The LONG Goodbye! - Romans 16:1-27
The LONG Goodbye! - Romans 16:1-27
May 20, 2007 AM
By Pastor Lee Hemen
Saying good-bye can either be a great experience or one that you wish would end quickly. When our youth group went to Nebraska on a mission trip several years ago, we visited Signature Rock near the Wyoming and Nebraska boarder. There, many settlers scratched their names into the soft rock to record their passing through the area on the Oregon Trail. What once would have been considered graffiti is now a National Historic Site. I guess everyone wants their names preserved in some way. Here in the last chapter of Romans we read a list of names that have become a part of Scripture for us today. I am sure these folks had no idea that their names, recorded by the Apostle Paul, would become famous and we would be reading about them 2,000 years later. Talk about a long good-bye!
Nowhere else in all of Paul’s writing do we find such a long list of personal greetings. Yet in this list and in his final remarks we find Paul relating to his fellow Christian brothers and sisters just how much he cared for them. He longed to see them and to greet them himself but until he could, this letter would have to do. Herein we find Paul at his most intimate. Let discover for ourselves what these verses can mean for our faith as we read Paul’s long good-bye.
READ: Romans 16:1-27
In the movie, “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World,” a man is involved in a horrendous car crash. Those who come upon the scene hear his last dying words describing where a $350,000 is buried in Santa Rosa Park near San Diego, CA. Before he dies the man cryptically moans, “It’s under a big dubya.” There then ensues a mad rush by all of them to get to the stash of cash first. Paul’s closing words seem cryptic to some, but they really are not. In fact in his long good-bye we discover some interesting truths. First, there are…
I. Those who helped spread the faith! (vv. 1-16, 21-24)
1. Those who live for the Lord are to be commended! Here we find Phoebe, the first name mentioned. H. A. Hunter noted that “she carried under her robe the entire future of Christian theology!” Can you imagine? This lovely “servant” of God was given a task she willingly committed. And because of her faithful service we have Paul’s letter. Then we are introduced to notables like “Priscilla and Aquila,” Paul’s “fellow workers in Christ Jesus” who “risked their lives for” him because of the gospel’s sake! Paul first met Priscilla and Aquila when he arrived in Corinth on his second missionary journey (Acts 18:2) and worked with them at their trade of tent-making. They had come to Corinth from Rome because of Claudius’ decree that all Jews must leave Rome. How could Paul forget Epenetus, for he was the first one to believe the gospel from Paul in Asia! The hard working Mary and “Andronicus and Junias,” Paul’s “relatives” who had been in prison with him! There were those whom he “Loved in the Lord,” those who were his “fellow workers in Christ,” those that were “tested and approved in Christ,” those whom he remembered like brothers and sisters and who treated him as a son. None were forgotten by this man Paul. Why? Because each one was special to him. They had helped him spread the faith at the risk of their own lives, the sacrifice of their own time, talent, and treasure. They were his family in Christ. In Paul's long good-bye, how could he not say something about each one of them? They had helped spread the faith.
EXAMPLE: I remember vividly when Denise and I left the first church we were members of because I was called to be another church’s Associate Pastor. It was heart-wrenching. It was like leaving family because that is what they had become. Yet some were even closer than family because of the spiritual bond was far deeper and more intimate. This is why the early Christians and Baptists today call one another “brothers” and “sisters” in the Lord. Paul would tell the Corinthians, “For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.” (2 Corinthians 2:4) and that “I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less?” (2 Corinthians 12:15). And of the Galatians he wrote them that “I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.” (Galatians 4:15b) He would tell the Thessalonians, “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12) Paul saw his fellow believers as family. He was saying good-bye to those who had helped in the faith.
