The first half of the chapter is a travel log, Paul’s journey from Ephesus to Jerusalem. It is none too exciting. Sounds a bit like a vacation journal I sometimes keep, did this, did that, went here, went there. As I was reading this portion of the chapter, one aspect jumped out at me. Everywhere Paul and his companions landed and stayed, whether for a day or for a week, they connected with believers. Some, it seems, he might have known or at least heard of, others were completely unknown prior to their meeting. These brothers and sisters of Christ’s body lodged Paul and friends, fed them, prayed with them, and blessed them.
The wonder of the body of Christ. There is something to being fellow believers in Jesus. I can’t explain it but I have experienced it.
I have been blessed to be part of half a dozen local churches during my adult life and in each location I have been blessed by members of Christ’s body. Christ’s Body is amazing, from rural western Pa, to sophisticated Greenwich CT, from Cincinnati to Boston, a tiny church of 15 to multiple service congregations of hundreds. In each stop I have experienced the love and care of sisters and brothers in the Lord.
And beyond the borders of the US, I have experience Jesus in His body in places where I am clearly an outsider. In Nigeria I have been warmly received and loved by my Lord’s church. In Germany I have been warmly received and loved by my Lord’s church. In Juarez I have been loved and warmly received by my Lord’s church and in England, too. Such is the blessing of the Body of Christ.
Last summer in Nigeria I stayed at a guesthouse filled with young campus ministry workers from all across Africa attending a conference. We laughed, cheered alongside one another during World Cup matches and we encouraged and prayed with one another. One of the most profound prayer experiences I have ever experienced came when these brothers and sisters in Christ prayed for me the night before I had to leave… such is the blessing of the body of Christ. (If you want to read more about that night check out a blog I wrote about that experience: http://bmafricanadventure.blogspot.com/)
Reading about how fellow believers cared for and loved Paul, I was reminded how much the fellow believers –some with whom I have had a long-term relationship and some I have been with only momentarily- have cared for and loved me over the years.
I sit here with the Word open and my fingers on the keyboard, delighting in the gift of sisters and brothers in Jesus… a gift of immeasurable value.
Thank You, Jesus, for the gift of Your body, the Church…men and women washed in Your blood with whom I have deep kinship because of our common faith in You… Amen.
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