I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, 2so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.

3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus, 4and who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert* in Asia for Christ. 6Greet Mary, who has worked very hard among you. 7Greet Andronicus and Junia,* my relatives* who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. 8Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11Greet my relative* Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; and greet his mother—a mother to me also. 14Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters* who are with them. 15Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.                     Romans 1:1-16

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It is good to be back from cool Colorado!......

Did you hear the story about the doctor, the lawyer and the minister who went fly-fishing? (Brian Divelbiss, his brother in law, Greg,(Karen’s brother) and I spent some delightful hours on Fall River in Horseshoe Park in Rocky Mountain National Park – catching the big brown trout.  Until the thunder and lightning set in!

The real translation of Mark 1:16…  “As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew fly-fishing!”

I quote (again!) the opening line from A River Runs Through It, a movie about a Presbyterian minister, his wife and two sons in Missoula, Montana in the early 1900’s:   “In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly-fishing….we were told about Christ’s disciples being fishermen and we were left to assume as my brother and I did, that all first-class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen and that John, the favorite was a dry-fly fisherman.’ Amen! Sounds like the truth to me!

Anyway, all kinds of people can go fly-fishing and all kinds of people make up the Church, the Body of Christ!

In Romans chapter 16 we find the names of relatively “unimportant” people.

Most of them are not mentioned anywhere else in Scripture.

They reveal the remarkable power of the Christian faith – everyday people united with a common cause – sharing, serving and following Jesus Christ.

In this list we find the names of some who were slaves, some were free; some were craftsmen, merchants, and business people.  About half the people named are women.

At the beginning of Romans 16, Paul commends Phoebe, a deacon of the church. Phoebe was a woman in a leadership position in the church.

In verse 7 the Apostle Paul says “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles.”  This little verse has generated much discussion over the years because of “Junia,” a female name, being called one of the apostles, that is a person who witnessed Jesus’ resurrection.

In verse 12 Paul mentions two women, “Tryphena and Tryphosa,” possibly twins – whose names meaning “dainty and delicate,” yet who are workers in the Lord, or who work hard in the Lord.

In this list we are also seeing Paul’s attempt to build bridges between various groupings of Christians in Rome who were not on good terms with one another regarding various issues in the life of the church. (See N.T. Wright’s reflections on the Letter to the Romans in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 10).

N.T. Wright. Canon Theologian at Westminster Abbey in London has written:

“Being a bridge builder between different Christian groups and opinions is hard and painstaking work…Today’s church badly needs a new generation of bridge builders who will take the trouble to treat the different groups seriously, not only to greet them by name but, as Paul does here, to honor them for who they are and what they are doing in the Lord. The aim must then be to work with them, with integrity and imagination, to bring them into fellowship and mutual respect with one another.”

Earlier in Paul’s letter to the Christians at Rome, Paul writes, “Live in harmony with one another…if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all…”

The phrase “one another” is used over and over again in the New Testament to describe how we are to treat each other…the quality of life within the congregation: Some examples:

• Love One Another - John 13:34
• Be Kind One to Another - Ephesians 4:32
• Bear One Another's Burdens - Galatians 6:2
• Honor One Another - Romans 12:10
• Comfort One Another - 1 Thessalonians 4:18
• Show Hospitality to One Another - 1 Peter 4:9
• Forgive One Another - Ephesians 4:32
• Encourage One Another - 1 Thessalonians 5:11

It is hard to build bridges between various Christian groups and/or denominations and sometimes we see attempts made to reverse the “bridges.”

Last month Pope Benedict XVI restated Roman Catholic views from an earlier document written in 2000, that Protestant denominations are not true churches "in the proper sense.” The document has been criticized as setting back the quest for Christian unity.

The document says that Protestant denominations of the Reformation "have not preserved the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery [and] cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called 'Churches' in the proper sense".

Spokespeople for the Roman Catholic Church have offered various interpretations of the document and many have said that ecumenical relations are still alive and well between Catholics and Protestants. I think that is true.

I am reminded of the words by Edwin Markham:

He drew a circle that shut me out,

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But love and I had the wit to win,

We drew a circle that took him in.

Good words to remember.

If you do a GOOGLE search for Christian denominations you will find thousands and thousands of groups listed – one document listing all the various churches was 25 pages long!

Churches have split again and again over interpretations of the Bible: Should women be ordained? What is the correct understanding of the Lord’s Supper? How should a church be governed? With bishops? A Pope? The list is almost endless!

During the Civil War, the Presbyterian Church split over the issue of slavery. Christian people were on both sides of the issue. Some argued that that the Bible endorsed and supported the institution of slavery, pointing to specific verses that said slaves were to be obedient to their masters, e.g., Ephesians 6:5. Other Christians interpreted those verses differently, noting that they were culturally bound in the context of the first century and violated Jesus’ law of love. Our denomination did not reunite until 1983!

Today, many presbyteries across the country – and our own Heartland Presbytery – struggle with what to do about local churches that no longer want to be a part of the denomination that struggles with the issue of ordaining gay and lesbian persons.

Who are these people? Christians are a very diverse people with denominations founded on differing interpretations of Scripture.

I commend to you John Danforth’s book, Faith & Politics. Danforth, former three-term U.S. Republican senator from MO and an ordained Episcopal priest, opens his book with a chapter entitled, Are Christians Reconcilers or Dividers?

Danforth emphasizes that people of faith are not of one mind on controversial social issues, or even on the more general issue of how religion relates to politics.

He says that in recent years conservative Christians have presented themselves as representing the one authentic Christian perspective on politics….and that with due respect for our conservative friends, equally devout Christians come to very different conclusions.

He writes:

“Reconciliation depends on acknowledging that God’s truth is greater than our own, that we cannot reduce it to any political platform we create, no matter how committed we are to that platform, and that God’s truth is large enough to accommodate the opinions of all kinds of people, even those with whom we strongly disagree.”

We are called to be ambassadors of reconciliation….how we treat others is evidence of the way we follow Jesus – the one who came to downtrodden and broken hearted.

As Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church lives in the present trusting God and moves into the future trusting God, I believe the crucial things are good communication, transparency, honesty, vulnerability, listening, acting out of faith, rather than fear – creating a climate where people can grow in their faith – fanning the flame of the gifts within each person.

Who are these people?

They are the Body of Christ living out the grace, mercy, compassion and love of God in Jesus Christ.

Who are these people?

We are! Together we are the Body of Christ!