An Interrupted Life

Paul’s letter introducing himself to the church in Rome has had more impact on Western civilization and the life of the Church than any other he wrote. His influence while imprisoned in Rome laid the base for the institution that filled the vacuum after the fall of the Roman Empire. St. Augustine was converted by reading it. Martin Luther was inspired by it to start the Reformation. The theology that allowed the eventual spread of the church beyond Judasim is defined here. In some ways, the concepts of natural law which led to the founding of our own country are here. It’s hard to imagine Western history without this one letter to the church at Rome. It’s much more than a book in the Bible. It became the foundational document of an entire civilization.

With his work done in Corinth and his task of raising the offering for the poor in Jerusalem almost complete, he is ready to go to Spain but not before “passing through” Rome. He had no intention of staying in Rome. It was on his way to new territory but not his final destination. Paul was never the long-term pastor of any church. He laid the foundation and then found those who could build on it. 

Paul always had plans and dreams but they were subject to God’s change. He was not a fatalist, thinking he had no choices. But he knew he served God who could divert his plans and interrupt his life at will—sometimes for years. It was not the first time his plans had been shelved. Think about a Church with no letters to the Philippians, Corinthians and Thessalonians that were unplanned visits. He never sat and waited for God’s “perfect” will but he knew everything somehow was worked together for God’s will. T.S. Eliot wrote, “Old men ought to be explorers. Here and there does not matter. We must be still and still moving.” There is no better description of Paul, is there? The explorer who is still before God and still moving.

We can always be headed toward our own “Spain” in our lives . . . but sometimes we pass through a time in Rome in ways we don’t expect. Our dreams are interrupted or sent in a different direction with God offering no explanation. “I’m finished with my work here and I’m excited about my plans for the new work and I’ll pass through quickly on my way,” Paul wrote. But he doesn’t. Instead, he is put under house arrest for two years.

We all face the reality of Rome on the way to Spain, don’t we? We have plans and dreams for our lives once we have finished with the tasks at hand. We have things we want to do now that we have been freed of hindrances but then:

• A sick spouse
• Aging parents
• Children come home
• Finances change
• We have new and unexpected responsibilities
• Our health will not support our plans

We begin to realize, as did Paul, that our dreams and plans are always subject to change and the issue for him—and us—is how to use the detour. Do the changes derail us or only delay us? Do we resent them or realign our lives around them?

Luke tells us, “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” His purpose was not hindered by his circumstances. C.S. Lewis wrote, “The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own,' or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life -- the life God is sending one day by day.” 

But more than that, Paul’s two-year confinement was a turning point in the history of the Church and Western civilization. Roman law required a court trial within eighteen months. His failure to go to trial could mean that there was no case and this gave the Christian movement a quiet and unofficial legal approval. That would have allowed it during those two years to spread throughout Rome and the Empire until the withering persecutions of Nero.

In other words, we cannot know how God will use what we see only as an arrest or hindrance. We will never know the power of a single letter that survives against the odds. What we see as an inconvenience is God’s intention.

And what about the dream of doing new work in Spain? Did he ever get there?

One church tradition says he was released after those two years and preached in Spain until he returned voluntarily to Rome and martyrdom by beheading.

But what a life!

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