Joy in Ministry

NOTE:

This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.

Engagement

Some of you were here many years ago when one Sunday we put up signs in front of every stall in our parking lot that read “Minister Parking Only”. I still remember watching the reactions of some of you as you backed out of your parking space only to discover that every space had the same sign. We did that to emphasize the theme of the message that day - that every disciple of Jesus is a minister.

Tension

My guess is that there are some of you here today that are still uncomfortable with the idea that every disciple is a minister. Some of you are even fearful of that idea because you don’t feel like you are equipped for that task. And perhaps the passages we’ve looked at over the last couple of weeks have added to your doubts and fears. After all, Paul has held up for us two examples that are pretty hard to follow - Jesus Himself and Paul. Both of them demonstrated super human humility that led them to put their lives on the line for the benefits of others. And so it’s natural for us to begin to question whether that kind of humility is even possible for normal people like us.

I think that Paul sensed that those who read his letter might have had those same misgivings. So in the middle of his letter he inserts what appears on the surface to be a travel itinerary. Paul does something similar in some of his other letters, but almost always does that at the close of the letter, not right in the middle. But as we’ll see, this is far more than just someone’s vacation plans. Paul is going to use this section to help us understand the importance of every disciple being a minister and he’s going to do that by holding up a couple of examples of ordinary men who God used to accomplish extraordinary work.

Truth

Today we begin the second half of our journey through Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. We have titled this series Joy for the Journey because we are learning from Paul how it is possible of us to have joy in whatever situation we might encounter in our lives. We’ll pick up where we left off last week and begin in verse 18 of chapter 2:

Philippians 2:18–30 ESV

Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me. 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.

Paul mentions two of his fellow workers here. Most of you are probably at least somewhat familiar with Timothy because Paul wrote two letters to him that are part of our Bible. But I’m pretty sure you don’t know a whole lot about Epaphroditus since the only place in the Bible we read about him is here in Philippians. The one thing I do know is that I wish his name was something a lot easier to type like Jim or Bob, since I had to keep typing his name over and over when preparing my sermon manuscript this week.

Before we develop the main idea we want to take away from this passage, let’s take a few minutes to get to know Timothy and Epaphroditus a little better.

Timothy

Timothy came from a “mixed marriage”. His father was a Greek and his mother and grandmother were Jewish converts to Christianity. Timothy had joined Paul’s missionary team just before they arrived in Philippi about 10 years prior to the time Paul wrote this letter. Since Timothy’s father apparently was not a disciple of Jesus, Paul became Timothy’s spiritual father and mentored him as Timothy accompanied him on his missionary journeys.

Over time Paul came to have great confidence in Timothy and entrusted important assignments to him. He is listed as a co-author of a number of Paul’s letters, including Philippians. Some time after Paul wrote this letter, Timothy returned to Ephesus where he served as a church leader until he was martyred.

Epaphroditus

As I mentioned earlier we know almost nothing about Epaphroditus other than what Paul writes about him here. We learn in chapter 4 that the church in Philippi had sent him to Rome to bring an offering to Paul to help provide for his physical needs. It’s just not possible to determine exactly what his role was in the church in Philippi but in verse 25 Paul does refer to him as a “messenger”. The underlying Greek word Paul uses there is the same word that is usually translated “apostle” although it can also mean an ambassador, envoy or messenger. So it’s hard to know if he had some official role in the church or if he had just volunteered for this important task.

We do know that the trip from Philippi to Rome would not have been easy. It was an 800 mile journey by land and sea. Today we could make that trip in a few hours by plane, but back then that would have taken as much as seven weeks. At some point, either during that trip or when he arrived at Rome, Epaphroditus became very ill and almost died.

Both of these men were just ordinary men. They hadn’t been to seminary or even received any kind of formal training. In the culture of their day, it’s unlikely they had much formal education at all. But to Paul, their partnership with him in advancing the gospel was indispensable. So the idea we want to build on today is this:

In ministry, joy occurs when teamwork makes the dream work

Obviously our “dream work” is advancing the gospel of Jesus and bringing the kingdom of God near to those who are not already a part of that kingdom. And that is always done most effectively when we do that as part of a team.

I can attest to this personally in my own life. Early on in my vocational ministry I found myself in a couple situations in which I was largely expected to do ministry on my own. My first pastorate was at a small church here in Tucson that did have some kind of a board the best I remember, but unfortunately they were primarily focused on the business aspects of the church and provided little or no support when it came to ministry or shepherding the flock there.

