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Essential Traits for Ministry (Philippians 2:19-30)

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Two Servants of Christ

[audio unclear] even more than that going forward, that your name would be shouted among the nations and glorified. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Well, believe it or not, we’re back in Philippians. We did take quite a break, but it’s been a good break. It’s actually appropriate to look at this section today, and it just happens to line up. I love it when the Lord does stuff like that. But here we are looking at two men who serve Paul in the work of ministry. So I want to look at the traits of these two men, and then I want to notice a few things about what is required to be servants of Christ.

Timothy

First, let’s talk about Timothy. You are probably familiar with Timothy. He’s Paul’s traveling companion and many times, essentially, Paul’s right-hand man. In fact, he’s a joint sender of six epistles in the New Testament. I mean, Paul gets kind of all the credit, right? Do we ever talk about Timothy much? Not really. But he is a joint sender of six epistles in the New Testament along with Paul. Look what Paul says about Timothy here. In verse 20, he says he has no one else like him. No one else like him. Genuinely concerned. Two, he says they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ, which seems to indicate what? Well, Timothy didn’t seek his own interests. He was seeking the interests of others. He was seeking the interests of what was best for the gospel in Jesus Christ. Also, he says in verse 22, he calls him a son, like his father. He also says he has proven worth. And he says in verse 22, he served me in the gospel. And who’s right there serving and ministering to him? Timothy. Right?

Epaphroditus

Then we have Epaphroditus. Again, notice some of the verbiage and the language that he uses in describing who Epaphroditus is: my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, your messenger, minister to my need. Now, while Timothy is kind of Paul’s traveling companion, is kind of there with him, Epaphroditus is sent by the Philippian church to deliver a financial gift to Paul while he’s in prison. We’ve looked at prisons in the past, and in ancient and biblical times in the New Testament, not good things. You didn’t get food provided for you, so if you wanted to survive in prison, you actually had to have people who actually liked you and wanted to deliver it. So the Philippian church hears that Paul’s in need. So what do they do? They send a financial gift. How do they send it? They send it by the hand of Epaphroditus. That’s why it says in verse 25, “your messenger and minister to my need.” And then at the end of Philippians, which we’ll get there eventually, in verse 18, it says:

I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent.

(Philippians 4:18)

Okay, so two men here, really in different stations of life, where Paul has Timothy pretty much with him a lot of the time. Epaphroditus is almost like on a short-term mission trip. It probably was a little bit longer than a short-term mission trip, but he was there long enough, he ends up getting ill. The Philippians hear about it and they’re concerned. Why? Because they love their fellow member, right? So if someone got sick here and was to the point of death, we’d all be concerned, right? Yes? So Paul sends him back to ease the Philippians’ minds.

Ordinary Men, Extraordinary Character

But I want you to think about it for a minute. What makes these men so impressive? I mean, is there anything special about them? I mean, not really. Any special strength that they have? There’s none listed. Any special gifting that they have? There’s none listed. Any special intellect? No, there’s none listed. There’s nothing impressive on paper about them in terms of any special giftings or anything like that. But it really goes in line with what 1 Corinthians says. You can just listen to it. It’s 1 Corinthians 1, verses 26 and 27. It says this:

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

(1 Corinthians 1:26–27)

So notice their abilities aren’t mentioned, but what is mentioned quite a bit? Character. Their character is mentioned. That’s what made these men fit for service. Character. So ordinary men used by God to do extraordinary things. What did they have? Well, let’s just look briefly at some of their character traits.

Faithfulness

Faithfulness. Tasks were given to them and they carried them out. What stopped them? I mean, it looks like even illness didn’t really stop Epaphroditus. Like, he got sick. I’m sure he was slowed down quite a bit, but he carried out the tasks that he was given. So the gospel, think about this, the gospel goes forth because of faithful churches and faithful church [audio unclear] to his boss, and he respects him, speaks to all of them, and things like that. If someone says, if someone says, oh, that man, or that woman, they’re faithful to their marriage—well maybe, I mean, what are they really saying? Faithful to the spouse, right? I mean, in order to be faithful to your marriage, you have to be faithful to your spouse. So, faithfulness, I would say, really has two aspects to it. There’s faithfulness to things, or tasks, but also a faithfulness to people. We see that Paul has two people that are faithful in both areas.

