Despite Paul’s own troubles, he is concerned for the Philippian church and feels somewhat helpless to help them deal with their internal and external troubles. He wanted to send Timothy, his most trusted disciple, to help them, but was not immediately able to do this for whatever reason.
His second choice, then, was Epaphroditus, who I will call E. E was originally from Philippi and was most likely a Greek convert, since the name itself is a purely Greek name. E had been sent to bring monetary relief to Paul and help out generally, but now was homesick for Philippi.
Paul uses three words to describe E. Brother means a fellow believer. Coworker, meaning he had been assisting Paul in his ministry. Soldier, fighting side-by-side with Paul to share the gospel. He was likely the person who actually carried the letter to the Philippians originally.
Paul had been dealing with a lot, between imprisonment and persecution, so the illness of E would have been an additional trial. His recovery was a significant blessing to Paul, but because of what happened, E went home earlier than planned.
Paul reassures them not to freak out about E’s early return, that the reasons are solid and that they do not reflect poorly on either E or on the Philippian church. He instructs them to honor E (and all people like him) and welcome him with joy.
So what can we in the 21st century learn from this snippet of life in the 1st?
The first thing we can learn revolves around anxiety. There is an idea that, if we just trust God enough, we won’t have anxiety or be worried. Here we see the Apostle Paul himself, though, actively worried for the spiritual health of the Philippian church.
As we also struggle with anxiety, Jesus calls us to to peace we can find in him. During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses questions of anxiety – pointing to the birds of the air and lilies of the field, and the peace we can have if we trust in God. (Note that for many people, anxiety is also a biological issue that may require biological intervention.)
Anxiety is also different than momentary fear, which is a built-in survival tool that is designed to keep us alive. But anxiety as a lifestyle is destructive, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Was Paul living in anxiety like this, as he worried about the Philippian church? It would be understandable. Here at Seed there is some anxiety as we go through a season of transition and seek a new teaching pastor. Change is hard and can often cause anxiety.
But no matter how cliché it sounds, in these times, we need to trust Jesus. The first step of this is to know Jesus in the first place. Jesus’ life, sacrifice and resurrection offers us peace with God. This is the most important thing you can do, and the first step towards the eternal peace God offers.
What comes next?
- Prayer, meditation and scripture.
- Be realistic about what you can and cannot change.
- Take a break from social media (and possibly cable news) .
- Try to gain perspective and consider the bigger picture that God sees, as well as the way at have been blessed.
- Don’t feel anxious about being anxious – give yourself grace, and give others grace. God already has.
– Sermon Notes, Dave Lester, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, September 16, 2018
Philippians 2:25-30
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