A Sacred Kiss

Meditations on Romans

October 1, 2021

A Sacred Kiss

Greet each other with a sacred kiss. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings.

Romans 16:16

Read: Romans 16:1-16

Paul names more than two dozen individuals as he closes his letter. To the best of our knowledge, Paul did not travel to Rome until after this letter was written. In an age well before telephones, regular mail service, email, or twitter, I am left to ponder how Paul knew so many people in Rome. But before I get lost pondering the how, let me first appreciate that he did in fact know by name many of his brothers and sisters in the faith who were connected to the church in Rome. Not only did he know their names, he was also well aware of where and how they were in service to Christ and his church.

My Takeaway: In our churches today, many in the congregation are hard pressed to name twenty-four of the persons who gather with them each week for worship; much less the names of any of those who labor for Christ in other churches, either down the street or in other lands. I believe we, like Paul, will not find it hard to raise the money needed to fund our churches when we are as passionate as Paul about the people within our congregations and when we celebrate our connection to the other communities of faith supporting the work of Christ.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.