Romans 16:1-16 [NLTse]
16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in [SEHN-kree-ay] Cenchrea. 2 Welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among God’s people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me.
3 Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. 4 In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches. 5 Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home.
Greet my dear friend Epenetus. He was the first person from the province of Asia to become a follower of Christ. 6 Give my greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for your benefit. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews, who were in prison with me. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
10 Greet Apelles, a good man whom Christ approves. And give my greetings to the believers from the household of Aristobulus. 11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew. Greet the Lord’s people from the household of Narcissus. 12 Give my greetings to Tryphena and Tryphosa, the Lord’s workers, and to dear Persis, who has worked so hard for the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, whom the Lord picked out to be His very Own; and also his dear mother, who has been a mother to me.
14 Give my greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who meet with them. 15 Give my greetings to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas and all the believers who meet with them. 16 Greet each other in Christian love. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings.
Phoebe: Paul writes that she was a deacon (or a deaconess, sometimes called) in the church of [SEHN-kree-ay] Cenchrea, a port-city about six miles east of Corinth on the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. But who was she? Was she married? Widowed? An older woman? A younger woman? Did she have any children? She seems to be the carrier of this letter to the Roman-Christians, but has she come to Rome on business – was she a business woman? – or did she make the trip especially just to bring Paul’s message? We don’t know… We just know that she lived for Christ, and we know these comments about her her character and service for Christ…
Priscilla and Aquila: Though never specifically stated as being husband and wife, it is generally assumed that they were since they’re always mentioned together. Clearly, at one time they’d saved Paul’s life, risking their own in doing so. Since normally the husband’s names would be listed first (as we’ll see a bit later), Priscilla seems to have been of a higher standing in Roman society than Aquila, or perhaps she served a more prominent role in the church. And yet, even knowing these things, these folks are still for the most part just names, and there’s so much we don’t know except that they lived for Christ, and these comments about their character and their service for Christ…
“Epenetus” was a common name among slaves and those who’d been legally freed from slavery, called “freedmen”: He was the first Christian in what they called “Asia” – where the Galatian and Cappadocian regions were located, and Paul’s home-city of Tarsus, and Ephesus and the seven cities of The Revelation – the area that today we call “Turkey”.
Maria might have just been the Latin form of the Hebrew name “Miriam” (often translated “Mary” in the New Testament), but it might also be a designation that she was a Roman citizen.
Andronicus and Junia are the other husband-wife pair I mentioned earlier, and here Andronicus is mentioned first as is normal for that day. Andronicus is a Jewish name and Junia specifically is a name for indicating her Roman citizenship. Paul tells us they were imprisoned with him at some point, though we never hear anything more about that in Paul’s other letters or even across Luke’s records in The Book of Acts. But they were apostles – not of the original Twelve, of course – and highly respected among those who had been specifically sent out to spread the good news and extend Christ’s Kingdom! But again, whether older or younger? How they became apostles? How they met Paul? There is so much we don’t know except for these short words about their lives in Christ and these brief comments about their character and brief record of their service for Christ…
Ampliatus and Urbanus, Stachys and Apelles, were all common slave-names found in the Imperial household. Phlegon was a common slave name. The households of Aristobulus and Narcissus may refer to freed slaves of Herod the Great’s grandson, Aristobulus, who spent his lifetime in Rome, and Narcissus – a very uncommon name – likely refers to a man who was himself a freedman who rose to become one of the most powerful people in the entire Roman Empire under emperor Claudius’ reign in the 40’s and early 50’s A.D…
So there’s some we do know and yet so much we don’t know about these earliest of Christians, but we do know they were Romans and Greeks, Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slaves and freedmen, common people and prominent Roman citizens; we know that they lived their lives and risked their lives for Jesus Christ and each other, and that they served the Lord and His Kingdom in ways the renowned apostle Paul found noteworthy!
In similar manner, the historical records of Milford and Pike County and First Presbyterian Church are littered with the names of men and women who also clearly lived their lives for Christ and left records of their transformed character, and their lives of service for Christ and His Kingdom…
Bartholomew Weed was a blacksmith, and is recorded as being the first “praying man” in that early wilderness and logging community of Milford. Such were his prayers and his praying that his house was stoned and he was openly laughed at! Jacob Quick, likely a part of that early Tom Quick clan, was a lawyer who held evangelistic prayer services that were often broken up by the rough and rowdy among his neighbors. In 1822 we read that Quick joined with some other townsmen by the names of Francis Smith, John Lafarge, John Brink, George Bowhannan, and a D. Jayne to petition the State of Pennsylvania for permission to establish “The Presbyterian Congregation of Milford”. We know nothing else about these men, they are names on a page, except that they lived their lives, taking risks and making sacrifices, for Jesus Christ and to spread the good news of His Kingdom.
