Knowing and Honoring People

What do you say at the end of a long letter?  I don't know how long Paul thought before he wrapped up his letter to the Corinthian believers, but our final words are powerful.  I'm sitting in my office at church knowing in about eleven hours we say goodbye to 2019 and hello to 2020.  We are closing out a year.  Paul is closing a letter.  What does Paul focus on?  He focuses on PEOPLE.  He knows their names and he calls them by name:

Apollos, Stephanas, Fortunatus, Achaicus, Aquilla, Priscilla.

He exhorts the Corinthians to "give recognition to such people."

He tells the Corinthians that Aquilla and Priscilla send "hearty greetings in the Lord."

And then he instructs all of the Corinthians to "Greet one another with a holy kiss."

So...be prepared to kiss some people this coming Sunday!   (Just kidding.)

Paul has deep affection for these brothers and sisters, and he knows when we express outwardly what we feel inwardly, it blesses others. 

I see this at The Bridge on a daily basis.  I see people learning each other's names and stories and I am an eyewitness of strangers becoming friends and friends becoming family.  Thank you for the number of ways you are committed to "greeting one another with a holy kiss."  It "refreshes" my spirit and the spirit of many others.  But there are many others in our city/community who are still strangers.  What if 2020 is a year when our friendship circles expand?

I don't know if you are the kind of person who makes New Year's Resolutions, but what if in 2020 we focus even more on PEOPLE?  Let us resolve to know names and stories of others and celebrate them.  Our Lord Jesus made time for PEOPLE.  May it be so with us as well.

See you Sunday,

Steven Helfrich