What’s in a list of names? (Rom. 16:1-16)

Most Christians are familiar with the list of heroes of the faith found in Hebrews 11. There they read about commendations of several Old Testament believers. Perhaps, as they read, they wonder if there is a similar list of New Testament followers and here we have one in Romans 16.

The first detail that we can note about the list is that the members of the church in Rome were identified with certain houses. It may have been the case that these groups came from different parts of the city of Rome and members attended the one in their geographical location. We do not know how easy it would have been for all of them to meet together each Lord’s Day, so perhaps they had made this arrangement of being connected to a particular group. I suppose it is worth asking why they made this arrangement. We are not told, but I do not think the question is difficult to answer. They would have met for fellowship.

A second feature of the list is the variety of ways in which Paul describes fellow Christians. He calls several of them ‘beloved’. We can see from the frequency of its usage that Paul obviously was a man marked by brotherly love. Moreover, Paul describes several of them as working hard for the kingdom. It is evident that Paul was delighted with the work that those individuals did. In addition, Paul valued faithfulness, and we have an example of this in Andronicus and Junia, a missionary couple for about thirty years. And Paul appreciated the way that Apelles had come through a fiery trial and shown that a believer could commend Jesus in the worst of circumstances.

Those four details – beloved, hard-working, faithful and approved – should mark all those who trust in Jesus. It marked the members of the church in Rome and it can mark members of all churches wherever they are.

Paul also mentions two striking conversions. The first is ‘my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia’ (v. 5). Paul took the gospel to the province of Asia when he went to Ephesus along with Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18). There they met Epaenetus and he was converted. Paul saw him as a sample of more converts to come, and so it proved.

The second amazing conversion is Rufus, mentioned in verse 13. He is probably the son of Simon of Cyrene, who was forced to carry the cross of Jesus. I wonder what Simon thought when he was forced to carry it. And I wonder what he thought when he was converted, and when his wife was converted, and when his sons were converted!

Paul obviously met the wife of Simon and mentions that she was like a mother to him. We are not told where that was, but it is amazing how the cross brought them together. Of course, the cross brought together all the names in this chapter.

After reading this passage, two questions arise. First, do we remember those who helped us in the faith? Perhaps it would be useful to think round our congregations and note how others have helped us this year. And then we can extend it to thinking about those who helped us in the past.

Second, how do we become like Paul, so focussed on other people? I suppose the answer is that he stopped regarding himself as Number 1. He learned that primarily from Jesus and then, later, from followers of Jesus whom he met in his travels, some of whom he took time to mention in this passage of Romans.

(Lessons from a sermon preached today)

Growing Together through Christ's Gifts

In Ephesians 4:1-16, Paul describes an ideal church situation, one in which the ministry of Christ’s servants will know success. A crucial aspect of that ideal situation is unity and Paul refers to it in 4:1-7, and he does so in three ways.

 

First, there is unity of character, seen especially in humility towards one another, gentleness and patience as we interact with one another, and love as we put up with one another. These features not only produce godly character, they also result in corporate peace. It may help us to understand the importance of unity of character if we imagine their opposites. Think of a congregation in which there is pride and self-centredness, roughness and impatience, and an absence of caring love. There will never be unity in such a congregation. Obviously, it is far better to have a congregation composed of those who have unity of character.

 

A second principle of Pauline unity here is unity of doctrine. As a body, Paul expected the Ephesians to believe the same truths and mentions seven in particular. He ranges from truths about God to details about Christian practice (baptism) and position (adoption). Doctrinal unity is very important. Obviously a Christian has to be instructed about those doctrines, which leads to the third method of unity.

 

The third principle of Pauline unity is sharing in Christ’s gifts. Paul refers to this when he writes about the ‘grace given according to the measure of Christ’s gift’. In the context, I would say that the gifts are those who can communicate the word of Christ on his behalf.

 

In this regard we can think of a minister as an ambassador of a country who conveys the riches of that country to all who want to receive them. Christ gives to congregations the gift of a man who can inform them about the riches of Christ, who can inspire them to seek for those riches, and who can assure them that the riches are free and unending. When Jesus gives a minister to a congregation he is saying, ‘He will tell you about my riches. Believe what he says and come to me and get them.’ Such a reality is wonderful aspect of unity. When that happens, a church is a gathering of bankrupt sinners together participating in the riches of Jesus and enjoying his wealth of blessings.

 

Such a church has an effective witness. Those outside look on and deduce that the members love one another. They will then conclude that the members are Christ’s disciples, which is the point of their witnessing. In contrast, in a church where there are constant divisions and power struggles rather than unity, all it will produce is nothing of value, and that is what those outside will see as they look in.

More on Korea

Since I visited Korea a few weeks ago, I have paid more attention to references to the Korean church. I was reading the other day about Paget Wilkes, a missionary to Japan, who visited Korea in 1910. His description of the Korean Church was very interesting to me, a Scottish Presbyterian. After saying that the Protestant church had gone from zero to 200,000 in twenty-four years, he gave five details of the Korean Church that impressed him. This is what he wrote:

1. The love for, and earnest perusal of the Scriptures everywhere, and among all classes -- men, women, children. The Bible is undoubtedly the book of Korea.
2. Their wonderful observance of the Lord's Day. All Christians close their shops, and abstain from every kind of work--like Scotland in the old days.
3. The remarkable way in which the Koreans give to God's work. Almost all the churches are built with Korean money, and the pastors and workers are similarly supported. This is especially true of the Presbyterian church.
4. The personal service and desire to spread the Gospel among the people. Many of the leaders, who in the early days were taken up with Evangelistic work, are now called upon to teach, and instruct, and train workers.
5. The expectation and hope (especially in the Presbyterian Church) of the coming of the Lord. The majority of the missionaries also in the country teach it plainly to the people.

Wilkes also pointed out the harmony and love that existed in the church in Korea even although there was a variety of doctrinal views and national backgrounds. In addition, at that time, the destructive and devastating effects of higher criticism had not yet appeared in the church in Korea.

My first response to Wilkes' description was a sense of amazement. But a couple of seconds later I realised that his description was of normal, biblical church life. I'm still amazed and still looking for biblical normality.