Anonymous Bonus Sermon, by Pastor Rob Ketterling
All right, we are continuing the series, and this is the bonus sermon. And I'm going to just give you a little bit of what the other service got, and then we'll jump in and pick up on number nine of the list. But I didn't want you to miss this in the event that you don't go online and watch part one. But I know this campus, you'll do this, you will do it and you'll be obedient. But I just want to show a video that was shot in prison this last week. I actually went to preach at Lino Lakes prison, and I want to pastor you through this moment. I don't want you to miss this, okay?
Originally, in this series with Anonymous I was going to preach one of the weeks in prison, like right at the beginning of this series. And then last week or somewhere in the series we would just show that sermon to everyone, I would be gone that weekend and have a weekend off, whatever the case may be. But I would preach the whole sermon to the prisoners and then show it to all the campuses. It didn't work out. We couldn't get clearance in time. It just didn't work out. But it did work out for me to preach last Monday. And so as they were telling me, like, "Hey, we can't get in for the day you wanted. It won't work. You are not going to preach in the prison and then have a weekend off. So do you want to go on Monday still and preach to the prison?" I'm just giving you a glimpse of what my thought process was.
Just for a minute I was thinking, "Okay, Monday's my day off. I've been tired. I'll have just preached. I'll be at Faribault. I'll have just finished two back to back missions conventions, which I preached at one." I'm thinking, "Oh, I'm going to be tired. I won't get the weekend off. Here am I, send somebody else." Okay, that's what I'm thinking, okay? All right, does that bother you that your pastor is confessing this? Okay, because that's how I felt. So I'm human. Again, I'm just letting you have a glimpse of the way I'm thinking. And as I go to say that, like, "All right, that's okay, send Dave. You know, he does prison ministry. Send Gary. You know, send Topper. I mean just send somebody." Topper is like, oh, yeah.
As I'm about to do that, as I'm about to do that, the Holy Spirit goes just this quick, this is how quick it happened. The Holy Spirit goes, "Oh, really, really? So if you had the weekend off, you could preach to the prisoners? But because you can't have the weekend off, you've going to just let them. So Jesus said, 'When I was alone and in prison and he came and visited me,' and now you have an opportunity to visit prison, and you have never ever preached in a prison, now you're going to just pass and send Topper. That's the way you're going to do it. Really? So you're just going to be a pro Christian rather than just a Christian that is obedient?" That just happened in a millisecond.
And so immediately I said, "I'm going. I'm going. I know it's my day off. I know I'll be tired. I'm going, because I need to go preach to the least." And I'm telling you this because I love the video, and I thought it was amazing, and I didn't want you to think like your pastor was this super guy that, you know, never says no or anything, and you see all these videos.
I wanted to give you a glimpse behind the scenes, because here's what I know happens to you. You are tired. You work all day, and then you hear, like, oh, it's Lifegroup. And you go, "Ah, should we go? I've been working all day." And I know the battle you face, and I want you to know that I face the same battle as you. And we have to decide are we going to heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit and do what he said, or are we going to say we make the call and we are going to be selfish. So I just wanted to pastor you through that moment. And now can you enjoy this video, because it was just amazing being able to preach there at the prison. [Video played]
I want to thank God for the people that go to the prisons week in week out from our church; those 60 people in our Lifegroups and the people that do it when nobody is watching when the camera is not rolling and they are not in the spotlight. Can we say thank you to all those people that go and minister? Yes.
[Applause]
If you want to join them, we invite you to join them and go into the prisons and make a difference and visit the least of these.
Now this, is the bonus sermon, and I'll just get you caught up to speed. In Romans 16, the apostle Paul has a whole list of names of people that he thanks. Now, in Romans chapters 1 through 15 he is dealing with deep, deep, deep theology. And then in chapter 16 it looks like it would be almost like a throwaway chapter, like just a bunch of names. Here's this person, here's this person, here's this person. But there is all these people that have studied this chapter and looked at all the names and the stories that are behind the names, okay, like, what happened there. Because I believe every name tells a story. I believe every name tells a story. And every name in our church tells a story. And as our church grows and gets bigger and bigger and bigger, you are not anonymous. And God wants to use sermon number one of this and this bonus sermon to help you see that you are not anonymous as you look at these names.
