The Post-Script
Romans 16:1-20

Intro.

1. For the past many weeks we have been talking about the book of Romans. This books gives the central message of the gospel and is the most systematic presentation of the implications of the gospel that we have. Books have various purposes and when you come to the end of the book, what do you do? How do you finish it? I have written or edited five books. The ending is always a problem. The book that we call Romans is not the usual kind of book. It is a long letter and Paul uses the occasion to send some greetings to various people.

The kind of greeting that is involved here gives something of insight into the practice of the church at Rome, the people congregated there, some thing of Paul’s attitude toward the people. There is involved here a warmth, an intimacy, an appreciation for people that is related to the overall theme of the letter; the warmth and acceptance of ourselves by God, is reflected here .

2. Consequently, what I have to say this morning reflects something of what Paul says. There are some random comments that are too good to pass over. There's no great theme here. It is merely polishing up what is left over.

3. Let's look at the ideas : hard work, women, and affection.

I. Hard Work

1. The church at Rome became a growing dynamic church. There are many ingredients in church growth, but I would like to think about the people described here. Look at some of the descriptive phrases about these people: Phoebe, a helper of many and of myself as well, Mary, who worked hard among you, Andronicus and Junias, fellow. prisoners, Urbanus, our fellow worker, the beloved Persis, who worked hard in the Lord. What did these people do? I don't know. Phoebe was probably a person of some wealth because she had helped many. The other people 's work is not described. But what is the work that may be imagined? Undoubtedly, whatever the human need. If a person needs physical help, that need must be meet. If
a person needs spiritual redemption, that need must be met. The early church was a whole church--it gave what was needed. If famine brought its destruction other churches sent out of their sacrificial giving.

2. What about our church? There is a lot of hard work that needs to be done. We have people in need. We have people who have needed physical help. We've done some of that, but it is not easy job. It takes· time to be involved in someone's life. There is hard work in preparing to teach a class of kids. It is hard work teaching people who don’ t want to learn very easy. It's hard work making time to visit people. It's hard work trying to be faithful and loyal to the ongoing worship services of the church. It's hard work to practice music and share it with others. It's hard work to share your faith because there's always the point of rejection. Paul greets a couple of fellow prisoners which one may presume were imprisoned for their faith. It's hard work going from week to week without much visible growth in the life of the church.

3. Jerry Rankin is a S.Baptist missionary to Indonesia. For years they worked, sometimes a village would be receptive, but then later, they would return and find opposition to the gospel. The church grew a little a t a time. It was hard work. One day a woman showed up. No one knew who she was or where she came from. The missionary discovered that she lived several miles away in a village and that was her first opportunity to come to a Baptist church. Because of the great effort that she made in attending church, the missionary ssumed that she was a Christian. He was also curious why she passed sever al other churches and took the trouble to find the Baptist church which was not on the main street. She exp1ained that she came ten years before to a Baptist hospital, to Kediri (a full days' drive from Jember) and one of the missionary doctors had witnessed to her. Although she
did not become a Christian at that time, the impression of that
testimony continued to grow in her heart until ten years later she determined to find a Baptist church and become a Christian. Since it was difficult for her to come into town, the missionary offered to go to her vil1age and begin Bible study and worship services in her home. Now she and several of her family and neighbors have received Christ. A new village is open to the gospel because of e testimony ten years ago.

4. Have you been discouraged in what you're doing? Does it seem futile at times? Have you prayed for someone and nothing has happened? It's hard work to pray. My wife prayed for her sister for about 25 years before she became a Christian.

II. Women

1. The church has done some bad things with reference to
women. Emotions run high when Equal Rights Amendment is discussed and equal pay and other situations. I have heard people misuse Scripture in creating divisions of work among men and women.
"That'Women’s work!"!' We need to see what the Scripture has to
say about the role of the women. There's some interesting comments
about the women here in Romans.

2. The number of women greeted is also equal to the number of men. One count–and it is difficult to identify people--is that there were 18 men and l4 women greeted. Two women are greeted first--Phoebe and Priscilla. There are people who have quotes Paul's letter to the Corinthians whereby women are to be silent in church, and learn things et home. (Two points about that statement: (1) Women in the culture of the times were not given to learning. Paul does emphasize that women need to learn. (2) Corinthians is a problem church.

