Sermon Tone Analysis

FYI: I almost always develop my sermons the same way.

For each point, I use the prompts Explain, Illustrate, Argue, Apply.

I don’t always list them separately (sometimes I think they are too tangled together- in this sermon, my 3rd point is really a bridge to the conclusion), but I try to always do each one.

Explain is where I try to make it clear what the passage is saying, Illustrate is where I try to use a story/a quote/etc to make the point of the section vivid, so it will stick out in people’s minds.

Argue is where I try and make it believable, answering the questions people might have that I did not cover in “Explain.”

In Apply, I try to make it practical, by hitting a couple of realistic ways that we can live out the passage.

If I get off script, hopefully knowing what section I am on will help you find my place.

Introduction

Today, we are concluding the book of Romans, by reading the epilogue of chapter 16.

Turn with me there in your Bibles.

One of the architects of the American Revolution has counties named after him in at least 14 states.

He wrote many of the key points that were later crystallized into the founding documents of the Republic, he was the one who sent Paul Revere out on his midnight ride and he was a close associate with men like John Hancock and Samuel Adams.

He fought at the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, where although he was a Major General, he chose to fight as a private on the front lines.

When he ran out of ammo, he stayed on the front lines until he died - to allow the militia to make its escape.

His death served the same kind of purpose the Alamo did - as a rallying cry to bring more people to the fight.

Does anyone know his name?

Joseph Warren.

You have probably never heard of him.

In our history textbooks, he is overshadowed by those who lived after the war to write memoirs and hold high office, so his key contributions are forgotten.

How many other names have been forgotten?

James Armistead Lafayette, the slave who volunteered to fight and served as a valuable spy who helped undermine Benedict Arnold, who returned to slavery for 4 years after the war because the law granting freedom to slaved did not apply to volunteers.

Edmund Ross who broke from his part in the impeachment proceedings against Andrew Johnson, where he stood with the Constitution and the good of the country, even though it cost him everything.

Douglas Ring, who invented the cellphone.

Normal Borlaug, whose dwarf wheat prevented mass starvation.

Charles Drew, who created the modern blood bank, saving countless lives in WW2 and losing everything for opposing the segregation of blood by race.

We could spend all day listing people who have made major contributions to history, but have been lost to the mists of time.

The truth is that you and I will probably never do anything that would earn us a place in lists of forgotten heroes, much less the actual history books.

What we do will be quickly forgotten, and in a few generations, no one will know we lived.

This final chapter of Romans might seem strange.

Why does Paul, in the middle of the New Testament, list the names of dozens of men and women, the vast majority of whom are recorded nowhere else?

Like the genealogies in Genesis, this might be the kind of passage where your eyes glaze over.

The whole Bible is inspired, but maybe it is not all inspiring.

But I don’t think that is fair.

I think that this passage teaches us something about how we ought to think about our service for God, and how we ought to think about each other.

Let’s see what it is.

Would you stand with me if you are able for the reading of God’s Word?

When Paul, guided by the Spirit of God, records the names of these men and women, he is screaming across the pages of history: people may forget what you do, but God never will.

Do you get discouraged, and feel like you are spinning your wheels?

He knows your name, and remembers your service.

Do you feel like all of the people you try and love the most mistreat you the most quickly?

Believe me, brothers and sisters, Jesus knows what that feels like.

Far from being the end we can skip, this serves as the capstone of the whole letter.

We are sinners, saved because God loves us, brought to God and to each other by His love, and made right with God by faith alone.

Paul demonstrates the centrality of that loving unity, by listing the names of these that might be called “little people,” by the world’s standards.

Our big idea this morning.

Everyone else may forget, but God doesn’t forget.

Big Idea: God Doesn’t Forget

We are going to see this in a couple of ways, but let’s start by surveying some of those that God chooses to remember.

Our first point:

No Service is Unnoticed

Explain

Phoebe was the one who delivered this letter on Paul’s behalf, so we might expect him to mention her.

He wanted the Roman church to be sure to treat her well, to receive her “as becometh saints” - give her a Christian welcome.

But Paul gives a very specific reason she should be helped.

She had been a benefactor to many, including Paul.

This probably means that she provided for their material needs and helped Paul focus on his ministry.

Paul says that she has helped him, and asks them to return the favor by giving her lodging and supplies.

We talked about this some last week, when we talked about supporting missionaries.

Your financial gifts are not forgotten by God.

Priscilla and Aquila, a married couple who had been expelled from Rome and had now returned, assisted Paul and stuck their necks our for him.

They put their lives on the line for his life - and so all of the churches Paul established gave thanks to God for them.

When your service helps another, God does not forget.

Epaenetus was wellbeloved by Paul, and the only thing that is mentioned is that he was the first to be saved in Asia.

Isn’t this interesting?

He did not have much to do with being there early in Paul’s ministry, but because his obedience to believe the gospel was an encouragement and an inspiration to Paul, it formed the beginning of a relationship that makes Paul call him “wellbeloved,” and list him alongside these others.

It seems like a tiny thing of chance to us, but God does not forget.

Andronicus and Junia were another couple imprisoned for the faith, and were well known missionaries.

“Apostle” means “sent-out one,” and is used to refer to the 12 sent out by Jesus, but also the broader group of those sent out by churches to carry the gospel.

These seem like the kind of people Paul ought to recognize, but then look at verse 13:

Paul mentions Rufus, but then Rufus’ mother, who cared for Paul like a mother.

We don’t know what this woman did, but Paul refers to her as his mother, and so we might guess that she showed compassion and support for him.

You and I know people like that, who treat people like they are their own children.

Many are here this morning.

God does not forget.

Gaius opened his home up to Paul in Corinth, and allowed the church to meet there.

For this hospitality, his name is recorded in the pages of Scripture, forever.

Incredibly - God does not forget.

These names run a broad spectrum, from the seemingly trivial to the obviously important, but no act of service for God is insignificant.

Isn’t that encouraging for you and I?

Illustrate

This really makes sense, if we take a moment to consider it.

If you told me your baby’s first words, I would probably forget, unless there was something incredible about them.

I am not likely to spend a lot of time or energy remembering if your son’s first word was “momma” or “dadda.”

But you can bet that I know what my daughter’s first word was - pup pup, by the way, Zorro beat Colleen and me.

You can bet that I remember when Samuel learned to roll over, when Ana first said her own name and when Colleen aced her teacher certification test on the first try.

Accomplishments that don’t seem like much to someone else are everything when it is someone you love.

That is the way that God looks at you and me.

Argue

Of course, there is some pushback on this idea.

It seems unbelievable that the God who rules over the whole world would care about what individual human beings do.

This is why geniuses like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Locke were so attracted to deism.

They thought God was just a watchmaker who set the universe in motion and could not imagine that God cared for individuals.

But the central message of Christianity, which Paul has been hammering home throughout Romans, is that God loves us and has demonstrated it by sending His Son to die on a cross.

Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection are open to historical inquiry.

The apostles said they saw Jesus alive again after he died, and their enemies record how 10 of them gave their lives, refusing to recant.

Someone may die for what she believes - but the apostles died for what they saw.

Even when faced with imprisonment and death, there is no historical hint that a single one of the apostles ever recanted.

They gave their lives for the truth of the resurrection, not because they believed someone else’s word, but because they saw it themselves.

God has proven His care for us - down to the tiniest detail.

The truth we learned in the first 8 chapters of Romans, that we are unworthy, but made acceptable to God by grace, is demonstrated for us here.