Sung Heroes
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FYI: I almost always develop my sermons the same way. For each point, I use the prompts Explain, Illustrate, Argue, Apply. I don’t always list them separately (sometimes I think they are too tangled together- in this sermon, my 3rd point is really a bridge to the conclusion), but I try to always do each one. Explain is where I try to make it clear what the passage is saying, Illustrate is where I try to use a story/a quote/etc to make the point of the section vivid, so it will stick out in people’s minds. Argue is where I try and make it believable, answering the questions people might have that I did not cover in “Explain.” In Apply, I try to make it practical, by hitting a couple of realistic ways that we can live out the passage. If I get off script, hopefully knowing what section I am on will help you find my place.
Introduction
Introduction
Today, we are concluding the book of Romans, by reading the epilogue of chapter 16. Turn with me there in your Bibles.
One of the architects of the American Revolution has counties named after him in at least 14 states. He wrote many of the key points that were later crystallized into the founding documents of the Republic, he was the one who sent Paul Revere out on his midnight ride and he was a close associate with men like John Hancock and Samuel Adams. He fought at the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, where although he was a Major General, he chose to fight as a private on the front lines. When he ran out of ammo, he stayed on the front lines until he died - to allow the militia to make its escape. His death served the same kind of purpose the Alamo did - as a rallying cry to bring more people to the fight. Does anyone know his name?
Joseph Warren. You have probably never heard of him. In our history textbooks, he is overshadowed by those who lived after the war to write memoirs and hold high office, so his key contributions are forgotten. How many other names have been forgotten? James Armistead Lafayette, the slave who volunteered to fight and served as a valuable spy who helped undermine Benedict Arnold, who returned to slavery for 4 years after the war because the law granting freedom to slaved did not apply to volunteers. Edmund Ross who broke from his part in the impeachment proceedings against Andrew Johnson, where he stood with the Constitution and the good of the country, even though it cost him everything. Douglas Ring, who invented the cellphone. Normal Borlaug, whose dwarf wheat prevented mass starvation. Charles Drew, who created the modern blood bank, saving countless lives in WW2 and losing everything for opposing the segregation of blood by race.
We could spend all day listing people who have made major contributions to history, but have been lost to the mists of time. The truth is that you and I will probably never do anything that would earn us a place in lists of forgotten heroes, much less the actual history books. What we do will be quickly forgotten, and in a few generations, no one will know we lived.
This final chapter of Romans might seem strange. Why does Paul, in the middle of the New Testament, list the names of dozens of men and women, the vast majority of whom are recorded nowhere else? Like the genealogies in Genesis, this might be the kind of passage where your eyes glaze over. The whole Bible is inspired, but maybe it is not all inspiring. But I don’t think that is fair. I think that this passage teaches us something about how we ought to think about our service for God, and how we ought to think about each other.
Let’s see what it is. Would you stand with me if you are able for the reading of God’s Word?
I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also. Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us. Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord. Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved. Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus’ household. Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord. Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord. Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them. Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them. Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Timotheus my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you. I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
When Paul, guided by the Spirit of God, records the names of these men and women, he is screaming across the pages of history: people may forget what you do, but God never will. Do you get discouraged, and feel like you are spinning your wheels? He knows your name, and remembers your service. Do you feel like all of the people you try and love the most mistreat you the most quickly? Believe me, brothers and sisters, Jesus knows what that feels like. Far from being the end we can skip, this serves as the capstone of the whole letter.
We are sinners, saved because God loves us, brought to God and to each other by His love, and made right with God by faith alone. Paul demonstrates the centrality of that loving unity, by listing the names of these that might be called “little people,” by the world’s standards. Our big idea this morning. Everyone else may forget, but God doesn’t forget.
Big Idea: God Doesn’t Forget
Big Idea: God Doesn’t Forget
We are going to see this in a couple of ways, but let’s start by surveying some of those that God chooses to remember. Our first point:
No Service is Unnoticed
No Service is Unnoticed
Explain
I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.
Phoebe was the one who delivered this letter on Paul’s behalf, so we might expect him to mention her. He wanted the Roman church to be sure to treat her well, to receive her “as becometh saints” - give her a Christian welcome. But Paul gives a very specific reason she should be helped. She had been a benefactor to many, including Paul. This probably means that she provided for their material needs and helped Paul focus on his ministry. Paul says that she has helped him, and asks them to return the favor by giving her lodging and supplies. We talked about this some last week, when we talked about supporting missionaries. Your financial gifts are not forgotten by God.
Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
Priscilla and Aquila, a married couple who had been expelled from Rome and had now returned, assisted Paul and stuck their necks our for him. They put their lives on the line for his life - and so all of the churches Paul established gave thanks to God for them. When your service helps another, God does not forget.
Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
Epaenetus was wellbeloved by Paul, and the only thing that is mentioned is that he was the first to be saved in Asia. Isn’t this interesting? He did not have much to do with being there early in Paul’s ministry, but because his obedience to believe the gospel was an encouragement and an inspiration to Paul, it formed the beginning of a relationship that makes Paul call him “wellbeloved,” and list him alongside these others. It seems like a tiny thing of chance to us, but God does not forget.
Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
Andronicus and Junia were another couple imprisoned for the faith, and were well known missionaries. “Apostle” means “sent-out one,” and is used to refer to the 12 sent out by Jesus, but also the broader group of those sent out by churches to carry the gospel. These seem like the kind of people Paul ought to recognize, but then look at verse 13:
Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.
Paul mentions Rufus, but then Rufus’ mother, who cared for Paul like a mother. We don’t know what this woman did, but Paul refers to her as his mother, and so we might guess that she showed compassion and support for him. You and I know people like that, who treat people like they are their own children. Many are here this morning. God does not forget.
Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.
Gaius opened his home up to Paul in Corinth, and allowed the church to meet there. For this hospitality, his name is recorded in the pages of Scripture, forever. Incredibly - God does not forget.
These names run a broad spectrum, from the seemingly trivial to the obviously important, but no act of service for God is insignificant. Isn’t that encouraging for you and I?
Illustrate
This really makes sense, if we take a moment to consider it. If you told me your baby’s first words, I would probably forget, unless there was something incredible about them. I am not likely to spend a lot of time or energy remembering if your son’s first word was “momma” or “dadda.” But you can bet that I know what my daughter’s first word was - pup pup, by the way, Zorro beat Colleen and me. You can bet that I remember when Samuel learned to roll over, when Ana first said her own name and when Colleen aced her teacher certification test on the first try. Accomplishments that don’t seem like much to someone else are everything when it is someone you love. That is the way that God looks at you and me.
Argue
Of course, there is some pushback on this idea. It seems unbelievable that the God who rules over the whole world would care about what individual human beings do. This is why geniuses like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Locke were so attracted to deism. They thought God was just a watchmaker who set the universe in motion and could not imagine that God cared for individuals. But the central message of Christianity, which Paul has been hammering home throughout Romans, is that God loves us and has demonstrated it by sending His Son to die on a cross. Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection are open to historical inquiry. The apostles said they saw Jesus alive again after he died, and their enemies record how 10 of them gave their lives, refusing to recant. Someone may die for what she believes - but the apostles died for what they saw. Even when faced with imprisonment and death, there is no historical hint that a single one of the apostles ever recanted. They gave their lives for the truth of the resurrection, not because they believed someone else’s word, but because they saw it themselves. God has proven His care for us - down to the tiniest detail. The truth we learned in the first 8 chapters of Romans, that we are unworthy, but made acceptable to God by grace, is demonstrated for us here.
Apply
I want to make a couple of quick applications before we move on.
First, if you have never been saved, this passage cuts both ways. Works of service for God do not go unnoticed, but neither do sins against God. It is not enough to be a pretty-good person with a vague faith in God. You must realize that every wrong thought you have ever had, every wrong thing you have ever done, is open before Jesus. But He stands ready to forgive, if you will agree with Him that you are guilty, and trust that He has come to take all of your sin away.
Now, if you are a Christian, serving in some unseen way, I want to remind you that your service does not go unnoticed by God. Those who serve in our children’s department, wiping noses and picking up goldfish, are not forgotten by God. Those who serve on the food teams, bringing comfort and peace to families at their time of grief, are not forgotten by God. Those who serve in our prayer room, lifting up our services even as they take place, are not forgotten by God. When you love your spouse when they are unlovable, forgive your children when they are intolerable, and do your best at work, even when no one would know - your service is not forgotten by God. The trash picker uppers, the car parkers, the greeters the van drivers, and whoever else I forget are not forgotten by God. Did our special in song connect with you this morning? We need a powerful reminder of this truth.
