Ephesians 6:21-22 - Be a Tychicus

Introduction

[ILLUS] I remember playing full size records and the smaller 45s on my Mom’s record player when I was really young. I remember the large 8-tracks that sat under my Dad’s 8-track player in his car. But before CDs, MP3s, and Spotify, there were cassettes.

The first cassette I remember having was made by Bon Jovi. I can’t remember which one it was, but I do remember that all the hits were on Side-A and then some other songs were on Side-B.

Of course, you bought the cassette for the hits, but one of my favorite things was finding a hidden treasure on Side-B—a great song that most people would overlook.

Whenever we come to the end of Paul’s letters, I get that same feeling. Here are hidden treasures, great Scriptures that most people will overlook.

Of course, as you begin to read Paul’s letters you’re listening to Side-A. Here in Ephesians there are hits like…

…the blessings of redemption in Ephesians 1…

…being made alive in Christ in Ephesians 2…

…Paul’s stewardship in proclaiming the Gospel in Ephesians 3…

…the unity of the Spirit in the first part of Ephesians 4…

…the Christian walk in the second part…

…being imitators of God in Ephesians 5-6…

…and the armor of God in the second part of Ephesians 6.

That’s the A-side. The hits. It’s why you read the letter.

But let’s pay attention to these few remaining verses on the B-side, especially these two concerning a man named Tychicus.

I believe they are hidden treasures.

[READING - Ephesians 6:21-22]

Ephesians 6:21–22 NASB95

21 But that you also may know about my circumstances, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts.

[PRAYER]

Paul had many different teammates that ministered alongside him. We perhaps are most familiar with Timothy and Titus who recieved letters from Paul, which we have in our NT. Of course, there is also Luke who authored the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, which chronicled some of Paul’s missionary endeavors.

But there are other names that aren’t so familiar to us. Sometimes we don’t know much about them, but often what little is said about them in Scripture is very telling.

Such is the case with Tychicus mentioned here in Ephesians 6:21-22.

We don’t know much about Tychicus, but what we do read here in these verses is enough for us to realize that we need to be like Tychicus.

[TS] I want us to see three ways that we should be a Tychicus…

Major Ideas

#1: Be a Tychicus, be in the Lord.

[EXP] Being in the Lord is what made all the difference in Tychicus’s life.

Being in the Lord is salvation. It is the Gospel. It is the good news of God forgiving sins in Jesus Christ.

This is the good news that Tychicus heard and believed.

Tychicus believed…

…that he was a sinner who needed to be forgiven.

…that he was a sinner who found forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

[ILLUS] I recently heard a musical artist say that he charged something like $250,000 to appear on someone else’s song. He said he charged another $100,000 or so to appear in the music video.

But for us to be in Christ, the Lord Jesus Himself has paid the full price with His own blood.

[APP] We may think of ourselves as A-side or B-side Christians, but the main thing is that we’re on the album. The main thing is that we are in the Lord.

But I don’t want to make any assumptions. Are you in the Lord? Have your sins been forgiven by trusting Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

Like Tychicus you must believe that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness.

Like Tychicus you must believe that that forgiveness can only be found in Jesus.

God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).

Jesus, who never sinned, took our sin to the cross and paid for it with His own death.

His resurrection guarantees that the righteousness of Jesus has been credited to us.

When God looked at Jesus on the cross, He saw our sin and poured out His wrath.

When God looks at us now, if we believe that Jesus died and rose to save us, then God sees us in Christ, in the Lord, i.e., covered by the sinless righteousness of Jesus.

[TS] …

#2: Be a Tychicus, be a Beloved Brother.

[EXP] You can be in the Lord and not be a beloved brother. There are lots of grumpy, isolated Christians, but that shouldn’t be our aim.

We should aim to be a blessing to others and as we are a blessing to them, we will become beloved by them.

This was, I believe, the case with Tychicus.

To understand this we have to understand the relationship between Paul and the church in Ephesus.

Acts

Other accounts (Col, etc.)

So, when people saw Tychicus coming, they saw encouragement and comfort coming.

What do people see when they see you coming?

[ILLUS] I once received a text from a friend that wasn’t meant for me although the text was about me. The text said something like, “Hey, let’s hang out tonight but maybe not with Rocky. I can’t really handle him tonight.”

Now, I thought I was a delight to everyone I met but apparently not.

And that’s OK. Look, not everyone is going to like me or you. Not everyone is going to be my best friend, but in this case it was really on me.

I had not been uplifting or encouraging to this guy, so when he saw me coming, he thought, “Yeah, I’d just rather not.”

Although we were both in Christ, he didn’t see me as a beloved brother.

[APP] If that’s us—in Christ but not beloved because we’re not encouraging—the good news is we’re in Christ! In Him we have the ability to go from critical to encouraging, from loathed to loved.

Only in Christ Jesus do we have the power to do this.

The question is, will we make the change?

Will we be a beloved brother or sister in Christ?

[TS] …

#3: Be a Tychicus, be a Faithful Minister.

[EXP] Tychicus often traveled with Paul and was sent to other places at Paul’s request. But with Paul or traveling on Paul’s behalf, Tychicus was a faithful minister.

The word ‘faithful’ is also translated as ‘trustworthy.’

Paul knew that Tychicus could be trusted to deliver the letters he sent, but even more Paul knew that he could be trusted to deliver Paul’s heart to the Ephesians and others.

The word ‘minister’ is also translated as ‘servant.’

Tychicus wouldn’t just serve Christ by delivering the letters from Paul, he would also serve Christ by being a servant in whatever way was necessary.

What stands out to me about Tychicus in this respect is his humility.

He carried the letter from Paul to people who were eager to hear from him.

Tychicus wouldn’t complain, “I wish people were eager to hear from me,” or “I wish someone would write me a letter.”

He was content to deliver the mail. He didn’t have to be the author of the letter. He didn’t even have to be the receipient.

[ILLUS] I recently saw a Facebook post from a friend that said, “Don’t forget about those ministers who still remember to check on you.”

There was nothing wrong with my friend’s post, but one response read, “Sadly, all the ministers in my circle have forgotten about me.”

It was all I could do not to type in response, “How about you reach out to them?”

[APP] You see, too many of us complain that people aren’t serving us like we believe they should.

That is poison.

Although we are wallowing in self-pity, we are really being prideful.

Instead what we should do is ask ourselves this question, “How can I faithfully serve others today?”

In faithful service to God…

…Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians.

…Tychicus delivered the letter to the Ephesians.

Who’s service honored God?

Both of them honored God.

Every Christian is called to faithfully minister to others.

When we do, we are not only like the Apostle Paul, we are like Tychicus too.

[TS] …

Conclusion

[PRAYER]