Preached Sunday, June 10, 2012 from Philippians 2:19-30
Theme: Timothy and Epaphroditus model for us the essential characteristics of effective servants of Christ.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We come this morning to a very interesting passage in our study of the New Testament letter to the Philippians. In it, the apostle Paul writes about some people that he loved very dearly. Paul was a compassionate lover of people; and it’s always especially interesting to read what he had to say about particular brothers and sisters that he loved.
He certainly loved the Philippian believers. He had been writing to instruct them on how they were to live faithful and joyful Christian lives while he was absent from them. He was in prison at the time, and so he couldn’t be with them and minister to them as he wished. And that’s when—in Philippians 2:19-30—he wrote this about some other believers that he loved;
But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.
Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me (Philippians 2:19-30).
Paul’s letter is all about how to have prevailing joy in the midst of the trials of life. He himself was modeling that joy while in a Roman prison—uncertain of his immediate future. But here, it seems as if ‘Paul, the prisoner for Christ’ breaks the flow of his letter, and begins to talk like ‘Paul the administrator of church affairs’. He writes to the Philippians about his plans regarding these two men Timothy and Epaphroditus.
But he really hadn’t ceased to talk about how we are to experience joy. The fullest possible joy in Christ is only ours in the context of life together in the body of Christ. And these two men served that body; and labored to help to create the kind of atmosphere in which the joy of the Lord Jesus—that Paul stresses so much in this letter—could flourish among His people.
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Now; to help set our thinking about this passage, I ask you to keep your finger in your Bibles at Philippians 2; but turn them a little further ahead in the New Testament to 1 Peter 4:10-11. It’s there that I believe we’re given an important insight into the nature of the ministries of these two men to the church.
The apostle Peter was writing instructions to God’s people about how serve together faithfully as the body of Christ in difficult times. And in those two verse, Peter wrote;
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:10-11).
Peter was letting his readers know—as Paul also does in some of his letters—that each genuine believer in the church has been gifted by the Holy Spirit in a particular role to play for the good of all. That’s true, by the way, of every genuine believer in this church this morning. If you have been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, you have been placed in His “body”—the church on earth—to fulfill a particular role for the good of others in it. Peter says, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” It’s exciting to know that, by God’s design, we each have a purpose in God’s church family. It’s important, then, to make sure that we seek God’s help in faithfully doing our part.
And if you pay close attention to what Peter said, you’ll see the distinction that he makes in those roles. He divides them up into two basic categories. There are what we might call “preaching and teaching” ministries. Peter says, “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.” This would refer to the people that God gives to the church to serve as preachers and pastors, teachers and counselors. The life of God’s people on earth is directed and guided by God’s holy Scriptures; and these are the people who serve the church by teaching us what God’s word says, and by helping us to apply its instruction accurately to our lives.
But there are also what we might call “hands-on” ministries. Peter goes on to write; “If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies . . .”; and the idea here is the kind of works of service in the church that involve the basic “nuts-and-bolts” activities of the church family. These are the people who prepare the food, or administrate the resources, or provide care for those in need, or just know how to get a ladder and some tools and fix things up so they run better.
As I described those two basic catagories of ministry, I’ll bet you thought about which one you fit in with best. Some of you thought, “I love to handle God’s word. I love to study its meaning, and share what I’ve discovered. I love to teach and mentor others in how to apply God’s word to their lives.” And if that describes you, you should know that it also described Timothy.
Timothy was a “preaching and teaching” servant to God’s people. His name means “Honoring God”; and he was a man who greatly honored God through his pastoral and teaching ministry. Did you know that his name is on six of Paul’s New Testament letters as a “co-author” with the apostle? There are two New Testament letters in which Paul writes detailed instructions to Timothy in his pastoral ministry—the basic theme of which is, “Preach the word!” There are a few times in the New Testament in which Paul says that he couldn’t go to a particular church, but that he was going to send Timothy in his place. The letter to the Philippians is one of them. Paul begins the letter by saying that it was from “Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ.” In Philippians 2:19, Paul—who couldn’t come to the Philippians right then because he was in prison—wrote, “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly . . .”
But perhaps you don’t see your self represented in Timothy’s type of ministry. Perhaps you greatly appreciate those who can do what he did; but you yourself feel more comfortable in a behind-the-scenes, hands-on sort of role. Perhaps your the kind of believer that loves to get your hands dirty, serve, and make things happen. And if that’s so, then Epaphroditus is your man.
He was a very different kind of man from Timothy, with a very different kind of ministry. His name doesn’t sound very manly; because it means “Lovely”. But he was definitely a man’s man who knew how to translate the love of God into action. The only other place that he is clearly mentioned in the New Testament is a the end of this letter; in Philippians 4:18, where Paul wrote, “Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.” The Philippians had worked hard to raise a cash donation for Paul to help him during his imprisonment at Rome; and the man that they knew to send on that difficult, dangerous, several-hundreds-of-miles-long journey from Macedonia to Rome—with a large quantity of cash to deliver—was Epaphroditus. In fact, after he got to Rome, Epaphroditus stayed with Paul and served him in whatever other ways he might have needed. Really, you could say that the Philippians sent two very precious gifts to Paul—the cash that Epaphroditus brought, and Epaphroditus himself!
