The Saints in Caesar's Household

---

Scripture

All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.
(Philippians 4:22 NASB)

 

Observation

Paul is making some final greetings and comments to the Philippians. One of those greetings comes from the "saints in Caesar's household." Paul uses the word "saints" to refer to those who are followers of Jesus Christ. One who is a follower of Christ is one who is "holy" and therefore a "saint." The miracle is that by this time there are those in the very heart of the Empire who have not only become "believers" but have grown in their faith to the extent that Paul would call them "saints." The big question which must be asked is how in the world did this happen? Who had access to the very heart of the Empire?

 

Application

The answer to that question is Paul. But the circumstances by which he had access to the heart of the Empire were not the most ideal. The reason he had access to many within the Empire is because he had become a prisoner of the Empire. He was placed under house arrest with twenty-four hour guard detail. Paul must not have wasted any time. He used the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus Christ with every single one of those guards. It becomes obvious that many of the guards were becoming "believers." They were not keeping this good news to themselves but instead were sharing it among their entire circle of influence. The result was that the very core of this pagan society was being infiltrated with the gospel.

It is vital to examine our circumstances and see how they can best be used to God's advantage. Paul could have complained about being in prison, but he didn't. Instead he realized the great opportunity that prison provided. Had he not gone to prison in Rome, there would not have been saints among Caesar's household. That's the simple truth. Obedience to God is not always an easy journey. There are times that we are called to go places and do things that may make us very uncomfortable but they take us to the place where God wants to use us to make a difference in our world.

Too often as followers of Christ our lives become rather sterile. We spend all of our time with others who are "like" us. There are times that we may need to walk through open doors to places that make us very uncomfortable to be obedient to God. We must pray for opportunities to get to people and places that we may never have thought possible. In radical obedience we must be willing to go to our own "prison" experiences to bring the gospel to places where it is virtually unheard of. What might that require of us? Moving outside of our comfort zone and our safe world and intentionally entering the world of those who so desperately need Jesus Christ. Sometimes that's a very poor and suffering world, but sometimes it's a world of influence such as Caesar's household. Paul had earlier mentioned that he'd learned to be content in any condition. He had learned to minister to the poor and to the rich, while always keeping his focus on Christ. A broad array of people need to know Christ, and we must be willing to be God's faithful servant with the good news of Christ anywhere he may send us. It may be to the bar down the street, or to the heart of our government -- it all demands the same level of obedience. How else could there be saints in Caesar's household?

 

Prayer

Lord, may every day be a walk in obedience with you so that there would be more saints in places that we never would have thought possible. Amen.

---