Let me show you some pictures from our teen trip this week, giving up part of their Spring Break to beautify the camp.
— Last pic is Jason painting
I want to move on, but let me make one more point first. We are slow to be grateful and quick to complain. It is part of the me-myself-and-I conformed-to-the-world sin nature that we all have. But Paul listing these names does not just tell us that no act of service is forgotten by God. He was telling them too. Let someone who is serving God know that it matters to you.
Paul interrupts this list of names with two side arguments. Let’s look in verse 17
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
Our next point is that
We Will Serve God or Self
We Will Serve God or Self
Explain
Paul, in the middle of praising all of these people who are on the same team, serving without selfishness, stops to warn them about those who are selfish. He warns them - beseeches or begs them - to mark the people who are divisive. One of the greatest enemies of a church is someone who wants to cause division. They gripe and complain about how little other people are doing, and try to gather support for themselves while encouraging other people to join in their criticism. Yet, they don’t actually do anything except make trouble. You have probably worked with people like this: they are unhappy unless there is drama. They make it sound nice - “good words and fair speeches,” but they only fool the naive, who Paul calls “the simple.” These people who are divisive are listed side by side with those teach false doctrine that encourages sin. Often, these people are one and the same, although it may not be obvious. If love is the true mark of a Christian, we ought to be very careful trusting what a divisive, unloving person teaches. Your character counts.
“Watch out for those people!” He says, and says it boldly. Mark them, and avoid them. Because, no matter what they say, they are not serving Jesus, but their own appetites. Someone who is not a servant, who is trying to undermine the peace of God’s church, is not someone to be humored. This is a hard teaching, but there is no getting around it. We have to steer clear of this kind of person, because they are not what they seem. Their subtly is toxic, and we can easily slide into it.
Illustrate
In his book, Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges wrote: ““If I complain about the difficult circumstances of my life, I impugn the sovereignty and goodness of God and tempt my listener to do the same.” He put teeth to that in another book, Trusting God, by saying: “when we complain about the weather, we are actually complaining against God who sent us our weather.” Do you catch that? Do you see how the divisive, complaining person is actually a blasphemer?
Argue
That quote has always stuck with me, but I have not been very good at abiding by it. It is easy to complain, easy to make it sound holy, and easy to listen when someone else complains. But Paul makes it plain that this is the antithesis of the real Christian life. Faithful Christians, like the Christ they follow, live to serve. If we serve our own bellies - our own fleshly desires - there is no room to serve God. We will always pull toward one of these poles: serving unnoticed and letting God reward us, or serving for the praise of people and turning our backs on God.
Apply
What is the example Jesus set for us? He laid aside His glory to serve. “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.” There is a kind of unavoidable division - Jesus Himself said He came not to bring peace but a sword - but for those who have become God’s children by grace through faith, there is no room for it. We don’t wallpaper over our differences, but run to the Bible, and rally around what God has revealed about Himself. That tells us something about how churches ought to operate, with love for one another and a total devotion to God’s Word. Don’t be sucked in by those who would cause division or undermine what God has taught. They are only serving themselves with all of their slick talk.
But there is something here about our work lives too. The people who we work alongside that are prone to cause division are the ones who expect to profit from that division. They are not whining to you for any reason except to get you on their side. There is a little of this in all of us, where we pretend we are seeking advice but are actually looking for validation. When you see that - smother it. There is only room for one King in my life, and I had better make it Jesus, not Justin.
For those of you who are unmarried, looking at dates: be careful of the ones who use good words and fair speeches to prop themselves up, and drive a wedge between you and your friends or family. The spouse you want is the one who is a servant.
In elections, whether for President or Dog Catcher, you want leaders who are followers of Christ first. You don’t want the best orator or the one who leads people astray. When I went through a particularly obnoxious phase in Junior High, my dad told me that he would like to pat me on the back, but my hand was in the way. That is not what we are looking for. We want someone who loves and serves quietly, deflecting attention rather than seeking it. Interesting, the business world has seen this. If you have read Good to Great or the Five Levels of Leadership, you know that what God has shown us about great leaders pops up in every arena.
Watch our for those whose God is their belly, and seek out those whose God is the Lord.
