SERMON TITLE: Friends in Ministry
SCRIPTURE: Romans 16:1-16, 21-23 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 11-9-25
Sermon Discussion Guide
Take notes here
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend. And we’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of rich theological truths — he transitions to the “so what” section of his letter. Meaning he’s addressing how all of the theology — that’s found in the first eleven chapters — is to play itself out in how we live. Or at least how it should influence the way we live.
And today we start the last chapter of Paul’s letter. And — in these final words of his — Paul is very personal. In fact — I went back and forth — do I end with this sermon or with next week’s sermon — but decided to end how Paul ends his letter — even though this sermon is my favorite of the two. For in our text for today — Paul praises his friends in ministry. And today — like Paul — I’m going to praise many of you — my friends in ministry.
But before we get to that — let’s turn to Paul’s words. Here are his words in Romans chapter sixteen — beginning in verse one.
Romans 16:1–16 ESV
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
And skipping to verse twenty-one — we read…
Romans 16:21–23 ESV
21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.
One person has called this, “The least-preached-upon chapter of the most-preached-upon book in the New Testament.” Meaning — no book in the New Testament is preached more than Romans — one could argue that it’s the most preached book in the entire Bible — yet — no chapter in Romans is preached less than chapter sixteen. Why’s that?
Because this is the kind of passage we long for in our devotional time, right? No! A list of a bunch of names that are hard to read — much less pronounce — thank you very much. A list of names inevitably causes us to ask, “What do a bunch of names have to do with me?”
My hope is that — after some reflection on these names — and especially after what we do later in this sermon — that the names you read will remind you of names you know — saints among us — who are worthy of being praised and commended for their faithfulness to the Lord and their friendship in ministry.
Back to Paul. He begins by commending a woman named Phoebe. And he calls Phoebe a servant of the church. I bring her up to briefly explain why we have women deacons here at Gateway. The Greek word translated as servant — in verse one — is the same word translated as deacon in other places in the Bible. Now — it’s true that the word isn’t always translated as deacon — sometimes it’s translated as minister or servant — but in one sense — all of the people Paul mentions in this chapter are servants in the church — so why does he single Phoebe out in this specific way when he commends her to the Christians in Rome? I believe it’s because she held a special leadership role in the church — that of a deacon.
Let’s continue on through the names — and as we do — don’t miss the intimate details that Paul includes. For example, Prisca and Aquila — who we find in the book of Acts — about them Paul says, “They risked their necks for my life.” We have no idea what situation Paul’s referring to — but essentially he’s saying, “I’m alive and doing ministry today because of these friends of mine.”
We learn that Epaenetus was the first person to believe in Jesus in Asia. That’s pretty cool.
Paul praises the hard work of a woman named Mary. He mentions that two of his friends experienced imprisonment. There’s Rufus and his unnamed mother — “Paul, why didn’t you give us her name?” But what a sweet statement, “She was like a mother to me.”
I wonder if she even had a name. “A name? Why wouldn’t she have a name?” Well — not all of the names in Paul’s list are actual names.
For example…
Romans 16:22 ESV
22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
Tertius is the man who’s been writing down Paul’s words. This was a common role in the Roman world — where one individual would dictate to another words to be written down. Sometimes the individual was a slave — we’re not sure but it’s possible that Tertius was a former slave.
But — Paul — after sending greetings on behalf of Timothy, Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater — all people with names — I want you to imagine Paul looking at Tertius — the man writing down his words — and Paul says to him, “Tertius, go ahead. Greet them yourself.”
Now that may not seem like a big deal to you. But the reason why this is so moving is that the name Tertius isn’t actually a name — it’s a number. It means third or three. And — after his greeting — come the words, “Our brother Quartus, greets you.” Quartus means four or fourth.
Listen to what one Bible scholar said about these two men being listed in our chapter. He said, “The distribution of personhood in the Roman Empire was profoundly unequal. Very few people were recognized as a persona — the Latin word from which we get person — which is a legal term in Latin — that means that someone has a full standing in law and society to be recognized as a full human being. Only the head of households was considered a full human being and everyone else lived in various degrees of personhood. From children — who could aspire to inherit their father’s status — to women — who were always treated as property of the head of household — and then the twenty to twenty-five percent of the Roman Empire who were slaves — not based on race but on commercial or military misfortune. The Romans were very practical people — and if you didn’t really have any prospect of becoming a person — they didn’t bother with giving you a name. So if you were a male — you were often just named by your birth order. Second, third, fourth, fifth. Or a child born to a slave woman would be named “useful” — which in Greek — is the name Onesimus — which is a name in the book of Philemon.”
So according to Roman culture of Paul’s time — people — who were viewed as having no potential of becoming a full person — weren’t given names.
