loyal

I write often about the obscure heroes sprinkled throughout scripture. This morning, I noticed another one.

Paul, writing to Timothy in one of the last letters that we know of, had this toward the end (2 Timothy 1:16-18): “May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.”

For all I know, Onesiphorus was one of those great Christians who served everyone all the time. Every church has them; my wife is one. Or maybe, he was one of those people who doesn’t seem to ever do much. 

Whichever, to Paul this man was, literally, a Godsend. Even if the only thing he ever did was to help Paul, that was enough to ensure his legacy would endure through the ages. And he did a great job: already a dependable support in Ephesus, Onesiphorus, once he knew Paul was in need, traveled to Rome and searched persistently until he finally located Paul. There he resumed his service to Paul, enabling further one of the greatest ministries the church has ever known.

I’m impressed by a couple of things Onesiphorus didn’t do. He didn’t decide that Rome was too far away, even though by any rational measure it probably was. The travel would take time and be expensive, both factors that would reduce Onesiphorus’ personal wealth and security. But he went anyway.

He also didn’t walk away from Paul because of his reduced status. Paul was a prisoner, and likely never knew physical freedom again. He was a victim, pretty much helpless and fair game for a lot of abuses. There was no advantage whatsoever, and the risk of being judged guilty by association, yet Onesiphorus still helped.

It’s a great reminder to me that, in a time when so many are in need and so many feel marginalized, personal hardship is no excuse for not helping. Neither is concern over what others might think. This singular focus on serving one man, even if he didn’t do anything else, was enough for Paul to enshrine his name in scripture. That’s how much God values our kindnesses to each other.