A Willingness to Go Where Needed

There’s a willingness—I don’t have to raise your hands, but I ask you, hey, how many of you are willing to give weeks of your time, and fly to Southeast Asia? We had an Epaphroditus and a Timothy among us, right? And we sent them. So did the entire Philippian church go? No. Could the entire Philippian church go? Probably not, actually, but guess what? Faithful people rose up and obeyed. And what did the Philippian church do? They supported the work. They supported the missionaries, in this case the Cooks, but also supported and made sure Epaphroditus could get there and get back, right? So Daniel and Minette were Epaphroditus, so to speak, but there has to be a willingness, okay? But I would say the same thing here. You don’t have to travel across the world to be willing to serve, true? We need to be ready to go now, we need to be ready to be used right now, and we need to have a willingness to serve right now, willing to go where needed. So yes, it’s true. Right now, most of us aren’t needed to go over and see the Cooks. It’d be kind of silly if we all tried to go over there. In fact, it’d be a huge waste of money, right? Wouldn’t make sense. Much more sense to send a couple, or a couple of couples, or something like that, to encourage, support, love, admonish, all those things. But a willingness to go where needed. So here’s the question for you: where are you needed? Where are you needed? You might not be needed right now in Southeast Asia encouraging the Cooks, but where you are needed is you are needed. So the question is, where are you needed? And then you have to have a willingness to go there.

Self-Sacrifice

Also, I would say thirdly, there’s a self-sacrifice. It costs them something to serve. If you’ve ever, maybe you’ve had a parent later in life and they’re sick and it’s something where you have to visit them sometimes daily, but maybe weekly or whatever. I mean, that’s actually kind of a huge thing when you’ve got everything going on in your life. And so it takes sacrifice, right? Self-sacrifice to be there faithfully. It costs something to serve, brothers and sisters. Timothy and Epaphroditus, they’re willing to pay the price. Notice, think about this, Timothy—God could have sent Timothy anywhere. I mean, you know, the gospel’s going forth, there’s other disciples, it’s spreading, and God could have sent Timothy, and, you know, Paul’s in prison, so, I mean, could we find someone else because, you know, Timothy seems pretty valuable to the task, right? Where was the most important place for [audio unclear] to a brother in prison? Then certainly we can be tasked with some pretty, what seems like menial tasks, but they’re very much needed tasks. You know, Timothy could have been like, man, I should be over here in this city. I should be over here in this region preaching the gospel. That’s much better than just simply ministering to someone in prison. No. God had a place for Timothy, and at that moment it was loving his brother Paul. So don’t downplay tasks that you are given. I would say the most faithful task is, as a parent gets older, to love them as their end is coming. That might seem like, oh, it’s kind of menial, and does it make a difference? Like, you’re making a statement about a lot of things when you do that, brothers and sisters. You’re making a statement about what you think about the image of God. So we’re pro-life, but it’s not just pre-birth, it’s all the way through the end, right? Amen? So we want to be faithful even as we’re at the opposite end of the spectrum and the end is coming. We want to be faithful to that image of God and love and serve well.

Created for Good Works

Let’s talk about the importance of works. Look at Ephesians chapter 2 just for a moment. Now, you’ve probably heard this verse quite a bit, Ephesians 2:8. It says:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

(Ephesians 2:8–10)

You’ve heard those two verses quite a bit, right? We’re saved by grace through faith, it’s not about works. But then notice what verse 10 says. So we don’t do good works to be saved, we do good works because we’re saved. Again, notice back in verse 10, we are his workmanship, we’re created in Christ Jesus. If you’re in Christ Jesus, are you a believer? Yeah, so you’re created in Christ Jesus, so you have the salvation. You’re God’s workmanship, but what are you created in Christ Jesus for? You’re created for the good works. So the good works come after the salvation. They don’t come before the salvation, they come after it. A saved person does good works. A person doesn’t do good works to be saved. So first the salvation, then the good works. If you confuse the two, brothers and sisters, you end up with works righteousness. By the way, you end up with heresy. So John the Baptist, he probably says it the best, Matthew 3:8: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Right? So if you want to get saved, what do you have to do? You have to repent and trust. You have to repent and trust. You repent and trust the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And John the Baptist tells us, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. What does that mean? I mean, if your repentance is legit, if you really meant it, then walk it out and it’s going to be seen. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Every Believer Is Vital

