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Those United In The Lord
Authored by Takao Kiyohiro, Osaka, Japan ktakao@po.teleway.ne.jp
Translated by Rev. Mike Furey mfurey@seidata.com
at http://www.j-e-s-u-s.org.
TEXT:
Romans 16:1-16
1. In chapter sixteen beginning with verse one which I read to you today, there are individual messages
of greeting recorded. When we compare them to the cases in other epistles, the words of greeting in
this epistle are written with a lot more detail. Some think Paul couldn't have had as many acquaintances
as this in the church at Rome which he had never visited and that this section was not a part of the
original composition. They would conjecture that a part of the epistle addressed to the church at
Ephesus, which had a deep relationship with Paul, might have been inserted here. However, it is
possible that through various courses Christians acquainted with Paul had migrated to Rome the center
of the [mediterranean] world at that time. Or, we don't need to think that all the people used as an
example here were personal acquaintances of his. At any rate, it will suffice us to consider that he
deliberately needed to emphasize the lives of these acquaintances he knew even if the Roman church as
a whole was mostly strangers to him.
2. Well, at first glance this passage seems more tedious than any other section in this letter, yet, as we
read it carefully, the church at that time is rather depicted by this very passage as altogether quite lively.
We can know through a passage like this what sort of relationships in the church Paul and the other
Christians were having with each other. Reading a passage like this is a good opportunity for us living
in these modern times to focus in on our church.
Their Awareness Of Their Solidarity In The Lord
3. So what is the first thing we should read out of this passage? It should probably be the true
solidarity among them.
4. First of all Paul introduces Phoebe a servant of the church at Cenchrea. Cenchrea, where Phoebe
used to be, was a port town at a distance of about eleven kilometers from Corinth. It is generally held
that he had entrusted this epistle to Phoebe who was living in this [port] town which was a strategic
commercial center. The church at Rome was unfamiliar to Phoebe as well. Therefore, Paul was giving
them an introduction to Phoebe.
5. The style of this introduction is very interesting. Paul implores the Roman church to please welcome
her in and give her any necessary assistance. He no doubt took the assistance of the church at Rome
as necessary for the long journey she was making and for the completion of the work she had to
accomplish. However, the interesting thing is his way of writing those reasons. The basis of Paul's
seeking assistance for Phoebe was that she had been a helper of many people and that she had been an
assistant for Paul in particular.
6. The idea of "paying back a favor" exists the world over. Anyone who has gotten help would try to
help someone back in turn. However, the person who received a favor has not always been able to
return the favor to the one owed. In that case we would feel it might be possible to show some other
persons our thanks for the kindness we received. At my home church in Tokyo I was prayed for by a
lot of people and nurtured by them. Soon after I went to seminary to become a pastor and still I was
supported by many people at that time both mentally and materially. How could I ever pay back all my
debts to them? It has to be by my service to the church which has sent me out as an evangelist and as
a pastor. The place where I show my thanks to the many people who prayed for me and supported
me since my childhood is not at my home church, but is at this church, The Osaka Nozomi Church,
where I have been sent now.
7. In the same way, we are familiar with this idea of paying back with thanksgiving for the things we
have received to the partners [we had] or even to some other persons. However, it seems Paul goes
another step further in what he is talking about [here]. The reason he wanted them to assist Phoebe
was that she was a helper to many persons and particularly to Paul himself. We would not normally
use a phrase, "Since this person has helped me, I want you to give her help," with people we had no
first hand relationship with. If somebody talks with words like that, we could assume some deep ties
were present among them. For example, let's consider a child talking to its father in a way like that.
[The child might] put it like this, "Father, please help him. Because he helped me."
8. "That you and some others were helped by Phoebe has nothing to do with us." Did the Roman
church say anything like that? Paul believed that they would not have. What we really see in this
expression [which] Paul [used] is their awareness of an extraordinarily deep solidarity. The church at
Rome was linked in a deep way to Paul and to the many people aided by Phoebe and became one
[through this]. Paul spoke with this fact as a premise, that is, that the fact that other people were
helped by Phoebe meant also that the Roman church was helped. That Paul was helped was also that
the church at Rome was helped.
