![]() ![]() Our world is so very anxious right now, and it's not entirely clear that life will get more stable over this next year. This morning I learned that Israel is controversially taking data from peoples phones in the name of contact tracing. Some of us are worried about further freedoms that may be taken away. Some of us wonder about having our kids get the vaccine. Some of us are concerned about whether the immunity from the vaccine can protect us from Omicron. Some of us are worried about cash flow issues. Some of us have had to make choices about who we invite into our homes based on their vaccine status, further straining relationships. Some of us have lost our jobs due to vaccine choices. Some of us are already feeling like prisoners as a result of being prohibited from entering certain establishments. Uncertainty that has seemed to redouble as we are hearing about the Omicron Variant. We live in a time of immense uncertainty. I’m actually slightly nervous to preach this message, because I don’t know what’s coming this next year. Paul is working to keep their friendship in tact - where they mutually care for each other, and Paul can continue speaking to them as their spiritual father, encouraging, exhorting and praying for them. That’s why when Paul says, “Thank you,” he is mostly primarily speaking about their relationship with each other, rather than the gift itself. If that happened, their relationship would deteriorate to what Aristotle calls a “utilitarian friendship’, the lowest level of friendship. ![]() So, Paul is trying to say thank you without letting their relationship become primarily about money. We get this, we have all sorts of sayings about the dangers of mixing money and friendship. Paul did not want their relationship to slide to a lower level because of money. Yet Paul’s way of saying thank you sounds pretty odd, you probably noted how quickly he said “but I didn’t need the gift.” To our ears, it sounds as though Paul were saying, “Thanks but no thanks.” In those days there were different types of friendship, some were more noble than others. When Epaphroditus shows up with that beautiful gift from the church, Paul bursts with joy. ![]()
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