Every single one of us is vital to the work. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12. It’s a little bit lengthier section but I want to read it. So starting in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

(1 Corinthians 12:12–27)

Every believer, every believer, every believer is vital to the work. Every single person. You’re vital to the work. Your service might be different than someone else’s service, but both are vital. Your gifting might be different than someone else’s gifting, both are vital. The person sitting in the church does a great disservice if they just sit there week after week after week after week never using their gifting. They rob themselves, they rob others, they rob God. I mean, think about it. Do you know how much further along the kingdom could be if every believer committed to the work, if every member was faithful in serving? Service is not an option.

Lies We Believe About Serving

Now I think there’s some lies that we believe. I’m going to go over just a few. Some say, well, my service doesn’t matter. Well, my question is, says whom? Who’s saying your service doesn’t matter? One day we’re going to die, we’re going to be here before God, and we’re longing to hear a very short sentence, right? “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I mean, why is there a commendation if he doesn’t know that we can fulfill the tasks that he puts before us, that our service does matter? I mean, what if you arrived there and you just heard “welcome, servant”—there’s no “good and faithful” part, right? I mean, at least you’re there, but we want to hear “good and faithful.” Good and faithful. Well, what do good and faithful servants do? They serve good and faithfully, right?

Number two lie we believe: oh, my gift is non-essential. Listen, is the Holy Spirit God? Yes, right? Does he mess up when he gives out his spiritual gifts? I mean, they’re his gifts, right? So when he gives them out, he doesn’t mess up. So whatever gift he’s given you, and every believer has at least one, he didn’t mess up. Now, if you’re like the majority of people, like you’re probably not thrilled about your gift. A lot of people are like that, oh, I wish I had that gift, or I wish I had that gift. Well, welcome to life, okay? You should be asking yourself, the Holy Spirit gave me this gift, how do I nurture it? How does it grow? How do I help it out? How do I put it into action? That’s the questions you should be asking. So your gift is essential. If the Spirit gave you a gift, and all believers have one, your gift matters.

Some say, I don’t have the time. Well, listen, you never will in one sense. I get that. We’re very busy people, our culture especially. But do you know who church leaders usually ask to do something if they want to get something done? They usually ask the busiest person. You want to know why? Because they see that person get stuff done. And in spite of their busyness, they’ve figured out a way to kind of juggle everything and get those things done. So a lot of times the busiest person gets asked to do it. We try to be careful with that, but a lot of times, why? Because it’s like, well, I can see that they’re busy. They get it done. So they manage their time well. But in another sense, when we say, well, I don’t have time—in another sense, listen, brothers and sisters, let’s just be honest: you make time for the things that you want to do. So if you’re a sports fan and someone calls you up and is like, I’ve got box seats right behind home plate tonight, you got anything going on, you want to go with me—like, you’re probably going to find a way to go. If they call you up and be like, hey, I really need some help moving, you’d be like, oh, you should have scheduled that with me like three weeks ago. You make time for the things you want to do, right? It’s interesting how quick our schedule can open up when, oh, there’s something we want to do, and how tight it seems to be when there’s something we don’t want to do. So you make time for the things you want to do. The best time to start serving, for our flesh, is always tomorrow. Oh yeah, I’ll do that tomorrow. I’ll serve tomorrow. I’ll get involved tomorrow. It’s always tomorrow. For our soul, it is today. Start serving today. Quit putting it off.

Fourth, some people say another lie: I’m not qualified. Well, listen, you’ve probably heard this before, but I actually really like it. God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called. So if you’re called, he’ll qualify you. Now you might have heard this story. It’s been about 15 years since I shared it. And it’s a, what is it? Like an anecdote or something. Just listen. It’s a letter. To Jesus, son of Joseph, Woodcrafter’s Carpenter Shop, from the Jordan Management Consultants, Jerusalem. “Jesus, thank you for submitting the resumes of the 12 men you have picked for managerial positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests, and we have not only run the results through our computers, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant. It is the opinion of the staff that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education, and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience and managerial ability and proven capacity. We have summarized the findings of our study below. Simon Peter is emotional, unstable, and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interests above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We believe it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings. However, one of the candidates shows great potential. He’s a man of ability and resourcefulness. He’s a great networker, has a keen business mind, and has strong contacts in influential circles. He’s highly motivated, very ambitious, and adept with financial matters. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and chief operating officer. All the other profiles are self-explanatory.”