And it's so powerful what Paul gives us this glimpse into. And I do want to give credit. Dr. Glen Menzies from North Central University and Dr. George Wood both gave me tons of material for this, and I'm indebted to them because they helped me look at the names of these people. We looked at eight names in the first sermon, and now we are picking up this one. Because this is a bonus sermon, we've got time to go from 9 to 27, so gets comfortable. All right.
So number nine and ten, all right? So we looked at a bunch of names, and another thing, I might butcher pronunciation of their names. Okay, if I do you, those of you that know how to pronounce their names, you can go correct us. Otherwise, I'm not worried because none of you are related to these people.
All right, so nine, ten. We just finished number eight. Ampliatus was a guy that we talked about that was physically disadvantaged. And now nine and ten, we have Urbanus and Stachys. It's not Stacy, but Stacyhs, all right? This is possibly a married couple that Paul is saying," Hey, these people made a difference. Guys, don't forget, they are not anonymous." He said, "Urbanus and Stachys, they really made a difference." And it's interesting, their names mean "of the city," "a polite one from the city" and "ear of corn." So two names. That's what their names mean. So here is what they are speculating: Maybe this is somebody from the country and somebody from the city that got married. So it would be like somebody in our church going on a Global Team and somebody from the Edina Area campus and Faribault getting married, all right, or Minnetrista. All right, so these two people getting together.
So what does it mean that Paul is recognizing these people? Again, as we look at these names, this will make sense as we keep going. He said, "These people are good people. They are great people. They are wonderful people." And really what he's saying, they are salt of the earth people. Have you ever said that about somebody? Like, they are salt of the earth.
And I want to tell you, if you're at River Valley Church and we would describe you as a salt of the earth person, we thank God that you're in this church and you are not anonymous. We thank God for you. I thank God that there are just good people that say, "We are part of this church, and we are going to build this church. We are going to do everything we can and we are going to use our kindness to build the church of God." How many know we want the happiest, friendliest greeters to sign up for our greeting ministry at River Valley Church? And I thank God you might be an Urbanus, a Stachys. You might be somebody that you're just friendly, you're good, you're kind. We thank God that you are greeting. You may never get the spotlight, but you are not anonymous. God sees every person that you greet, every person that you smile to, every parking lot attendant that's out there smiling and just a good person. God is saying you're making a difference, you are anonymous. You're not forgotten.
All right. Let's move on. Number 11, Appelles. He said, Greet Appelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test. Here's other another person in this list of names that Paul is just going through, and he is looking at these names, and he's saying Appelles made a difference, he is not anonymous. So Appelles must have gone through a tough time and made it. Appelles must have gone through a tough time and made it and survived, like he took the test and made it through.
I want to tell you this, anybody in our church that goes through a struggle and makes it through to the other side, you are helping us to build the church. When you go through a struggle and you quit, you're like, "I'm outta here. I'm away from God." I talked to somebody after first service, they said, you know, "I was in a church, I had a hard time. I stepped away from God, I walked away, and crashed in my life. My family became a disaster in all this, but now I'm back."
And I was like, "You never needed to leave. You should have stayed strong."
They're like, "I know."
I said, "Now that you're back, we are glad you are back and you made it." But they realized that going through the struggle and walking away caused damage. When you go through the struggle and you stay firm in Christ, God says you're helping to build the church. And it is not anonymous. Even though nobody gives an award for you staying through the struggle, you help to build the church. Paul says, "You are not anonymous. You matter. You make a difference."
And people in leadership, you know when you see somebody struggling, you ought to encourage them. You ought to say, "Hey, we are standing with you in your struggle. We are standing with you." Share your struggle that you have been through to encourage people to stay involved in the church.
All right, moving on, number 12, this is a whole group. The apostle Paul says, "There is a group of people that are not anonymous. I've got to acknowledge what they did to build the church of Jesus Christ." And he says, ...the household of Aristobulus. He says, Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. And it's interesting, he's saying there is a bunch of people building the kingdom of God that you don't even know about. He is letting people know. He said, "Guys, they are in the house of Caesar. They're in an official place. They are up there in a spot of great importance." And he said, "You don't even know about them, but they are there and they are building the kingdom of God." And he's saying there is people that are working for the political powers, and they are making a difference for Jesus.