After leaving there I became involved in a church plant that got dumped into my lap when the church planter I had been helping moved to another state. Unfortunately, our sponsoring church was pretty unhealthy itself and the leadership there was focused on their own issues, so they really didn’t lend me or the church plant any kind of support. And since our church plant was small and consisted largely of new and immature disciples, there weren’t any elders or other mature disciples to partner with me in that work.

As I look back on those times now, I am not surprised that my ministry really didn’t bear much fruit. I was pretty much limited to what I could do on my own and as an inexperienced pastor myself, that wasn’t much and I certainly didn’t find much joy in that ministry.

Perhaps that is why today I find such joy here at TFC because I have the privilege of partnering with a group of men who exercise the kind of godly character and teamwork that we are going to talk about today. Our leadership team has changed over the years, but I am grateful for all the men who have served in that role since I’ve been here at TFC. Every one of them has been instrumental in whatever we have accomplished as a church and also helped me grow personally. But I can say unequivocally that the men that I serve with today make ministry a greater joy than ever, even though I’ve walked with them through some of the most difficult times of ministry I’ve ever faced. So for me the message today is very personal.

Application

So let’s see what we can learn from this passage about how we can develop the kind of character that will make us good teammates in our “dream work” of advancing the gospel.

How to be a good teammate in the “dream work” of advancing the gospel.

Love Jesus

In verse 21, Paul commends Timothy because he seeks the interests of Jesus. As Paul points out in that same verse, that is unfortunately not the case for most people. The default for most people is to be focused on their own interests.

So exactly what are “the interests of Jesus”? Paul has already answered that question earlier in this chapter in the Christ hymn in verses 5-11. Jesus is so interested in what is good for others that He humbled Himself and became man and died on a cross in order to make it possible for us to have a relationship with Him and with His Heavenly Father.

And as we’ve seen throughout this letter, because he loves Jesus so much, Paul is completely obsessed with the advancement of the gospel. He doesn’t care about his own comfort, his own reputation, or even his own life as long as the gospel is being advanced. And therefore when that is happening, he takes great joy regardless of his own circumstances.

I’m not sure I can honestly say that I love Jesus that much. I certainly want to do that and it’s something I’m working towards, but as a said a few weeks ago, I am merely a proud man trying to become more like Jesus so that I’ll seek His interests and not my own.

Love people

No one can genuinely love Jesus and not love other people. John makes this very clear in his first epistle:

1 John 4:20–21 ESV

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

And as we’ve seen clearly the last two weeks, the kind of love that we’re talking about here is the same kind of love Jesus demonstrated for us on the cross - a love that puts the needs of the other person ahead of our own. That kind of love is primarily an action - not an emotion or feeling. However we do see here that both Timothy and Epaphroditus genuinely cared for others, too. Timothy is described as having “genuine concern” for the people in Philippi and Epaphroditus is described as “longing for” them and being “distressed”.

This is something I didn’t do particularly well early in my ministry. Far too often I was more focused on getting the task done than on the people involved in the task. And that is still a tendency that I have to guard against. As I look back now I realize what a paradox that was. I was so focused on a project to help people that in the process I actually failed the people I was working with.

Be dependable

In verse 22, Paul writes about Timothy’s “proven worth”. In Greek that is just one word that could be translated “dependability”. It describes something or someone that has proven itself by passing a test. Timothy had done that by sticking with Paul through thick and thin. He was kind of like the Mike Rowe of Paul’s day - a guy who often took on the “dirty jobs” so that Paul could be freed up to do what he did best. And Epaphroditus was that same kind of person, too. He had persevered in bringing the offering to Paul even when it wasn’t easy.

That kid of dependability isn’t proven overnight. In our microwave culture, there are far too many Christians who want instant spiritual maturity but developing the kind of character that Paul has been writing about in this letter takes time.

I am thankful for so many of you here at TFC that consistently demonstrate that kind of dependability and therefore free me up to do what God has called me to do. I can’t possibly name all of you, but let me mention a few. I don’t ever worry whether Jon and Ryan are going to show up on Sunday to run our sound and our technology. I don’t ever worry whether Steve Jacob is going to be here on Sunday to guide our Hospitality Team. I don’t have to worry that someone on the Worship Team will just decide that they want to sleep in some Sunday morning. I can’t tell you how important that is to me personally and to our church.