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Now; I have to tell you something that I’ve learned in my years of experience in church life. You’re never going to be happy in the service of the Lord in any way other than the way God has uniquely wired you to serve.
Sometimes, necessity requires that we work outside of our comfort-zones now and then. But generally speaking, if you’re wired by God to be the “preaching/teaching” ministry type, then the worst thing in the world for you to do is to try to function regularly in the body of Christ in the “hands-on” kind of roles. You’re just not made for it. Or, if you’re wired by God to be the “hands-on” ministry type, then the worst thing that could happen to you is to get pushed long-term into an up-front, “teaching and preaching” role. That’s just not who you were made to be. Timothy could never be an Epaphroditus; and Epaphroditus could never be a Timothy. It’s miserable to be pushed into something that God never designed you to be doing. But a big part of experiencing joy in church-life is knowing what you are best suited for in ministry to others; and doing it diligently and with all your heart—as to the Lord.
But one reason this morning’s passage is such a valuable one to us is because it shows us—even with the differences that there were between Timothy’s type of ministry and Epaphroditus’ type of ministry—that there are certain character qualities they both possessed in common that made them truly valuable and effective servants to God’s people in their appointed roles. Whatever our ministry style—whether it’s a Timothy “preaching/teaching” style, or an Epaphroditus “hands-on helping” style—these qualities must be there!
What are these qualities? As we look closer at this morning’s passage, and compare these two great servants of God, we see that they both possessed . . .
1. A GENUINE COMPASSION FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD.
Look, for example, at Timothy. When Paul wrote about sending him to the Philippians, there might have been many other “preaching/teaching” types that he could have sent. But he didn’t feel that they would provide the sort of earnest, thorough spiritual care and instruction for the Philippians that Paul wanted them to have. He didn’t feel he could send anyone else but Timothy. As he wrote,
For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus (vv. 20-21).
We shouldn’t take that to mean that Paul was saying that all of his other co-workers were phonies, or that they where only in it for themselves. But you can tell that, when it came to serving the Philippians with the kind of devotion he wanted them to have, Paul was a little disappointed with the others. Perhaps they had said, “Paul; I’d love to go to Philippi, but I just can’t. I have too many other commitments right now. I have too many other irons in the fire. Life is just getting in the way right now.” Paul once wrote to Timothy and told him, “No one engaged in warfare entangles with the affairs of life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4); and perhaps these others had become too entangled in the affairs of life to be able to give the kind of priority to the spiritual nurture the Philippians that they needed right then.
But whatever the reason, Paul told the Philippians that he had no one else like Timothy “who will sincerely care for your state.” And they should be glad that it would be Timothy who would be sent to them. Timothy—like Paul—had a genuine concern for the needs of the people under his care.
And the same was true of Epaphroditus—except that his concern was shown in a different way. When he made the long journey to Paul in Rome, he had to travel several hundreds of miles—perhaps, as some scholars estimate—600 to 700 miles by foot. It was a remarkable exertion of love! And perhaps the long journey took its toll on Epaphroditus. Or it may be, as some historians believe, that he contracted an illness common in Rome that many sojourners from other parts of the world were not acclimated to. In any case, he became gravely ill.
News of his condition must have traveled back somehow to the Philippians; and they became distressed for their dear brother Epaphroditus. And so—even though he was well again, and had been faithfully ministering to Paul’s needs for some time, Paul felt he needed to send him back;
. . . since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow (vv. 26-27).
Epaphroditus wasn’t concerned for himself. He was concerned for his dear brothers and sisters back in Philippi who had gotten the news about the man that they had sent on this long journey, and had grown deeply distressed for him. Clearly, he had a great deal of affection for them.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; whether we have an up-front, teaching/preaching style ministry, or a behind-the-scenes, hands-on kind of ministry, we must make sure that it’s motivated by genuine compassion for the people we serve. It must be motivated by real love for them. Just as Paul wrote in his famous “love chapter”;
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
May God help us to serve in the unique roles God has given us with a common bond of sincere love for one another!
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As we look again through this passage, we see that another characteristic that these two men had in common was . . .
2. A SACRIFICIAL COMMITMENT TO THE CAUSE OF GOSPEL.
They fervently and sincerely loved the people that they served. But they weren’t serving them simply for the sake of serving them. They served them with a specific purpose in mind—that is, for the advancement the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives and in the lives of others that they might reach. They wanted to see the people that they served in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, growing in the knowledge of His will for their lives, and spreading that gospel to others. They worked ultimately for the Great Commission in the fulfillment of their individual ministries.
This was certainly true of Timothy. I love how Paul speaks of him in verse 22;
But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel (v. 22).
