Week 07

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” II Timothy 1:5-7 NIV

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it,” Proverbs 22:6. This applies to Timothy, a man Paul called, “my true son in the faith”, I Timothy 1:2a. Timothy was from Lystra – the son of a Jewish Christian mother Eunice and an unbelieving Greek father. His grandmother Lois was a believer as well.

Paul charges Timothy to, “continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know of those from whom you learned it, and from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus,” II Timothy 3:14-15. I believe Paul was charging Timothy to remember all he had learned from Paul himself, but also the truth taught him as a child. I am convinced Timothy’s mother and grandmother taught him the scriptures, that they trained him in God’s ways, and that they taught him about God’s love.

Paul called Timothy his “fellow worker,” Romans 16:21, as he indeed was. He had accompanied Paul on his 2nd Missionary Journey and had been with him in his extended time in Ephesus. In I Timothy 4:12 Paul tells him to not let anyone look down on him because of his youth. Timothy, even though young, had grown up under the teaching of his godly and sincere mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois and this contributed to his ability to be an effective leader in the church.

Who does God use to advance his kingdom? This week we have examined the life and ministry of Junia and other women mentioned in the new testament. Junia is described as being an apostle – one who is set apart and sent to proclaim the gospel. Lois and Eunice were women who were faithful in teaching and training their son and grandson in the truth of the scriptures. This week, pray to God, ask him “how do you want to use me to advance the kingdom of the gospel?” We are not all called to be missionaries in foreign countries, but we can all be a part of sending them, supporting them, praying for them and enabling them to do their work. Some of us are called to the mission field in our own households, like Lois and Eunice. Ask God to show you your mission field.

By Donna Burns

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among] the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. Romans 16:7

Human communication is a miraculous thing. Think about it. Words can transfer ideas and emotions from one person to another. Communicating is often a gift that we take for granted but it’s also more complicated than we often like as well. Many a fight, war, crusade, and abuse has grown from the soil of words, sometimes intentionally and sometimes through miscommunication. See, words are coupled with context, body language, idioms, and figures of speech to form a cohesive yet complex whole that we call, communication.

So what does this have to do with the scriptures? Just like any body of words, the scriptures too can be misinterpreted, and often have been. So the question is, what steps can we take as followers of Jesus to avoid injecting our own biases and contexts into the text?

When we open up a bible and read, we must do so with a sense of humility and reverence for the kind of reading we are doing. We are doing spiritual reading. It’s humbling to think that we can know the mind of God through the words open before us in a bible. That humility is key to avoiding error. The scriptures are full of ideas that go against everything in cultures and brokenness. When we read something unexpected, it should be expected. Romans 16:7 simply gives us an illustration of a text that may have been modified because of a reader’s (translator’s) context and assumptions. Junia’s name was changed in some translations to being a masculine name (Junias) and the sole reason for that change is the fact that the translator couldn’t imagine an apostle being a woman.

One practice that can help us learn to approach the scripture with the humility necessary to truly hear from the text is the practice of Lectio Divina. This simply means spiritual reading. Select a passage of scripture (maybe a few paragraphs) and read it slowly. As you read it pay attention to words or phrases that stand out to you or bother you. Read the same text a second time and focus in on those phrases that first stood out. Read the text again and then journal or write out what you are noticing and any questions you have. Finally, read the text a fourth time and just sit in silence to allow the ideas that God has brought to you to blossom.

By Aaron Bjorklund

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. Romans 16:7

I’m certain there are times we all feel as if we’re just not contributing to much of anything. For example, new jobs where you’re the new employee and they haven’t quite figured out how to inject you into the workflow. In a broader sense, we see all the swirl going on around our culture and can’t figure out how to contribute and make a difference. Perhaps even in Kingdom work, we feel rather puny in our contribution.

Nothing could be further from the truth! There’s no way we can fully understand the influence we have on those around us. Recently, we had my dad’s funeral, who died on June 26th of this year. I’m sure he felt the same way, not having any influence on people, places, or things. What an amazing outpouring of love and affection we witnessed for dad! Men and women he worked with in the US Navy; Teachers and administrators from the small Christian school where he was the principal; and many folks from his church. Despite his feelings of inadequacy and lack of contribution, those around him spoke quite the opposite.

