Psalm 103 : 13 – 22 Philippians 2 : 19 – 30 Luke 10 : 17 – 24
1.
TIMOTHY AND EPAPHRODITUS. I begin with our
series on Paul’s letter to the Philippians and our epistle from chapter 2: 19 –
30 which is the passage for our study today. The Bible Study Home Group to
which Barbara and I belong spent a fascinating evening last Monday looking at
the different character of these two men, Timothy and Epaphroditus. Basically,
the group prepared this part of the sermon with me
Timothy, we know from
various passages in the New Testament, was considerably younger than Paul, but
was Paul’s most trusted second in command. Utterly loyal – indeed devoted – we
learn from this passage that Paul had effectively adopted him as his son. We
know that Timothy came from a Christian family on his mother’s side, going back
to his grandmother, but his father was a Greek and not a believer.
We
know, too, that Timothy was by nature diffident and reluctant to push himself
forward. But Paul, who is in prison, is proposing to send him to the church in
Philippi (and report back) because Timothy has the gift of pastoral care, and
(v. 20) has a genuine concern for their welfare. Timothy had a special
pastoral gift.
What
a wonderful thing it is when the church leader has beside him a devoted, loyal
team of people (as I have always had) who have this true pastoral concern for
individuals – who can see, at a glance, who is in need, who is not there, who
is troubled, and the spiritual tact to get alongside. It is both indispensable
and invaluable. I thank God for all the ‘Timothys’ it has been my privilege to
work with.
Epaphroditus comes across as an
equally valuable, but very different character. The Philippian Church had
chosen him, it seems clear, to take a considerable sum of money, plus personal
gifts to help provide for Paul in prison. In those prisons you were reliant on
family or friends to provide for you or you starved.
Rightly
or wrongly, we imagine him as bigger and more forceful than Timothy, and well
able to look after himself. But disaster nearly strikes, because either on the
journey or when he arrives, he goes down with a serious illness and nearly
dies. But his character is such that he doesn’t really want the Philippian
Church even to know about it. ‘Oh, just a bad cold – I was soon right as rain!’ But Paul makes it clear that he did very
nearly die, although he has now made a full recovery.
I
imagine Epaphroditus as someone who liked to be active, and wasn’t going to let
illness get in his way if at all possible. Paul describes him as a ‘brother, a
fellow worker and a fellow soldier’. Did Paul need something? He would go and
procure it. Did something need fixing? He was the fixer – the active DIY man.
That’s my take anyway!
How
blessed I have been over so many years to have teams around me with people in both
those categories, and who have been on my spiritual wavelength. Pastoral care
and practical action. Such Christians are gold-dust - indispensable. No Vicar
could be successful without them and I have been enormously blessed, and I’m so
grateful.
Now,
such was the situation in Philippi, that Paul was proposing to send them both
back to sort everything out in their different ways. Wow! – was Paul going to
miss them! And it looks as if he is expecting to go on trial for his life, but
hoping for release. Just the time, you would think, when he needed both
spiritual, prayerful and practical support. In fact, we know that Paul has some
years of fruitful ministry still ahead of him, so his worst foreboding did not
materialise on this occasion. But he was going to be potentially very lonely
without them. We will find out more about why Paul thought it necessary to send
them both to Philippi as we progress through the letter.
2. ARCHANGEL MICHAEL. Now I want to move on to say something about
Michaelmas – this Church’s Patronal festival. This church lives under the
banner of the Archangel Michael, and this places our ministry and worship here
in a much broader, bigger, greater context than we are perhaps normally aware
of. In Revelation 12 verses 7-9, we read of the great battle between
Michael and his angels with Satan, who leads the world astray and into darkness
and evil. (Revelation 12: 7 – 9). (See Banner). We must never forget, let
alone underestimate, the magnitude of the battle in which we, as Christians,
are engaged.
St
Paul tells us in Ephesians 6: 10f that ‘our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms.’ We see its earthly manifestations in the world every time we
turn on the radio or television or read a newspaper.
Now we know that – on
the cross – Jesus defeated the powers of sin, evil and death once and for all.
But we know also that the time when that victory will be fully manifested is
not yet – it awaits God’s appointed day for which (as St Paul tells us in Romans
8: 18 - 25) the whole creation longs.
And
so my own ministry, and the ministry of all God’s people and the church of God
everywhere, has faced many kinds of opposition from the very beginning - and although (speaking personally), I have
never experienced physical persecution of which there is so much in the world
today, we are always surrounded by the attacks of secularism and the spiritual
forces of darkness.