3. The great doctrinal books--as opposed to problem books states
that there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female in Christ. We are all one in Christ. In the relationship of marriage, the mutual command is given first: submit yourselves to one another.

3. Another point is that Phoebe is called a deaconess. Some Baptist churches have become incensed at thinking of deaconess. Paul wasn't. He regarded Phoebe with the highest order of respect. The role of the deaconess was probably more important then than now. The deacon could minister to the women of that culture in a way that a men could not. This is still true for missionaries in many cultures around the world, India, China, etc.

The role of the deaconess was emphasized so that in 112 A.D.
when a persecution of the Christians broke out, Pliny the Younger
was governor of Bithynia and wrote to the emperor Trajan indicating
that there were deaconesses among the Christians whom he
assigned to torture in his province.

4. Let's be clear about this. The modern missionary movement has benefitted by the role of the woman. Woman missionaries, Lottie Moon, and others have been blessed in their role. The mission program has been blessed. Sunday school teachers have been mainly women. The early church honored its women, and we must not viewed the role of the woman thru masculine prejudicial eyes.

III. Affection

1. This verse has always intrigued me. There are five times at the end of letters of the New Testament when the people were commanded to greet one another with a holy kiss. The intriguing thing about this verse is that nobody pays any attention to it. Let me put it in another context. We Baptists are people of the book. It's not unusual to hear
people say “ I believe the Bible, or the Bible is the Word
of God., if you don't believe the literal truth of the Bible, what can you believe? There is even a movement among Baptists known as the Baptist Faith and Message fellowship that is trying to siphon off support for independent seminaries, and other projects. They insist that they believe the Bible to be the literal word of God. But they don't practice this verse. I've been in Baptist churches, churches of other denominations across the country, and never once have I been greeted with a kiss. Do you believe the Bible says what it means, and means what it says?

Now don't mistake what I intend here. I don't want to have any of you wooly rascals kiss me. We must be careful when we talk about the Bible as the literal word of God. If we don't practice just such a small thing as this, how can we be consistent? There are things we regard as culturally related. The New Testament practice of washing the feet
of a hot dusty traveler was good for that area, but not applicable to the north country, or to en Eskimo. The principle of the kiss is that of affection. Let's talk about affection.

2. The early church greeted one another with a kiss on the forehead, or cheek or both cheeks, or the hand. This custom is still prevalent in some countries. When we visited a Christian family in Czechoslovakia we were embraced and kissed as we departed. There are other ways in expressing affection. But affection, where genuine, must be be expressed. Someone said to me in prayer meeting, I really appreciated the work that Lois is doing in visiting, turning up prospects. I don't remember whether I responded with "you ought to tell her” or not, but I believe it should be done.

3. Affection and appreciation can be expressed in a variety of ways. It can be a firm warm handshake with a few words, it can involve a touch on the arm, or squeeze around the shoulders, it can involve writing a note of appreciation for a meal, or a song sung, a word of encouragement, the giving of a small gift, the use of the telephone for a word of appreciation.

4. How do you generate affection? I don't think it can be done by me. In a very practical way, visit with the visitors, and if you're visiting, don't run off without getting acquainted. If you don't know someone, take the first step in getting acquainted; introduce yourself, there cannot be a fellowship of affection without the knowing of people in a fellowship.

Conclusion:
1. Does Paul’ s conclusion do anything for you? Can you see the fact that most worth while endeavors come about by hard work? If you have any feel for a ministering church that is a family oriented church--it will take hard work. What about your subtle feelings toward women? Christian people--of all people--need to realize the oneness in Christ. What about affection? Do you hesitate to express appreciation? The fellowship of God’s people should be a fellowship of love.

2. We have talked about the church that existed centuries ago. Today there is the challenge for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
Today we have the challenge of recognizing the full stature of woman as joint heirs in Christ. Today we face the challenge of making this church a fellowship that is loving, concerned, compassionate, and centered in Christ.