Help her

I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also. – Romans 16.1-2

Romans 16 is such a private, loving, and compassionate chapter that we can almost feel a little guilty for peering into such close relationships. The whole chapter is basically Paul mentioning dear friends and associates by name. I always enjoy reading about these individuals by name. It reminds me that these are real people and are really our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Paul starts with 'Phoebe our sister' who he commends to the church in Rome. She was already serving at the church in Cenchrea, which was the port city for Corinth. She had been a faithful servant. The Greek word here is the same one translated as ‘deacon’ in other passages. She was a server and a she had helped Paul and many others in her ministry in Corinth.

So Paul commends Phoebe to the Roman believers. I don’t know if she was there on business or on a visit or to move there.

Either way Paul wanted to be sure that she was looked after. He charged the believers there to look after her and to assist her in ‘whatever business she has need of you.’

I like the personal-ness of this note. I like that we get to meet a sister in Christ from so long ago. I like that she was a server. She may have acted in a deacon-like role to care for the women in the church. I also like the principle that we as Christians need to be watching out for each other.

We ought to always have this attitude of helping in other as brothers and sisters in Christ. Helping goes both ways. More specifically we need to heed the New Testament principle of assisting those who are dedicated to the Lord’s service.