So, we come to this paradox. We are reassured that God does not forget our service, and no act is too small for His notice, but we also must face the fact that our service is not for us. We seek crowns to lay at the feet of Jesus. Our final point:
Our Service is for God’s Glory
Our Service is for God’s Glory
Let’s look in verse 25 at Paul’s benediction over the church at Rome. After such a long letter, what is his prayer for these people?
Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
Explain:
His prayer is, first of all, that God would establish them by the power of the gospel. The full extent of the gospel was in the heart of God from before the beginning of the world, but was not revealed until Christ came. When He came, it is not revealed in Paul’s preaching about Jesus, such as this letter. Now, like hearing a riddle once you have heard the answer, all of the Old Testament makes sense. The law and the prophets suddenly fit. And what is this great mystery? The all of the nations can come to God, and bring Him glory through faith. Everything we do is not for us, but for Him.
Paul has taught us a lot in these pages. We have learned that all of mankind is bound by sin, no matter who you are or where you are from. We ignore our own conscience, the testimony of nature around us and God’s commandments to us, so the final verdict on all of mankind is nothing but “guilty.” That guilt can never be expunged by good works, any more than a murderer can do enough work in a soup kitchen to earn a pardon. But there is pardon - and the whole Bible testifies that it can only come in one way. From the time that God told Adam that the child of the woman would crush the head of the serpent and he believed - all of the heroes of the Old Testament learned that they only way they could have a relationship with God was by faith. In the Old Testament, they had faith that Jesus would come and die in their place; in our world, we have faith that Jesus did come and die in our place, but the principle is the same. We have peace with God when we confess that we could never have peace with God on our own, and humbly admit that only God’s mercy will do us any good. God’s mercy supremely revealed when He became a Man and died on a cross for us. Paul demonstrates that when we place our faith in Jesus, God changes our heart, and begins to change the rest of us. That change continues from the moment that you become a child of God until God raises you up in glory, always growing but never complete in this life, leaving us in a perpetual struggle between the temptation to sin against God and the Holy Spirit drawing us to God. That argument, that we are sinners on the road to glory, is the point of Romans 1-8.
Romans 9-11 spells out how God works this out with His Old Testament people, the Jews, and the rest of the world - the Gentiles. There we learn that God will fulfill all of the promises He made to the nation of Israel, but that He has only one family. There has only ever been one way to belong to Him - faith in His Son. Chapters 12-15 told us how we ought to live in light of the things we have learned. Christians do not behave a certain way so that God will love us, but because He does. Our high calling is to live like what God has already made us. The world system constantly presses us into its mold “Me, Myself and I.” But against that pride stands the example and the command of Jesus: “love.” In our churches, our families and our society, love must be the thing which defines us. “By your love for one another will all men know that you are my disciples,” Jesus said. And now, in chapter 16, Paul has put legs to the whole thing. That love that flows from a forgiven heart appreciates the tiny acts of service of other people, and God does too.
There is one central point to all of this: To God only wise, be glory. Everything in Romans has been about revealing what a glorious God that God is. Maybe that seems strange - isn’t it egotistical for God to point to Himself? But if God pointed to someone other than Himself, He would be an idolater. When you or I point to ourselves as the greatest, the problem is that we aren’t. But God truly is. And if God knows that our greatest fulfillment will be in knowing Him as He truly is, then revealing Himself in love is an act of love. We are who we were made to be when we bring God glory. And that glory is received and revealed through what Jesus has done for us, by dying for us.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Do you see it, brothers and sisters? You and I are not the main characters in our story, and never will be. We live to serve, whether it is a dramatic service, or a small one, it does not go unnoticed, or forgotten by God. The small moments, can be powerful ones. Take a moment to consider sports. How many times is a team penalized because of the unsportsmanlike conduct of one player? Everyone suffers, because they lose sight of the big picture for a moment of ego. How many Johnny Manziels are there, who waste a lot of promise because they do not realize it is not about them? How many people miss opportunities to do great things, because they will not get the credit, or think they are above their part? Our life is not about us. It is not about our preferences or our fame. It is about God’s glory, and nothing done with that in mind is ever wasted.
If you have never made the conscious decision to accept Christ as your Savior, and if His Spirit is drawing you now, are you ready to lay down your self-worship and come to Him?
If you are a Christian, are you ready to live for something bigger than yourself? Your life is too precious - your own ego is far too small a thing to live for. Are you ready to make a decision to live for His glory alone?