Use my gifts

Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus all had different gifts and they had different roles on the team, but they were all equally important to that team. Some of those roles were more noticeable, but that didn’t mean they were more important. There is not even a hint here that Paul considered his ministry more important that that of Timothy or Epaphroditus. Nor does he make attempt to rank the importance of the ministry of his teammates. Each of the three men just used the resources, talents and spiritual gifts that had been entrusted to them the very best they could without comparing that to what the others were doing.

It’s kind of like a football team. Most of our focus as fans tends to be on what are often called the “skill positions” - the players that handle the ball the most like the quarterback, running backs and wide receivers. But the other players on the team are just as important, or maybe even more important, to the success of the team. That is why in this year’s draft seven offensive lineman, were taken in the first round. Unless you are a huge NFL fan, you couldn’t name even one of them and they are unlikely to ever become household names. But just ask their teammates and coaches how important they are to the success of their teams.

This is why I can confidently say that every member of the church is called by God to be a minister. Every one of us has been gifted by God with talents, abilities and spiritual gifts that are essential to our team. We just need to put them to work.

Be willing to take risks

In verse 30 we read that Epaphroditus “risked his life” in order to minister to Paul. This is the only place in the Bible that this particular Greek verb is used. It literally means “to throw aside” but it came to describe someone who was willing to risk everything for the sake of the interests of others.

Obviously no one is suggesting here that this means doing things that are just stupid and presuming on God to protect or save us. In Paul’s day traveling from Philippi to Rome presented a lot of risks, but it wasn’t the same as going to a COVID party and taking the risk that you could get sick and die.

Over the last several months there have been some in the church who have suggested that we shouldn’t have taken any precautions at all against this virus - that doing so means we are “living in fear”. But as I’ve pointed out before the Bible is full of examples of people who took action to protect themselves from harm when it was prudent to do so.

On the other hand, perhaps, after taking some reasonable precautions, there are many of us who could take some risks right now to help those who have needs. Maybe that means risking some financial resources to help someone who has lost a job. Maybe is means risking some of your time to go shopping for someone who can’t leave their home or to go deliver meals to shut-ins. Maybe it means risking your reputation to share the gospel with a neighbor or a co-worker.

I don’t know exactly what God is calling you to risk today, but I’m convinced that all of us could do a lot more when it comes to applying this principle.

Find some “soul mates”

I’m not talking about the kind of soul mates that we find in the latest romantic comedy. But Paul does write here about a different kind of soul mate that we all need.

In verse 20 the phrase “like him”, is just one Greek world that literally means “same souled”. We all need people in our lives that are like souled when it comes to advancing the gospel of Jesus.

Howard Hendricks, a former professor at Dallas Theological Seminary made this principle really practical:

Every disciple needs three types of relationships in his life. He needs a 'Paul' who can mentor him and challenge him. He needs a 'Barnabas' who can come along side and encourage him. And he needs a 'Timothy,' someone that he can pour his life into.

We use another word to describe this kind of teamwork - discipleship. I think often we have made that a lot more complicated than it needs to be and developed all kinds of classes and programs in order to “do discipleship”. But I think this simple definition of discipleship reminds us that it doesn’t have to be that difficult.

discipleship =

living your life in Jesus and bringing someone else along

That doesn’t mean that we have to have it all together. It just means that as we grow spiritually ourselves we invite some “soul mates” to join us in that process.

Action

So as we close this morning, I want to make this really practical for all of us. This morning I want to challenge every one of us to identify a Paul, a Barnabas and a Timothy in our lives. And if you can’t do that right now, I want to encourage you to find someone who can fill each of those roles in your life. In same cases, maybe it’s not just one person, but a small group of people. But I’m convinced that we all need someone in each of those roles in our life.

My Paul:

My Barnabas:

My Timothy:

Inspiration:

In ministry, joy occurs when teamwork makes the dream work

As I look back I am thankful for a long string of men who have been my teammates and poured their lives into me. I feel like I stand on the shoulders of those men and out of gratitude for what they have done in my life I feel a sense of indebtedness to do the same the very best that I can to build into the lives of others. I’m really just doing what Paul instructed Timothy to do in one of his later letters:

2 Timothy 2:2 ESV

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

My prayer is that you’ll join me on that journey and that as we work together as a team to advance the gospel of Jesus that you will share in my joy.