I opened the sermon by asking the congregation to join with me in singing:
“I’m So Glad I’m A Part Of The Family of God
I’ve been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod
For I’m part of the family, the family of God.”
If you’re a Christian here to day – you are a part of the family of God. You are part of the Church.
At one point in His ministry, Jesus told His disciples that one of His purposes for coming was to “build my church” Matthew 16:18. And Ephesians tells us this church was so important to Jesus that “(He) loved the church and gave himself up for her” Ephesians 5:25b
The Church is the “Bride of Christ”.
And that Scriptural term “Bride of Christ” is meant to help us understand Christ’s love for His church in the same way a husband and wife would describe their love for each other during a marriage ceremony. Ephesians sums that love up by telling us that Jesus “gave himself up for her”.
Now we need to be clear on our definitions here because – over the centuries – many Biblical words have had their meanings altered and changed.
For example, the Bible uses the word “Church.”
What is the church?
That’s right - YOU ARE.
Over the years, the word “Church" has come to mean the building we meet in.
Someone will say (for example) “I’m going to church” meaning their building.
But as one poet put it:
“The church is never a place but always a people
Never a fold, but always a flock
Never a sacred building, but always a believing assembly
The church is you who pray, not where you pray."
A structure of brick or marble can no more be what a Church is than the clothing you wear would be who you are.
In short… Jesus didn’t die for a building.
He died for YOU. And He died for ME.
He died for people.
And the people who accept His forgiveness on His terms make up… the church.
What I found intriguing about the passage we read today was that it contained references to so many people. By my count - this portion of Romans 16 mentions twenty eight (28) individuals.
28 people!!!
And that doesn’t include the other 8 names Paul mentions in the rest of the chapter.
Thus, 1/16th of Paul’s letter to the Romans is dedicated to mentioning people by name.
Now, by a lot of standards… most of these folks aren’t very important.
* Granted, there is Priscilla and Aquila in verse 3. They are mentioned several times in the Bible and most Christians know them.
* Then there’s Rufus, who’s mentioned in verse 13. Most scholars seem to believe that he was one of the sons of Simon of Cyrene who carried Christ’s cross the rest of the way up Mount Calvary. When the Gospels tell us of Simon’s doing this, it says he was the father of “Rufus and Alexander” (Mark 15:21) which indicates that his two sons were well known to Christian community at the time the Gospel of Mark was written).
* There’s another man named Epenetus in verse 5. What’s he famous for?
(He was the first convert in Asia)
* And lastly I noted that (in verse 7) Andronicus and Junias, are celebrities because they were related to Paul (a huge attention getter in itself) and that they are “outstanding among the apostles….” Rom 16:7
But out of 28 people… THOSE are ONLY ones that we would probably consider important. All the others mentioned in this part of Romans 16 are largely forgettable. I’ve never read their names anywhere else in the Bible. There are no famous stories of their great accomplishments and great faith.
But Paul – thru the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – mentions them.
All these names are in Scripture because God wanted them there.
What does that tell me?
Well, 1st it tells me that: God knows your name
God knew the name of each and every member who was part of the Church at Rome.
And God has always known His people by name.
· Back in the OT, the Prophet Nahum declared: “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knows them that trust in him.” (KJV) Nahum 1:7
· 1Corinthians 8:3 tells us: “… the man who loves God is known by God.”
· And Jesus told us "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep…” John 10:14
ILLUS: One woman told the time her professor in nursing school gave a pop quiz.
She said “I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: ‘What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?’"
She thought: “Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.”
Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
"Oh absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers you will meet many people.
All are significant.
They deserve your attention and care, EVEN if all you can do is smile and say hello."
She said “I’ve never forgotten that lesson… and I also learned her name was Dorothy.” (Guideposts 1/96 p. 8)
Romans 16 tells us God has never had that problem.
God knew the names of everyone in Rome.
And God knows your name too!
God knows YOU… and he knows your name.
And He knows your name because… you’re important to him.
That lead me to the 2nd thing Romans 16 teaches me:
There are NO UNIMPORTANT people to God.
