Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God's will I may somehow, at last, succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you-- or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish -- hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Mutually encouraged is the phrase that catches my attention... Paul says, "that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." Encouragement is what we all need from time to time. The offer of Paul to provide spiritual support to the church in Rome is true apostolic oversight and care for the people he loves.
Paul is called the "untimely apostle" because he had a later encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. He was not among the original 12 followers of Jesus. In his travels, he established church communities and his letters to those communities are some of the best records we have of early church history. In this reading of his introduction to the letter to the church in Rome, you can feel Paul's desire to be with them again, encouraging them in faith, offering them some spiritual support. However, because of other circumstances, he has been prevented from returning to Rome.
We all need encouragement. The call I hear today is to encourage each other. Hold one another in prayer. Support each other's endeavors. Make sacrifices for the success of others. You can really feel it if you are engaged in something that isn't supported. Like Paul, we should burn deep with the desire to be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.
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