Tychicus and Onesimus Set Out

Two men walk a long road east, with rolled-up letters packed safely in a bag. One of them knows the way well. The other knows it too. He ran away along it, and now he is coming back.

Paul is a prisoner, writing to Christians in Colossae, a small town in the valley of the river Lycus, in what is now Turkey. Paul had never visited it. The church there began through Epaphras, a local man who heard the good news and carried it home. Close by were two more towns with believers, Laodicea and Hierapolis. Paul cannot travel. So he does what people did in the ancient world. He sends his letters with trusted people who will read them aloud, answer questions and bring news.

The first messenger is Tychicus. Paul calls him a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you, Paul writes, so that you will know how we are, and so that he can comfort your hearts. A letter can only say so much. Tychicus will fill in the rest. And with him, Paul sends someone else. Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. Those four small words, one of you, carry a whole story. Onesimus came from Colossae. He was a slave in the household of a believer called Philemon, and he had run away. Somehow he had ended up with Paul, and had become a follower of Jesus. Now he is going back. Paul even wrote a separate short letter to Philemon, asking him to welcome Onesimus not just as a slave, but as a dear brother. So Onesimus walks home carrying letters that speak for him. Not, here is the runaway. But, here is our faithful and beloved brother.

Then Paul sends greetings from the people around him, and you can picture them crowding round. Aristarchus, who shares Paul's imprisonment. Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. Paul adds, if he comes to you, welcome him. Years before, Mark had left Paul partway through a journey, and Paul and Barnabas had argued about him. Now Mark is with Paul, a trusted co-worker. Another second chance. Then Jesus called Justus. Then Epaphras, their own founder, who Paul says is always wrestling in prayer for them, that they will stand firm. Luke, the beloved physician, sends his greetings, and Demas. Paul greets the believers in Laodicea, and a woman called Nympha and the church that meets in her house. When this letter has been read among you, Paul says, make sure it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you read the letter from Laodicea. And tell Archippus: take heed to the ministry you have received in the Lord, and fulfil it. Finally Paul takes the pen from his scribe, and writes the last line himself. The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you.

The Lycus valley was earthquake country. The Roman historian Tacitus records that around the year sixty, Laodicea was destroyed by an earthquake, and that the city rebuilt itself from its own resources, without help from Rome. That was about the time Paul's letters were being carried there. Laodicea was a wealthy city, and that wealth comes up again much later, in the book of Revelation.

Tychicus and Onesimus set out. You'll find them in Colossians chapter four, verses seven to eighteen. A faithful messenger, a runaway welcomed as a brother, and a whole crowd of friends sending love. So here is a question to carry with you. Who is someone you could welcome back, and give a second chance?