Now here is something that I want to say and I want to recognize this. If you are a civic leader, a political leader I see Tom right here, I see others, and maybe in our other campuses there's people that serve and we have people that are elected officials. If you're a civic leader, your good that you are doing is helping to advance the cause of Christ. And it's amazing when you are a follower of Jesus Christ and you're working in the civic political arena and you're making a difference. And Paul is like, "Hey guys, there is people that are doing this, this whole household of Aristobulus, all these people connected to Caesar, there is something going on." It would be like Lifegroups going on at the state capitol. How many know that would be exciting? It's like Lifegroups going on and prayer teams going on in council chambers. And after the meeting is over, the Christians stick around and have a Bible study in council chambers. And he's saying there is something going on and they are helping to build the kingdom of God. And he's saying this is an amazing thing. They are not anonymous. And he's letting the church know there's people where you don't even know where they are. You didn't think anybody was saved in Washington, but they are. That's basically what he's saying. I want to thank all the civic leaders, political leaders. I want to thank people that are in high powered positions. Thank you for serving. Thank you for serving. That's what Paul is saying. He is saying your service, it is not anonymous. You may never win an award, but God is keeping track of it, and he's saying you're building the kingdom of God.
Number 13, he says Herodian. He said, Greet Herodian, my fellow Jew. Now the term that he uses there, he is saying there is this person, Herodian, who is in power, and he said, "my fellow Jew." And it could mean like my brother in the faith, or it could actually mean my relative. Okay, it could mean either/or. And I can tell you this, the people that studied this are split on it. Some believe he is just saying, "Hey, he's a brother in the faith," and others are saying, "Greet my brother who I'm related to," like "he's a relative of mine, and he's related." So give the latitude with the relative, all right?
Can I say this, in any great church there are family members that come along for the journey. Okay? In this church at River Valley Church there have been some great family members of mine that have come along on the journey that don't get many thanks, but they get a lot of heat, if you know what I'm saying. "What did your brother do that for?" you know. Oh, yeah, all this. And they've got this going on and they don't get all the thanks, but they get a bunch of heat. And I want to let you know that in this church my brothers and their wives have helped build the church.
I just want to say to Rick and Kate, to Roger and Julie, to Ryan and Brandi, thank you for your anonymous work. I thank God for that. I thank God that you put up with things that your brother had to do. And I had to define, like, when we get together at Thanksgiving, I'm just your brother. If I schedule a breakfast, I'm your pastor. You know, you kind of lay down the ground rules there, you know.
Sometimes they got pressure, like, "I thought you were supposed to be a pastor's brother," and they are like, "Doesn't mean I'm perfect." And they were there and they sacrificed. The times when no one would show up, they were there. And they were just really working.
As a matter of fact, it is an interesting thing, if you know my brother Rick well, side note. All their wives, people will meet their wives and think they are my wife, because not everybody knows my wife is Becca. And there will be people come up to me and say, "I met your wife Kate."
And I'm like, "Nope, not my wife Kate. Becca, Rob and Becca, Kate and Rick." Okay, you know that's funny. I have one wife, just to be clear, one wife.
But my brother Rick looks a lot like me, okay, and sounds like me. Most my brothers sound like me. He said he walked through the lobby and people, little kids would come up and say, "Hi, Pastor Rob."
And he'd go, "Nope, not Pastor Rob," and the kids are like, oh, they couldn't comprehend, like, why is Pastor Rob rejecting them.
So he said, "Don't be offended if I walk through the lobby going, 'Yes, bless you, my child.'" He's like, "I just roll with it now. Just kind of roll with it."
All right. So thank you to my family that has put up with it. Paul is like, "Hey, thank you. There is some anonymous people you don't know about, and they are making a difference. Greet my brother, greet my fellow Jew, greet my family, because they are helping us to build the kingdom of God.
Number 14, he says Narcissus household. He says this whole household. No, not Narcissus. Narcissus had been executed three to four years ago before Paul wrote this. So he said his whole household. Something is going on. Again, there is a major group that's in a very powerful family, and he says there is something going on there, and I want you to greet those people. There is something going on. They are serving in the administration. Again, it's very similar to the previous group we just talked about in political power. And he's like, "I want you to greet them," because there is people there. There is people there.
