With Honor

Have you ever had the privilege of having someone give thanks for you in a public setting? Maybe you’ve been to one of your children’s graduations and heard them give a speech, or perhaps you helped out with a church event and heard the Pastor give thanks the following day, or maybe your best man or maid of honor spoke about you in their speech. It feels good to be recognized, doesn’t it? For some of us we may only get one or two of those moments in our lives. Depending on who is giving the recognition, it could make for a pretty special moment. I imagine that’s how some of Paul’s helpers felt when they read the end of his letter to the Romans. If you’ve ever skipped over sections of Scripture where there are long lists of names, you’re really missing out. Now I know what you’re thinking about - tribes, genealogies, territories. I get it. It can be challenging to know what God wants us to get out of lists of names and places. But Romans chapters 16 is different. In verses one through fifteen Paul begins giving shoutouts to a bunch of people. I’m not trying to trivialize it by calling it a shoutout, but in a number of circumstances that’s exactly what it is - “Phoebe, she has been a helper of many and of myself also…Priscilla and Aquila, they risked their own necks for my life…Mary, she labored much for us.”

This is incredible! We’re sitting here 2000 years later reading about these people that blessed Paul and his ministry. I counted 27 individual names, not counting households and other general members of churches. They didn’t just make it into a letter. They made it into the Bible! You can be famous for two reasons in the Bible - You blew it and God holds you up as a corrective example. Or, God took note of your faith and wanted His people to know about you for generations to come. This group of people in Romans is part of the latter. Man, that must have been so special for them as they heard this letter read to the church. I suspect that hearing that didn’t make them hang up their cleats though. It likely spurred them on to keep going. That’s what Biblical encouragement does. It’s not a pat on the back. It is literally giving courage to someone to keep doing God’s will. I’m sure it did just that for these believers in Rome.

Let me ask you a question though - What would be written about you? I’m not talking about an obituary - what job you performed, how many kids you had, what hobbies you enjoyed. I’m talking about what you accomplished in your spiritual life. And before you start thinking, “That’s easy for you to say. You’re a pastor!” Let me just remind you that none of these names include the title pastor. These were simply people that had come to know Jesus as Lord & Savior and simply wanted to live for Him. I expect many faithful people who were never given a special role in the church will be called up for rewards in heaven before me. The single mom who led her kids to the Lord. The school teacher who took the time to build a relationship and witness to a student after class. The retired man who worked on the church building and volunteered at Christian camps. You see, God’s recognition is different. He often sees what is not visible to others. He looks at the heart and He sees the efforts that are made to expand Hiskingdom. The Holy Spirit took note of those people in Rome and brought them to Paul’s mind to be written here for us. To remind us what really matters. To remind us about the eternal. To encourage us to set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth (Col 3:2).

As you use your time this week and you make plans for the future, would you give some thought to what will be remembered by God? I especially think about our new graduates as we approach this time of year. Maybe some of you are graduating with honors - with special recognitions for your work in school. But whether you’re preparing to graduate or not, may it be the desire of God’s people that we desire another kind of honor. Being honored by God. Because what could be better than hearing the God of the universe say, “You did very well Son. You were so very faithful my daughter.” That’s what I’m longing for. May God give us the encouragement this week to live for Him.