Unchained – The Boys are Back in Town – Sermon – Pastors Marlee and Dave Page

We know that Timothy had been a faithful servant and companion of the Apostle Paul for many years. He had accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys, preaching and working hard from one place to another because of their shared commitment to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In reading this lengthy segment about Timothy, we can’t help but be impressed with the character of this man. A true believer in Jesus; someone who was selfless in his actions for the glory of God and willing to use all his gifts and abilities for the kingdom cause.

This example of Timothy’s life really underscores the teaching of Paul in his letter so far. Both Timothy and Epaphroditus demonstrate the qualities of a true Christian in their day and in ours today.

What are the characteristics that made Timothy and Epaphroditus worth emulating?

Notice that Paul seemed to have had no doubt regarding Timothy’s faith in Jesus. Notice the description he gives of him near the beginning of this section:

“I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare.”

Philippians 2:20.

Paul saw Timothy as different from other believers: he was “genuinely concerned” for the welfare of others, even those he did not know personally.

This is an important quality for a Jesus follower, living in a broken world, because it implies that Timothy was willing to put aside personal ambition and serve in whatever capacity he could regardless of how small and humble the task. Throughout their years together, Timothy served Paul selflessly due to conviction rather than compulsion. Sure, Timothy was being obedient to God in his service, but that obedience was driven out of what he believed and the Joy that Timothy felt in that service. The joy that comes from serving others should drive us in everything we do. In other words, we should live each day with the understanding that all that we have is a gift from God, and so it belongs to Him. Withhold nothing and give out of joy and love, being content in knowing that our service is ultimately aimed at glorifying His name.

Dave did a lot of teaching and travelling with the fire department. Back in 2009 he was staying at a firehouse in downtown Baltimore – they were at a conference there and ended up rooming with another fella from the New York City Fire Department. His name was Tommy Foley… two years later during the 9/11 attack, Tommy was working on Rescue 3, an elite unit in the FDNY, he went into the World Trade Center early. When a woman asked him why he was entering the tower, he replied, “Because I’m a fireman and this is what I do.”.

Tommy’s story helps us to put our own tendencies into perspective in the light of greater purpose. It reminds us that when serving God, we should expect nothing in return, and willingly go wherever He calls us to go regardless of the cost. Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus lived by this same ethos – “Because I follow Jesus, and that is what I do.”  I can imagine them saying this.

What Can We Learn From Timothy About Serving Hope To Others?

Paul saw that there was something special about Timothy when it came to serving others with hope; literally providing them with hope. Paul says in verse twenty-three that Timothy might be sent to them in haste, which implies the urgency in addressing the needs of believers despite the risk of persecution they faced traveling such distances. In other words, Timothy was ready and willing to go wherever he was needed in spite of the circumstances surrounding him. In the same spirit, we ought to be willing to go out of our comfort zones and embrace opportunities to bridge gaps with those in need.  From Timothy’s example, then, we can learn to never underestimate the impact of our service to others. In fact, we should pray for new opportunities to reach out to those in need of reassurance, even if those opportunities are outside of our comfort zone, outside of our church and trust that God will use us to accomplish His purpose of sharing hope even in difficult environments.

As we have seen since throughout our study of this letter so far, fellowship in the Philippian church was not of the ice cream social variety but was rather the fellowship of people bound together by a great spiritual quest.

As we’ve talked about before, the Greek root word for ‘fellowship’ occurs six times across the brief chapters of Philippians, used variously as “partnership” (twice), “partakers” (once), “participation” (once), and “share” (twice), depending on your translation. And each occurrence emphasizes a different aspect of the Philippians’ fellowship or participation with one another:

• 1:5 emphasizes “partnership in the gospel”;
• 1:7 describes the Philippians as “you share in God’s grace”;
• 2:1 lists their “sharing in the Spirit”;
• 3:10 records Paul’s desire to “participate” in Christ’s sufferings; and
• 4:14, 15 employ the words “share” and “partnership” to stress fellowship in giving.

So, fellowship involved participation in the gospel and grace and the Spirit and suffering and giving.

In the last part of this passage we learn that the Philippians had decided to express and confirm their fellowship with Paul by taking up an offering for him and dispatching an envoy to make the 800-mile trek to Rome and pay Paul’s prison expenses and minister to his needs. This was crucial because the Roman prison system didn’t provide for food, clothing, or medical care.

So young, strong, healthy, godly Epaphroditus was chosen and was entrusted with a considerable sum of money…and true to Paul’s trust, despite getting severely sick along the way, the ever-faithful Epaphroditus delivered the goods and set himself, as he was able, to caring for Paul as the Philippians’ surrogate.

However, it wasn’t long until Paul decided that the young man should return to Philippi for reasons that the apostle would later explain. What is at once apparent from what Paul says here is that he was concerned that the Philippians give the young man a proper welcome. Paul saw a lesson here as well, A church (like a culture) that does not recognize the sacrifice of its own for the sake of the gospel makes a big mistake. And the wise apostle simply would not let that happen. Epaphroditus’ selfless conduct, like Timothy’s was a living example of the humility of Christ in his serving the interests of others.

These were two pretty amazing young men, Timothy and Epaphroditus and not just because of their desire to serve Paul or the Gospel. The other thing that is very apparent to us along with Paul’s recognition of the Christ like nature of Timothy and Epaphroditus is also Paul’s recognition of their giftings and how those gifts might be used within the Church, as a part of their broader Gospel mission.