A man named Moses Bross started a prayer meeting in the old Court House (now the Sheriff’s Office) soon after he moved to Milford. And from these prayer meetings began a Sunday School called “the Presbyterian Sunday School”, also held in the then Court House. A man named James Wallace was the first Sunday School Superintendant, and the teachers were Mr.’s Samuel Depuy, William Freel, and Mrs.’s Louisa Ross, Jane Depuy, and Caroline Wells. They taught from the Bible and Noah Webster’s Spelling Book. (Which – believe it or not – was quite a Christ-centered work even being a spelling book!)
When “The Church and Congregation of Milford” was first formed Moses and Jean Bross, Samuel and Eliza Depuy, Mitty Watkin, Elizabeth Westfall, and Jacob Quick were the founding members, though that must not be a complete listing since James Wallace (who wasn’t mentioned) along with Moses Bross and Jacob Quick became the first Ruling Elders. And we know that Samuel Depuy and Jacob Quick were lawyers since the designation “esquire” appears regularly after their names, but we don’t know if they were older or younger, what brought them to Milford, among the fifty children that were part of that going-strong Sunday School were any of those kids theirs? We don’t know, we just know they lived their lives for Christ and served Him and His Kingdom in these ways…
September 25th, 1825 the Reverend Thomas Grier (who only came to Milford every 3rd Sunday from his pulpit in Westtown, NY) led worship, preached the Word, and ordained those first Elders, and so September 25th is considered the birthday of the Presbyterian Church of Milford.
Evangelistic meetings were held, until by the fall of 1832 “most of the leading men of the town had joined” the church! So you local history buffs, as you read about Milford and its goings-ons in the early and middle 1800’s leading up to the Civil War and beyond, you’re reading the stories of the men and women and families of not only Milford but of First Presbyterian Church of Milford, as well! The fruit of the lives of Christ-changed men and women.
Knowing all this, even so, many of those men and women and young men and young women are just names, perhaps men and women and young men and young women who are known for their secular pursuits and accomplishments across other aspects of our local history, but known in Heaven, and their words and deeds recorded forever that were done because they’d given their lives to Jesus Christ in service to His Church and His Kingdom…
This reading from The Letter to the Hebrews seems to take on added weight and mandate this 187th Anniversary, and this our first Sunday in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church:
Hebrews 12:1-4 [NLTse]
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion Who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility He endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.
There are many names scattered across the Scriptures and across our history books, names and sometimes faces we know so little about, but God knows. Ordinary men and women who are remembered and recorded as being great because God chose them to be His Own, because God forgave their sin and brought them near to Him in Christ, because God gave them His Spirit to live within them and “By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death.
“But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.”
Among us this morning I think only Ron Gregory’s name is in the current “history book” of First Presbyterian Church. I wonder what future follower of Christ will be looking for inspiration, reading, and asking, “What a great man of God Ron Gregory was. I want to live my life for Christ like he did!” It’s a great privilege for us all. It’s a great responsibility for us all!
But even if we don’t make it into human print, each and every one of us who bear the name of Christ – written across our foreheads it’s so easy to know Whose we are, The Revelation writes – everything we are in Christ has been recorded in Heaven: The ways His character has sanctified our character, the way His life has our lives new, all we’ve done for Him and sacrificed for Him (not to earn His love or salvation but because we love Him and because His Spirit lives in us), it’s all written, not one thing missed, for the angels to “Wow!” over and the saints who’ve gone before us to celebrate and worship Christ for in Heaven.
So let’s strip off everything that keeps us from Christ, especially those sins we may be stuck in; it’s an endurance race, so let’s get our minds set to apply ourselves for the long-haul; let’s keep our eyes on Jesus: He’s the One Who started it all and Who said, “It is finished” when He opened the way to God, and Who will return to make all things new and lead us home; let’s focus on the joy the Holy Spirit gives and the joy Jesus Christ has promised will be ours! putting up with trials and hardships when they come (if that’s what living for Him and expanding His Kingdom brings); let’s not become weary; let’s not give up.
Now may the God of peace—Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with His blood—may He equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him. All glory to Him forever and ever! Amen.