Saturday Special: Pastor Dave Arnold #6

ONESIPHORUS

Benjamin West was babysitting his little sister Sally, while their mother was out. Trying to entertain her, he found some bottles of colored ink and proceeded to paint Sally’s portrait. By the time Mrs. West returned, ink blots stained the table, chairs, and floor. Benjamin’s mother viewed the mess, not saying a word, until she saw the picture. Picking it up she exclaimed, “Why, it’s Sally!” And she bent down and kissed her son. Years later, in 1763, at the age of 25, Benjamin West was selected as history painter to England’s King George 111. He became one of the most celebrated artists of his generation. Referring as to how he got started as an artist, he said, “My mother’s kiss made me a painter.” Her encouragement did far more than a rebuke ever could have done.

The word “encourage” comes from a French word for heart, meaning, “to give courage, hope, support, help, or confidence to.” At the back of it is always the idea of enabling a person to meet some difficult situation with confidence. Someone said, “Seize every opportunity to give encouragement, for encouragement is oxygen to the soul.”

In 2 Timothy 1:16 – 18, Paul, imprisoned and about to die, forsaken by his friends, and left to bear his sorrows alone, speaks of the man Onesiphorus. He wrote, “The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. The Lord grant mercy to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day – and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus.” His name means, “help-bringer.” He chose to be a man of encouragement. Note how Paul spoke of him:

1. HIS ENCOURAGEMENT: “He often refreshed me,” verse 16. Moffat translates it, “Many a time he braced me up.” Dr. John Watson, better known to many as Ian Maclaren, when beginning his ministry, attempted to preach without manuscript, taking only a few notes to the pulpit. Sometimes his memory failed, and he would say to his parishioners, “Friends, this is not very clear. It was clear in my study yesterday. Now I will begin again.” The people never showed any impatience. After a sermon one Sunday, an elder went to him and said, “When you are not remembering your sermon just give out a Psalm, and we will be singing while you are taking a rest, for we are all loving you and praying for you.” Years later, Dr. Watson said, “I am in the ministry today because of the tenderness and charity of those country folks; those perfect gentlemen and Christians.”

As Moses was stepping down, and Joshua was chosen as the leader, Moses addressed the people, stating, “Joshua, the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it,” Deuteronomy 1:38. Will Rogers said, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

2. HIS EMPATHY: “He was not ashamed of my chains,” verse 16. The others, Paul said, “ have turned away from me,” verse 15, meaning, “When they should have showed friendship, they ignored him.” Onesiphorus did not allow the dangers connected with Paul’s imprisonment to frighten or embarrass him. Jackie Robinson was the first black to play major league baseball. While breaking baseball’s “color barrier,” he was jeered and ridiculed in every stadium. While playing one day in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he committed an error. His own fans began to taunt him. He stood at second base, humiliated, while the fans screamed cruel criticism. Then shortstop, “Pee Wee” Reese came over and stood next to him. He put his arm around Jackie Robinson and faced the crowd. The fans grew quiet. Robinson later said that arm around his shoulder saved his career.

3. HIS EFFORT: “But when he was in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me,” verse 17. “Very zealously” means “with extra-ordinary diligence.” Paul was a political prisoner, and Rome was a huge metropolis. When Onesiphorus searched for Paul and came to see him again and again, he took his life into his own hands. It was dangerous to keep asking where a certain political prisoner could be found. It was dangerous to visit him, and still more dangerous to keep on visiting him, but this is what he did. William Barclay reminds us, “One of the highest duties is the duty of encouragement.”

4. HIS EXAMPLE: “You know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus,” verse 18. He never swerved in his affections. He had been kind to him in former years, and he did not leave him now in the dark day of adversity. Proverbs 17:17, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

In 2 Corinthians 7:6, after speaking of troubles, conflicts, and fears he faced in ministry, Paul states, “Nevertheless, God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” Titus was not a celebrity in the kingdom. He never wrote a book or built a church. He never worked any miracles, or preached any sermons that have been recorded. But when Paul was at one of his lowest times, Titus came and encouraged him, lifted his spirits, and strengthened him for the battle ahead. Imagine being remembered as the man who encouraged the Apostle Paul!

A young Christian boy from New Orleans was a naval wireless operator during World War II. Early one morning, after a night on duty, he took a few minutes for a devotional time when things were quiet at sea. He was reading the Twenty-third Psalm, when the thought came to him to send the Psalm out over the water, and see if any other ship would respond. He did, and as he sent the last word, sixteen ships answered a wireless “Amen.” May God bless every “Onesiphorus!”

Dave Arnold