Emphasis Preaching Journal

Before computers were around it was quite maddening when you found you had finished a letter, but still had tidbits of information that you wanted to insert. Now we just direct our prompt to the appropriate place in the letter and add it in. But back then we used the good old P.S. At the end of Paul's letters I get the impression there are all kinds of little things he wants to say, but has not found place or occasion in the main body of the letter. So in come a number of post scripts. They are almost like a mother giving instructions to her young son before going to camp -- brush your teeth, wash your hair, use your manners, and so forth. For Paul, it is little bullets inserted at the end in P.S. fashion: "Rejoice; Pray; Give Thanks." In the case of the son going to camp, mother may be nit-
picky, but her love and concern overflows in her little parting words of advice. The same for Paul. He is mothering (or is it pastoring) his young church and showing his love and concern for them. Some might say he is bugging them, perhaps even annoying them, but they would know his heart was in the right place and that his care of the churches was paramount. In that vein, all his little post scripts would be taken in stride in the spirit in which they were given. -- Fairlie