Maybe you've had experience with this. You work at a large corporation, and you're kind of careful about sharing your faith. You don't know where it's crossing the line, and you don't want to get into trouble with HR and everything. And all of a sudden you're just at lunch or a meeting where somebody says they went on a missions trip, and you're like, okay, I'll follow up on that. You're like, "Are you? Are you?"
"Yeah!" You know, it's great.
And he is saying, hey, there is people in every company. They are out there. They are out there. And he is like, "They are building the kingdom of God whether you realize it or not."
I pray that you find those people in your company. I pray that you find them in your political group. I pray you find them and you band together and say, "Let's build the kingdom of God."
But Paul is saying, "Hey, these guys are helping build the kingdom of God."
All right, these two are really interesting. 15 and 16, Tryphena and Tryphosa. I know I butchered their names. Sorry, ladies. It's two ladies. He says, Greet them, these women who work hard in the Lord. Now their names suggest that they are twin sisters. Okay, and he says they work really hard. Now it is interesting, you know what their names mean? Dainty and delicate. So he says, "Greet Dainty and Delicate for me. They are hard workers." He's saying their names may be Dainty and Delicate, but they are strong workers, and it is implied they are missionaries. They are missionaries. That these two ladies, that nobody would have picked, answered the call of God and went to be missionaries.
And I don't know about you, but sometimes I look at people that God calls for missionaries, and I'm like, "Okay, Lord, all right. They are probably going to get sick and come home in a month." All right, all right. "Lord, they got nothing to lose, all right. You know, Lord, you ought to send the bigger people and they could lose weight." You know, I don't always think that. All right, but, Dainty and Delicate, let's go back to them, all right. This is a bonus sermon. Hardly anybody watches it. No, I'm just kidding.
Dainty and Delicate, he says they are hard workers. You could be a hard worker for God. Do not let anybody look down on your size. Don't let anybody look down on your youth. Hear what Paul said to Timothy. Don't let anybody despise your youth. Be an example. Go for it. God may use teenager, or dainty or delicate, or young child to do an amazing work for God. And Paul is saying, "Everybody is helping to build the kingdom. Grab hold of it and do it. And these two ladies are hard workers, and they are making a difference. They went and answered the call."
Let's thank God that he calls regular people, people that you and I may have never called, but they have just a tenacity to them that we can't even see. How many know that pro scouts, they say like, "I can't even judge the size of the heart. I wish I could." And Paul is saying you can judge these. Their heart is gigantic. They may be dainty and delicate, but these two went where nobody knew about Jesus and built the kingdom of God. Greet those two. God is using them.
Number 17, Persis. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. Now, I want to point this out for both services. There is a pattern over and over again. He's like ladies, ladies, ladies, ladies, ladies. Okay? Ladies, this should be one of your favorite chapters out of the Bible, okay? Because he's like, deacon, hard worker, amazing missionaries, total woman of God, leader out there in front of her husband. Amazing thing. And this is an interesting one. This lady he uses the past tense. He says, ...another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. Past tense. With the other ladies he uses present tense, and on this one there is an implication here that this lady might be a shut in, that she has done her service and now she's at home.
And I want to say this: We need to remember the elderly in our church. We are a very young church, but we need to remember the elderly. There are some people that are shut ins. We ought to go to them. For instance, our Faribault campus had a bunch of people that were part of starting that church years before we ever showed up, and they are shut ins. Many of them are in nursing homes. And we shouldn't forget about them.
Paul is saying, "This lady worked really hard. She did a lot of work. Don't forget. She is not anonymous. Heaven knows what this lady did. She is making a difference for the kingdom of God. She did it, and let's remember her." And I think we should remember the elderly and the shut ins and those people that really worked hard long before we were here.