9. As we read this we are forced to focus on the way the church is [today], which wouldn't be able to
write any message like this as an expected way of doing business and which has been so individualized
in modernity. The church [has slipped to the point where] it is only considered as a group of individuals
that have some faith. I recently saw a TV commercial* where some kids repeat, "You've got nothing
to do with me!" Well, I suppose the same thing is in the church too. We say, unconsciously aware of
it, "You've got nothing to do with me!" As long as we are not familiar with someone in particular, we
don't really relate to our own selves what happens to other persons. It's the same even in relationships
among church folks. One church doesn't have anything to do with other churches. What happens in
other churches has nothing to do with what happens in one's own church. "Paul's getting help from
Phoebe has got nothing to do with [us] in the church at Rome." That's what ends up happening.
10. So what in the world could have been the basis for this sense of solidarity that Paul had? I would
like for us to fix our attention on the relationships between Paul and those who are listed as examples
here with this text.
11. The relationships between these persons and Paul are expressed in various ways. If there were
persons like Phoebe who assisted Paul, there were also persons like Priscilla and Aquila who risked
their lives in saving Paul's life. There were also persons like Andronicus and Junias who had been in
prison with him. There were also co-laborers in specific works. There were also persons like the
mother of Rufus of whom Paul even said, "She was a mother to me, too." We can see the deep
interrelationships in this text between Paul and these persons.
12. However, the biggest tie between Paul and these persons was not that they had assisted Paul or
had tried to save Paul to the point of risking their lives. Nor was it that they did the same work. So
what was it then? As we read this passage something strikes us right away. In this portion of scripture
we have translated in several different ways phrases like "united in the Lord" and "for the Lord" but,
when translated literally we have the phrases "in the Lord" and "in Christ" repeated over and over. [We
find] it appearing ten times in this short passage. Paul's mindset is clearly apparent to us at this point.
The tie between Paul and these persons was primarily in their relationship "in the Lord." It was the
spiritual fact of their both being united to the one Lord. Aquila and Priscilla, who saved Paul's life at the
risk of their own, were not united to Paul, but were co-laborers with Paul because "they were united to
Christ Jesus."
13. The foundation for [interpersonal] ties in the church is not in the things [we] carry out together.
Nor is it in assisting someone or in receiving assistance. It is not even in [our] conversations with one
another, nor in [our trying] to understand each other. These are not the root, but they are the fruit
produced on the branches. Of course fruit is important. But, unless there are roots, fruit will not be
produced. We often say, "Hey, let's start something [new]" in order to build relationships with each
other. But, in truth they do not begin from there. They begin from recognizing each other as "people in
the Lord." We are not to look at each other in our direct personal relationships but we look through
the Lord. He affirms that it is a mutuality we have which is united by the Lord. It begins from that.
The Eschatological Nature Of The Church
14. Secondly, what we ought to see here is the eschatological nature of the interrelationships in the
church. We are truly to look at the relationships which come to be not by humankind but only by the
Holy Spirit.
15. Several things are clear as we look at the names inscribed here. First, there were Jews and
Gentiles there. With reference to the Jews, we understand [they were present] when Paul dared calling
them "my fellow countrymen and women." For example, there were Andronicus and Junias. It says
[people like] Herodian. It doesn't say in the text that they were fellow countrymen, but Priscilla and
Aquila were a Jewish couple. On the other hand, they think that Epenetus was a native of Asia Minor
and that he was a Gentile. The others, where the text doesn't say they were fellow countrymen, were
probably mainly Romans and Greeks.
16. Secondly, we can estimate from that text that there were persons who belonged to the various
social classes back in that time. The kind of language used here with reference to Priscilla and Aquila is
given as "the people of the church who gathered in their house." This language says, "a church in a
house." Not limited to the church at Rome but through out the land, the homes of mostly prosperous
Christians came to be supplied as places of worship. They believe that even the home of Priscilla and
Aquila, who moved to Rome, was one of those kinds of houses. An example of that kind of Christian,
which is found in scripture, is offered up in Philemon the master of the slave Onesimus, (Philemon 1:2).