Judas, from the outside, certainly did look like the most qualified. Yet he’s the one who pilfers the money bag, right? And he’s the one who betrays Jesus. The others, did they have their weaknesses and sin? Yep, just like us. We’re in good company. Very good company. I want to encourage us: you need to fulfill the task and the role that the Lord has given to you.

Every Member Ministry

Here at Liberty, we have a phrase, every member ministry, because every gift matters. And we all have a spiritual gift. So you don’t want to be the church member that just takes, takes, takes. That’s the attitude, sadly, many in the church have today. What can the church give me? What can the church do for me? No, really we need to ask, what can I give to the church? How can I minister to the brothers and sisters at that church? 1 Corinthians 14, it says:

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

(1 Corinthians 14:26)

Pastors don’t do all the ministry. It’s for everyone to do, each one of us. And while the pastors will do a lot of ministry, a lot of ministry happens between other members. It’s a mutual ministry. You know how many workers are mentioned by Paul in the epistles he wrote in a good way? You know how many workers are mentioned? He wrote 13 letters. There’s about, roughly, 45 people mentioned in his letters. 45 people fulfilling their role. Sometimes it’s just a greet, you know, greet this person or greet this person, but many times he’s like, encourage this person to continue on in the work, encourage this person to continue on in the work. He’s encouraging them, hey, they’ve got work to do, and I want them to continue to do it. Were those 45 needed? Yes. Every single one of them was needed. Each of the 45 was doing needed work for the Lord.

Have any of you had to drive through that mess of construction on Highway 70 out by Wentzville? You were kind of taking your life into your own hands. And it’s like there’s literally no curb or anything like that. And then you get out of it and then you get back towards Wright City, and you’re like—well, there was a crash on Highway 70 right out in that area on Friday and the highway was shut down. Dead-stop traffic. And all those vehicles, there was one vehicle transporting a kidney to the hospital. Dead-stop traffic, tractor-trailer accident. Nothing’s moving. So what happened? Well, quickly, the Missouri Highway Patrol troopers, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office deputies, and the Warrenton Police Department found out about it, and they got to work. And they moved fast and worked together. Officers were going vehicle to vehicle, giving instructions for what each vehicle needed to do. Trucks that could, they were letting them drive through the grass onto the outer road, and other vehicles that could make it, like SUVs. 18-wheelers apparently had to back up some for miles. Talk about stressful. Just so one vehicle could get through. Just so one vehicle could get through. Was that worth it? Absolutely. It took those three departments and all those people in their different vehicles working together, right? To get one vehicle through. Worth it. [audio unclear] already doing? By sending the Cooks, by sending Daniel and Minette, we’re part of that. But we’ve got much more work to do than that, correct? So let’s make sure we’re faithful in doing it. The church working together can accomplish great things together for the kingdom of God. But it takes everyone working together. It takes everyone doing their part. Backing up the tractor trailer, if that’s you. Driving through the grass in your truck, if that’s you. Everyone working together to save souls and build up the church.

Listen, don’t sell yourself short. Paul, as we see, isn’t needed for all the work. There’s 45 other people and many more unnamed involved. He sends Timothy places, he sends Epaphroditus, he sends Mark, and many others. Why? Because these men could do the work too. Timothy is able to do the work. Mark is able to do the work. Epaphroditus is able to do the work. Paul doesn’t have to be in every single place. He can’t. So what does he do? Well, he kind of does the 2 Timothy 2 thing: the things you’ve heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also be able to teach others. We’ll look at that more someday, maybe sooner rather than later, but there’s like four generations essentially listed there. But that’s what it took. So those men were trained and they weren’t qualified. Why? They’re qualified because they’re called. They’re trained, they’re qualified, they’re sent. Don’t sell yourself short.