What do I mean by giftings? Well, I’m talking about spiritual gifts. This passage is additionally speaking about how Timothy and Epaphroditus were living out their spiritual gifts for the benefit of others and for the glory of God. Every Christian is given spiritual gifts by God, and it is undoubtedly important that these gifts should be put to good use. The reality however is that this is not always the case.

All too often, in churches and groups within churches today, there is a considerable amount of effort expended to get people involved in the Gospel mission and we find the notorious Prato principle applies  – that being 80% of the work is being done by a weary 20% of the people. Why does this happen? Partially due to ignorance – not recognizing that there is a need or yes, maybe for some, not responding to a known need. But in part, it’s also due to the ignorance – not being aware of or the avoidance of  – our Spiritual gifts.

What are Spiritual Gifts?  Before we get any further, let’s discuss what spiritual gifts actually are. These gifts are given to us by God and they vary from individual to individual. Each person has his or her own unique combination of gifts which are meant to be used for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. Generally speaking, though, spiritual gifts are special abilities that God gives us to serve Him and bring glory to Him. Paul explains this concept in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 where he tells us that “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.” Essentially, God has provided for each of us different spiritual gifts so that we can live the life He desires for us and fill our unique roles in the church.

The Examples We Have In Scripture

Paul writes in Philippians 2:19-30 of two men who prominently did this—Timothy and Epaphroditus. Paul tells us in this letter and others that Timothy’s spiritual gift was preaching and teaching. Not only this, but it seems that he also had boldness and great courage as a result of the faith he had in Jesus Christ. This was a great display of using his spiritual gifts for the benefit of others. And Paul applauded and encouraged him for it, saying in verse 22 that “…you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel”   Next, we come to Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25-30. Again, Paul praises him for an incredible demonstration of living out his spiritual gifts. His gifts that were utilized were ones of service, humility, and mercy. Even while he was near death, Epaphroditus humbly submitted himself and served the needs of the Church. Paul says three times, “he was ill… yet he almost died,” showing just how sacrificial and humble he was in serving others, despite the risks his own life faced.

Applying these Examples to Our Own Lives

Finally, Paul concludes with an urging for us to follow the examples of Timothy and Epaphroditus in living out our spiritual gifts. Coming back to the passage, verses 29-30 say,

“welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honour people like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.”

Friends, isn’t it inspiring and convicting that we too could use our gifts like Timothy and Epaphroditus, sacrificially and humbly? That is precisely what Paul wants us to do. He wants us to honour God by boldly and courageously risking our, time, energy and maybe even our lives in order to serve the needs of others. When we do those things, limitless blessings are bound to come forth from it, both for us and for the world around us.

Life Application:

So, how can we apply this truth to our lives today? Well, first and foremost, consider the spiritual gifts that God has gifted you with and ask yourself:

• Do I know what my Spiritual Gifts are?
• Am I using them?
• Am I using them for His glory rather than my own?
• Am I living in a way that honours the love He has for us by serving others and offering them mercy and humility like Epaphroditus did?
• Furthermore, am I using the boldness and courage that Timothy exercised in faithfully proclaiming the gospel wherever I go?

Whether it is teaching, giving, leading, or otherwise – we each need to examine our lives and ensure that we use whatever gifts we have to bring glory to God and to minister to those around us.

We need to recognize and learn about our Gifts and then we need to see where that gift fits into the functioning of the body.

Here’s an example – Imagine you and some friends decide to put together a pickup hockey team, but somehow your team ends up in Maple Leaf Gardens actually playing the Leafs. You would not fare too well and you might even be seriously hurt. This is because of your lack of equipment, training, conditioning, experience, and skills at playing the positions required.

The same holds true for the church today. People who become involved in a church without the proper understanding of the equipment; little training, conditioning, or basic skills; and practically no knowledge of positions on the playing field aren’t equipped to serve the Church. – Church that’s on us – we are the Pastors of the Church and very clearly, we are called to be the equippers

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”

Ephesians 4:11–12.

…and so we want to make sure you each have the option to  understand how we all can minister together toward our common goal through using our Spiritual Gifts. Just like Paul and Timothy and Epaphroditus and the whole Church at Philippi. We must know how God can use us, i.e., the position we should play on the team.

Christ’s strategy for reaching the World for Himself was through the Church.

Remember this time last year when we studied the book of Ephesians: Read Ephesians 3:10-12 and 4:1-7.

He has called each of us to contribute! Everyone is needed to contribute in their unique way.

But, how are you to contribute and in what unique way has God called you?  That’s what we are exploring in our Thursday midweek program – Yes, we began last week but we’ve got 3 more weeks to go and it’s not to late for you to join us this next week and the weeks after.

Church, this Book is filled with Scripture about using our spiritual gifts:

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.”

1 Peter 4:10

So let us heed Peter’s command and use the spiritual gifts God has given us to build up and strengthen each other in the Church and in the world.

… spiritual gifts and the blessings that come with them are only received by those who want them badly enough. I think it can be said without a doubt that every person is as holy and as full of the Spirit as they want to be…”

How full do you want to be Church??

God has uniquely gifted us with special abilities to serve Him and build up His kingdom. Gifts are all about God

• God knows them
• God gives them
• God expects them to be used
• We need
  • To understand them
  • To discover them
  • To use them

Let us pray.