Now he says, number 18, Greet Rufus. That's a good name. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. Now this is interesting. It's believed now get this it's believed that Rufus was the son of Simon the Cyrene who carried the cross of Jesus. Okay? So get this. Jesus is being crucified. Simon the Cyrene carries the cross. He has his boys with him. Rufus would have been there, okay? So Rufus would have been there when Jesus was crucified. Little kid. And now Rufus is a pastor. Rufus is believed to be a pastor taking care of a church, and he's following in what his father did, because his father was changed from carrying the cross of Jesus and seeing what Jesus did. And it is believed that he then started to build the church and share the message of Jesus.
So let me give you this: Rufus is a PK. PK is short for preacher's kid. And we have a lot of preachers' kids in our church there. There is a lot of preachers' kids in our congregation. There might even be a preacher's kid that is watching this sermon, and I'm just going to take a moment for you. God is so grateful that you continue on with what your family started. It was a mom and dad here. His dad was changed, but his mom was part of the solution, and Paul said, "She was like a spiritual mother to me." And he's saying greet Rufus because, "Rufus, you matter. Your congregation matters."
And I thought about this: Simon is more famous than Rufus. Some of you just found out about Rufus right now. Simon carried a cross, but Rufus built a congregation. He built a congregation. And I want to tell you this: Every PK that goes on and does that or any elder's kid or anybody that continues in the faith, maybe your mom and dad were in before you and it comes down to you and you build on what they built, thank God for that. And I just want to say to all of our preachers' kids, we love you. You are not anonymous. You are part of this ministry. That's why, you know, when we count our 500 missionaries, we count the husband and wife and we count all their children. We don't say, "Well, there's two; we don't count those kids." We count all of them because we say they matter, they are in on that call. They are like Rufus. They are like Rufus, and they are just building on what their parents did. And I thank God for the kids that continue to build that, and I just would pray that our PK's go and do more than we've ever done. I pray that they outshine us and do more and more and more. And whether anyone ever notices, thank God that they are continuing it.
Now, those of you that are worried, you're like, this bonus sermon is going really long, all right, 19 through 23 are a group and 24 through 27 are a group. So how many are breathing easier right now? All right, all right.
19 through 23, Paul says greet these people with names that are hard to pronounce. Greet Asyncritus. All right, all these guys were men. ...Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them. I butchered their names, all right, but it is all guys. It is all guys. Is this a group of guys that is bachelors, they are just a group of bachelors that are church planters? Are they the interns? Okay, maybe they are the interns. Okay, but in all likelihood they were all leading house churches. It is speculated that this list that Paul says is representing nine different churches that either met in storefronts of people that had like a duplex where upstairs was their home, downstairs was the church. Much like the church in Cuba where they use their garage even though they don't own a car. They build a garage and they use that for their church. And then they live over here, and the bathroom is the bathroom for the church and the living room is the nursery. They do that Cuba. And so that's what they did in Bible days. Before they had buildings they would actually use their homes. And it is believed that these guys are out there just building faithful churches.
And here is the word that I felt God gave me for this. And, again, congregation, if you'd just let me speak to any pastors that may be watching this. Even if your church is not breaking records, you're breaking strongholds. And we thank God for that. Some churches break records. And I can't even explain why River Valley has been on the trajectory that we've been on, but every church breaks strongholds. And Paul is saying these guys are not anonymous. We don't know how big their congregation is. We don't know what even happened. We don't know much about them, but Paul saw something in these men, and he said, "Good job. Well done, thou good and faithful servant." And if I can say this to any church in America that's preaching in the name of Jesus, this church celebrates your church. I don't care if you're two or three, that's all you need in the name of Jesus to be a church wherever you are, or you're twenty or thirty thousand, we thank God that the name of Jesus is lifted up. And we love all churches; home churches, coffee shop churches, small churches, large churches, multisite, single site, those that meet anywhere in theaters, in bowling alleys. And I have seen churches in morgues. Not my first choice. But if you're there, we love you. And I want our congregation to clap for all the pastors that are building churches all across America.
[Applause]
Every church matters. Paul is saying every church matters. Every servant matters.
Then he gives another group. He says in verse15, he said, Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord's people who are with them. This is most likely, again, a core group; a core group of a church. And he is saying, "This whole group of you that came together and formed a group, this core group of you that are there, we are so glad with you are using your gifts to build the kingdom of God." And Paul is like, "You are not anonymous. You guys came together as a team, and I'm so glad that you are building the church of Jesus Christ. Great job, everybody."
