Because of Her Love--March 12, 2021

Because of Her Love--March 12, 2021

"Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house." [Colossians 4:15]

She was a leader in the early church, the host who welcomed a band of early Christians into a congregation that met in her house, in a time when it was both dangerous to be a leader and necessary for those who led to be faithful and strong... and I confess to you: I just learned her name.

True confession: for all the time I have spent reading the Scriptures, as both a young person studying in college and seminary, and as a pastor, too, for just shy of a decade and a half, I don't ever recall having paid attention to this verse, or the woman Paul names here.  And I say that to my shame, because here, she was clearly a hero of the faith, one of just sixteen women referenced in Paul's letters by name, and mentioned here as a pretty significant leader in a house-church in greater-metropolitan Colossae/Laodicea (they weren't far from each other, and we don't know for sure where her house was).  But while I know plenty of church's named for Saint Paul, as well as some Saint Timothy, Saint Mark, and even some Saint Barnabas parishes, I've never known a church named for Saint Nympha.  Like I say, I had never even recalled or known her name before looking at today's verse.  And it's not like she's not here--she is.  I had just selectively ignored her importance.  I had skipped right over her in past times wading through this book of the New Testament, even though she has been there all along in the pages of my Bible.

Of course, Nympha isn't the only one--not hardly.  We could have quite a conversation about Junia, whom Paul names as an "apostle" in the end of Romans, or Phoebe, who quite possibly delivered and read the letter to the Romans when Paul sent it to them, or Chloe, or Euodia, or Syntyche, or Priscilla, all of whom were women who were leaders in the early church whom Paul names and counts among his co-workers. Or Lydia or Tabitha, who were significant members of their own church communities in the book of Acts. And that would be before we even got around to talking about the women who not only financed Jesus' ministry, but also those women like Mary Magdalene who were the first to announce the news of the resurrection--the first to preach an Easter sermon! Their names and stories are there, in the pages of the Scriptures themselves, and yet, it is awfully easy to ignore them, downplay them, or assume they didn't do or say anything of importance, all on the flimsy logic of, "Well, I've never heard of them before..." or "I've never thought about their accomplishments before... and therefore they don't have any."

But here is a chance to begin to rectify that, and to find myself enriched by taking a second look, and discovering that there are even more ancestors in faith to be thankful for, like Nympha, whose courage and dedication made it possible for the Good News to spread beyond the confines of Judea and Palestine, to include, eventually, me and my story.  It is because of saints like Nympha, who kept at it, gathering Christians in her home for worship, for mutual support, for teaching, for encouragement, so that they could continue living out and sharing their faith, that I can belong in the household of Jesus, too.  It is because she was willing to open her doors, to be the pillar of wisdom and courage that others would look up to and find strength in, to welcome those seekers who came to her house wanting to know about Jesus, and to step up to the role of leadership when there was the need.  And until just a few minutes ago when I sat down to read this verse and reflect on it, I didn't even know her name.

So this is an opportunity to stop and discover more reasons to be thankful to God than I knew I had before:  I am grateful to God for Nympha.  Because of her love for the people who gathered in her house, I have come to belong in the family of God, too. I am grateful to Christ for Junia, Phoebe, Mary, and all the long line of strong and faithful women whose lives and witness loved me into being (to borrow a phrase of the good Mr. Rogers) from before I was ever born through to this moment.  Their dedication ensured that there would be space and love for those disciples who came after them.  Their wisdom in teaching and fierceness in love protected the infant church when it was very much at risk of being snuffed out by the empire like a flame.  Their willingness to serve--and their daring to believe that they were indeed empowered by God to lead--has blessed me in ways I have not fully appreciated.  And the women I have known in my life, too--pastors, Sunday School teachers, bishops, mentors, colleagues, friendly faces who welcomed me to their tables and let me come in to their homes through the garage door entrance, wise matriarchs who put up with the silliness of a young pastor, brave women who shared their stories and faith-journeys with me to help pull me out of closed-mindedness, loving women who worked tirelessly behind the scenes without seeking or needing recognition--these blessed saints, along with Nympha, have been blessings to me beyond my telling.

We don't need to wallow in guilt for not having said or done enough for the likes of Nympha (or Junia or Mary Magdalene or anybody else) to recognize them--they have, for certain, gone to their reward and did not need my approval to be of worth.  But maybe this is a moment to stop and to ask, each one of us, who are the people God has worked through, to love us into being, whose stories we have not bothered to learn, whose names we have forgotten to speak, whose faith has enriched ours even if we didn't realize it.  Perhaps all the times in the past that I have overlooked Nympha and her sisters in Christian leadership can be just that--in the past--and I can strive to look for the faces, names, and stories of strong women and faithful women who have things to teach me, insights I can learn from, and gifts to be recognized and cherished.  And perhaps each of us will discover that there are many more lives we have to be thankful for, those blessed ones through whom God has worked, in a long line of disciples, eventually to grab hold of us so that we could belong, too.

And now, I can look forward to the day in glory, when I get to meet Nympha--and all the ancestors in faith to whom I owe thanks--and to offer my gratitude in person, as together we lay down whatever crowns there are among us, at the feet of the God who has loved us all into being.

Lord Jesus, thank you for the many people you have placed in our lives whose gifts have enriched us and whose faith has brought us to this point, even when we hadn't taken the time to learn their names.  Help us now to do just that--to learn the names of those, past and present, who we too easily ignore or push to the margins.  Help us to see the many people through whom your love reaches us.