What Is Your Role in Church?

{The following are my sermon notes from 07.15.22}

Romans 16.1-18

Perhaps one of the most “boring” parts of Scripture are lists of names. We have the list of names of those who came out of Egypt by tribe. We have a list of those who went into the promise land, by tribe and clan. We have the genealogy of Jesus twice. And we have this list, just to name a few. And to be honest, I used to be one of those types who would gloss over this. Most still do. Yet there are some gems in here.

We could look at this section and see the equality in the faith. Of the 29 people listed, half are women. He especially emphasizes the first woman, the first name. Another way of looking at this list is to see how diversified the faith should be. We have Romans, which commentators believed to be distinguished from your Greek Gentile. You have of course Greek Gentiles, and you have Jews. Then there is the approach to see the transforming power of the Gospel. It is transforming politically, we know geographically and even theologically. Did you know Phoebe means radiant now, but once meant, according to one source, goddess of the moon? And finally there is the personal touch of Paul. He addresses many people who’ve helped in his preaching the Gospel. He took time to commend each one. Now we would do well to learn these lessons. They are valid. Yet there is another avenue that I am taking this morning. I want to look at roles that these people served in the church.

The first role that we see is of the Benefactor. This is a person who would generally underwrite a financial needs of the church. It is more than putting a share in the offering plate. This person, when the offering comes up short, puts in the difference. If there is a need that arises suddenly, Phoebe would step in and meet it. Too often today, this role, when such a role exists, comes to being known as the golden rule. He who has the gold makes the rules.  Yet this is still an important role.

The next role that I see is that of co-worker. Priscilla and Aquila were partners with Paul. They traveled with him, helped him preach the Gospel. Now that they have settled, they open their home to hosting meetings for the church. But this couple was not alone. There are others listed here that are co-workers.

There are those who are listed as being dear to Paul. I wonder how they were so. Did they serve as a source of encouragement? Were these the types who would bend their knees and uphold Paul in prayer? I wasn’t sure how to handle this role. But in verses 17 and 18, we see that we all have one role, which is to protect the church from false doctrine. They are after their own ends. This command Paul did not save for a few, but to all who would read the letter, to you to me today.

There is another role. That is of mentoring. Did you catch it as we read it? Rufus’ mom became a mom to Paul. I have to wonder about Rufus, by way of a side note. Mark lists the man who carried Jesus’ cross as the father of Rufus and Alexander. Is this the same Rufus? It very likely could be. But the main point is that Rufus’ mom took it on herself to mentor Paul, and he welcomed her to do so. Reminds me when I first met my dorm mom. Not too far from the baptistery, I told her that I could not call her “mom”. Yet, Mom Lange became “mom” to me within a short period of days.

So this brings up what is your role in the church? Each of these people served the church in some way that Paul was more than eager to list them. I truly believe that everyone has a purpose in the body of the local church. And where we best fit, only you can answer that question. I can help guide you to the best fit, but then I am only making educated guesses. I remember once having a teacher who worked well with the teens. He later told me that he always hated it. Had I known, I’d helped him transition to pre-teens or young adults, either he would have preferred.

What is your calling? We often think anymore that when God will call us to do something, he will do it in an amazing fashion, like Moses saw the burning bush, Samuel heard God calling in the middle of the night, Isaiah had a dream, or Paul seeing a bright light. Yes, sometimes God may use one of these methods, but there are more practical ways. It could be something as easy as someone coming up and telling you that you are to be king, as it was with David. To determine your role, we have three questions to ask:

1.       What are you passionate about? This question is of the utmost importance. Take some time one of these evenings and review how you use your time. Think about the last 5 conversations that you have had that day, or even all the conversations that you had that day. Were they about your faith or about how the Diamondbacks have slipped into .488 average? You know people like that, right? They can tell you all sorts of baseball stats, or razorback stats. Or perhaps they like to discuss the woes of the country and encourage you to become part of the solution.  That is passion. We call them fans, but remember, fans of diamondbacks are fanatics about baseball. Are we fanatics of Jesus? Once you know where your passion lays, or get it back on Jesus, then comes the next question.

2.       What are your spiritual gifts? This question can be a bit harder to answer. It can be a bit related to the previous question. For myself, I love to teach. I love to study. I especially love to study words. For example, I can tell you how long the word ‘luck’ has been in the English vernacular as well as how it came to be. I love to share nuggets that I find in the Bible, and point out teachable moments and objects. God has gifted me with teaching because of a passion that I have. Another gift that I have is being able to counsel. If a person has a problem or trial in life, as long as they accept the Bible as the foundation of all help, then I can help him or her overcome that struggle. Those are my two spiritual gifts. But I’ve been able to answer this question because I could answer the previous question.

3.       What are your material blessings? And this is where we take stock of what we have. So often we take a look at the bank account and weigh our material blessings accordingly. If the account is at zero, we assume we have nothing. But not all of us are called to be Barnabas or Phoebe. But we are all called to use what we do have. Esther didn’t have much by way of riches, though she was a queen. Her material blessing was her location, or position. She used it to God’s glory, to the salvation of his people. Phoebe used her money to help Paul. Lydia used her home. Is what you have being used for the Lord? This is the logical question that follows up to the material blessings. So let me translate this to an example that isn’t money. Money is useful in helping others obtain materials needed to accomplish their needs. But consider your health. If you are healthy, you can go out and visit people. You can go to camp. Kids love the love, regardless what they confess. Of course you might be in a position that allows you to network together people to meet needs like compiling all the old, too small jackets from grandkids and nieces and nephews. It’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time, or knowing the right people. These are all material blessings. These can translate into roles within the body to help spread the Gospel here in Stuttgart and the rest of AR.

This morning, I hope that I have been able to encourage you so that next time you see a list in the Bible, take time to see what lessons might be connected. I more than that, hope that you have been encouraged to answer this question, what is your role? If you do need help in answering, then I do invite you to come and let us help you.