While we are quick to say that all scripture is inspired of God, and is, therefore, useful to God's people passages like Romans 16 challenge us. Get your Bible out quickly and look over at Romans 16. There it is. A long list of names. A bunch of people we have never heard of, whose names we cannot pronounce. If Paul wants to say ""howdy"" to them that is fine, but of what value is this long list of salutations? Just what value do these verses have to the Christian of today?
I believe these verses have great value. They are genuine, faith-building, practical stuff that can help you serve God. Don't believe it? Keep your Bible open to Romans 16 and let's take a look at the first fifteen verses.
Lesson one: Christians work. Who is it that gets the majority of the greetings here? Those who are busy in the kingdom. ""I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea"" (v. 1). ""Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys my beloved"" (v. 9). For Paul being a Christian involves being involved in the work of the Lord, participating actively in the work of God's kingdom. Sometimes that may involve personal risk (note verse 4). Sometimes that may involve inconvenience, such as when we have to share our home with brothers and sisters in Christ needing a place to meet (verse 5). There are other designations in the passage. Some of those may speak to race (v. 7) or dear affection (v. 13). But none are more important than ""my fellow- laborer"" or ""she is a servant.""
Romans 16 is starting to get uncomfortable now, isn't it? If Paul writes to the congregation where you are, and then he starts to wind up the epistle with greetings at the end (as was the custom in Paul's day) is your name going to make this list? Note that Paul doesn't say anything about secular success. There is no ""way to go Tryphosa - glad you won a promotion"" or ""can't wait to see Herodion's new chariot."" All the trappings of life that we are so consumed with mean so little to God. It is activity in the kingdom. Work and labor. Helping saints. Teaching the Gospel. These are the matters that matter. Romans 16 helps us find our perspective again on what it is to be a Christian, doesn't it? Lesson two: there is room in Christ's church for everyone. You may be wondering where that lesson comes from. Bear with me for a moment for some background. Archaeologists have uncovered exhaustive lists of ancient names. Legal documents, bills of sale, inscriptions, tombstones - all have allowed scholars to put together an index of names in the ancient world. Just as names today have cultural and ethnic significance (think of someone with a Spanish last name in comparison to someone with a Scottish last name) so names in Bible time were very meaningful.
For example, we know that there were free-people in the church at Rome. Names like Urbanus, Priscilla, Aquila, and Rufus are never found in any documents discussing slave born persons. These are the names of free people. Interestingly, these are some of the people Paul calls fellow-workers. He does that, probably, because they were free people and could help him. Such folks would constitute a middle class in society, very much like you and I today.
But there were other people in this church. Names like Nereus, Hermes, Persis, Herodion, Tryphosa, Tryphena and Amplias are all fine slave names. That means these people were slaves. If they weren't, they would change their name to reflect their new status as a freeman or freewoman. Look at verse 12 carefully. Here are slaves, beset with all the troubles and problems of being literally owned by someone else, and yet they are busy for Christ. Slaves were part of Christianity and they were expected to serve Christ to the best of their ability like anyone else.
If the names are analyzed carefully it seems the Roman church was about 2/3 slave born, which would be about in line with normal Roman society. Now think about that congregation on a Sunday morning. You have people there in slavery, folks who have been in slavery but are not now, and free folks. In the middle of such incredible diversity, Paul expected them to get along. That is one of the major lessons and teachings of Romans. Nowhere does Paul say ""Because of your ethnic and financial differences you need to start two different congregations in town."" Paul doesn't say ""The slaves need to be in their own church on the south side of town."" What a lesson for us today. There have been tragic examples in the United States of brethren pushing brethren out because they were different. Their skin color, or background, or educational level wasn't the same and so they had to go. Romans 16 speaks forcefully against such. The gospel is for all, God's power to save is for Jews and Greeks, slave and free, and so there is room in the local congregation for everyone. The church in Rome's heart was big enough for everyone. So we must be as big hearted today.
Lesson three: woman are important. Who is it that are praised the most for being active in the Roman church? Women! Priscilla (vv. 3-4), Mary (v. 6), Junia (v. 7), Tryphena and Tryphosa (v. 12) and Persis (v. 12). All of these are singled out as important to Paul, doing important work. Only four men get a similar greeting: Aquila (vv. 3-4), Adronicus (v. 7), Urbana (v. 9). Apelles in verse 10 may be a woman's name too! What's the bottom line? Women matter, they are very, very important in the kingdom and they render valuable, needed, and necessary service.
We are less than honest with the history of congregations in this country if we do not admit that some times women have been treated as second-class citizens. Because they are expressly forbidden to teach and preach in a mixed group, and probably more than anything, because this country has been very masculine in its ways and customs, women have, in some ways, stood in man's shadow in American churches of Christ. Some men have even openly taught and expressed the view, in times past, that women were actually inferior to men.
Frankly, a lot of the problem is that we view the important jobs as being the ones done publicly in the assembly. Yet to imagine for a moment that making announcements, waiting on the Table and leading singing are somehow ""better"" or ""more important"" than the acts of service and care that women render so well betrays an incredibly warped view of Christianity.
If you don't believe women have been treated poorly, just note what has happened with verse 7. There is tremendously good evidence that the name ""Junia"" is a female name. But by the middle ages many (male) scholars were arguing that it was short for ""Junias"" - a male name that did not exist in Rome. Why? Because they just couldn't conceive of a woman doing work that would make her important in the kingdom, in fact, rank her up with the apostles! In all likelihood, Adronicus and Junia were a married couple who worked together in the kingdom, just like Aquila and Priscilla. Unfortunately, some can't stand the idea that a women can do vital work in God's kingdom and be recognized for it.
Romans 16 teaches us to get past that. Women count. In God's eyes the labor and service they render is not second rate, unimportant, meaningless, or trivial. Yes, there are God-given restrictions on a woman's role, but that doesn't mean she is inferior to men or should be treated that way. Romans 16 warns us against relegating women to the back corner of the church. Instead we must joyously let them serve God to the fullest of their ability and recognize and appreciate them for it. Women count!
There is more here than one might have thought, yes? Romans 16 is a wonderful illustration that if we will but study God's word with an intent to learn and apply what is there we will find that scripture is indeed ""profitable.""
Book
of the Month The Westside church is focusing on 12 books of the Bible
this year, reading each of them carefully to really understand them and
to learn how to be better Bible readers and students. The book for December
is Romans.