We have come to the final chapter of Romans.
It is striking when we read it – there are lots of greetings!
Greetings! Please greet them.
Do you do that – you’ve visited someone and they say ‘send greetings’? Or before you leave, your spouse says ‘send my greetings’.
In the book God’s Smuggler, where Brother Andrew shares about his first years seeking to support persecuted believers in Communist Eastern Europe, Brother Andrew shares on his first visit to Christians in Czechoslovakia in the late 1950s, he was invited to speak at a church. He responded by asking if it was possible, him a Dutch man, could preach in their church. The pastor replied – he did not say preach – because in that country as in many under Communist control, the pastor’s licenses were not agreed by the church or a bishop but by the state – in Czech – every 2 months a pastor’s license had to be renewed by the govt. If the pastor did not say the right things, his license could be revoked. The pastor told Brother Andrew – as a foreigner you cannot preach – but you can bring us ‘’greetings’’ from Holland – and he went to say, if you wanted to, you could bring us ‘’greetings’’ from the Lord.
And so the first church – he brought greetings from Holland – which took 2 minutes Andrew said, and then for 30 mins he brought greetings to the congregation ‘’from Jesus Christ.’’ – it became one of the ways Brother Andrew would use to encourage the suffering part of the church.
(Brother Andrew, God’s Smuggler, 60Th Anniversary pg 103).
Romans 16 has lots of greetings
Romans 16 has lots of names – like those genealogies we find in Genesis 5 or Matthew 1 or Luke 3 … we may feel like why are these here?
26 names, 9 women, 17 men. It is very different from all of Paul’s other letters. He does often mention ‘’greetings from’’ – but only a few times does he say ‘greetings to’ and then only a few names. Here there are so many. Why? He does it because it fits his purpose and the contents he has been writing about. The names and how he describes them fits one of his purposes of writing the letter – building unity in a diverse multi-ethnic community.
Phoebe
I commend to you Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. …
Commend.
In the Church of England, years ago, when someone would move parishes – chaplaincies – the minister, would write a letter to the other minister commending that person to his parish. Something like – Rachael has been part of this church community for the past 6 years, he has now moved into your area, he has been a great blessing to our church community, served in various roles on our council and as warden, and now due to work she has moved back to England. I’d like to commend her to you as a new member of your church…’’
A sister.
Not an actual relative but a sister in Christ.
That phrase – a sister in Christ – reminding the church : new people are siblings in Christ, long term, siblings, Jewish – siblings in Christ; Gentile (whether Greek or Roman), siblings in Christ.
Look around you – this is your family – if you are a Christian, these people around you are your brothers and sisters. Whether you know them or not, they are your kin – your family….
A servant
Secondly she is described as a servant of the church. The term in Greek which is used is deacon. It can mean a dedicated role – that she was a deacon / deaconess – or a description of how she served within the church. Or a description that points to how she was exercising her gift of service as Paul shared in Romans 12 – v6 says ‘’in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others, we have different gifts according to the grace given to each one of us … 7 if it is serving, then serve Romans 12:6-7.’’
So in that phrase, Paul says Phoebe has been doing something, he has been exhorting the Christians in Rome to to do – Phoebe is using her spiritual gifts…
Receive.
Receive her in a way worthy of the Lord.
Receive in Greek has the idea of opening your home and giving hospitality to a traveler…
But not only receive her, but ‘’give her any help she may need from you’’ – it is not clear what this means but she carries the letter from Paul – so it may be helping her connect to the house churches so it is read, or other… receiving and giving… generosity… and he praises her ‘’ she has been a great help to many people, including me.’’
This is about generosity. Paul says to the Corinthians 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 The gospel has that theme – of generosity. Paul says to the Corinthians, that the gospel practically shapes a church’s life and a person’s life.
To the Romans he points to her generosity to others, he asks them to be generous to her. That generosity echoes the gospel Paul has been unpacking with them through the letter. The gospel shapes how they welcome Phoebe – be generous like God has been generous to you – receive her; give her the help – grace – she has given to others…
Wealth
To dig a little deeper – the word we translate as help – is prostatis. It means a benefactor or patron. Phoebe was a lady of wealth, social standing. Her help to the believers had been perhaps through her social standing or / and her wealth…
Where she is from
There is another fact here. She is from the church in Cenchrea. Cenchrea is around 10 km from Corinth. It was one of the ports. Paul was in Corinth or the area when he wrote Romans. 1 Cor and 2 Cor were written 2-4 years before Romans. In our Bibles Romans is the first letter – but the NT letters are not lined up in chronology but by the designers of the NT, they were listed in order of length. Romans is first because it is the longest. 1 and 2 Corinthians were written before Romans.
Pheobe would be an excellent witness to the church in Rome, because she saw a Corinthian church that had been divided seriously, as well as it’s many other problems. Yet she had seen it become united across divides. It had been a church of Jews and Gentiles, yet it had become ‘’the church of God of Jewish and Gentile believers in the Lord Jesus.’’ Someone who seen division, knew of it, and saw the gospel bring healing and unity and could say it was possible.
So in these few words which seem trivial. Paul has commended Phoebe, calling her a sister in Christ, he has commended how she serves the Lord, and she has called on the church to extend welcome like Christ has welcomed them, and she is a lady who can share how the gospel can build and maintain unity in a congregation no matter how diverse.
Application : Putting it into practice:
When we look at a believer
Do you see them as a brother or sister in Christ
Do you notice / know how they serve the Lord – how can you commend them… there is that saying we have said before, in the Netherlands – when things are going well, people do not say anything but they will tell you when it is not. Paul publicly says how it is going well.
