was advocating something beyond a quick, 'hello'. We can give a friendly greeting but there's a proper place for handshakes and hugs also. We leave room for someone who may have an issue with hugs; especially from the opposite sex, but that's why Paul and Peter talk about a holy kiss. This sentiment has no illicit intent behind it; only pure Christian love. If I'm hugging someone in church my motive needs to be platonic in nature. But we see that greetings were important.
Although Paul said in vs. 16 that all the churches of Christ send their greetings, he gets specific in vs. 21-23.
Rom. 16:21-23, "Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives. I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings."
In the beginning of the chapter, Paul mentions the people who he wants the Romans to greet on his behalf. Now he switches it up by mentioning the ones who are sending their greetings to the church in Rome. As I said earlier, given the intensity of Romans it almost seems out of place to go from the powerful, intellectual and challenging words to Paul sending greetings. He goes from strong to gentle. One might think with all that needed to be addressed in such an important letter to the Roman church, why spend time writing all these greetings?
One reason is because of the intensity and depth of the letter. This was probably difficult for the Romans to take in and process. Though necessary, some of the things in this letter would be hard to accept. Right from the first chapter Paul deals with God's wrath toward mankind because of its wickedness. So you don't get very far before you're met with the intensity of it.
So Paul wanted to end the letter by expressing the outpouring of love from the people who were thinking of them. Perhaps in seeing these greetings it would cause the Romans to feel better about what they just read. It's important that we are seen as friendly, welcoming people.
When I preach, teach or counsel I address some serious matters. I may come across intense at times. But it's important for people to know that I'm friendly too. When Shaun listens to me preach he calls it my serious voice. But when I see him afterwards I greet him very warmly.
Paul's letters were serious but he knew the importance of adding a friendly greeting. As we go through our serious lives that can be filled with stress and busyness, it's important to be friendly and warm-hearted to people.
Paul had stated in the letter that he longed to visit them. Now he takes the time to explain that some other people want to "say hi". He wanted them to be encouraged to know that many people had them on their hearts and minds. It's nice to know people are thinking of you and praying for you.
Paul includes Gaius, adding that he and the church had been blessed by his hospitality. Hospitable means welcoming, friendly, warm, open, generous, kind, sociable. These are all important aspects of Christianity.
When we think of hospitality we normally think of having people in our home and although that can be part of it, it goes beyond that into inviting people into your life; perhaps including them in activities and events.
Not that the whole church needs to be invited to everything we do, but perhaps we could branch out a little from the norm the next time we have something going on. I know this may not be feasible right now with COVID but it's still something we should be thinking about.
The greeting portion of Paul's letters were important. Paul had his letters written by a scribe due to his poor eyesight, but when it was time for the greeting, he wanted to write that himself.
2nd Thess. 3:17, "I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write."
Greetings were important to Paul; they should be important to us, too. When we read a book of the bible, we might be in the habit of breezing through the opening salutations or closing greetings in order to get to the meatier sections. But when we do that we make the mistake of dismissing an important part of the book.
It's obvious that God wanted the greetings to be included so that shows how important they are. Greetings are important to God, Paul and hopefully to us too.
2) Greet everyone!
Heb. 13:23-25, "I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. Greet all your leaders and all God’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings. Grace be with you all."
Hebrews is another intense book that deals with deep and challenging subjects. From warnings against falling away to talking about those who suffered for the faith. It talks about God's discipline too. Like Paul did with Romans, the author of Hebrews wanted to extend friendly and encouraging greetings at the end of his letter.
He mentions that he hopes that he and Timothy will be able to see them soon. He wants them to greet all their leaders. In vs. 17 he tells them to obey and submit to those in authority, so their work will be a joy not a burden. I'm sensing they may have had some authority issues.
Church leaders deal with a lot. They have people coming up to them because they need something or they have a complaint about something. Not that I shouldn't be approached if there is a need or issue but it feels good when someone comes up to just greet you and ask how you're doing.
Though this would've primarily applied to their spiritual leaders, I could see this extending to their societal leaders also. This would be a nice gesture since their leaders may not have been very popular so to have someone greet them in a positive and friendly spirit would be nice and refreshing.
We could do the same today. I'm sure our local politicians get a lot of grief from constituents who are against them or feel they're not doing a good enough job. So to give them a sincere greeting without any bias would be a nice gesture.
