Romans 16

The closing portion of Paul's book-length essay, known to us as Chapter 16, consists of the salutations (greetings) that he sends to people he knows in Rome and from people the church at Rome know but who are with Paul. On the face of it, there is not much to get from it for our edification. A closer look, however, reveals a number of different significant matters.

In verse 1 Paul commends Phoebe to them, calling her both a sister (meaning a fellow believer) and a deacon of the church at Cenchreae. This is important. If she is a deacon, then the early church had women who were deacons. Some English translations fudge by translating the word diákonos in this verse as "servant," while translating the same term when referring to men as "deacon." Not so the NRSV. The word in Greek is "masculine" (as opposed to "feminine" or "neuter"), so that it is exactly the same word as that applied to men. It is not known to what extent the term "deacon" was considered a church office status at the time Paul wrote in the first century of the common era. What we can deduce for certain was that the term, whatever it specifically entailed, was applied equally to men and to women. The exclusion of women from holding church office positions came later, perhaps much later, but it has no basis in scripture.

Phoebe was also the person who apparently took Paul's text to Rome. There was no postal service at the time except for the Roman highest officials and officers. This was the normal way of getting letters to the intended recipients. It was an important task and it was entrusted to a woman. Paul asks the church at Rome to help her in any way she needs.

There follows a long list of individuals at the church in Rome whom Paul greets. All the names appear to be Greek and none Jewish. It should be noted that many Jewish people who had never lived in Palestine adopted Greek names, so one cannot be certain. The greetings are divided almost equally between women and men.

Next is a warning to avoid those who cause dissensions and offenses. He implies that dissension is a sign of disobedience to the teaching of the way of Christ. As a matter of fact Paul says that such people are only serving their own base appetites, but they fool people by smooth talk and flattery. Paul immediately afterward blesses the believers in Rome.

Paul also sends greetings from eight men who are with him to the church at Rome. All but one have Greek names, and one, Tertius, puts in the he is the writer of the letter. It was the custom, when sending a letter, to hire a scribe, also known as amanuensis, to do the actual penning of the text. They would have parchment or papyrus, ink, and pens, articles too expensive for most people to keep around their dwelling. Besides, the scribes were experts at clear penmanship. On arrival, one person who read well would read the text aloud to the congregation of believers. This process was known in the Greek of the time as anaginóskein (to know again). Normally one heard the missive. The public in general did not become literate until the advent of the printing press at the beginning of the Modern Age, making texts numerous and much cheaper to obtain. The oral nature of the "reading" explains the repetition of important points, typical back then, but frowned upon now in good writing.

Paul's essay/letter ends, as usual with a doxology (an expression of praise to God). Paul praises God because the great mystery, kept secret for the ages, was now made known through the writings of the prophets to all, including the Gentiles, in order to bring all to the obedience that comes from trusting God. "To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever, amen!" (16:27 NRSV)

Romans 15

At this point, Paul summarizes the main thrust of his essay and discusses his plans. In the first six verses, he reminds the church at Rome that the strong must put up with the failings of the weak. After all, Jesus took on himself the insults of all the people. Then he appeals for harmony, unity and trust in Christ, which will lead to their glorifying God the Father.

Then he turns to his mission to the Gentiles. Christ became servant of the Jews so that (1) the promises in the Hebrew scriptures would be fulfilled and (2) so that the Gentiles would receive God's mercy. Interpretation: God's purpose has always been the redemption of the human race, of all those who trust God the Father through Christ, God the Son, in the power of God the Spirit. Paul quotes from the Psalms and from Deuteronomy to prove his point. He rounds out the above section as follows: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (15:13 NRSV)."

In the remainder of Chapter 15, Paul first repeats his mission to take the gospel to the Gentiles, that is, to those who have never heard. He is called to go where Christ has not yet been proclaimed and thus expand the church, so that "those to whom he has not yet been announced will see, and those who have not heard will understand (quoting Isaiah 52:15)."

Paul then outlines his plan to visit the church in Rome on his way to Spain. First, however, he was compelled to travel to Jerusalem to deliver the offerings from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia for the poor believers there. He asks for prayer to be delivered from those in Jerusalem who intend to harm him. We know from Luke's careful account in Acts of the Apostles that Paul's plan was undone. God had other plans for Paul and another plan for getting the good news of Jesus to Spain.

The Chapter ends "The God of peace be with all of you (15:31 NRSV)." The normal greeting in that day was (and still is in Hebrew) shalom, that is, peace. Paul follows the lead of Jesus, who said "I leave you my peace, but not as the world gives it." It is the peace (completion, fullness) that only God can provide.

Romans 14

The 14th chapter of Paul's book-length essay appeals to all believers in Christ to accept one another and not judge. The background to this teaching is the multi-ethnic makeup, not only of the church in Rome, but of virtually all the churches springing up in the Roman Empire. The gentile contingent had to decide whether they could eat meat sold in the market because, before it was made available for purchase, a portion of it had been sacrificed to a pagan deity. Some argued that the meat was unsuitable for a Christian, some argued that people outside the church would know and misinterpret the actions of the Christians, while still others argued that the Christian need not fear the meat and perhaps even that it was a good witness to eat it and not suffer at all from doing so.

Paul urges them not to take sides at all. Both those who refrained from meat and those who ate it did so to the glory of God. Those who did not eat were not to judge those who ate meat and those who did were not to belittle those who did not.

Among the Jews, there were some who still observed the weekly Shabbat (the Hebrew word "seventh" to designate the day we call Saturday) as a day of obligatory rest and some who considered themselves freed from having to observe, not only the Saturday rest, but also the observance of the festival days prescribed in the Torah.

Again, Paul instructs both sides not to judge each other, but rather to respect the practices of their Christian brothers and sisters. He then offers a higher teaching: the Christian no longer lives for himself or herself, but rather for God, because for that purpose Christ was killed and lives again. Accordingly, no one should feel justified in judging fellow Christians. Instead, we will all appear before the throne of God to be judged. and we will all have to give an account to the Lord. Then Paul quotes Isaiah (49:18 and 45:23) "I live, says Yahweh, so that every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess God." That is, do not try to put yourself in God's place by judging others.

This brings us through the first half of the chapter, which comes down heavy on those who condemn other Christians for eating meat from the market or drinking wine, or not observing Saturdays or feast days. The second half turns to the ones being judged. Apparently they countered by saying that they were strong in their faith while their accusers were weak. Paul tells the "strong" that they have a responsibility to their "weak" fellow Christians. This is the higher teaching: refrain from behaviors that bring grief to them or that could lead them to do things that violate their conscience. The work of God is not to be hindered for the sake of what one prefers to eat. Whatever you do, do it for the good of your fellow Christians and for peace in the church.

Finally, Paul says, whatever you do, make it in faith, that is, trusting Christ so fully that your greatest joy and your first priority is to obey him.

The issues vary, but even today Christians judge other Christians for doing things the former disapprove of or for living differently. To use a popular meme: get over it. Let's affirm each other in the faith and get on with whatever the Lord is directing the church to do.