And do you treat that person in a gospel shaped way – generous – be generous hospitality as our God has been generous to us.
Those ideas help us with the persecuted.
When we hear of the persecuted – we see each name and story – as a brother or sister in Christ. Those booklets that you received in church today, tell stories about your family – your brother or your sister… just like distance does not stop your brother or sister being your brother and sister, distance here – Nigeria. North Korea, Columbia, Burkino Faso etc, does not stop them being our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Just to add – each week on our resources table in the hallway, we have similar booklets from Open Doors in Dutch and English – free to take away.
We are inspired by their stories of serving the Lord, of using their gifts, in some very hostile places.
And we are challenged to consider how can we be generous to our wider family – maybe to give prayers, or financially, to speak out, or to go and visit and personally encourage.
Okay that is the first name now another 25 to go!
Looking closer – Greeting
As we began – greet – is the main theme we clearly see as we read the chapter.
He asks the wider church community or a group in that church, to greet these 26 or so people on his behalf.
In the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones is trapped and his rival and enemy Belloq shouts down to where Indy is stuck – hello, hello, why dr jones, whatever are you doing in such a nasty place…
So, the verb to greet doesn’t mean that – how are you, hello!
The verb has a beautiful image – of wrapping one’s arms around and embracing someone…
Have that image in your mind as you read the word – greet – that image of wrapping one’s arms around and embrace them…
Paul is sharing quite a great view of community isn’t he?
Now at the end of this list of names, Paul say says ‘’greet one another’’ says he wants all the Christians in the church to treat themselves in that way. He does not mean only greet those he has mentioned but greet each other in the church – whether male or female, Jew or Gentile, wealthy or poor, long term Christian or new believer…
Diversity.
When we look at the names and descriptions we see. There is a wide diversity in this group whom Paul greets.
There are male and female. 26 names, 9 female, 17 male.
There are Jews and Gentiles.
There are Jewish relatives of Paul mentioned.
There are some who have been part of the church from its early years – v3-4 mention Priscilla and Aquila – Priscilla – the wife, Aquila the husband – a Jewish couple Paul met in Ephesus and Luke mentions the expulsion of Jews from Rome….
There are Gentile names among the list.
There are people of wealth. We have mentioned Phoebe.
And we assume there were poor and those in between…
Free people – who have never been slaves; and those who were slaves and are now freed or who are slaves.
An example of this is Epeneutus. V5 ‘’ the first convert in Christ in the province of Asia.’’ In 1 Corinthians 16:15 we learn that the household of Stephanas was the 15 You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, 1 Corinthians 16:15. So Epeneutus was in that household – and likely to be a slave – servant – who was still in service or who had been freed.
So this list, embodies Paul’s vision of the community he has been wanting to share with the Roman church. Gentiles, Jews, slaves / free, freed-persons, elite and non-elite, men and women, from all corners of the globe. It fits the image of unity he has been pointing to within his writing.
This is reflected in the words of Galatians 3: 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus Galatians 3:26-28
The church family – there is such diversity. Here at All Saints there is such diversity. A church community is an incredible place for bringing people together who would normally not share the same social space for 90 or more minutes and drink coffee or tea together!
Closing Comments by Paul
When we see the list of names, and think how it presents that image of unit and diversity and what the church can be and should be, then it makes sense what Paul says next.
V17-19 he warns them of those who cause divisions. ‘’Those who are doing so, not out of some commitment to Christ but for selfish motivations. Be awake and alert he says. ;;Everyone has heard your obedience, so I am full of joy over you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.’’
Keep watch – which is a phrase usually connected to Advent, which begins next week. But Keep watch is what Paul is saying about those causing division…
Satan
And then he mentions: ‘’the God of Peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.’’
Now. This again can seem random. But as we keep saying, Paul doesn’t waste words.
Three possibilities -it could be one two or three…
One is the gospel – he has been celebrating and declaring through his writing – he recalls the promise in Genesis 3:15 – a promise our kids in Emmaus will hear as they focus on the Fall today – 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. Genesis 3:15.
The final victory is coming – when the kingdom comes and Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire, his head crushed…
It can have a second meaning I think. Satan being mentioned here, I believe, after the words about division, I think reminds us that the church – from Christ’s resurrection until his return – faces spiritual warfare. And division is one of his means. If unity – as Jesus prayed in John 17 is a witness to the gospel, disunity is not. And that surely is one of the aims of the enemy. We see it already in Genesis 3 – the Fall, Adam and Eve; God seeks them, Adam says he hid because he was naked, God says who told you, Adam blames the woman, God speaks to Eve… division… as well as many other things…
I think he says in that one sentence – we are in a spiritual battle, and this is not only about flesh and blood decisions…
Third is a simple reminder to the Roman disciples that the Day of the Lord is coming, when the Lord Jesus will return and Satan will be finally dealt with. His time is limited.
The reason he states it could be one, two or three of them. I lean to reason 2 – Satan and spiritual warfare but to hold the other two reasons in mind fits the letter as well.
Conclusion.
Paul ends his letter with words of praise and encouragement.
He talks about a gospel of Jesus Christ that can establish us, a gospel which is God’s plan, revealed in the Hebrew scriptures, with the aim of all nations – Jew and Gentile – to believe and obey God.
It was how he began in Romans 1 – I am not ashamed of the gospel – it is a gospel he says saves us, shapes our individual day to day lives, shapes our church community – a gospel shaped church – and a gospel to go to those who do not yet know…
And for this Gospel Paul ends by saying: Now to him … the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen!
