Note: This week we are considering several lesser known Bible characters from a portion of Scripture one Bible teacher calls "a grocery list on names".

Message summary: We've met a lot of people through the years like the Mary in Romans 16. In fact some of them have actually been named Mary! What a tremendous blessing they are; ordinary people using ordinary gifts to build up Christ's extraordinary church. All over the world, unheralded and often underappreciated, they're still a major part of God's plan in getting the job done.

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"Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you" (Romans 16:6).

Yesterday I received a note from Dave, a friend from 1st grade and childhood neighbor as I was growing up. He informed me that his Mom, Lois, was nearing her end. Pat and Lois Simpson and their six children were neighbors from 1st grade through 9th grade when we moved from that area. We have kept up with them through the years, mostly due to my friendship with Dave. Pat died several years ago but we visited with Lois this last summer when we were in the Kansas City area.

Dave and his brothers and sisters have done an outstanding job honoring their mother and Dave has been driving up from his home in Springfield every couple of days to see her. Dave, an accountant and businessman estimated with six children that she had changed over 9,000 diapers!

Hopefully this will prompt a consideration of someone like Lois in your life, especially your own mother!

Today's message is about an otherwise unknown sister mentioned in Romans 16.

"Greet Mary". It must have been special for Mary to hear her name read aloud when this letter was initially presented to the Roman church. It's a blessing to be greeted not only one on one but especially in a group of people.

Mention Mary in the Bible and one probably assumes a reference to the mother of our Lord or to Mary Magdalene. But today's brief Scripture verse is the only Mary mentioned in any of the epistles, a dedicated local believer in the Roman church.

Her simple distinction? She "worked very hard". We are not told what she did, but the Roman believers knew very well. Perhaps she was on the fellowship committee arranging for meals or coordinated the nursery workers. Those are sure two hard jobs in a healthy, active church!  Maybe she stayed around after a church meal to scrub the dishes. That had to be done back then as well. (Archeologists have yet to discover paper plates from the New Testament age!)

Whatever she did, she worked very hard at it. The emphasis on "very" is purposeful. The KJV reads "bestowed much labor".

Finally let us note the simple words "for you". What a blessing she must have been to the church in Rome as she served others! What a reminder to us of the importance of appreciating our fellow workers in the Lord. Take notice of their contribution and express your appreciation often. You don't know how that person may need to be affirmed in a ministry where they may lack confidence or feel unappreciated.

We've met a lot of people through the years like Mary. In fact some of them have actually been named Mary! What a tremendous blessing they are; ordinary people using ordinary gifts to build up Christ's extraordinary church. All over the world, unheralded and often underappreciated, they're still a major part of God's plan in getting the job done.

Take note of the "Marys" within your congregation and life, people like Lois we mentioned in our opening paragraph. Speak a word of appreciation to them as you notice what others might not. And if you happen to be a hard worker like Mary you will someday hear the words of greatest commendation from the Master Himself, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, as we diligently labor for You it is not to bring attention to ourselves, but it is to bring glory to Your name. Help us to find our place of Christian service where we can develop our gifts and expend our labors for the building up of the body of Christ. We are indebted to so many along life's path who have stepped out of their comfort zone and said, "Yes" I will do what is needed to further the kingdom of God and bless others. Amen.

Brooksyne's Note:  Do you know one whose labor is expended when others are not present, thereby it usually goes unnoticed. One such role is the janitor of a church who sees that the bathrooms are scrubbed, toilet paper and papers towel dispensers are filled, mirrors shine, floors are swept, glass doors are polished, etc.  We expect to see our church clean on Sundays and think little of it…… unless it is not clean or paper towels are missing, etc. And then we might even get a little miffed. Some people serve in a capacity that goes completely unnoticed unless something is out of place.

Therefore when they're doing a good job we rarely consider their valuable contribution and even more rarely let them know how much we appreciate their work.  In the past we had a part-time janitorial couple who were in their mid to late 70's. While I was a Sunday School teacher I had the children each write a note of thanks on our chalkboard so they would see it while cleaning that week. We also wrote notes of thanks another time and dropped them in their mailbox.  This couple attended some of our special services and each time we talked they always say, "You're the one who thanked us for cleaning the church."  They didn't really know me personally but they recognized me by this small gesture that meant a great deal to them.

Suggested Exercise: You might bless your church cleaning team by slipping a note of appreciation along with a Scripture verse under the plastic liner of a trash can (arrive early so you can do this before trash fills the liner). Usually there are extra liners stacked under the trash liner which saves the cleaner time and it's on top of that stack that I did this in the past. Imagine the surprise when the janitors who are simply going about their routine work come upon a note addressed to them under the liner of the trash(es). It will likely put a smile on their face and fill a warm place in their hearts as they go about their weekly cleaning of the church building, and who knows it might even fill their hearts with a song as they run the sweeper that day.

List of proper names in Romans 16:

Phoebe, Priscilla, Aquila, Epenetus, Mary, Andronicus, Junias, Ampliatus, Urbanus, Stachys, Apelles, Aristobulus & household, Herodion (relative), Narcissus & household, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis, Rufus & his mother, Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas & brothers with him, Philologus, Julia, Neures and his sister, Olympas, Timothy, Lucius, Jason, Sosipater, Tertius, Gaius, Erastus, Quartus

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