Why Bother with Names?
In today’s scripture Paul sends his
personal greetings to 26 individuals. You may wonder why bother with names? Is
it necessary to include all those names and personal greetings in the
scriptures? What does this chapter, Romans 16, have to teach us today? Emil
Brunner called Romans 16 “one of the most instructive chapters of the New
Testament,” because it encourages
personal relationships of love in the church.[1]
As we reflect on the names and circumstances of the people Paul greets, one
particular lesson we can learn today is this: God wants us, the church, to experience a profound unity in diversity.
The Diversity of the Church
The
Roman church was a diverse body in race, class and gender. As for race, we have both Jewish and Gentile
Christians. For example, Aquila and Pricilla were Jewish Christians in verse 3,
and so were Paul’s relatives in verses 7 and 11. But we see that others on his
list were Gentiles. As for class, on
the one hand, some of the names in the list were slaves. Ampliatus (8), Urnanus
(9), Hermas (14), Philologus and Julia (15) were common names for slaves at
that time. On the other hand, some were from royal family. For instance,
Aristobulus mentioned in verse 10 was the grandson of Herod the Great and
friend of the Emperor Claudius. So some of the church members were from
imperial household. As for gender,
nine out of 26 people named are women. Apparently, Paul thinks highly of them
all, and singles out four of them (Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis) as
having “work very hard.” This shows that women were active and influential in
the ongoing ministry and mission of the church. The Roman church was diverse in
every way.
The Unity of the Church
Along with this diversity, the Roman church did experience a profound
unity that surpassed all its differences. Then and now, issues on race,
class, and gender are often considered as an “unsolvable” problem. How, then,
were the Roman Christians able to enjoy the great unity in the midst of this
essential difference? The answer is “In
Christ.” In his greetings, 10 times Paul describes his friends as being “in
Christ” (4 times) or “in the Lord (6 times).” The Romans Christians were
different in terms of their race, background, social and economic status,
gender and many more, but in spite of all these differences, they were still
able to be united. How could it be possible? It was possible because they were in Christ! For there is neither Jew nor
Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we
are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal
3:28).
Then, what does it mean to live in Christ? It means to live in the reign
of Christ. It means to live under the Lordship of Christ. It means to live in
his presence. Sometimes a story or picture is worth a thousand words. Let me
tell you a story, called, “The Rabbi’s Gift.” The story is about a monastery
that was going through hard times. Once it was thriving, but now because of
many different reasons there were only five old monks left in the decaying
house: the abbot and four monks, all over seventy in age. Basically, the
monastery was dying. One day they heard that a rabbi occasionally visited a
shabby hut in the deep woods surrounding the monastery, and now he was in there.
So the abbot visited the rabbi to get some advice to save the monastery. After
hearing the abbot’s story, the rabbi said, “I know how it is. It is the same in
my town. Almost no one comes to the synagogue anymore.” So, the old abbot and
the old rabbi wept together. The abbot asked, “Is there nothing you can tell me
that would help me save my dying order?” “No, I am sorry,” the rabbi answered. “I
have no advice to give. But, I can tell you that the Messiah is one of you.”
When the abbot returned, his fellow
monks gathered around him to ask, “How did it go? What did he say?” The abbot
said, “The rabbi said that the Messiah is one of us. But I don't know what he
meant.” Since then, the old monks contemplated the rabbi’s words. The Messiah
is one of us? If so, which one? He probably meant Father Abbot. He has been our leader for more than a generation. On
the other hand, he might have meant Brother
Thomas. Certainly, Brother Thomas is a holy man. Everyone knows that Thomas
is a man of light. Certainly, he could not have meant Brother Elred! Elred gets crotchety at times. But come to think of
it, even though he is a thorn in people's sides, when you look back on it,
Elred is virtually always right. Often very right. Maybe the rabbi did mean
Brother Elred. But surely not Brother
Phillip. Phillip is so passive, a real nobody. But then, almost
mysteriously, he has a gift for always being there when you need him. He just
magically appears. Maybe Phillip is the Messiah. Of course, the rabbi didn't
mean me. He couldn't possibly have
meant me. I'm just an ordinary person. Yet supposing he did? Suppose I am the
Messiah? O God, not me. I couldn't be that much for You, could I? As they
contemplated, the old monks began to treat each other with respect on the
chance that one among them might be the Messiah. And they also began to treat
themselves with extraordinary respect.
People still occasionally came to
visit the monastery in its beautiful forest to picnic on its tiny lawn, or to
take a walk, or to meditate in the decaying chapel. As they did so, they sensed
the aura of extraordinary respect that began to surround the five old monks and
seemed to radiate out from them and permeate the atmosphere of the place. There
was something strangely, mysteriously compelling, about it. Hardly knowing why,
people began to come back to the monastery to picnic, to play, to pray. They
brought their friends to this special place. And their friends brought their
friends. Then, some of them started to talk with the old monks and asked if
they could join them. Then another, and another. So, within a few years the
monastery had once again become a thriving order and, thanks to the rabbi's
gift.[2]
Living in the Presence of God
So how can we, the church, can
experience the unity in its all differences? How can we experience revival and
thrive once again? There are many important factors: Leadership skill, inspiring
message, uplifting music, strategic planning – yes, they are all important. But
there is one thing that is far more
important: the presence of God. We
may have a new, fancy church building. We may have engaging, encouraging words
and music. But if we don’t have the presence of God, we are nothing. On the
contrary, our church building may be decaying and leaking. Our congregation may
be aging. The message may not be compelling and relevant enough. But if we do
have the presence of God among us, there is fullness of joy (Ps 16:11), freedom
(2 Cor 3:17), peace, life and life-changing stories and testimonies. So what we
need most today is the presence of God.
Then how can we experience the
presence of God? What does it look like to live in the presence of God? As we
heard the story of the Rabbi’s gift, one of the best ways is to love one another. The Bible says, “No
one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is
perfected in us” (1Jn 4:12, ESV). Where there is love, there is the presence of
God. When we live a life of love just as Christ loved us, we build the
community filled with the presence of God, bringing healing, reconciliation,
and unity.
Love
begins here. Love begins with me, with us. As I close, I would like to call
on us, our church, to engage in some concrete actions to foster love – two
things. First, personal holy love. Find
the Messiah in the church who needs your extra care and encouragement. Reach
out to that person. You may make a phone call, or send a card, or visit that
person. If you are able, consider opening your house to invite that person. Make
yourself available, be fully present, listen to him and her. Do to that person
as you would do to the Lord. Second, social
holy love. Think about who is your neighbor in need most in the society,
and pray for them, and support them. We, as the United Methodist Church, pray
for our immigrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking neighbors, pray for their
safety, protection, and freedom. As we know, UMCOR ministry is very active
worldwidely. Refugee ministry has been at the heart of its work. In 1999 UMCOR
established Justice For Our Neighbors (JFON) for more effective and specialized
refugee ministry. Throughout the month of July we, as a church, will support
JFON ministry via UMCOR, so that our JFON network may offer immigration legal
services to separated families. Consider supporting JFON ministry.
As we love one another deeply from
the heart in our church, as we love our neighbors in need, particularly our
immigrant and refugee neighbors today and treat them with respect and dignity,
people would sense the aura of respect and smell the fragrance of Christ’s love.
Then, they would say, “Surely the presence of God is here in this place.” And
they will glorify the Father in heaven. My beloved friends in Christ, let us
love one another. Amen.
[1]
John Stott, The Message of Romans: God's
Good News for the World (InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, IL, 1994), 392.
[2]
M. Scott Peck, The Different Drum:
Community Making and Peace (Touchstone, 1998), 13-15.
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