“I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also. Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house…”
Romans 16: 1-5a
Our life is a way of life. Our way of life was already here when we arrived on the scene. The way of life that we are born into is not a philosophy, it is not a set of rules, and not a morality — our way of life cannot be reduced to an essence, boiled down to some nitty-gritty — the upshot is that there is no such thing as an abstraction of this way of life. Our way of life is a community, a community, as I have said, that was already here when we were born into it and when I say that we are born into that community I mean our supernatural birth from above through Holy Baptism. Our way of life is not something about our community it is our community known and identified by the way we act and by our language, the stories we tell one another, as well as images and symbols that are meaningful to us. But our community did not drop down from heaven like Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. If there is anything you should take away from our study of Romans it is that St. Paul is certain that the community we have been born into is the family of Abraham. Now that may not seem right to you; it may seem just too strange an idea to be right and if you feel strongly enough about it not seeming right you will try to change it by trying to make it mean something other than what St. Paul meant. St. Paul, with these 5 verses is closing out this long and profound epistle to the Romans probably while staying as a house guest to one of Corinth’s City officials who was also a parishioner of the parish church he founded there — and with this remarkable epistle Paul made the simple point that Israel is bigger and wider than Israel or anyone else ever thought. Jacob was the son of Isaac; Isaac being the designated Seed of the Promise that God made to Abraham, Isaac’s father, and Jacob’s grandfather. It was with Jacob’s life that the promise blossomed openly and visibly after Jacob had struggled all night with a mysterious stranger who had intruded into his camp site. It turned out that the mysterious stranger was in fact the God who is God who had chosen his grandfather Abraham and his family to make his friends and his chief weapon against sin and death:
“And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.”
Genesis 35:10
God changed his name from Jacob, which mean supplanter, to Israel which means “one who struggled with God.” He had twelve sons, designated “the sons of Israel.” This family ended up in Egypt where they became slaves and then God through his spokesman, Moses, rescued them from Pharaoh and led them back to their own land, the land the God who is God has promised to Abraham. God chose this family, Abraham’s family, and he opened up to them so completely that he was known as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God who is God, the Creator. To have him as your God you have to be a child of Abraham, an Israelite. Here’s what St. Paul says in Romans: one becomes a child of Abraham, an Israelite, so that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is your God through your relation to Jesus:
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Romans 10:9
Jesus is Israel, the Seed of the Promise. Jesus’ twelve apostles ought to remind us of twelve sons of Israel. The grand promise that was made to Abraham is perfectly summed up and fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah:
“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Jesus is Israel. Israel is God’s chosen family. To be in Jesus, through Holy Baptism, is to be an Israelite. This is our life is a way of life. A way of life was already here when we born into it. It is not is not a philosophy, it is not a set of rules, and not a morality — our way of life cannot be reduced to an essence, boiled down to some nitty-gritty — the upshot is that there is no such thing as an abstraction of this way of life. Our way of life is a community, that we know as the Church of God, the Israel of God, the family of Abraham, a community that was already here when we were born into it supernaturally through Holy Baptism. Our way of life is not something about the Church of God it is the Church of God known, identified by the way we act and by our language, the way we talk, the stories we tell one another, as well as images and symbols that are important to us.
The first 5 verses of Romans 16 is a window that opens onto the Christian community in the years of the composition of this letter. St. Paul has established that those who are in Christ are in Abraham and thus members of the same family and so much so, so much members of Abraham’s family, members as in a body that we are even members one of another. And with that background Paul begins the end of his epistle with a letter of reference for a woman named Phebe who was also the person who delivered the text itself to Roman Christians.
“I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.”
With the strongest and even affectionate language possible Paul presents Phebe to the Roman Christians. In verse 1 he “commends” her to the saints in Rome. The word we have translated as “commends” is a word that means not only to commend, but to turn over, to entrust, and to put together so that the sense is that Paul is not only vouching for her, but he is clearly presenting her as the one he has entrusted as his advanced guard to begin work necessary for the success of his plans for Rome. In verse 2 he repeats himself but this time with a word that carries with it the sense of giving instructions to the Roman Christians:
“That ye receive her in the Lord…”
That is Paul says that he fully expects the Romans not only to receive Phebe and to provide what she needs — presumably both financial as well as practical help to further her mission. Her mission is not spelled out, but since she was entrusted with the original text of Paul’s epistle and given the task of delivering it, probably to Pricilla and Aquila, it makes sense to assume that she was member of an apostolic team working under Paul’s apostleship. Three words stand out in his description of Phebe: she is our sister, she is baptized into Jesus and thus our sibling. She is a diakonon which means servant, a word that may simply mean a helper or a steward. This may be a word used to simply describe some of the work that Phebe did for the Church; for example, Paul uses the word diakonon to describe Jesus’ relation and earthly ministry to the ethnic Jews of his day. But since Phebe is said to be specifically a diakonon to a specific parish church, one that was about 7 miles from where Paul was presumably writing this epistle, it is reasonable to conclude that she was some sort of official of that parish church, in other words a lay officer, a deaconess, charged with specific duties that include relief and welfare for those in need. And finally Paul also described her as a patroness or guardian of many Christians in Greece, a word which could also mean a “mother” in the sense of someone who would say, “She has been like a mother to me.” I personally think Paul has sent her ahead of planned visit in order to provide some organizational guidance as well as to do some training for other Roman Christians who will perform the work of the diakonon in their city. One thing I want you to see is that what we call leadership today was no limited to men in Holy Orders. Pricilla and Aquila were the titular and temporary leaders of the Christians in Rome, at least Paul gives them and their little house church (for lack of a better term) first mention in his farewell chapter among the resident Christians in Rome. And again Paul praises them for their self-giving love on behalf of himself as well as all the churches of the Gentiles:
“Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house…”
I have previously made the point that Christian behavior as St. Paul and Jesus spoke of it has more to do with our declaration of God’s meaning for men and things because God’s meaning is manifested through our behavior, our acts, as well as our declarations by word, that is through speech and language. In some genuine sense behavior declares reality just as much as speech. Furthermore behavior is our living together and our living in the world; Christian behavior declares our intention to become “Christ-bearers.” It is our desire to live according to Christ’s pattern of living, incarnating and bringing to life the meaning of creation that continues to evade the wise of this age. And as I said last weak, our prayers, prayers in every form, confession, resolution, thanksgiving, petitions, and praise are also christological, another self-giving behavior offered up to God, not merely another pragmatic, utilitarian means-to-an-end. That is also what the text for the sermon today is all about. There are layers upon layers of meaning in the universe waiting for us to discern and to discover and Holy Mother Church and her children will incarnate those layers of meaning — you will bring them to life, you will offer up yourselves in imitation of Christ, body and soul, sound and sense, word and behavior to the one we imitate, Christ our Lord. And I submit to you that our acts of self-giving love and all our prayers leave an indelible mark, the stain of Christ’s life-giving blood, upon the world of men and things. Bearing the infirmities of the weak, as well as praying and requesting the prayers of other Christians are two of the deep meanings of creation that we are equipped to bring to life.
“I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also. Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house…”
Romans 16: 1-5a