Andronicus and Junia are mentioned only here. I like the ESV rendering of the word συγγενεῖς as kinsmen, which are understood as blood relatives. Other renderings are ‘fellow Jews,’ but while Jews are considerably tighter than most as a culture, being considered related by blood more aptly describes (for me) his feelings towards these two people.

Paul adds more weight to their import in the next sentence where he declares their relationship with the Apostles (‘well known’) and their early acceptance into God’s Kingdom before Paul!

We have absolutely no way of knowing in this life whether these two members of the faith felt as we do sometimes. We just can’t. And keep in mind that for every mentioned name, there are ‘scads’ (as my dad used to say) of people unmentioned. The only One who really matters knows all who are called by his name and he misses no detail (Luke 12:7). Re-read Romans 16 from start to finish. Notice the names, perhaps even trying to pronounce them out loud. Begin to realize that, just as Paul has listed these people, your name is known to Jesus concerning your Kingdom work, and that’s all that really matters!

By Rich Obrecht

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among] the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. Romans 16:7

One of the goals of this Under the Radar series has been to highlight some lesser-known characters who appear throughout Scripture and to examine what we can learn from their stories. Some of these characters have had multiple chapters devoted to them, like Gideon, others, like Junia, appear only briefly. Junia is only mentioned in this one verse, Romans 16:7. Yet she, and the others mentioned in Romans 16 are mentioned for a reason!

Behind each name mentioned in this chapter is a story. Phoebe is a deacon of a church and a “benefactor of many people” (vv. 1-2). Priscilla and Aquila are Paul’s co-workers in Christ and risked their lives for him as well as leading a house church (vv. 3-5). Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis have all worked hard in the Lord (v. 12). And Andronicus and Junia are outstanding among the apostles. They may not be the flashiest biblical characters out there, but their faithfulness, dedication, and service to the Kingdom is something we can all learn from.

Today, honor someone you know who is under the radar. Send a note to someone who is doing ministry behind the scenes and maybe doesn’t get recognized or encouraged all that often. Thank them for their ministry and the difference they are making.

By Jessica Rust

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

Please read Romans 16

The glitz, the glitter, the excitement. The red carpet and thematic music that plays while flashbulbs capture our favorite stars. The Oscars: the height of cinema achievement. The stars and movies nominated are done so because of the excellence displayed by them, and by the teams of people it took to create them.

The scene is Rome, the perfect epicenter to the spread of the Gospel. They don’t say “All roads lead to Rome” for nothing! From this vantage point alone lives across the Roman-occupied territories and beyond could be reached. Lights, camera, action; the great work of the Gospel is already rolling. Now, Paul rolls out the credits.

In Romans 16 we have Paul’s equivalent to the Oscars, for the Gospel. His list of people he would like to thank is long and diverse, encompassing men and women who were both Jews and Gentiles. Long before Paul ever set foot on the scene, these fearless men and women were working hard to spread the Gospel. Who knows, maybe some of these names mentioned were people that Paul himself persecuted before his conversion!
Did you notice, most of these names listed are the names of women? In this day and time, women would never have been recognized like this, let alone named as deacons or apostles. Yet, here is another example of Christ’s upside-down Kingdom beginning to take shape. This list of unlikely heroes, of whom most are only named here, seems random and obscure. However, in God’s cinema, there is never an obscure character. Each role is a needed role, no matter how unlikely it may seem.

It takes an army of people to pull off a movie, and the same is true of sending workers into the field to harvest the work of the Lord. God places and uses people in roles both big and small, and ALL the roles are significant. BOTH roles are valuable in God’s eyes, and should be in ours as well.
I’m sure those Paul thanked would have never thought that God would use him. Who in your life seems too far gone to ever be used or even considered by God? Take a moment to pray for that person right now and throughout the coming weeks. Perhaps, God is getting ready to create a modern day Paul in this person, and maybe one day you will be listed in their list of Gospel Oscars.

By Sheila Rennau