Line by line Paul remembers those who meant so much to him. There is the old joke about when an elderly women of great means dies. In her will she left these words of encouragement, “And to my no good for nothing son whom I said I would mention in my will, ‘Hi Harry!”’ There are always those whom you do not like saying good-bye to, right? Sure it can come from the fact you might miss them or that they are real tough to be around. For Paul he gives a final warning to those he found to be in spiritual error. In his long good-bye, Paul writes to…
II. Those who hindered the faith! (vv. 17-20)
1. Those who cause divisions within the body of Christ are like a disease! Paul writes, “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.” Sin is easy, but living for the Lord can be tough in a sin-fallen world where every person, every comment, every action can be an enticement to sin. Paul understood that “such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.” These ungodly people were the antithesis of someone like Phoebe the (diakonos) “servant.” These people were “not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites!” Paul would declare that such people were “enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:18b-19) Paul would bluntly write, “Keep away from them.” Why? He knew that “bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Corinthians 15:33) Paul would lovingly remind his readers, “Everyone has heard about 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.” That is the wish of every parent for their children. In his long good-bye, Paul was warning his “family” about those who hindered the faith!
EXAMPLE: People are attracted to gemstones like diamonds because they are rare, bright, and pure. Gold shines with an untarnished brilliance and is sought by people all over the world because of its purity and rarity. Whole nations base their national financial security on such precious metals. Christians are like these precious metals and stones. Worth far more than rarity found in this world. As a child my Mom would wonder how I could walk out of the room with a clean shirt and pants and almost immediately attract dirt! There is a fascination in our world with taking something that is pure and good and messing it up. This is why ungodliness is attracted to those who follow Jesus. They see in their lives a purity and rarity that they do not have. In this it can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Good in that a Christian can witness through their lives, but bad when they allow their lives to be influenced instead. This is why Peter would write that Christians are to “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day [Jesus] visits us.” (1 Peter 2:12) In his long good-bye, Paul warned his family to be careful of those who hindered the faith.
I can remember my mother telling me when I left to go camping with my Boy Scout Troop to “behave.” This was often accompanied with her licking her fingers and rubbing something off my face with her spit. Why is that? Why do mothers the world over think it is their duty to use their own spit as a means to clean their children’s faces? I guess it is because they want their progeny to be “presentable,” wherever they might go. Paul is kind of like this in that in his long good-bye he just has to get one final word in about…
III. The One whom he had faith in! (vv. 25-27)
1. The apostle finally came to his closing good-bye! This letter to the Romans is Paul’s longest and most complete statement of the message he proclaimed, what he here called “my gospel” (Romans 2:16 and 2 Timothy 2:8) and the proclamation of Jesus Christ. In fact, in these last verses are found the summary of the whole letter to the Romans! Paul writes, “Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ!” His desire in writing this letter was that Christians would be established, well grounded, in their faith. Paul understood that if believers were “rooted and established in [Jesus’] love,” they would “have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” and “be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19) No circumstance of life or emotional turmoil could then corrupt their faith. This was through “the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him!” The salvation of mankind had come in Jesus and this salvation secured their hope of eternity. Paul did not make this up. This was God’s own word he had “received from the Lord” and “what I also passed on to you.” (1 Corinthians 11:23) He did not follow “cleverly invented stories.” (2 Peter 1:16) Paul would bluntly state, “I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:12) The truth was that the message of the gospel of Christ had been “hidden” in the Old Testament, but was completely revealed in the New because of Jesus. As he said his long good-bye, Paul wanted his readers to know and trust the one whom they had faith in.
EXAMPLE: My father always wanted his children to “tell the truth.” He hated it if he knew we were trying to lie to him. He saw it not only as rebellion but as a statement of character. We soon learned that even if we were guilty, if we told the truth first, the punishment was always less harsh than if we tried to lie about it. The truth is important, especially when it concerns eternal spiritual things. This is why Jesus himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me," (John 14:6). In this succinct statement Jesus declared the uniqueness of his position. R. C. Stedman writes that “In the whole realm of theology there is no one like Jesus Christ. In all the history of the religions of the world, there is no one that is equal to him, or that can be remotely compared to him. Therefore, any gospel that minimizes Christ, or puts him on the level of other names, is a perversion of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ is the central figure of all history, of all time, of all faith.” The truth for the Apostle Peter was that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) And Paul would write: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.” (1 Timothy 2:5-7) As he said his long good-bye, Paul wanted his readers to know and trust completely the one whom he had faith in.
Conclusion:
What Paul said in his long good-bye to the Romans church applies for us as well today. We need to: Be mindful of those who help in the faith, be careful of those who hinder the faith, and know the One whom he had faith in.