Start Small; You Are Not Your Own

You don’t have to wait to start serving. Start small. You know, there’s a patient at Reach, the pro-life organization we’re a part of and support. There’s a patient, they scheduled their appointment with Reach at the exact time as their appointment at Planned Parenthood. And they had to choose which one to go to. And praise the Lord, they chose Reach. But at Reach, someone has to answer the phone, right? Someone has to talk to this woman that comes in. Someone has to work on the website, so it’s presentable, and gives info, so that she actually wants to call. Someone has to do the SEO work, so that when she Googles “get an abortion,” Reach pops up as one of the top hits. Someone has to do the miscellaneous admin work, even mundane-appearing things, paying the bills of where Reach meets. And someone has to give money to make all of the above happen. But Levi, who shared with us a few weeks ago, I mean, he can’t do it all, right? He can’t do it all. He’s got a task to do. Noah, who’s another one of the workers, I mean, he’s got a task to do. Michaela, another one of the workers, she has a task to do. Each one has tasks to do, and collectively, the big task can be accomplished. Why? Because many smaller tasks along the way are being done. In 1 Corinthians 6, you can just listen, it says this, starting in verse 19:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

(1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

You’re bought with a price. Who bought you? God, right? Through the precious blood of his own Son, you were purchased with a price. You are not your own. Some of us probably just need to write that on the front of our Bible on the inside. You are not your own. 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20. You are not your own. Right? We’re slaves either to sin or we’re slaves to righteousness. Same passage. Well, let’s be slaves to righteousness. If that’s who we declare, that’s who we praise, that’s who we seek—Jesus, right? Then we’re slaves to him. And he is a very benevolent and loving master.

Get Busy About the Work

If you’re still saying, I can’t do this, listen. One, some of you need to get rid of—I’m just going to be straightforward here. Some of you need to get rid of some serious selfishness. You’re being selfish. You can serve, you’re called to serve, you need to serve, you should serve. So serve. Get rid of the selfishness. Two, for others, it’s a time-management issue. Well, let me just say something. Get your house in order. Get your house in order. Stop using that as an excuse. Take a few days, figure things out, and get your time opened up so that you actually can serve. Listen, one day we’re all going to be gone. True? We’re all going to be gone. Sooner than we think. We’re going to be gone. And then, what? The difference that we can make for the kingdom? That’s over with. That’s done with. We make the difference here. Plenty of time to chill out and relax in heaven. All right? I think it was Whitefield who said—might be someone else, but I think it was Whitefield who said, better to burn out than rust out. I’ve kind of made that my motto. I’ve got plenty of time to rust. That’s just going to happen. You’re right, I got a haircut last night, right? I was like, Andrea, what’s all these gray hairs on the ground doing? Who are they from? I’m going to rust on my own, it’s going to happen. I’d rather burn out than rust out. I can rest as whatever I need to rest in eternity. Three, others of you, you just need to trust God that he’ll strengthen you to serve wherever he calls you to serve. It’s a trust issue. We can get you involved. We can get you serving somewhere. You just need to take that first step, whether that’s reaching out to me or Justus, but you need to reach out and you need to trust. God really has equipped you, but if there’s any, you know, small trainings or something we can, we’re more than glad to do that as well. So trust. You might not feel qualified, but you are qualified if you have the Spirit of God living inside you. He has strengthened you. He’s empowered you to do whatever he calls you to do. Amen. Let’s stand and pray as we end the service.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank you that we have examples like Timothy and Epaphroditus in the Scriptures that are examples set before us to follow, Lord. They were men that were submitted unto your will. They were men that didn’t necessarily have any special giftings or abilities, but they had your Spirit living inside them. And therefore, they could do whatever task you asked them to do. Lord, help us. Wherever we’re falling short in this area, Lord, one, forgive us, let us repent, and let us get busy about your work. Small or big, whatever the task, let us get busy about it. If there’s just one out there—just one—to make a difference, Lord, use us to help accomplish that, regardless of where it might be at, regardless of what it might look like. Help us to see no task as too small for us. Help us to be the lowly and humble servant that your own Son Jesus was here when he was on this earth. Help us to walk in that humility before you, Lord. Help us to not believe the lies of the enemy, and help us to put our hand to the plow and not look back. We pray this with the authority you give us in your Son Jesus. Amen.