But we walk into a sadly
spiritual dark and secular world with the Gospel of the glory of Christ held in
our open hands, and when someone turns to Christ and that darkness turns to
wonderful light and faith, the walls that separate the realm of darkness from
the glory of God come crashing down and (like Jesus) we see Satan fall like
lightning from heaven. Moments of glory, great thanksgiving and truth. As Paul
says in 2 Corinthians 4:6 : ‘God who said, let light shine out of
darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’. My own manifesto
for my ministry has been the same since that first day I was ordained, and it
has undergirded everything I have said and done. It is Paul’s words in 2
Corinthians 4: verses 1 – 5 (groups can read as time allows).
3.
ANGELS. Now thirdly, Michael is surrounded by God’s
heavenly host, and this service is full of references to the angels. The word
‘angel’ simply means a messenger – someone who is sent from God to
deliver a message – usually to an individual. The example which immediately
comes to most people’s minds is the angel Gabriel visiting Mary at Nazareth to
tell her the news (both shocking and wonderful
- how often, when God speaks to
you, it comes with this double effect), that she was to give birth to Jesus,
the one who brings us all together this morning and whose life, death and
resurrection would change the whole nature and destiny of the world forever.
Angels
and Archangels are invariably pictured with wings. But when three messengers
from God visited Abraham in Genesis 18, they appeared in totally human
form. And this leads the writer to the Hebrews (13:2) to advise us to give
hospitality to strangers, for by doing so, some have entertained angels
unawares. You never quite know when an angel will knock on your door and ask
for a cup of tea – or something stronger! I have had many such visitations over
the years, and – like Abraham and Sarah – I have only been conscious of a human
presence (often someone I have known), and it was only later (if at all) have I
realised that what I was hearing from that visitor was a message from God.
So
if there is one lesson I have tried to learn over 50 years, it is to listen. To
listen – to weigh what people say in my own mind and prayers, and to ask God
for the gift of discernment. What is simply a point of view? What is something
that God really wants me to hear from one of his many ‘messengers’ or angels? And
what comes from a darker source which needs to be recognised for what it is,
although the speaker will usually be entirely unaware of it?
And
the walls that separate the secular from the spiritual dimension are, I find,
actually very thin. God is so near – so involved – and his love so accessible –
that I find it sad that so many have either never tried to tune in to his
wavelength, or have drowned it out with so much extraneous noise, or in some
cases, made themselves deliberately spiritually blind and deaf.
What
a privilege it has been – and continues to be – to spend a lifetime helping
people to find that God dimension, that wavelength, which transcends our
ordinary experience of time and space, and come to a personal encounter with
their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ – risen, alive and present with us today,
ready to meet each and every one of us at our particular point of need; our
particular glimmer of faith, however weak, and show himself through the mist of
our confusion, doubt and sin. What a wonderful way to celebrate this
anniversary for me it would be, if someone today were to respond to God’s
voice, and turn to Christ as Lord and Saviour, and begin a new life of
adventure with the risen Christ.
God
is much nearer than we imagine, and his messengers pass to and fro. Are we
tuned in? Are we listening? It is certain that God has something He wants to
say to you today.
So
– in summary – how can we better exercise our ministry the church? Whether it
be a ministry of pastoral care or of practical action? Are we listening to the voice of God,
breaking through the boundaries of time and space either directly or indirectly
through people who speak as angels unawares? There are many angels in this
world – don’t miss them! And - Yes there is a battle between the worldly and
the spiritual, good and evil, light and darkness – no-one can deny it. But the
good news is that – through the cross and resurrection – Jesus has won the
victory over evil, sin, and death, and as we come to Holy Communion this
morning, we take to ourselves the love, and the power, and the life-giving
victory of the one who – for us – died and rose again. Praise be to him!
Discussion
1. The New
Testament makes it clear that the Christian and the Christian Church are up
against spiritual evil forces, and not just people who are evil,
anti-Christian, secular or uninterested in spiritual matters. Do you agree with
St Paul that we wrestle against “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms” (Ephesians 6: 12).
Discuss how
these forces manifest themselves, and how we should counter them?
2. Do you
believe in angels? How do they convey their messages to us? Do you believe you
have ever seen or received a word from God through an angel? What do you
understand by ‘entertaining angels unawares’ (Hebrews 13:2)?
3. Discuss
the differences in the characters of Timothy and Epaphroditus. Find the other
passages in the New Testament which refer to Timothy to help you make an
assessment.
4. Are you
enjoying and benefiting from a sermon series on a book of the Bible? What are
the pros and cons? Should we do this
more often?