May 20, 2007 AM
By Pastor Lee Hemen
Saying good-bye can either be a great experience or one that you wish would end quickly. When our youth group went to Nebraska on a mission trip several years ago, we visited Signature Rock near the Wyoming and Nebraska boarder. There, many settlers scratched their names into the soft rock to record their passing through the area on the Oregon Trail. What once would have been considered graffiti is now a National Historic Site. I guess everyone wants their names preserved in some way. Here in the last chapter of Romans we read a list of names that have become a part of Scripture for us today. I am sure these folks had no idea that their names, recorded by the Apostle Paul, would become famous and we would be reading about them 2,000 years later. Talk about a long good-bye!
Nowhere else in all of Paul’s writing do we find such a long list of personal greetings. Yet in this list and in his final remarks we find Paul relating to his fellow Christian brothers and sisters just how much he cared for them. He longed to see them and to greet them himself but until he could, this letter would have to do. Herein we find Paul at his most intimate. Let discover for ourselves what these verses can mean for our faith as we read Paul’s long good-bye.
READ: Romans 16:1-27
In the movie, “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World,” a man is involved in a horrendous car crash. Those who come upon the scene hear his last dying words describing where a $350,000 is buried in Santa Rosa Park near San Diego, CA. Before he dies the man cryptically moans, “It’s under a big dubya.” There then ensues a mad rush by all of them to get to the stash of cash first. Paul’s closing words seem cryptic to some, but they really are not. In fact in his long good-bye we discover some interesting truths. First, there are…
I. Those who helped spread the faith! (vv. 1-16, 21-24)
1. Those who live for the Lord are to be commended! Here we find Phoebe, the first name mentioned. H. A. Hunter noted that “she carried under her robe the entire future of Christian theology!” Can you imagine? This lovely “servant” of God was given a task she willingly committed. And because of her faithful service we have Paul’s letter. Then we are introduced to notables like “Priscilla and Aquila,” Paul’s “fellow workers in Christ Jesus” who “risked their lives for” him because of the gospel’s sake! Paul first met Priscilla and Aquila when he arrived in Corinth on his second missionary journey (Acts 18:2) and worked with them at their trade of tent-making. They had come to Corinth from Rome because of Claudius’ decree that all Jews must leave Rome. How could Paul forget Epenetus, for he was the first one to believe the gospel from Paul in Asia! The hard working Mary and “Andronicus and Junias,” Paul’s “relatives” who had been in prison with him! There were those whom he “Loved in the Lord,” those who were his “fellow workers in Christ,” those that were “tested and approved in Christ,” those whom he remembered like brothers and sisters and who treated him as a son. None were forgotten by this man Paul. Why? Because each one was special to him. They had helped him spread the faith at the risk of their own lives, the sacrifice of their own time, talent, and treasure. They were his family in Christ. In Paul's long good-bye, how could he not say something about each one of them? They had helped spread the faith.
EXAMPLE: I remember vividly when Denise and I left the first church we were members of because I was called to be another church’s Associate Pastor. It was heart-wrenching. It was like leaving family because that is what they had become. Yet some were even closer than family because of the spiritual bond was far deeper and more intimate. This is why the early Christians and Baptists today call one another “brothers” and “sisters” in the Lord. Paul would tell the Corinthians, “For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.” (2 Corinthians 2:4) and that “I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less?” (2 Corinthians 12:15). And of the Galatians he wrote them that “I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.” (Galatians 4:15b) He would tell the Thessalonians, “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12) Paul saw his fellow believers as family. He was saying good-bye to those who had helped in the faith.
