Two Masters, One Heart

You can’t pour water into two glasses at the same time.

I had several jobs in college and one of them was being a waiter—at one table I had a moment where my hands and my head just weren’t communicating very well. Both people at my table were drinking water and both needed a refill of their drink but my pitcher only had one glass worth of water in it.

And I began to pour before I had thought out which glass should receive the water first—my mind said, well the wife should have the water first, “ladies first”.

And then my head said, “The husband is probably tipping, maybe his water should be first.” Unless he wants his wife served first, “Then it should be her water.”

I would like to say that all of this bouncing back and forth only stayed in my head but it didn’t. For every change of mind my hands also tried to change which cup I was refilling and what resulted was a bizarre moment where I tried to pour water in between two cups, filling neither up well, and spilling water all over the table.

You should have seen their faces. It’s funny now. It wasn’t at the time.

Our Christian life is like that—we can either serve Christ’s mission or our ambition— but we can’t do both—trying to do both results in neither being served well and a mess on the table.

Our passage this morning is Philippians 2:19-30 as we continue our sermon series in Philippians: Pursuing Christ Together.

And up to this point Paul has been exhorting us to live our lives focused on others in service to Christ. Last week we were encouraged to live our lives for Christ in his strength. And Paul is continuing to push us in that direction. And so in our passage this morning Paul holds up two examples for us to follow in Timothy and Epaphroditus.

Hear now the Word of God for you and I this morning: Philippians 2:19-30

Philippians 2:19–30 ESV

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also. I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Pray

Briefly let’s first consider…

Why these two men?

Paul’s desire is to give us examples to follow and Timothy and Epaphroditus are living examples of all that Paul has been exhorting us to do and be.

They are partners in the gospel seeking to advance the kingdom of Christ. (Philippians 1:5)

God has began a good work in them and is carrying it out. (Philippians 1:6)

They are examples of what it looks like to have affection for Christ’s church instead of being consumers of the church. (Philippians 1:7-8)

They are men who are “living worthy of the gospel” as Paul calls us to in Philippians 1:27.

They are examples worth following—not because they are righteous in themselves—but they lived for Christ through their weakness in the strength of God, relying on God willing and working in them for His good pleasure.

Anytime we are trying to do something well, it is helpful to have a good example in front of us. Imagine trying to put a puzzle together with no picture to look at—that would be extremely difficult. It would take you a lot longer to get it right. You’d be tempted to give up. But an example to follow on the box gives us an idea of where the pieces go. So it is with our Christian lives.

These two ordinary men are walking the walk—they are living it out and so we should follow after them as they follow after Christ.

They chose to serve Christ’s mission instead of their ambition and we can too.

So let’s turn now to…

Timothy’s Example (19-24)

Philippians 2:19–21 “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.”

If you write in your Bible underline verse 21. Because verse 21 shows us the deciding factor between genuine concern and self-serving “concern”.

The biggest factor for whether or not you will answer the call on your life to be others focused is determined by whose interests are most important to you.

You can either serve Christ’ mission or your ambition. But not both.

Paul says, Timothy is concerned with the interests of Christs.

And God’s Word doesn’t want us to be confused about what is in view here when we are talking about the interests of Christ.

Paul says of Timothy, “I have no one like him, who is genuinely concerned for your welfare.”

Here’s the truth: If you want to serve the interests of Christ you must be concerned for the welfare of His people like Timothy.

The people of God are squarely in view here: Christ came to serve his people, he came to save his people, he died for his people, He rose from the grave for His people, He is now interceding for his people, and He is coming back for His people. You can’t divorce the interest of Christ from the people of Christ.

Now, if you want to argue with me here: you may say, “Well pastor, Christ’s ultimate interest was the glory of God. All that he did was ultimately to His glory.”

And you’d be right in your theology but lacking in your application of it.

Certainly, Jesus’ interest in his people is not because they are deserving of glory.

Isaiah 48:11 “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.”

But Isaiah 43:7 “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.””

God created people for His glory—He redeems a people unto Himself for his glory—He loves his people for His glory.

We cannot divorce the interests of Christ from service and concern for the welfare of the people that He loves. The two go hand in hand.

A life that pleases Christ is one that is genuinely concerned for the welfare of others.

Why am I making this point? Because as reformed presbyterians our tradition of holding high biblically accurate standards, of holding high tight theology—which is good— makes us prone to elevate doctrine over people in our fleshy hearts that are so easily pharisaical.

If we are not careful we will think, “I believe the right things therefore I am aligned with the interest of Christ.”

