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Significant Salutations
by
T. Austin-Sparks
Reading: Romans 16
This is a chapter which I expect you do not often read.
The letter proper seems to end with the "Amen"
of 15:33, and it is easy to regard the final chapter as
of little importance. But even though it may be a
struggle to read it, I suggest that the effort is well
worth making. Like some of the Old Testament chapters
devoted to names and genealogies, this should not be
skipped as irrelevant, for these are included by divine
inspiration and with a purpose.
Two preliminary observations may be of interest. The
first is that the list of names here is so comprehensive
that it might almost be called universal. Roman names are
in the minority, being outnumbered by the Jewish and
Greek ones, yet taken together they represent the world
of their time. This was not a Latin church, a Jewish
church nor a Greek church, but a true representation of
that Church which is composed of men from every nation.
The other point is that this is one of the two churches
which Paul had never visited, the other being Colosse.
Paul had yet to go to Rome, which he later did, but that
was some time later. Even at this juncture, however,
there were quite a few people whom he already knew
personally and even intimately. This is more than a mere
item of interest. It seems to indicate something of how
in those days the gospel spread abroad and the churches
were built. For one reason or another, for business
purposes or by political compulsion, people had to move
about in the world. This may have been inconvenient and
at times most unjust, but behind that movement was the
sovereignty of God, using everything for the speeding up
of the work of the gospel.
This gives us encouragement, then, to know that once our
lives are wholly given over to the Lord, His sovereignty
will govern and overrule all the ordinary affairs and
circumstances of daily life and make them contribute to
His purposes and glory. Take the cruel decree of the
Emperor Claudius which expelled all Jews from Rome.
Whether he was following some political scheme or simply
venting his spite, the fact remains that people like
Aquila and Priscilla had to abandon their home and
business and become displaced persons in Corinth. This,
however, not only brought them into contact with Paul but
later, at Ephesus, made them such a great help to Apollos
and gave them an honoured place in this list which we are
considering. Their case opens up to us a world within a
world, and it is a world of spiritual romance. If we
could pass from one of the names of this chapter to
another, we would doubtless find that in each case there
were marvellous evidences of God's sovereign working,
even at times before those concerned were actually
converted to Christ. Some have even thought that the fact
of there being saints in the Praetorian guard
(Philippians 4:22) suggests that the centurion who stood
by the cross at Calvary went back from his foreign
service in Palestine to his headquarters in Rome and
there witnessed to the Saviour. This may be only
imagination, but it is at least possible, and just the
kind of way in which Christ is always building His
Church.
What is more, when we look more deeply into this chapter
we find that the people here referred to not only had
their lives overruled by God but were themselves intent
on the Lord's business and ready to take responsibility
for His interests. They were not passengers, just people
who happened to come and go, individuals in the crowd;
they each got involved to the utmost in the affairs of
the kingdom of Christ. Paul's comments and allusions make
it clear that the gospel was furthered and the churches
established because these men and women put the Lord's
interests before everything else in their work, their
journeys and their circumstances. They had the urge of
the divine imperative. Like their Lord before them, their
lives were not at the mercy of chance but characterised
by the word 'must'.
The Lord Jesus used this imperative when, at twelve years
of age, He told Mary that He MUST be about His
Father's business. From time to time this same spirit
emerged in His conduct: "I MUST preach the
good tidings of the kingdom of God to other cities
also" (Luke 4:43); "other sheep I have... them
also I MUST bring..." (John 10:16). Then, as
He moved towards the end of His ministry, He announced
that He, the Son of man: "MUST be delivered
up into the hands of sinful men..." (Luke 24:7), and
right on to the eve of His crucifixion, He behaved in
accordance with His principle that, since the Scriptures
foretold it, then "thus it MUST be"
(Matthew 26:54). His whole life was governed by this
imperative - must! must! It seems to me that this list
brings before us disciples whose lives were also
characterised by this imperative, this 'must'. For them
this was the priority, the only consideration worthy of
their attention; they were devoted to the will of God. It
is to be regretted that so many names which can
rightfully be included in the list of God's children
cannot truly be described in this way. There seem to be
so many passengers, so many who want to enjoy God's will
but seek to avoid taking responsibility for it. Their
lives lack the Christ-like, 'must'.
