'The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft

refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: but, when he was

in

Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.  The Lord

unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in

how

many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very

(2 Tim. 1:16 -18).

This is all we know of Onesiphorus.  The references (2 Tim. 1:16; 4:19)

make it appear probable that he had died.  His house is mentioned rather than

himself.  However this may be, the Lord knew all that Onesiphorus meant to

Paul both at Ephesus and at Rome.  The apostle gives him the credit for

seeking him out very diligently and finding him, realizing that had

Onesiphorus desired an excuse he could easily have found one.

The figure that is used here of the ministry of Onesiphorus is very

beautiful: 'He oft refreshed me (anapsucho)'.  He came as a cooling breath of

fresh air into the heat and oppression of Paul's prison house.  The word is

the verbal form of anapsuxis 'refreshing', which is used by Peter to describe

the blessings of the Second Coming of the Lord (Acts 3:19).  There are some

of the Lord's people whose very presence is refreshing, coming like a sabbath

calm after the fitful fever of the world's working week, like a breath of

clean air driving away the grime and the heat, or, as the proverb has it,

'Like the cold of snow in harvest'.  We need active service.  Many must

wrestle, and run, and fight, and pray.  But when the fight is over for a

time, and the wrestling has taken its toll, what a ministry is possible for

those who can stand ready to soothe, to bind up the wounds of conflict, to

ease the pressure, and to restore and refresh.

When considering symbols of service under the letter 'R' we might have

spoken of such obvious titles as the 'ruler', but instead of this, as the

reader will remember, we dealt with the less prominent service of

'refreshing'.  If we think next of the denominating letter 'S', the service

of 'stewardship' comes immediately to mind.  But, while stewardship is

perhaps one of the most important aspects of service that Paul mentions, we

have often considered it before, especially in connection with the ministry

of the Mystery.  We therefore turn to less well -known aspects, in the hope

that some reader may find a guide, an invitation, an incentive, in

considering the wonderful variety of service awaiting the activities of the

redeemed.  The two kinds of ministry that we wish to bring before the reader

are represented by the titles 'Sharpeners' and 'Sweeteners'.

As we write these words, we call to mind a parable from 'The Wit and

Wisdom of Safed the Sage'.  Safed had been grieved with the follies and sins

of men, and from his pulpit had rebuked the people.  Some of the congregation

felt that he had been a little too severe, and this feeling was shared by his

wife Keturah.  However, she did not tell him in so many words, but when Safed

mentioned that he thought of going to the barber, she said 'Go, my lord.  But

another time, go thou on the day that precedeth the Sabbath ... '.  Safed

observed that the barber's tools were very sharp, and he said to himself:

'Here also is a man who needeth sharp instruments in his business, even as I

do.  And I spake to the barber, and I said, Behold thou dost use in thy

business only things that are sharp'.  The barber, however, told him that the

razor and the shears and the clippers represented only a small part of his

equipment.  'I use cold cream that sootheth: and bay rum that feeleth mighty

good after a shave; and ointment that healeth wheresoever the razor goeth