But the example that God gives us in Timothy is a person who had a full head AND a warm heart.

Christ had a correct theology and He had a warm heart that served people.

My desire is that everyone would know the Westminster Standards, that everyone would be able to talk about theology—that would be great. That would serve your joy and the church well. And more than that—my desire is that we are a church with the gospel on our lips—always ready to give an answer for the hope we have in Jesus.

Theology and doctrine are not the enemy of love, they are not the enemy of a passionate faith in God—the study of God should always lead us to worship God and serve Him with greater gladness, conviction, and joy—and that means being genuinely concerned for one another.

Let you and I deeply study—let us search out the riches of Christ—and let all that we learn lead us to worship God more and more.

And let it be evident by our “genuine concern” for one another.

And this leads us to the second thing in Timothy we should emulate…

We should emulate Timothy’s Effort.

Philippians 2:22–24 “But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.”

So we should be concerned for one another—the people of God should matter to us—but also, we need to do something about it.

To push my analogy of a full head and warm heart a little further—our hearts should engage our hands.

Paul says of Timothy, “He has served with me in the gospel work like a son with his father.

In those days there typically wasn’t a lot of choice or exploring when it came to the career you’d have. Whatever trade the father worked in, that was the trade of the son.

Joseph was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55) and so Jesus was a carpenter (Mark 6:3)

The sons of Zebedee, James and John, were fisherman because Zebedee was a fisherman.

This was the way of the culture—and Paul is saying my trade is the gospel ministry and Timothy has come and served with me as my son.

To learn the father’s trade the son would go everywhere with him, watch him, study him, learn from him, and do what he did.

Timothy—though he was not actually Paul’s son—applied himself as if he were.

The application for you and I this morning isn’t necessarily that we apprentice someone or be apprenticed by someone. Although both are good and if you can, do.

But more broadly that we should be like Timothy in putting forth the effort to engage our faith with action.

Are you engaged in gospel ministry? Do you see that your calling in Christ is also a calling to have a ministry?

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

The priesthood of all believers doesn’t mean everyone is a pastor, but that every believer is a priest — called to worship, pray, serve, and bear witness in Christ’s name.

Are you ready to bear witness to Christ? Can you share with others the hope God is offering them in Jesus? A priest was a mediator between God and the people offering sacrifices on behalf of the people.

And we are called to point people to Jesus the true sacrifice, the everlasting sacrifice for sinners who are called to come and put their faith in Christ.

Do you recognize that priestly calling on your life and are you looking for ways to live it out?

Let me encourage you with the truth that you are already doing this and then exhort you to do so more.

….in our minds we overcomplicate living for Christ faithfully. And I think most Christians feel as if they must be a disappointment to Christ because we read stories about the hero’s of the Bible, we read stories about famous missionaries like Jim Elliot, or famous evangelists like Billy Graham, or we read about gifted preachers like Charles Spurgeon, or towering intellects like Charles Hodge.

And we think—that is what it is to serve Christ—that is service that matters and glorifies God—and I’m not like that, what can I do? And so we just let it alone.

But God charging Peter said, feed my sheep and tend my sheep.

Jesus says, when I was sick you cared for me, hungry you fed me, thirsty you gave me something to drink.” And the people say when, and Jesus says when you did so to the least of these you did so to me.

Be encouraged church God is greatly pleased with all the ordinary ways in which you are serving him—they matter. When you pray for one another, and share with one another, when you weed the gardens, or make a meal for the church God doesn’t look down on your offering of faithful service.

It’s easy to die for Christ—it’s much harder to live a full life for Christ serving others all along the way by the ordinary kindness of a person joyfully redeemed.

So while you are already doing this, let me encourage you to do so more and more. Know that God is pleased with your ordinary life of service to Him but also let me encourage you to seek more and more to serve God in ever bolder ways—to put the effort into living out your faith like Timothy.

Timothy, has much for you and I to emulate as we are seeking to serve Christ’s mission instead of our ambition. But wait…there’s more…let’s now look at…

The Example of Epaphroditus. (25-28)

Paul is telling the Philippians that he is sending Epaphroditus back to them. He came from the Philippians as their messenger to bring aid to Paul minister to him in his time of need.

along the way Epaphroditus became really sick—almost to the point of death. That’s what verse 27 says, “he was ill, indeed, near to death.”

And Paul wants to make sure that the Philippians receive him back with joy and that they honor him. In verse 29, Paul says about Epaphroditus, “Honor people like him who risk their lives for the gospel.”