I think about this regarding our police force. The police as a whole are being heavily attacked right now. With rioting and a movement to defund the police, our boys and girls in blue are receiving a lot of anger and negativity. How refreshing it must be to have people support them. How encouraging would it be to have people give them a friendly greeting and thank them for their service?
Then the author tells them to greet all the brothers and sisters in Christ. This is key. Sometimes we are creatures of habit; we socialize with the same people all the time. But it's good to break out of our comfort zone and greet everyone else in the church too.
I've noticed in the past few years that people have been reaching out and interacting with more people. This is wonderful; especially when it's a newcomer. We've always had a reputation of making the new person feel welcome. But we also need to make the not-so-new-comer feel welcome. Everyone should feel welcome at church.
And we may have been getting better at doing this when we were in person but has it tapered off since our services have been online? Maybe there are some people we've neglected to reach out to since this started. Perhaps we should make a list of who they are and try to connect with them this week. I know how encouraged I've been by the love I've been shown at Cornerstone and I would like everyone to have that same encouragement.
So when he says, greet all God's people, does this mean I don't need to greet anyone outside of the church? No. In Matt. 5, Jesus was talking about loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us. In vs. 46-47 he highlights that we have a higher calling.
Matt. 5:46-47, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"
Jesus is telling us to get outside of our comfort zones and reach out to people you wouldn't normally reach out to. Love all, greet all. If we just greeted the people we regularly do that wouldn't be good because that's what most people do. We should be doing things differently than most people. We should be friendly and outgoing to all people; greeting them and showing them Christian love.
I know for some that can be awkward. But that's something we should be praying and working on to overcome. We might want to stay in our comfort zone and socialize with the same people all the time but Jesus would want us to expand our circle and reach out to some new people.
Some people don't have anyone interacting with them on a personal level. If we give love and encouragement to the world more people can know they are loved. Greet everyone; love everyone-be Jesus to the world.
3) "I just don't have the time."
I'm sure we could easily find ourselves saying this, right? I have work to do, kids to take care of, a house to run; so on and so on. I just don't have the time to be reaching out to people right now.
Luke 10:1-4, "After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road."
See, Jesus gets it; he knows what it's like to be busy. These guys were on a mission; there was no time for greetings. On the surface, this seems rude. Jesus just got done saying the harvest was plentiful so as he sends out his workers he tells them not to greet anyone on the road. Why would he tell them this?
The kind of greeting referred to here is not a quick hello but more like a conversation. It was customary at that time to exchange lengthy greetings. So this wouldn't be someone going by saying, "s'up", it would be more extended than that. Saying a quick, Shalom would not have been an issue; but to stop and have a conversation would have.
There was an urgent spiritual mission that Jesus had for them. It's not that he's impersonal or dismissing an opportunity for personal evangelism, but right now, time was of the essence. He needed his workers to get to the towns that he was going to be going to soon.
This shows there are times when pressing matters will not allow us to reach out and spend time with people. Hopefully people will understand that. Saying hello only takes a second but oftentimes the need to spend more time with someone will be necessary so we need to keep that in mind when engaging with someone.
Being pressed for time is probably not the best time to call someone. We'll be preoccupied or feel rushed and that will make the other person feel uncomfortable. You want to be able to feel relaxed when you're talking to someone, not pressured.
However, don't put it off just because you have something to do. There will always be something to do so if we go by that we would never be reaching out to people. Making the time to do this is important. I'm sure there are certain things on our agenda that can wait.
Sometimes we might be doing something and we get that interrupting phone call. Although it's not always a divine interruption, sometimes it is.
And even though Jesus gave instructions to the 72 to not allow interruptions that doesn't mean he never allowed them. He was interrupted by the bleedy lady but he stopped and helped her. He was interrupted when he withdrew from the crowd to be by himself.
There are times we're going to need to allow interruptions so we can be a blessing to others. And it doesn't have to be an hour long conversation. Some people might want it to be, and that's understandable if they don't get many people calling them. But, don't avoid the call because you feel you won't be able to get off the phone.
Just explain politely that you need to get going but you wanted to take the time to call them first. Hopefully they will understand and appreciate that you thought of them and took some time out of your busy schedule to get in touch with them.
We have the time if we want to make the time. Make more room for hospitality and outreach; like Jesus, Paul and others did. Who needs your greeting today? It just might mean the world to them.