This, of course, presents a personal challenge to me. I
wonder what Paul would have written against my name if I
had lived in those days and been associated with him. If
he had needed to write a salutation to me, what could he
have said about the quality of my life, 'in Christ'? The
phrase 'in Christ' is repeated eight times here, for you
notice that this is the significance of the names listed,
not what the people were in themselves, but what was
their spiritual measure in Christ. The apostle had no
thoughts of social niceties or of paying compliments to
ensure good relations. No, what mattered to him was the
measure in which these friends of his were counting for
Christ. What, I wonder, can be put alongside my name in
this connection?
At the end we are told not only of the book of life, but
also of personal histories - "the books were
opened" (Revelation 20:12). May it be that these
books represent God's evaluation of men's lives? If so,
what will be the eternal verdict of my life? What will
the books have to say of my response to divine
imperatives? Thank God that all my sins are blotted out.
By the wonder-working power of the Blood of Christ there
can be no accusation against me. And there will be no
record of the purely personal virtues or failings which
during this life assume such great importance. No, what
will be eternally recorded will surely be what is true of
us, 'in Christ'. So the reading of this heartening list
of Paul's friends challenges us as to how much our lives
are really counting for God. We know the story of these
disciples. We know also the regrettable comments which
Paul had to make about others of his former colleagues,
men like Demas who seems to have shrugged aside divine
imperatives and taken his own course. What will history -
God's history - say about me? What will be my story, 'in
Christ'?
Nothing seems to be forgotten. Phoebe's kindliness,
Aquila and Priscilla's self-sacrifice, the labours of
this one and the hospitality of that - even the writing
of the letter 'in the Lord', by Tertius (see margin of
verse 22). Every aspect of devotion to Christ in these
lives was noted and appreciated, even the humblest
service finding its place in the inspired Scriptures.
One more feature of this chapter is the fact that people
are appreciated, as people. The letter itself is a
masterpiece of spiritual instruction, so profound that it
has engaged and defeated the greatest brains in the
Church, and still remains far from exhausted in its
wealth. In a sense this was Paul's magnum opus,
his supreme exposition of the infinite range of
redemption. The more striking, then, that place should be
given for the names of these simple people. It means that
the apostle, with all the divine wisdom and revelation
given to him, was more concerned with persons than with
truths. Doctrines can be considered and held in a
detached way, but what value is there in abstract truths
if they are not expressed in terms of individual people?
Great as was the ministry and spiritual significance of
this notable apostle, he was clearly a man who took real
interest in people. He remembered their names, he
recorded their special features, he gave thanks for them,
and he prayed for them individually. How easy it is for
the servants of the Lord to become so absorbed in their
ministry and so pre-occupied with their messages, that
they neglect the very individuals to whom the messages
are directed. When a man or a woman is led to trust in
Christ he does not become one more cipher for statistics,
but a live personality who matters to God and should
matter to God's servants. And they matter not just as
those who must be given instruction as to Christian
doctrines, but as individuals in whom those spiritual
truths should find outworking and expression. For the
apostle, truth had to be incarnate, it had to be
personified - and these names show that it was.
Why was Paul so lovingly drawn out to these people?
Perhaps because he could observe the fulfilment in them
of the revelation given to him of the power of the gospel
of Christ. It must have been refreshing to pass from his
exposition of the theory of redemption to the living
outworking of his doctrines. So it is that I ask myself
what fruit there is in my own life from the volumes of
teaching which I know and communicate in my preaching.
Are God's people being helped, are they being made better
servants of Christ because of my kindliness or
self-sacrificial labours? If not, then in my case all
that Paul wrote and all that I teach goes for nothing.
In the case of many of these people, it was Paul's own
life which had been enriched by them, as he readily
acknowledged. Phoebe had succoured him, Priscilla and
Aquila had "laid down their own necks" for him,
Rufus's mother had cared for him and Tertius wrote for
him. None of these were apostles, yet by helping Paul
they contributed something, however small, to an
apostolic ministry. They could not do it all, and nor
could he; but the whole divine purpose could be realised
because a number of people played their part, labouring
in Christ and for Christ. People matter! Nobody is a
non-entity in Christ. There is a place for each one of us
in the divine record. And we shall be glad to finish the
chapter as Paul did: "to the only wise God, through
Jesus Christ... be the glory for ever. Amen".
From "Toward
the Mark" Mar-Apr 1976, Vol. 5-2.
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