Sincerely

Do some simple greetings really justify serious study?

This coming Sunday our Scripture for the sermon is from Romans 16.
It’s the end of the letter.
And a good bit of it (vv1-16), is a simple commendation and some greetings.

Well, we should note, Paul includes twenty-six individuals (!) here.

One might wonder — isn’t this just an extended take on how we far more simply end our letters: “sincerely”? And can what appears to be just some clean-up and housekeeping by Paul, I mean, can this be worthy of a Sunday morning sermon?

John Stott quotes two others — Chrysostom and Brunner — by way of response:

'I think', wrote Chrysostom, that many even of those who have the appearance of being extremely good men, hasten over this part of the epistle as superfluous ... Yet', he went on, 'the gold founders' people are careful even about the little fragments ... it is possible even from bare names to find a great treasure.'

Brunner went further and called Romans 16 'one of the most instructive chapters of the New Testament, because it encourages personal relationships of love in the church.

Chrysostom and Brunner are right. Even in the genealogies of both the Old and the New Testaments, and in Paul's list of those who send or receive greetings, there are truths to ponder and lessons to learn.

I’m looking forward to Sunday, and pondering even the little fragments, together.