How do you greet people? Does it depend on the situation? Do you greet people at a business meeting differently than you greet family or friends? Is your greeting done out of habit? Have you put any thought into your greeting? Have you noticed the greetings of the Apostle Paul?
Greeting others can be formal, cordial, friendly, or very familiar. We greet others in different ways based on the situation. Meeting someone for the first time in a business environment may be formal while greeting a family may be very familiar, including a hug.
The Apostle Paul always provides a lengthy greeting in his letters to various churches. In his letter to the church in Rome, his greeting is a lengthy paragraph that covers seven verses. His greetings typically included a statement about Jesus, how much he cares about those he is writing to, and a blessing. He includes all of these and a statement of him being an apostle.
Notice in his greeting that he points out Jesus being a descendant of King David, that He is the Son of God, has power from the Holy Spirit, and was resurrected. Paul wraps up the entire gospel in his greeting to the church. He summarizes it in a paragraph. We might say that Paul gives his “elevator speech” in his greeting. He uses the first paragraph to provide the church with a blessing while stating the most important things, things he will expand upon later in the letter.
Some of us think we don’t know enough to tell others about Jesus. Yet, we all know the basics that Paul includes in his greeting. We may not say it quite the same way Paul does, but we can give others the same facts. If we are worried we might forget something, we can spend time to memorize one of Paul’s greetings, his greeting to the church in Rome being a good one to memorize. Ultimately, we need to tell others about Jesus.
I pray we all take notice of Paul’s greetings. I pray we take time to note the key points of his greeting. I pray each one of us choose to tell others the key points about Jesus. Read Paul’s greetings. Note the key points. Tell others about Jesus. Tell them the key points of the gospel.
Romans 1:3-4 the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
Marty Pressey 