“Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker [“helper” KJV] in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved” (Romans 16:9 NKJV). The word for “helper” is “sunergos,” a co-laborer. The compound word begins with “sun,” a primary preposition denoting union with or together, added to “ergon,” meaning to work, to toil or to act.
Therefore, the word “helper” means to toil closely with someone in a common cause. Hence, it is worthy to note that Urbanus was more than a wallflower, and he was closely toiling or working with other brethren. Therefore, Urbanus provided encouragement through his participation with fellow Christians. Likewise, we should toil or work together, too.
[Editor’s Note: My residence is shrouded with about 20 tall pine trees. That means before every time I mow grass, I must collect one to four wheelbarrows full of tree debris from the yard. On the occasions when I must do this chore alone and by myself, I go about the task reluctantly, and it takes about a third as long to clean up the yard as it does to mow. How depressing! However, on those occasions when just one person helps me retrieve the tree debris, not only more speedily but also with less grumbling on my part we proceed to accomplish that burden. I am encouraged! More importantly, encouragement is one of the benefits when brethren labor together in Christian service. ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]
