We Are One in Christ

Romans 16:6-16

• 6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
• 7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
• 8 Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord.
• 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
• 10 Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
• 11 Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
• 12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
• 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
• 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them.
• 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them.
• 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.

INTRODUCTION: In this section of Paul's closing to his epistle to the Romans, we find a long list of "hello theres!" to his friends at the church in Rome. Twenty-three people are mentioned by name. Others are mentioned without names: "his sister, those in the household of Aristobulus, those in the household of Narcissus, the brothers," and so on. Paul realized that EVERYONE in the church was important, and so he tried to remember as many people as he could, and he was trying to make them feel good, and appreciated. Our lesson today is simply this: there is only one Church, only one Body of Christ. All Christians are in it, and all are important.

I. Consider the variety of people mentioned by Paul.

• A "Mary" (There are six Marys mentioned in the New Testament)
• Relatives and non-relatives of Paul himself.
• Jews and Romans and Greeks, and maybe a Persian lady (Persis means "Persian woman").
• Men and women.
• Young and old.
• Rich and poor (Narcissus is thought to have been a wealthy freedman of the Roman emperor Tiberius).
• Noble and freemen and slave (Ampliatus, Urbanus, Stachys and Apelles are all common slave names of slaves in the Imperial household -- Aristobulus may be the grandson of Herod the Great and brother of Herod Agrippa I)
• Educated and uneducated.
• High class and low class.

The church of Jesus Christ is SUPPOSED TO BE revolutionary in that it is for everyone, for all kinds of people. We are the family of God, and we love each other because of Jesus Christ, and not for worldly religions. Individual Churches must NOT become class conscious, or exclude anyone, but we often do just that. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes without even thinking about it.

The Apostle James preaches against favoritism in James 2:1-9...

• 1 ¶ My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favouritism.
• 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.
• 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here’s a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet,"
• 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
• 5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
• 6 But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?
• 7 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
• 8 ¶ If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbour as yourself," you are doing right.
• 9 But if you show favouritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as law-breakers.

II. Consider what impressed Paul about these people.

None of the worldly differences impressed Paul. He is not praising anyone because of his/her sex, wealth, noble family, or even being his own relative. What impresses Paul the most? Christian character and devotion to the cause of Christ:

• "who worked hard for you"
• "who went to prison with me"
• "who are approved by the apostles"
• "who is a fellow worker"
• "who is approved in Christ"
• "who has been like a mother to me"

We should be like Paul. We should admire people for their character, and their good deeds, and nothing else should matter. We don't elect people to be deacons or elders because they are successful businessmen, or because they belong to the right family, or because they have connections, or because they are wealthy. Only they character, good works, and loyalty to Christ should matter.

Jesus taught that it is our deeds done in His name that distinguish us as God's true children (Matt 25:31-40)...

• 31 ¶ "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
• 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
• 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
• 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
• 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
• 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
• 37 "Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
• 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
• 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
• 40 "The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

III. Consider how we are all living stones in Christ.

The cover of our bulletin today shows a brick wall, with the sun shining through a hole. When I saw the bulletin early last week, I immediately began writing the names in the Book of Romans on the bricks: Rufus, Mary, Aquila, Priscilla, Junia, Urbanus, Herodian etc. etc. I was amazed at how the cover of the bulletin fit in with our scripture passage for today.

The Apostle Peter wrote in I Peter 2:4-5....

• 4 ¶ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—
• 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

We are living stones, being built into a spiritual house of God. Jesus is the Cornerstone of this house, the Church of Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION: Consider how we also are the Altar of God.

Saturday, yesterday, at the meeting of the TN Valley Presbytery, I listened to a sermon by Jim Pickett, pastor of our new PCA church in Eastlake. His sermon was based on Joshua 8:30-35...

• 30 ¶ Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel,
• 31 as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the LORD burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings.
• 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua copied on stones the law of Moses, which he had written.
• 33 All Israel, aliens and citizens alike, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD, facing those who carried it—the priests, who were Levites. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.
• 34 Afterwards, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law.
• 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the aliens who lived among them.

I was immediately struck by the nature of the construction of the altar: "uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used." These were not stones chisled by stone masons to regular dimensions. These were not standard size concrete blocks. They were all different sizes and shapes. Who made these natural stones? Who shaped these natural stones? God! They were created and formed by the hand of God Himself.

The Church is God's altar. We are living stones. We are stones made by God and no one else. No mere human being made us become born into the family of God. Thank God for Sunday School teachers, and parents, and pastors, and evangelists, BUT: It is God who chose us from before the foundation of the world. God who shaped us. God who called us to faith in His Son. God who placed us in the Church the Body of Christ.

And on that altar Joshua and the Israelites offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Blood was shed, and spilled and flowed all over that altar, and every living stone, every stone shaped by God, was covered by the blood of the sacrifices. Likewise we are all covered by the blood of Jesus. We are all different. We are...

• Relatives and non-relatives.
• Jews and Romans and Greeks, and Western European, and Eastern European, and Asian and African...
• Men and women. Young and old. Rich and poor.
• Educated and uneducated. High class and low class.

But we are all one in Christ Jesus, and we are all covered by His blood. This is the lesson of Romans 16:6-16