Most Excellent Theophilus

As I was preparing for my next Sunday school study on the life of Jesus, I was stopped in my tracks three lines into the Gospel of Luke:

Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write a careful account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught (Luke 1:3-4, NLT).

The NIV uses the scripting, “most excellent Theophilus.”  The only other time this Theophilus is mentioned in the Bible is in the beginning of Acts, when Luke addresses that letter to him as well.  Upon further study of online reviews, it seems clear that this is literally all we know about him.  Two of the most historic and culture-changing letters were written to him, and later canonized to become scripture and read by billions over two thousand years. It appears he may have been a person of rank, given the description “most excellent Theophilus.”  Yet all we really know about him is his name, and all that really matters is that he completed one big task for all future civilization, which was to share these letters.  

It appears that this is a personal letter, sent directly to him.  Clearly it was a letter of significance, which was long and intended for beyond average use.  If Theophilus was truly a man of influence, it was his task to use that influence to share this story in more lasting ways.  The Bible tells us only what we need to know.  We can conclude he was given a wealth of important information in the form of two personal letters, and he shared them in lasting ways. 

I wonder how our perspective would change if we looked at our lives in a similar way.  We spend so much time focusing on our job, our hobbies, our responsibilities, and our daily routines.  Yet all that really matters in the whole scheme of man is what we do for God’s kingdom.  Theophilus likely had a job, hobbies, responsibilities, and daily routines too, and all we know about him and all that is recorded about him as a man of rank during his time is this— he got two letters from Luke, and he shared them.  

We can never know the lasting influence we will have in God’s plan.  In the end, the story is not about us, our accomplishments, or our abilities.  We are called to be faithful and obey.  

A Humble Spirit for the Holidays

In my Sunday school class, we are studying the book of Joshua and the ancient Israelite conquest of the land of Canaan.  We see time and time again the Lord sending his spiritual army to fight with the Israelites to defeat the inhabitants.  Everyone they fought was destroyed.  The native people in the occupied spaces were completely annihilated, with the exception of only one group, the Gibeonites. 

As I first studied this, the situation puzzled me.  In the Old Testament, God tells the ancient people to completely destroy anyone with whom they go to battle, for the purpose of eliminating any pagan philosophies.  Yet the Gibeonites came to the Israelites with deception, and they were permitted to live.  Why is that?  They pretended that they were from a far away place, and asked to make a peace treaty. They loaded donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins.  They wore worn-out, patched sandals and ragged clothes.  They carried old, moldy bread.  When the Israelites visited with them, they saw the old, moldy bread and agreed to make a peace treaty with them.  They ratified their agreement with a binding oath.  

A few days later they learned that these people lived only three days away.  Joshua asked them, “Why did you lie to us?”  They replied, “We did it because we—your servants—were clearly told that the Lord your God commanded His servant Moses to give you this entire land and to destroy all the people living in it.  So we feared greatly for our lives because of you.  That is why we have done this.  Now we are at your mercy—do to us whatever you think is right (Josh 9:24-27).”  Because Joshua had made an oath of peace with them, he agreed to allow them to live, and made them woodcutters and water carriers for the community of Israel and for the altar of the Lord.  

The Gibeonites came to the Israelites with humility and reverence, submitting to their authority.  In contrast, all of the other kingdoms were actively defiant and came to fight.  The Gibeonites had the kind of heart the Lord could work with.  This is the kind of community that could add well with the Israelite culture.  

This led me to think about some present day possibilities.  What if we added a healthy dose of humility, reverence, and submission to our country’s culture?  What about adding a large dose of these character traits into our community, or our church?  Even more personal, what if we added a healthy dose of humility, reverence, and submission to our family, or marriage, or our own soul?

As we proceed into the holiday season, I hear common, seasonal prayer requests to help us have peaceful gatherings with relatives we don’t see often, and with whom we do not share the same views.  Sometimes the prayer is to help us “put up with” them, or “hold our own tongue.”  Yet if we entered that gathering with humility and reverence for God, submitting to His authority in that situation, how would that change things?  It is not our place to “fix” our relatives—that is God’s job.  He made us all with different gifts and talents, and different strengths and weaknesses.  What if we revered Him for this difference, and chose to love these relatives they way He would like us to?  That is the true path to peace with holiday gatherings this time of year. 

Happy Thanksgiving!