Line by line Paul remembers those who meant so much to him. There is the old joke about when an elderly women of great means dies. In her will she left these words of encouragement, “And to my no good for nothing son whom I said I would mention in my will, ‘Hi Harry!”’ There are always those whom you do not like saying good-bye to, right? Sure it can come from the fact you might miss them or that they are real tough to be around. For Paul he gives a final warning to those he found to be in spiritual error. In his long good-bye, Paul writes to…
II. Those who hindered the faith! (vv. 17-20)
1. Those who cause divisions within the body of Christ are like a disease! Paul writes, “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.” Sin is easy, but living for the Lord can be tough in a sin-fallen world where every person, every comment, every action can be an enticement to sin. Paul understood that “such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.” These ungodly people were the antithesis of someone like Phoebe the (diakonos) “servant.” These people were “not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites!” Paul would declare that such people were “enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:18b-19) Paul would bluntly write, “Keep away from them.” Why? He knew that “bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Corinthians 15:33) Paul would lovingly remind his readers, “Everyone has heard about 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.” That is the wish of every parent for their children. In his long good-bye, Paul was warning his “family” about those who hindered the faith!
EXAMPLE: People are attracted to gemstones like diamonds because they are rare, bright, and pure. Gold shines with an untarnished brilliance and is sought by people all over the world because of its purity and rarity. Whole nations base their national financial security on such precious metals. Christians are like these precious metals and stones. Worth far more than rarity found in this world. As a child my Mom would wonder how I could walk out of the room with a clean shirt and pants and almost immediately attract dirt! There is a fascination in our world with taking something that is pure and good and messing it up. This is why ungodliness is attracted to those who follow Jesus. They see in their lives a purity and rarity that they do not have. In this it can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Good in that a Christian can witness through their lives, but bad when they allow their lives to be influenced instead. This is why Peter would write that Christians are to “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day [Jesus] visits us.” (1 Peter 2:12) In his long good-bye, Paul warned his family to be careful of those who hindered the faith.
I can remember my mother telling me when I left to go camping with my Boy Scout Troop to “behave.” This was often accompanied with her licking her fingers and rubbing something off my face with her spit. Why is that? Why do mothers the world over think it is their duty to use their own spit as a means to clean their children’s faces? I guess it is because they want their progeny to be “presentable,” wherever they might go. Paul is kind of like this in that in his long good-bye he just has to get one final word in about…
III. The One whom he had faith in! (vv. 25-27)
1. The apostle finally came to his closing good-bye! This letter to the Romans is Paul’s longest and most complete statement of the message he proclaimed, what he here called “my gospel” (Romans 2:16 and 2 Timothy 2:8) and the proclamation of Jesus Christ. In fact, in these last verses are found the summary of the whole letter to the Romans! Paul writes, “Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ!” His desire in writing this letter was that Christians would be established, well grounded, in their faith. Paul understood that if believers were “rooted and established in [Jesus’] love,” they would “have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” and “be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19) No circumstance of life or emotional turmoil could then corrupt their faith. This was through “the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him!” The salvation of mankind had come in Jesus and this salvation secured their hope of eternity. Paul did not make this up. This was God’s own word he had “received from the Lord” and “what I also passed on to you.” (1 Corinthians 11:23) He did not follow “cleverly invented stories.” (2 Peter 1:16) Paul would bluntly state, “I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:12) The truth was that the message of the gospel of Christ had been “hidden” in the Old Testament, but was completely revealed in the New because of Jesus. As he said his long good-bye, Paul wanted his readers to know and trust the one whom they had faith in.
EXAMPLE: My father always wanted his children to “tell the truth.” He hated it if he knew we were trying to lie to him. He saw it not only as rebellion but as a statement of character. We soon learned that even if we were guilty, if we told the truth first, the punishment was always less harsh than if we tried to lie about it. The truth is important, especially when it concerns eternal spiritual things. This is why Jesus himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me," (John 14:6). In this succinct statement Jesus declared the uniqueness of his position. R. C. Stedman writes that “In the whole realm of theology there is no one like Jesus Christ. In all the history of the religions of the world, there is no one that is equal to him, or that can be remotely compared to him. Therefore, any gospel that minimizes Christ, or puts him on the level of other names, is a perversion of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ is the central figure of all history, of all time, of all faith.” The truth for the Apostle Peter was that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) And Paul would write: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.” (1 Timothy 2:5-7) As he said his long good-bye, Paul wanted his readers to know and trust completely the one whom he had faith in.
Conclusion:
What Paul said in his long good-bye to the Romans church applies for us as well today. We need to: Be mindful of those who help in the faith, be careful of those who hinder the faith, and know the One whom he had faith in.
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