When Jesus chose His twelve disciples… there wasn’t a one of them that would impress us. Most of them were uneducated workmen. Several were rough fishermen who spent their times out on the open water catching fish, and on shore repairing their boats and cleaning their nets.
One of Jesus’ disciples was a tax collector - everybody hated tax collectors. In fact, many people still hate tax collectors.
And one of His disciples was even a terrorist (Simon the Zealot).
These are not the people I would have chosen if I wanted to create MY church.
These were not impressive people.
But then God usually isn’t all that impressed by impressive people.
God is not moved by pedigrees, or diplomas, or someone’s status in society.
God isn’t overwhelmed by how much a person puts in the plate on Sunday.
ILLUS: Several years ago Beverly Steele Everett (The Lookout 1/16/83) made the observation that God wasn’t perfect:
God is tone deaf: (did you know that?) He is so tone deaf that He thinks the off key singing of "Jesus Loves Me" by a 5 year old is as beautiful as a solo from "The Messiah" by a trained soprano!
God can’t count: If He could count, He would know better than to accept the dime from a preschooler with the same joy He accepts a thousand dollar donation from a rich man.
God can’t concentrate: He listens to millions of prayers ALL at the same time instead of concentrating on those from famous preachers or important church leaders.
God has poor eyesight: He doesn’t see us as we are, but keeps seeing us as we could be.
What she was saying was this:
The high and mighty people of this world are not the ones who impress God.
Instead He’s impressed by those who are active members of His church.
He is honored by those who honor Him with their lives.
The people who matter to God, are the ones who give Him their lives.
And those are the ones who get their names mentioned.
And that leads me to the 3rd thing I learned from Romans 16.
God didn’t mention the names of pew sitters.
God didn’t waste ink on folks who just “showed up”.
God didn’t save you and I so that we could just set around and get fed. He saved us so that we could learn to feed and care for others.
He saved us so that we’d have a purpose in our lives – so our lives would have meaning.
The people who were mentioned here in Romans 16 were workers.
· “Priscilla and Aquila… risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.”
· “Mary, (I don’t know who this Mary was… but the folks in Rome did) worked very hard for you.”
· “Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women… work hard in the Lord.”
· “Persis, (was) another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.”
· “Apelles was tested and approved in Christ” (he suffered for his faith)
· And a few of these people had church services in their homes.
These were the workers.
These were the “nuts and bolts” of the congregation.
These folks worked hard for God…
And so God honored them, by telling you their names
For all of eternity… their names are listed in your Bible BECAUSE God wanted you to know their names.
As far as I can tell, there aren’t any preachers mentioned in this list (except maybe Aquila)
And no one is identified as an Elder, or prominent teacher in the congregation.
Why would that be?
Well, I believe it’s because the church is not about some famous teacher or preacher.
It’s not about powerful Elders or Deacons.
The church is made up of people who don’t worry about power and position.
The church is made up of people who don’t need a title to get to work for God.
These are the folks who make God’s Church… a REAL church.
So, what kinds of things did these people in Rome do for God?
* Well, I suppose maybe they taught Sunday School
* Maybe they did Jr. Church, or VBS
* Maybe they worked with the Upward Football program
… or maybe…
Well now, come to think of it, they didn’t have stuff like that back then.
They didn’t have Sunday School/ VBS/ Upward football and such.
So – if they didn’t have those things - what did they do for God?
Oh – they probably taught the little ones because their faith was precious to them and they wanted to pass that faith on to their children.
And had Bible studies and church services at their homes and other places.
And they probably spent a great deal of their time praying and telling others about Jesus.
But those things were only part of their focus.
I believe there was one more thing that got God’s attention… and got their names listed in the 16th chapter of Romans. They “took care of each other”.
The Bible tells us that the focal point of God’s desire for the church was that we:
“Love one another” (1 John 3:23, 4:7, 4:11 and so many more).
“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love” (Romans 12:10).
“Honor one another” (Romans 12:10).
“Live in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:16).
“Let us not judge one another” (Romans 14:13).
