When the rubber hits the road

We’re coming to the end of the journey!

<ppt: straight skid mark>”When the rubber hits the road” – a phrase that means ‘this is where we get traction, this is where things happen decisively

In church life, however it’s often more like this <ppt: random skid marks>

In this final chapter Paul is telling us about the church in Rome itself and some of the people in it.

At first sight, Romans 16 is all about greeting people and signing off the letter . In fact there’s much more to it.

It is packed with

<ppt> theology (things to say about God),
ecclesiology (things to say about the church) and
ethics (things to say about our lifestyle).

However, much of it is implicit rather than explicit. Instead of having sequential arguments and concluding statements, Paul does it by inference.

Now is the time for Paul to do some greetings – but I want you to see how much is packed in the cracks in these greetings!

I want to pick out some of them:

It seems unusual that all these people whom Paul has never seen end up in Rome when he has never been there. It is possible that this group of people, along with others, went to create the church in Rome and

If Paul had a face book page – these are the people who’d be on it!

Pheobe (v1-2)

16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the great help to many people, including me.

It looks as if Phoebe is on her way to Rome ahead of Paul or ha possibly just arrived – and here is Paul’s reference for her.

In the first century there were no instant communication channels so this lady could turn up in the church nad they wouldn’t know anything about her
So Paul give this recommendation.
She has been a great help – literally she is a deaconess – to many people including me.
It appears she was a fairly wealthy woman who had used her considerable funds to support Paul’s ministry. Instead of seeing her resources as her own, she used them to glorify God and support people called to do his work. She wa their patron.
In fact she may have been the person who delivered this letter to the church in Rome. – We think this because Centrea was near Corinth – and that was where Paul was writing the letter.
It look also as if she was a single woman because she had the freedom to travel independently. And that’s a challenge to single (unattached) here today. Can you use the freedom you have to do or support God’s work?
Is God calling you to be another Phoebe?

Priscilla and Aquila (v3)

3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their necks for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.

Here I want to present a challenge to married couples here. They were ‘fellow-workers’ alongside Paul. There is enormous power is husband and wife devoting themselves together to minister for Christ.

And I notice their characteristices too

they were risk-takers – gambling even their own skin to share the the ministry of the gospel with Paul. If you’re a couple desiring to extend your ministry – don’t go for the safe option! John Wimber used to say that ‘faith’ is spelt r – I – s – k

They were outward looking in their marriage, working with a wide group of churches

P&A’s small group (v5)

5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.

This ittle phrase, and the one bnefore it, tells us that the churches were probably very small by our standards. Enough people to meet in a home.

The Bible often elevates the importance of small groups of people serving Christ together!

In Exodus when the work got too much for Moses, the whole nation was divided into small groups of 10
Jesus was part of a small group of 12

And in P&A’s home there was a church meeting.

Can I throw out another challenge. If you have a home, can you use it for a small group of people to meet in?

Epenetus (v5)

5 … Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.

No wonder Paul wants to greet him! What joy he must have brought to the apostle to know that his first convert was still going strong?

Is the person who led you to Christ, or who got you going in the Christian faith still around? Why not get in touch and let them know you’re still going strong! What a great e-mail or facebook post that would make!

Andronicus and Junias (v7)

7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

Another couple who have given their lives for the cause of Christ!

But look what Paul says about them

They are Jews! So they share Paul’s orthodox Jewish upbringing and background – and they also share his calling to reach non-Jews with the gospel

They too have risked their lives! Even sharing a dungeon with Paul at some point.

They are outstanding among the apostles – Of all the people sent by God to do the work of church creation, teaching and building, this man and this woman (incidentally) atand head and shoulders above the rest!

Their lives are characterised by excellence and their ministry is one that Paul himself probably looked up to. After all

“They were in Christ before I was”. And it could be that in the early days, Paul looked up to this couple as examples of how to live for Christ. They clerly had a deep impact o him.

Who has had a deep impact on you? Who was ‘in Christ before you’ and helped you to grow – why not face-book them, or e-mail (or even use funny white flat stuff and write them a note?)!

Apelles (v10)

10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.

Here is a man who has been tested in his faith and not found wanting. We don’t know what the trial was, but we do know he didn’t flinch from standing for his Lord.

Are you being called at this time to be an Apelles? Facing a trial?

Apelles’ resilience was outstanding enough for Paul to spot it and comment on it. He stood out because he didn’t duck the difficulty or flunk the test.

What is interesting here is that Paul turns to greeting several groups of believers.

10 … Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.

11 … Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

Whether these groups saw themselves as identifiable churches we can’t be sure. But the were groups of people who had their faith in Christ as the common feature.

And in the first century, that’s what early churches were.

Several women

12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.

Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.

13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.

… and more in v15

Anyone who argues that Paul was a misogynist (a woman hater) has never looked closely at his writings. Paul’s attitude to women was consistently to have them liberated from the restrictions that their culture imposed on them.

In fact these women here were among some of the people closest to Paul

small groups or churches

14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them.

A group of men

15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them.

And then he wraps it all up with a piece of deep theology!

16 Greet one another with a holy kiss.

This verse is not for theological analysis but practical application!

All the churches of Christ send greetings.

We’re geeting to the end of the letter now, and like all endings, it’s the place where we put things that are of greater significance.

Paul has a few more greetings from his friends to send to them, but there’s something nagging in his mind.

Beware!

17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people.

Paul urges three things

To be on guard, To be separate and To be alert.

To be on guard

There were people then, and still are today, who will cause one Christian to be set off against another – to ’cause division’

and he says who they are: people who teach and encourage things that are ‘contrary to the teaching you have learned’

They are not serving the Lord, but serving themselves and their own appetites. They’re in it because they want to be powerful, or well-known, or influential without acknowledging that Jesus is Lord.

He gives three ways of identifying them

Do they divert or distort the teaching you’ve received from the scriptures?
Are their motives suspect in that they are not really serving Christ and his church?
Are they in it for their own ends – perhaps for power, prestige, money or advantage.

If these are true, what should we do. Here Paul is remarkably direct –

To be separate

V 17 “Keep away from them”!

When we listen to teaching or read books, we should always do it with our minds turned on to assure ourselves that the teaching is in line wit Scripture. Don’t be fooled by a slick style or smart presentation.

I love the exaple of the church in Berea. Paul and Silas had had a tough time in Thessalonica and ended up heading away to Berea

Acts 17:10 On arriving [in Berea], they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

To be alert.

Grow in discernment of what is of the Lord and what isn’t.

Paul is very pleased with them

19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you;

BUT – there are different kinds of obedience. Blind obedience (I do it because someone says so) and discerning obedience (I’ll do it because I understand where God is saying). Paul is urging us to be discerning

19 … I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

21 Timothy, my co-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.

22 I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.

Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.

25 Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith – 27 to the only wise God be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Amen.