Ephesians intro, part 4
We are so used to snail mail being a mundane affair. Mostly we get junk mail anymore. If it even hints of being junk, I usually just toss it straight into the garbage. Our meaningful communication in 2026 is now pretty much all online, accessible through our devices.
The reality of junk mail got me thinking. Look at all those mail trucks in the picture. Guess how many vehicles the United States Postal Service operates? It’s mind-boggling. The answer is at the conclusion of this post. I wonder how postal workers feel about the reality that a massive amount of their work is transporting what amounts to garbage. They are like reverse sanitation workers. Postal workers deliver trash to you. Sanitation workers take it away.
In the ancient world (and much more recently in the contemporary world too), snail mail served an important purpose. That reality of ancient snail mail relates to the conclusion of the book of the Bible we began studying this week, Ephesians. In the previous posts, I talked about the introduction, chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. Now skip ahead to Paul’s conclusion, and I’ll think you’ll see why I am covering both the introduction and the conclusion this week.
In Ephesians chapter 6, verses 21–22, Paul gives us a bit of insider information about how life and ministry worked in the early church:
“Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.”
Tychicus was one member of Paul’s missionary team. Tychicus has a very important role in regard to this letter because Paul is in prison when he writes Ephesians. Some believe Paul is on house arrest in Rome. Others believe he is in prison in Ephesus. Either way, Paul is writing a letter because he himself cannot travel around.
Furthermore, the ancient world had no postal system like we are used to. Sending letters was a really big deal in Paul’s day. Tychicus has to physically travel with the letter, and likely Tychicus is the one reading the letter to each group of Christians. As verses 21 and 22 indicate, Tychicus can hold Q & A sessions with everyone who hears the letter. Thus Tychicus would travel from city to city, and from house church to house church in each city (because there were no church buildings at this time) reading the letter.
Therefore in Paul’s day, the first century Roman Empire, when Tychichus showed up with a letter from Paul, it was an event. I wonder if the Christians in a given house church threw a party. Perhaps they sent people around town to let everyone know, “Come quick, Tychicus is here with a letter from Paul! We’ll have dinner together. Hurry!”
For further insider info about the early church and letters, consider what Paul writes at the conclusion of his letter to the Colossians. He refers to a circular letter when he tells the Colossian Christians, “After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.”
What letter from Laodicea? There is no Pauline letter to Laodicea in the Bible. Some scholars wonder if Paul is referring to the letter we call “Ephesians.” Other suggest he might be referring to a letter he wrote to the Laodicean church, a letter which is now lost to antiquity. And that begs the question, might there be even more? We don’t know.
My point is that Paul’s letters get passed around, and it is fascinating to consider that they are still being passed around today, as Christians all over the world for centuries have read and studied his letters. Consider the massive impact of these 13 letters!
In the next post, we look at what Paul writes in verses 23 and 24, and I think you’ll find they sound familiar to the introduction.
Photo by Sam LaRussa on Unsplash
The USPS operates 257,894 vehicles. See data here. Imagine how much junk mail those vehicles transport every day.
Engaging Scripture 