It was the little beach that I found so endearing. A tiny, sandy half-circle was most of what was visible of ancient Cenchreae. However, it took only a little imagination to see Paul coming ashore here.
One of the joys of our church trip to Greece was putting biblical names and bits of geography together. Here we were on the day after our exploration of Athens—where Paul's message fell on seemingly deaf ears—now tracing his next steps. If he had sailed from Athens to Corinth, this was his landing place. If he had taken the highway, he still at some point came ashore here because this community was special to him.
No, there is no extant letter to the Church in Cenchreae, but tradition says Paul composed the lengthy letter to the Romans while he lived among the Christians of this seaport. Why? Because, he put that letter into the hands of Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae, and asked the Romans to receive both her and what she bore.
Paul so warmly recommends her to the distant Romans that all thoughts of seeing him solely as a misogynist have to be banished. Phoebe was a church official, a "deacon," and it was obviously a position she deserved: "She has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well. (Rom. 16:2)"
And this little beach is where it all began. I stood there and looked up. Six miles or so in the distance loomed the massive mound of the Acrocorinth towering over the city that beckoned to Paul. Did he at least mentally tighten his belt as he focused on it?
But first he must have stopped long enough to eat something, perhaps to preach his beloved Jesus Christ and so to sow the first seeds of a new community.
I love to think of what Cenchreae was to become for Paul and of our own needs for a similar harbor. We each need a place where we can stop to gather strength for the road, a place of interaction and encouragement and challenge.
At what moment did he realize that this woman should have her place of leadership? And where do we learn to think outside the box as he did?
I'm glad Paul had his Cenchreae. Where is yours? |