"WHO'S WHO?"

ROMANS 16:1-17

According to the latest "Who's Who?" golfer Tiger Woods was "in" but Prince Charles' mistress was "out!" The latest addition of the listing judged that 900 men and women made their mark in politics, entertainment, sports and other areas of life. .... Not exactly in "Who's Who?" but nevertheless likely to make some list were two teenaged robbers. They held up a supermarket and made their dash to the getaway car -- a city bus. The bus driver, unaware that he was taking on fleeing felons, made one of the boys put on a shirt before allowing him on board. Police stopped the bus a couple of blocks later and arrested the boys, both under 16. A bus passenger said, "These guys have to be among America's dumbest criminals." .... In a 1984 article for the Detroit News, Ernie Harwell wrote, "When the Tigers got off to their roaring 35-5 start this season, the experts began writing and talking about the 1927 New York Yankees, a team rated by most as the outstanding aggregation in the history of baseball. Those Yankees were graced with bigger-than-life heroes. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earl Combs, Herb Pennock, and Waite Hoyt from that team are in baseball's Hall of Fame. But what about their teammates? What about Julie Weva, Joe Giard, Mike Gazella, Ray Morehart, John Grabowski, and Pat Collins? Not only did they miss the Hall of Fame, they're not even household words." Harwell then commented, "We all remember the greats, but the little guys also have their roles. It might be the role of a utility man, a pinch hitter, or maybe even a substitute who is just a holler guy -- the kind who keeps up the spirits on a team .... It also takes those little-known guys to win a pennant." You see, some make "Who's Who?" and some don't! .... Paul listed his own "Who's Who?" and included people he deemed significant based on the qualities he saw in their lives. There are some dynamics at work in their lives qualifying them for recognition. Let's consider those individuals and emulate their example. There are 4 salient characteristics in their lives:

• Here were people who had hearts like Christ! To the degree we serve, we have hearts like His; to the degree we want to be served, we are not like Him.
• These were living examples of the attitudes described in the Bible:
• PHILIPPIANS 2:3-4 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."
• PHILIPPIANS 2:5-7 "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men."
• 1 JOHN 3:16-18 "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth."
• GALATIANS 6:9-10 "And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith."
• You are never more like Jesus Christ than when you are involved in meeting genuine needs of others. You are never less like him than when you seek your own good at the expense of others.
• Harry Hopkins knew how to serve. When Wendell Willkie asked FDR, "Mr. President, why do you keep that frail, sickly man Harry Hopkins constantly at your elbow?" Without hesitation Roosevelt replied, "Mr. Willkie, through that door flows an incessant stream of men and women who almost invariably want something from me. Harry Hopkins desires only to serve me. To do that well, he must keep near me!"

These believers were in Paul's "Who's Who?" because they were servants, and

• They were helpers, they were fellow-laborers with Paul and with Christ.
• Christianity is team work; every one working hand in hand, side by side, right along with others. Nobody shirking, everygody working.
• It may be laboring in prayer.
• It may be working in hospitality or benevolence.
• It may be work in evangelism.
• It may be teaching or sponsoring youth.
• It may be in transportation.
• 1 CORINTHIANS 3:9 "For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building."
• 1 CORINTHIANS 15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."
• EPHESIANS 2:10 "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
• We are counselled to "work out" our salvation; not to work for it, but to work because of and in relationship to it. We are not saved because we work, we work because we are saved!
• Instead of working, many are like a dog which had been trained to pull a lawnmower. He stopped to bark at every excuse whether it was another dog, a cat or a person. The boy behind the mower said to a friend who was watching, "Don't mind Rover, he just barks as an excuse to rest. It's easier to bark than to pull!"

These people made Paul's "Who's Who?" because they were servants and they worked hard for Jesus. But more than that,

• They were willing to risk their necks, to lay down their lives for the gospel. Some were "fellow-prisoners" suffering confinement with Paul.
• None of us likes to suffer, and do all we can to avoid it. But Jesus pronounces a blessing on those who suffer for His sake and the sake of right; it's a beatitude that goes like this: "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" MATTHEW 5:10.
• Likely in your lifetime you will never shed a drop of blood for the sake of the gospel. But will you shed a drop of sweat? Will you be inconvenienced? Will you suffer the loss of personal plans, comforts, possessions to further Christ's work? Will you go out of your way for Jesus? Have you, will you, if need be suffer for Him?
• Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand suffered for Christ and spent 14 years in prison for preaching the gospel. His captors smashed four of his vertebrae and either cut or burned 18 holes in his body, but they could not defeat him. He testified, "Alone in my cell, cold, hungry, and in rags, I danced for joy every night."

So these were included in Paul's "Who's Who?" because they were servants who worked hard for Jesus and were willing to suffer for Him. Furthermore,

• Paul frequently describes our relationship to Christ as being "in Him!" That is not so hard to comprehend; we use similar phraseology all the time, saying things like, "I'm in love!" "He's in trouble!" "She's in a really bad situation!" "He's in better health now!"
• The concept is this: to be "in" something is:
• To live your life in context of it.
• To be molded, shaped, influenced, controlled and directed by it.
• To belong to it and to be a vital part of it.
• To be deeply and personally involved in, consumed by and committed to, it.
• To be in Christ is all the above! It means that:
• He is the context and center of our living.
• He molds, shapes, controls, directs us.
• He owns us and we are part of His body, the church.
• We are personally involved with, and committed to, him.
• So, how do we get "in Christ?" Not by "asking Jesus into your heart!" Not by saying a "sinner's prayer!" Not by raising your hand or bowing your head in some meeting. There is not one Scripture that teaches anyone to do those things! The Bible is clear: you are in Christ if, as a repentant believer, you have been immersed into Him. You meet the blood of Jesus in water baptism: "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?" ROMANS 6:3. You clothe yourself with Christ in baptism: "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." GALATIANS 3:27. That's how you get "in Christ!"

People get into "Who's Who?" depending upon how they impress the compilers. It's not so much who they really are, but how they impress the ones who make the list! It's swaying the "right ones!" A young man understood that. He studied violin under a world-renowned master and the time came for the student's first recital. Following each selection, despite the cheers of the crowd, the performer seemed dissatisfied. Even after the last number, with the shouts louder than ever, the violinist stood watching an old man in the balcony. Finally the elderly one smiled and nodded in approval. Immediately the young man relaxed and beamed with happiness. You see, the man in the balcony was his teacher, and the applause of the crowd had meant nothing to him until he had first won the approval of his master. No matter who we impress or who includes us in their list here on earth, nothing matters if the Lord doesn't approve. Being in HIS "Who's Who?": the Lamb's Book of Life is all that will matter in the judgment. In it, you're home safe; out of it, you're lost. By placing your obedient faith in Jesus Christ, your name is written there. The question you ought to ask this morning, if you are not sure of it, is, "Is my name written there? Am I in the Lamb's Book of Life? Am I in God's 'Who's Who?'" If your name isn't there, get it written in as you give your life to and for Jesus Christ, to believe him, obey him and serve him.

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