To the Chosen Lady

A single sheet of papyrus. Barely enough room for a few lines. An old man dips his pen, and writes to people he loves. He has so much more to say. But this will have to do, for now.

In the early days, Christians did not meet in church buildings. They met in homes. And teachers travelled from town to town, visiting these house churches, often staying as guests. That was a wonderful way for the good news to spread. But it also meant that anyone could turn up, claiming to be a teacher. Some of them were teaching things that were not true about Jesus. So an old church leader, who simply calls himself the elder, writes a very short letter. Christian tradition says this elder was the apostle John.

He writes: The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth. Who was this chosen lady? She may have been a real woman who hosted a church. But many think John is speaking of a whole church, lovingly pictured as a mother, with her members as her children. At the end, he sends greetings from the children of her chosen sister, which sounds like another church. Then he says, I was very glad to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. Like a proud grandparent hearing good news about the family.

Now, dear lady, he says, I am not writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning. Let us love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. Loving God and loving each other go together. You cannot have one without the other. Then his tone becomes serious. Many deceivers have gone out into the world. They do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, as a real human being. Watch yourselves, John says, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but receive a full reward. Anyone who runs ahead and does not stay in the teaching of Christ does not have God. But whoever stays in that teaching has both the Father and the Son.

So, John says, if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a blessing for his work. Remember, the house was where the church met. Welcoming a travelling teacher meant giving him a platform to teach the whole church. John is asking them to protect the family. Then, at the end, the letter softens again. I have many things to write to you, he says, but I would rather not use paper and ink. I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. Some things are better said in person.

Second and Third John are the two shortest books in the New Testament. Each is about the length that would fit on a single sheet of papyrus, the paper of the ancient world, made from the pressed stems of a reed that grew along the Nile. When John says he would rather not write with paper and ink, the word he uses for paper is the word for a sheet of papyrus.

To the chosen lady. You'll find this little letter in Second John, just thirteen verses long. Love one another, hold on to the truth about Jesus, and look forward to meeting face to face. So here is a question to carry with you. How can you show love to the people in your church family this week, while holding on to what is true?