Here's Pastor Karen's devotion from the Ebenezer site:
Good morning!
When my church first called me to serve as pastor here in Renville, they gave me a basket of Minnesota “goodies”—things their minister needed to have or know about to be a good pastor. Inside the basket were T-shirts for local teams, baseball caps and I think a seed company cap, some bottles of homemade wine from a local family winery, a bottle of Minnesota maple syrup, and a book called, “How to Speak Minnesotan.”
Since I am an East Coast “girl,” all of these gifts were greatly appreciated. They didn’t make me feel like an outsider; they had the opposite effect. Especially the book.
Some things in the book are exaggerated—in a fun way. But the one thing that doesn’t seem over the top is the description of the “Minnesota long goodbye.” Truly, people take the time to be polite on the phone, even if they are in a hurry or are busy. How refreshing that is!
You can’t just say, “Well, thank you for calling! Bye!” You have to repeat part of the conversation, that may have begun with “Say…” You do thank them for calling. Then you have to say hello to everyone in their family by name. If you leave anyone out, you feel bad later—hoping no one takes it personally that you didn’t remember their youngest child.
I don’t mind this long goodbye; I think it’s cute! I am still learning the rhythm and the protocol, however. But why not take time to talk to each other instead of rushing around so much—like we do on the East Coast? Isn’t that part of loving one another—finding time to talk to each other, though you might be “busy”?
When you read today’s passage in Paul’s letter to the Romans, you find Paul’s long goodbye. It’s really cute, too. Learn from it! He names colleagues in ministry by name and commends them, one by one, for their faithful work. He understood how important it was to recognize and hold up as models people who were giving their all for Christ’s sake—and risking their lives to spread the gospel.
Some of the people on the “say hello to” and “give a kiss to” list appear to be couples. But each person’s first name is provided—even if that person is a woman! This was during ancient times when one might mistakenly assume that a woman was “only seen and not heard.” Not true!
Compare that to America in the first half of the 20th century where women were “Mrs.” her husband’s first and last name. A married woman’s identity was never distinct from her husband, at least not in formal address. And in country churches in small towns, that practice continued much longer than the 1950s. Our “Ladies Aid” record books list the all-women membership as Mrs. their husband’s first and last names into the 1960s and 1970s.
What’s even more surprising about this passage in Romans is that Paul lists a woman—Junia—as one of the “apostles”—someone who had been a Christian longer than he and had made a great impression on him.
Paul says, “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives (brothers and sisters in the Lord) who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. “
Did you know about Junia and that there was at least one female “apostle” in ancient times? You probably didn’t because Junia for many years was a victim of erroneous translation. Someone had actually changed the gender of her name, perhaps because they weren’t comfortable with the idea that a woman could also be a “prominent apostle” whom Paul admired. Andronicus may have been her husband, but we don’t know any more details about him than what Paul mentions here.
So when someone tries to explain to you why women should not be leaders in the church, why not show them Romans 16:1-16? They will read an entire list of women with gifts of leadership—who were faithfully using them to serve the Lord and bless God’s people. One of those people that was blessed just happens to be none other than the Apostle Paul!
Prayer: Loving Lord, thank you for creating us in your image and calling us “good.” Thank you for redeeming us when we fell into sin in the Garden and for sending your Son to do this suffering work of redemption. Thank you for Your Word that assures us that everyone is important for the gospel mission. Every man, woman, and child have been given gifts to develop and use for Your service and building Your heavenly kingdom. You love us all equally. You sent your Son to die for each one of us. We are all “special” to You. Help us to love all people equally, as well. And teach us to find our value in what Christ has done for us on the cross. Nothing else matters! Everything else is just worldly and temporary. Our earthly “status” is one of those things we can’t take with us to heaven—just like our money, houses, and other possessions. Forgive us when we forget that and fail to put the kingdom of God and its righteousness ahead of our daily responsibilities in this life. Forgive us when we fail to put serving You above everything else in importance. Help us to give our “all” to you. In Christ we pray. Amen.
Today’s readings are Joshua 24:16-33; Romans 16:1-16; Matthew 27:24-31; and Psalms 56-58.
Blessings in Christ!
Pastor Karen
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