If we went back through the names Paul mentions in our chapter — we’d find names typical of heads of household — as to be expected. Some of the other individuals were probably firstborn sons due to the fact that they have names — as to be expected by the culture of the day. But women are also mentioned — which is culturally stunning — remember — they were considered property in Roman culture — not fully human. And — not only women — but we find the names third and fourth as well — Tertius and Quartus.
We don’t know if Tertius and Quartus were brothers — but they were both men not given the dignity of being named by their families because — as you now know — in the culture of the time only individuals with the potential of becoming a full person were named. And the third and fourth born sons in a family had no potential. Yet look at what dignity the Christian faith gives to all people. For the Christian faith says that all people — men, women, and children — regardless of their birth order — all are made in the image of God, all have dignity, and all are fully persons.
The Christian faith gives a name to the nameless. In fact — all who believe in Jesus — we’re told — are given a new family name — because the firstborn Son of God came to earth so that we — all of the seconds, and thirds, and fourths —could be given a new name when we’re adopted into God’s family.
I hope you see the beauty in a list of a bunch of names that are hard to pronounce. For it — this list of names — shows the power of the gospel to change people’s lives. Those whom the culture of the day said, “You have no personhood, no dignity, and no value” — those whom the culture of the day was willing to discard — the gospel gave them personhood, dignity, and value. And — just like then — the gospel today gives personhood, dignity, and value to all people — for all are made in the image of God.
And now we turn to us — and what’s my favorite part of this sermon — and maybe of our entire time in Romans. A time for me to praise many of my friends in ministry. Now — to no one’s surprise — time for a caveat — the “there’s not enough time for me to praise all of my friends in ministry here at Gateway.” In fact, I’ve contributed no names to the list that I’m about to read. Instead, I did something much more fun. I got others involved.
I sent out an email to around forty or so folks and asked them to send me names of people who they see faithfully following Jesus here at Gateway — those who are friends in ministry. And I asked them to tell me why they sent me the individual’s name. I also asked them to keep their list to no more than five individuals.
And I decided to put the list of names together this way — because — I know that my knowledge of what goes on among us is pretty limited. And I love to hear stories of what you all are doing that I would never know about without others telling me.
And here’s the reply I got to my email. Here are some of the many faithful friends in ministry among us. Some women. Some men. Some young. Some not as young as they used to be. Some singles. Some married. Some people you may know and others you may not. But all are family members and friends in ministry to you and to me — people for whom we’re to be thankful to God for.
And — yes — I purposely asked for the names to not be included in the sermon manuscript on our website and app so that this would be a surprise.
I recently read a book titled The Power to Bless written by a friend of mine. At one point in the book, he addresses what many raise as a concern about blessing others. The concern is that if we bless people — or publicly praise or thank people, like I just did — that it’ll go to their heads. After all — he asks tongue in cheek — “Isn’t there too much self-love going on in our culture?”
To which he responds, “The rampant self-absorption we see in society is not the fruit of self-love. It’s the consequence of self-hatred.” He refers to the parable of the prodigal son. If you’re unfamiliar with the parable, a man has two sons. The younger — the prodigal — asks his dad for his part of the inheritance — which is another way of saying, “Dad, I wish you were dead.” He then goes off, squanders away all of his money, destroys his life, and finds himself so hungry that he longs to eat the slop being fed to animals.
The younger son thought he was loving himself, fulfilling his dreams and desires — but it was all self-hatred. My pastor friend then asks, “Would you ever, in your wildest imagination, on your worst day, do to the one you love what the younger brother did to himself?” No. Yet most of us are uncomfortable saying anything positive about ourselves in fear of sounding proud — which has bled over into it being uncomfortable to praise others for Christ-like faithfulness we see in them.
So — today — we’ve pushed back against such ideas. For praising others — and being thankful for their faithfulness and friendship in ministry — is a way we honor our God whose faithfulness works in and through his people. So may we grow even more in our thankfulness to God for our friends in ministry. And — like Paul — may we let each other know that we’re thankful to God for how he’s using them in our lives. Let’s pray.
Gracious Father, thank you for your grace to us as seen, felt, and experienced through those around us — our spiritual family members — our friends in ministry.
Holy Spirit, prompt us — we ask — to not just think thoughts of gratitude about each other — but to share our gratitude to those for whom we’re thankful. A text message. A handwritten note. A phone call. An invitation for coffee. Spirit, help us to be people who express our thankfulness.
And — Jesus — all of the joys we experience as family and friends comes from your love for us. May our gratitude for one another always amplify our love and gratitude for you and all that you’ve done for us.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — for any who are lonely, who feel nameless, who feel less than fully human, who are desperate to be loved — may we be the family and friends they need. Open our eyes to see them — and open our hearts to love them. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
May you go savoring the blessing of being part of a beautiful faith family — a congregation full of friends. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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