Like Timothy, Paul holds him up as someone worth emulating and tells us how he served Christ’s mission instead of his ambition. Look at verse 25.

Philippians 2:25 “I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need,”

Like Timothy, Epaphroditus put forth the effort to be engaged in gospel ministry. Epaphroditus shared a lot of characteristics with Timothy. He too had genuine concern for the people of God—He too put in the effort to live out his faith.

However, let me hone in on a nuance that Paul highlights talking about Epaphroditus…

Epaphroditus was a fellow-worker and a fellow soldier.

He wasn’t just a worker for Christ. He wasn’t just a soldier for Christ. He was a fellow worker. He was a fellow soldier.

The call to ministry is a call to work alongside one another as fellow workers in Christ and fellow soldiers.

Philippians 1:27 “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,”

When we are on Christ’s mission we will find ourselves working side by side with the people of God. There are two obstacles that get in our way when it comes to the call to be fellow workers and soldiers alongside one another. We either think we are too good or not good enough.

Our ambition, will often put us trying to work alone. Driven by our ambition we’ll often look down on the efforts of other Christians. “They aren’t doing it right—they don’t understand—I’m not attaching myself to that…”

But friends what is more pleasing to God? The brother or sister who is faithfully stumbling forward in service to Christ or the excellent brother or sister who is always planning but doing nothing? Don’t look down on the efforts of others in their service to Christ—maybe you can do it better, so come alongside your brother, come alongside your sister and do the work with them.

The other obstacle is that we think we aren’t good enough.

In our day, I believe that we are waiting for someone else to do the work. We are waiting for a professional to come and save us--to engage the culture--to share the gospel but that has never been God's plan.

Acts 1:8 tells us that God's plan is to use us, his people to do the work--”But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” And this is exactly what the church did, as they went about their lives they were witnesses together for the good news of Jesus Christ.

And here’s the thing—these people were just regular people, just like you and I—just like us they were ordinary people who serve an extraordinary God empowering them for ministry. Now when you got saved a tongue of fire didn’t alight on you in an upper room. But nonetheless the Holy Spirit resides in you. 1 Corinthians 6, Romans 8, John 14 all says so.

The same Holy Spirit that empowered Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus lives in you and will use you to work for gospel ministry.

And the work you do, let is be done alongside your brothers and sisters in Christ.

So our text says be a fellow worker but it also says be a fellow soldier.

In any war or fighting it’s always safer to have fellow soldiers beside you—there is strength in numbers. And whether we acknowledge it or not we are in the middle of a great spiritual war.

Ephesians 6:12 tells us we fight “against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Before Rome, warfare happened mostly as a bunch of individuals fighting individually—but Rome swept the world because they marched in unison, struck together, and protected one another in battle.

Brother, sister in Christ—the church needs you to be engaged in this battle—the church needs you to have the word of God in your heart and prayer on your lips as you stand shoulder to shoulder against this present darkness.

And you might be thinking— “I’m not a solider—I don’t like this war/soldier language.” The soldier was one of Paul’s favorite analogies for the Christian—being called a soldier is daunting to us when we think about our own strength and ability, but child of God you are a soldier indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

Every kindness you show on behalf of Christ is warfare against the enemy. Every truth you tell about God is warfare against the enemy. When you are obedient to God and kill the desires of the flesh you wage war against the powers of darkness. And when you share the gospel you push into enemy territory in this war that you are a part of.

Like Epaphroditus let you and I seek to serve together as fellow workers and soldiers for the glory of God.

The call this morning is for you and I to be about Christ’s mission; not our ambition.

We’ve seen in Timothy and Epaphroditus what it looks like when ordinary people give themselves fully to Christ’s mission — when the interests of Jesus shape every part of their life. They weren’t perfect men, but they poured their lives into the things that mattered to Christ: His people, His gospel, His glory.

And you and I are called to do the same. You can’t pour your life into two glasses at once. You can’t serve both your ambition and Christ’s mission — because one will always spill out at the expense of the other.

The good news is that when you pour your life into Christ’s cup, it’s never wasted. What you give to Him will not run dry. The pitcher may feel empty at times — but Christ refills it with His own grace, His own joy, His own strength.

So brothers and sisters, don’t try to split the pour. Fix your eyes on Christ and let your life be completely His. Pour everything — your time, your gifts, your energy, your affection — into His hands.

For only when our lives are poured into His we will find them to be full with the purpose we were called to: making much of our glorious God.

Let’s pray.