Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Guest (Female): I'm Shauna with Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Thank you for joining us. Now Joni, the Bible is full of people that we may not know, but still were very influential.

Joni Eareckson Tada: It shouldn't surprise us that our listening friends might not know someone like Phoebe. Shauna, does that name sound familiar to you?

Guest (Female): It does, but I need to hear more from you, Joni.

Joni Eareckson Tada: She's only mentioned once in the Bible, but that mention of her makes Phoebe worth taking a second look. Partly because it is the great Apostle Paul who points her out in the last chapter of his letter to the Romans.

Listen to what Paul says about this woman to the elders of the church in Rome. He writes, "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of His people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me."

Right there is saying something. Paul explicitly calls Phoebe a deacon of the church in Cenchreae, a port town on the coast of Greece near Corinth. Phoebe was a benefactor; that is, she financially supported several believers, including Paul himself. Many people think that Phoebe was the courier who delivered Paul's epistle to the Romans.

Paul commends her to the Roman church, asking the leadership to receive her with special respect. Although Phoebe is only mentioned once in the Bible, again in Romans 16, she's considered a model of true servant leadership in the early church.

The thing I like about Phoebe is that she wasn't a mover and shaker. Paul had great respect for her, so she must have been a woman of humility, good character, and quiet demeanor. She reminds me very much of women in today's church who have influence, but they don't make much of a fuss about it.

Phillips Brooks speaks of people like Phoebe this way: "Certainly, it is not the most active people to whom we owe the most. Among the common people, it is not necessarily those who are the busiest, nor are they always in the rush after some visible charge and work. We gather the deepest calm and courage from people who, like the stars, simply pour down on us the calm light of their bright and faithful beings."

This is reassurance for many of us who seem to have no active usefulness. It seems we can do nothing for our fellow men, but it is good to know that we can be something for them. It is good to know that no man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle, pure, and good without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.

One day we're going to meet Phoebe in heaven, and I have a feeling we will see her as that person who, like a star, simply poured out the calm light of her faithful being. She could be an encouragement to many of you listeners because you may not have much power or authority, but you radiate a sweet humility and a servant's heart that makes your church all the better for you being there.

When you arrive in heaven, perhaps you will find our precious sister Phoebe from the church in Cenchreae to be your true soulmate. For now, there you are in the middle of it all, just being quiet and strong and brave, like it's no big deal. But it is.

Not everyone has your quiet, gentle impact on others. Not every person can do what you do. I'll tell you a little secret: while you wonder sometimes if you're making a difference, the rest of your friends are just watching in wonder.