Sep 6, 2020
Originally Presented: March 8th, 2009
Scripture Reading: Romans 16:1-16
Shakespeare wrote: "Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel." Solomon wrote: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend" (Prov 27:6) and "As iron sharpens iron, so one men sharpens another" (Prov 27:17). Our friends are crucial to the quality of our lives. With good friends we are helped immeasurably; without them we are profoundly diminished. Perhaps no other single passage in the New Testament lets us see in the mind and heart of Paul with respect to his friends than Romans 16.
Notice the basis for the connection between the people listed in this chapter. The basis for their relationship is not personality or hobbies or economic status. The foundation of their relationship is, first, identity in Christ. Note how often how often Paul describes these people as being "in Christ" or "in the Lord." The bond of being in Christ is more profound than flesh and blood.
Second, the people in Romans 16 are bound to each other by work in Christ's kingdom. Prisca and Aquila are "fellow-workers" (v 3); Mary "has worked hard" (v 6); Urbanus is "our fellow-worker" (v 9); Tryphaena and Tryphosa are "workers in the Lord" and Persis "worked hard" (v 12). Christian friendship is based on working hard in the kingdom of Christ.
A third element of Christian friendship, seen in these verses, is suffering. Prisca and Aquila are described as having "risked their own necks" for Paul (v 4) and Adronicus and Junius are described as "fellow prisoners" (v 7). Philippians 3:10 speaks of knowing "the fellowship of His suffering."
Romans 16 is a call to deep-rooted community that is often lacking in our superficial culture. Let us go deeper in the reality of our community together for the name of Christ.