And the interesting thing is, again, you'd look at this list of names and you wouldn't even know it. Of course I butchered their pronunciation. But there is one name; Nereus, Nereus. It is speculated that Nereus was the household servant of two very, very famous, very affluent people in AD 95. While the church was growing, Nereus was a household servant of these two very, very affluent, very powerful people. These two people came to faith in Jesus Christ and were punished for that. They were punished for that, and they were condemned to death in AD 95 because of their faith in Jesus Christ. And it is believed that Nereus was their household servant. And by serving with the presence of God in a very affluent family's relationship, he led them to faith and then they were persecuted. Okay? And Paul is saying you have no idea where your effect is going. You have no idea when you serve God, you guys don't even know, like, your little church had an impact here and two very influential people stood up for Christ and were banished and in trouble because of this. But your little church did it. You have no idea who you're serving or ministering to.
Can I tell you this? When you're in Sunday School, when you're in Sunday School and you're serving in our nursery and our kids' church area, you have no idea where they will go. You have no idea. We have no idea. The person you greet in the lobby, you have no idea where they will go. The person that's led to faith, you may be in a prayer team and give them the Now What book, you have no idea where they will go. The story doesn't always connect here on this earth, but Paul is giving us a little glimpse. He is saying these people mattered. They mattered. They made a difference. They were not anonymous. And this little small core group that might have been wondering, "Do we ever do anything good?" was responsible for an amazing salvation that helped to turn an entire kingdom around, that were the blood that fueled the forward motion of the church. Thank God for them. Thank God for them.
And as we've covered these people in this list, it is just an amazing thing that Paul is telling us, "You are not anonymous; you make a difference. I notice these people." Paul is saying, "I notice these people."
And I can tell you this: I know a lot of people in this church, and I thank God for your sacrifice and your gifts that you've done. But whether I know you or not or whether you ever get an award or whether you ever get praise, know this, your labor is not in vain. Your labor is not in vain. And the attack of the enemy is this: He will make you feel anonymous. He will make you feel like a number. He will make you feel like your work doesn't matter or amount to anything. That's why in Galatians 6:9 it says don't grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. You know what? You can grow weary in doing good. How many know that? You can grow weary in being anonymous, and all of a sudden the next thing you know, you're like, "Nobody cares, nobody knows me. I think I'm a number in this church. Nobody even really cares."
You can't grow weary in doing well, because God is like, "You're not a number. I know your name. And whether the pastor ever says it or not, I know what you are doing and I'm keeping an accurate record of everything you've done. I know everything you've done. There will be a day that I'll reward you." It is interesting, he says, "I'll reward you. I'll reward you for your works."
Sometimes I even think, like, this is the way I think, like, our video that we had with the prison, I think God is like, "There's your reward. You got your video." And the people that go with no cameras on, he's like, "Now they get a reward. Here is a reward for them. It is an amazing reward." So God says, "Do your works. Do them anonymously. Realize you're not anonymous. But you can do your work anonymously and give all the glory to the name that really matters."
How many know that? Whether the world ever knows your name, my name, whether they forget my name, your name, doesn't matter as long as they know the name that really matters. And that's what this church is about. I thank God this church is about lifting up the name of Jesus and saying his name will be praised, his name will be lifted up. That's the name that everybody needs to call on. And we will keep working to lift up the name of Jesus.
So, Lord, I just pray right now that you'd help us to lift up the name of Jesus, to lift up the name that matters. What a tragedy that we could go through life and never tell people about the name that really matters, that we'd leave you anonymous. Help us, Lord Jesus, to share and use our gifts and to realize it is the attack of the enemy to make us think that we are just a number, we are forgotten, we are anonymous. Instead, we really matter. We matter to the one that called us to serve in his many kingdom, we matter to the one that saved us, and we thank you, God, for the privilege of serving you.
We thank you that Paul put this in Romans 16 and gave us a glimpse into these people's lives, that we are not anonymous, we see how they served. And we say, God, use us, whether we are weak, whether we are strong, whether we are rich, whether we are poor, whether we are a man or a woman, use us, Lord Jesus, for your glory and for your honor. We lift up the name above all names.
It's in that name we pray. Amen, amen.
