So I was just thinking about Tertius, probably a Roman - maybe even one of Paul's "children" in the Lord. What a privilege it must have been to pen the letter to the Romans as Paul "moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God." Maybe Paul sat in chains, physically looking at shadows and spiritually seeing clearer than daylight. Maybe Paul paced in shackles in high drama as he preached to one. A scene from a movie comes to mind. In "Amadeus", Mozart is lying on his death bed. Music is flowing from his mind to Salieri's pencil. Salieri is frantically trying to get the music on paper, but he is far less capable of that kind of notation. He can't hear the same music Mozart hears between his ears. He can't anticipate... and as Mozart starts to fall asleep in his sickly stupor, Salieri can't wait... he pushes, prods for more, hungry for music that he can't know apart from Mozart. I can still see his eyes in that film... the desperation to get the next phrase, the next note.
I wonder if Tertius looked like that. Trying to anticipate the next word from God to Paul to his pencil. Blown away by the music of the gospel that filled the room, his mind trying to wrap around truth far beyond himself. I wonder if Paul stopped for dinner. I wonder if he got interrupted and Tertius grew impatient. "You can't stop there!! Who will set me from from the body of this death? Ignore the knock at the door...!" I wonder if he was just simply awed. Did the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room make prayer and praise compulsory? I look at the end of the letter... I have some curiosity about it. It was probably Paul... but I wouldn't be surprised if Tertius added it out of pure marvel over the revelation on parchment before him. "Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ..." It's the cymbals at the end of the composition.
But here's the thing: he just put something on paper... obediently... humbly... and we don't know that he ever heard how the letter was received. He couldn't have known it would be a part of New Testament Canon. All the letters Paul had written previously, he had written with his own hand. But Paul used Tertius for God's Constitution of Faith - a doctrinal treatise of staggering proportion. Truth that moved the hearts of men and women throughout the ages... including mine. Luther was changed through a verse in Romans 1. I was changed forever by a verse in Romans 10. Tertius penned my salvation... I'm grateful for his obedience.
My words aren't divinely inspired. If the book in my head is ever completed, it won't be anything other than words from a changed heart, probably riddled with flaws. But I think some of the things I pen flow from a heart of obedience. And maybe Tertius has given me just enough hope to believe that God can use my obedience to make a difference... even if I never see it. And really, shouldn't it be enough to be a "ready writer" for the sheer pleasure of God's company in the process? Obediently... humbly... sharing the gospel with my life and words as I sit in the room listening to a God who loves me enough to stoop low enough to whisper to me... even me.