“Accept one another” (Romans 15:7).
“Teach one another” (Romans 15:14).
“Serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13).
“Be kind and compassionate to one another” (Ephesians 4:32).
“Encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:25).
“Offer hospitality to one another” (2 Peter 4:9).
The Christians who actively sought to do these things for each other… these were the people who got their names put up in lights.
Now, I want to dwell on one more thing this morning.
If you recall, at the beginning of this message I explained that – over the centuries – many of the words and terms we find in Scripture have been changed and altered.
In the first couple of verses of Romans 16, Paul talks about Phoebe.
She was apparently the person who had brought Paul’s letter to the Roman church.
And Paul tells the Roman Christians to “receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints...”
Worthy of the saints?
What’s a saint?
You are. If you’re a Christian today… you’re a saint.
It’s one of those names that God gave to His people in that day.
· Acts tells us Peter went to the saints in a town named Lydda (Acts 9:32)
· Paul opened his 2nd letter to the Corinthians by addressing it to “the church of God in Corinth, together with all the SAINTS throughout Achaia”
· He did the same thing when he sent his letters to the Ephesians, Colossians, and the Thessalonians.
· AND Paul did the same thing with this letter to the Romans, in 1:7 he wrote: “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” Romans 1:7
You didn’t get your name on the list in Romans 16 if you weren’t a saint… because if you weren’t a saint – you weren’t a Christian.
Now, what confuses some people about Christians being saints has been the Catholic practice of giving Sainthood to only select individuals whom they’ve approved. Pope John Paul II was beatified a couple of weeks ago (one of the steps required for those who would become Catholic saints), and may have the honor of being one of the most rapidly approved Catholic Saints in history.
We reject this Catholic tradition… it’s not Biblical.
But the things the Catholics require of their “Saints” are the same things God requires of His saints.
1. One of the most basic requirements for a candidate to Catholic sainthood is to be dead.
You can’t be a Catholic Saint if you’re not dead (usually 5 years).
In the same way, you can’t be a saint for God without dying.
Romans 6:3-7 tells us as much:
“…don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”
In order to be a saint you have to die.
When something dies what do you do with it?
You bury it.
It’s a fact. If you’ve died to your sins and been buried in the watery grave of baptism and risen up to a new life… you’re a saint.
2ndly a candidate for Catholic sainthood has to have been involved in at least 2 miracles.
And if you’re a Christian here today… that’s true of you.
You’ve been promised specific miracles that no other religion can give. And those miracles were promised to you… and to the 1st people to become Christians at Pentecost.
It tells us in Acts chapter 2 that when the crowd realized their sinful role in putting Jesus on the cross, they cried out…“What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37)
And Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38
According to that scripture…
· The first miracle that took place after your baptism was the total forgiveness of your sins.
God removed all your shame and guilt in a single moment because of the cleansing power of the blood of His Son Jesus. Those sins no longer exist. God has taken them away and buried them in the very depth of the sea. He’ll never remember them again. That’s a miracle!
· And the 2nd miracle was that God gave you the gift of His Holy Spirit. When you became a Christian, God placed Himself inside of you.
Paul wrote: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Lastly… a Catholic Saint has to be “set apart” by the church.
That’s what “saint” means… someone who has been “set apart.”
ILLUS: The crew that works back in the sound booth are “set apart” from the rest of you. Thus those guys are “saints” (I paused and shrugged – implying most of might not think of them as “saints”).
The Catholic practice of setting apart only special individuals for this honor is a human tradition – it’s NOT Biblical.
But the Bible tells me that once we become Christians… God sets us apart.
The Biblical word for that is “sanctification”.
In I Corinthians 6 Paul gives a laundry list of sinners who would not get into heaven, and then he says:
“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were SANCTIFIED, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11
And it’s because God has sanctified you (has set you apart) that you’ve become blessed by His forgiveness and that you’re part accepted by Him into His Family – the Church.
In HIS Church… there are no unimportant people
In HIS Church… He knows your name
And in HIS Church… He gives you the opportunity to make a difference in your world.
INVITATION
