Final Greetings (Colossians 4:7-15)

Published at She Reads Truth.

I remember that eighth grade summer. I’d show up at the park on those warm evenings with my gaggle of friends, hoping to get a glimpse of him. If he wasn’t there, but his friends were, the next best thing I hoped to hear was that he “said hi.” Just a few words, offered in front of everyone, told me that in the middle of whatever else was going on, he remembered me. I was seen.

As we consider today’s passage, I’m reminded of the gravity of a personal greeting. A letter penned in a prison cell and then carried by land and sea from Rome to Colossae, a distance of about 1,300 miles, would have been highly treasured. When Tychicus arrived, it’s likely that word spread quickly for everyone to gather, to see the seal of Paul’s letter cracked and hear its message.

And then, tucked at the end of Paul’s correspondence, so filled with encouragement and instruction, comes a closing litany of greetings from beloved and revered colaborers in the faith. To hear names of other believers they know, leaders and laborers they have heard about, offering them greetings, would reassure all who heard that they were remembered, prayed for, and valued. 

It’s a bit like my heart-flutter at the park in eighth grade, but even better, because this closing holds more for their hearts than just “these guys say hi.” 

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