Yet, on the other hand, in the listed names some typical slave names appear, [too]. It has names like
Ampliatus, Persis, and Phlegon. We know from a letter directed to the church at Corinth that in the
early church there were quite a few slaves. "Furthermore, in order to make those with any social
standing as powerless, God chose the nobodies in society, those in the lowest classes of people, and
those who are looked down upon," (First Corinthians 1:28).
17. Thirdly, we can see in this text masculine and feminine names together. First of all Phoebe is given
as the first example. Priscilla along with Aquila is given as an example. Mary's name appears. Junias
was probably a feminine name. We are also given references to the mother of Rufus and the sister of
Nereus. When I think of the male-centered patriarchal society back then, I suppose this was by no
means a light thing. It's that way even in today's church, but this brings to mind that in the early church
as well both men and women together did abundant works in the Lord.
18. As we look at this particular description we recall to mind the sermon that Peter gave to the
audience at the time of the descent of the Holy Spirit. He quoted Joel chapter three as a promise of the
end time hope. "God says. At the end time, I will pour out my Spirit on all persons. Thus, your sons
and daughters will prophesy, the young will have visions, the aged will have dreams. On both my men
servants and maid servants, at that time, I will pour out my Spirit. Thus, they will prophesy," (Acts 2:17
through 18).
19. God did not promise that the world would all be homogeneous [of the same kind of people].
There are boys in it. There are girls. There are also young people and old. There are servants, male
and female. All kinds of people are in it. The different people stay different. They don't become the
same. But, when the Spirit of God is poured out on all persons those differences wind up having no
essential meaning. Because they become at that point people who tell the will of God and praise him.
They prophesy together.
20. The fulfillment of that promise for the last days has already begun! Peter saw its inauguration in the
descent of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. What we are looking at in chapter sixteen is
precisely a fulfillment of the promise of this hope. Of course, the church is not an earthly paradise or
some utopia. There is sadness in it. There are troubles in it. There is hard work. There are wounds
from people's sins. Paul frequently acknowledges this. In actuality, even in this chapter the word "hard
work" is repeated. But, this thing has already begun. Thus, Jews and Gentiles exchange greetings with
each other by a holy kiss. Masters and slaves exchange greetings with one another by a holy kiss.
21. It is certainly so that when we look out across this world, the world is still as ever torn up and
tattered. It is a world broken up by human sin. The real world we see is one where because of sins
against one another, whether on a large scale with nation against nation and race of people against
another race or on a small scale going all the way down to within one household, [nations and persons]
inflict wounds on one another and bring harm to themselves. That's the world we are dead smack in.
Therefore, at the least, we are likely to want the place we are at to be a place where there is none of
this suffering. So, what we are seeking for is an homogenous small world. We are seeking to be with
the same kind of people. In doing that, at least when we are there we don't end up seeing our sin
spouting forth. At least when we are there we don't end up hurting other people and ourselves [so
much]. Whenever we talk like that, we are seeking a small world that is of all the same people.
22. That's so true. Each and every church is liable to think that. But, we have got to know that when
we have this type of desire for ourselves we turn into persons who relinquish the promise of God. God
promised to pour out his Spirit on all persons. Christ already hung on the cross. Christ already rose
from the dead. Christ already ascended to heaven. Christ already received and poured out the
promised Holy Spirit from the Father. This thing has already begun. Because God started it, he will
complete it. As we embrace this hope we [should] want to seek the kind of church that exchanges
greetings with love for one another [though] we are all different. In getting encouragement from this
message in chapter sixteen we [should] want to seek in prayer among ourselves for this model of the
church which the Bible is pointing to.
End Notes:
*TV commercial: It is the commercial for the Nippon Gaishi Ltd, a manufacturer of porcelain tubes.
The children in the commercial say, "You've got nothing to do with me!" But, a whispering midget pops
up, "But, we have something to do with them!" Likewise, the Holy Spirit whispers to us, "But, they
have something to do with you because of your union in Christ!"
Translated by Mike Furey
Hanover, IN, USA
mfurey@seidata.com
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