I suspect that Timothy was the younger man of the two, and Epaphroditus was the older man. When Paul spoke of Epaphroditus, he called him, “my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier”. But when Paul spoke of Timothy, he referred to him as “my beloved and faithful son in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 4:17). But I don’t think it was just because Timothy was younger that he called him “a son”. I believe it was because Paul had led Timothy to the Lord, and had invested himself in him and mentored him; so that he could faithfully serve with Paul and become characterized by the same passion for the gospel that Paul had—so that, spiritually speaking, it would be “like father, like son”.
The Philippians, then, knew that Timothy had a character that as tried and tested, and proven to be faithful to the gospel that Paul had given everything to proclaim. He began to travel with Paul early in his missionary journeys. He labored with Paul, and taught with Paul, and even suffered with Paul. And according to the writer of Hebrews—whether that writer was Paul, or someone else—Timothy even went to jail for the cause of the gospel like Paul did.1 I believe you could say that to the degree that Paul was sacrificially committed to proclaim the life-changing power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Timothy was committed to proclaim it just as sacrificially.
And Epaphroditus was sacrificially committed to the gospel too. His ministry with respect to that gospel may have been different from Timothy’s. He may have been called to serve its cause in a different way than Timothy had been called. But his commitment was every bit as sacrificial to that very same gospel as Timothy’s was.
When Epaphroditus came to Paul—and labored so hard that he almost died—it wasn’t simply for Paul that he did so. It was so that the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ would be advanced through the labors of the Lord’s faithful apostle. And when Paul finally sent him back to his concerned brothers and sisters in Philippi, Paul wrote and said,
Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me (vv. 29-30).
And again, dear brothers and sisters; what a great lesson this is to us! Each of us has a task to perform. God has equipped us each uniquely to serve one another in love. But we need to make sure that our service of love isn’t an end in and of itself. We are serving each other so that we can—together—serve the greater cause of the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ in each other’s lives. As Paul put it in Ephesians 4:12-13, we are to exercise our particular gifts,
. . . for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . (Ephesians 4:12-13).
May God help us to make sure that—whatever it is we do in service to one another—it is done in sacrificial devotion to the cause of seeing the gospel of Jesus Christ furthered in one another’s life.
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So far, we’ve seen that—even though their ministries were very different—both Timothy and Epaphroditus were motivated by a sincere compassion for people, and from a sacrificial devotion to the cause of the gospel.
But as we look through this passage, we see one more quality that they both had in common with one another; and that is . . .
3. A PROVEN TRUSTWORTHINESS TO FULFILL THEIR TASKS.
When it came to both of these men, Paul could entrust his greatest concerns to them, and know that they would faithfully perform the task that had been given to them.
Look, for example, at Timothy. One of the concerns that Paul had was for the spiritual welfare of the Philippians. He wanted to make sure that they were growing in the Lord as they should; and that, even though he was absent from them, they were behaving in a way that was consistent with the gospel. He himself couldn’t be with them. He was confined in prison. But he knew that he could send Timothy—who would not only make sure that the Philippians were doing alright, but would bring a faithful report to Paul of their condition. As he wrote in verse 19;
But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state (v. 19).
Paul had done this before with Timothy. He was concerned for the believers in Thessalonica; and so, he wrote to them and told them,
Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith . . . (1 Thessalonians 3:1).
And when Timothy came back from Thessalonica, Paul’s heart was encouraged. He wrote,
But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you— therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith (vv. 6-7).
So Paul knew that just as he could trust Timothy to do the job faithfully when it came to the Thessalonian believers. And he knew he could also trust him with respect to the Philippians;
Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly (vv. 23-24).
In a similar way—though for a completely different task—Paul knew he could trust Epaphroditus. Paul planned to send Timothy to assess the Philippians’ spiritual state; and that was what Timothy was suited to do. But he sent Epaphroditus to be a comfort to the Philippians—just as he had been a comfort to himself. He wrote;
Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need (v. 25).
He did this because the Philippians were worried about Epaphroditus; and this not only made Epaphroditus sorrowful, but it also sorrowed Paul.
Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful (v. 28).
In both of these cases, these two men were sent by Paul to the Philippians—entrusted with a stewardship to fulfill; and both of them were trustworthy and faithful to do exactly what was needed. Just like the faithful stewards in our Lord’s parable—who returned to report what they had done with the talents that had been entrusted to them, I believe both Timothy and Epaphroditus would have reported back to Paul and heared him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant . . .”2
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; whatever our ministry to the body of Christ may be—whether we are like Timothy, and are called to a preaching/teaching role; or are like Epaphroditus, and are called to a hand’s-on/service role—may the qualities that characterized these two men characterize us. May we, like them, serve with genuine compassion for people, sacrificial commitment to the gospel, and proven faithfulness in our tasks.
And as we do so, may God make our church family to become—increasingly—a community of prevailing joy in Christ.