The scripture reading today comes from Philippians 2 verses 19 to 30.
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.
This is God's word to us today.
Okay, thank you, my beautiful wife.
We are continuing to work through the book of Philippians.
And we are about halfway through.
If you're new to Watermark, we are working through this amazing, amazing book in the New Testament.
And I encourage you to get hold of a Bible, maybe ask someone to lend you one or download one, and read this book with us.
It's a wonderful book of the New Testament.
Now, this passage that we're looking at today follows on very closely from the flow of thought of the last couple of weeks.
There's a flow of logic that Paul is applying here.
And so let's just recap where we've come from so we can see what it is that Paul's actually saying to us today.
But maybe actually, let me just interrupt my own flow of thought and say, let's just pray quickly that God will speak to us this morning.
So, Heavenly Father, again, as we come to your word, we come with humility and trepidation.
God, it's incredible how you've put together your Bible, your word.
And this morning, God, we pray that you'll speak to us.
We pray that you'll grip our hearts.
Lord, we pray that you'll allow us to see inside of our own hearts.
And you'll allow us to see the motivations of our hearts.
That, God, we really will respond to you.
Christ, won't you not just fashion and shape our behavior, but shape our hearts, God.
God, may our hearts be shaped around the gospel and who you are.
God, we pray that we, not that we will be numbered with the earthly wealth you're successful,
but that we really will experience the true blessings of spiritual blessings, God.
And so, we pray that for ourselves.
We pray that your word come and speak to us.
In your wonderful name, amen.
Okay.
So, sorry about that.
I forgot to pray a little earlier.
But prayer is more important than what I've got to say.
We want God to speak to us.
So, that's okay.
So, remember a few weeks ago, two weeks ago, in fact, we looked at Philippians chapter 2.
And Paul writes this amazing passage where he says,
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or out of a sense of self-important,
but consider others more significant than yourself.
Let each of you not serve his own interests, but the interests of others.
And then Paul gives kind of the gold standard of motivation.
And he says,
For the reason for this is, remember how Jesus treated you.
That though Jesus was God, he didn't grasp or hold on to his godness,
but he poured himself out.
He laid aside his majesty in humility.
He took on humanness and ended up on the cross.
And it's in a picture of Christ's incredible selfless service,
pouring himself out for the sake of others.
And not just anyone, not just his friends, but his enemies.
The very people that had shaken their fists at him and said,
We don't want you to be our God.
And had rebelled against him.
Jesus poured out his life for us.
And Paul says that life of Jesus becomes the paradigm for the Christian life.
Remember, a Christian is not just somebody who believes in the existence of Jesus
or the deity of Jesus.
Even demons believe that.
A Christian is someone who's following Jesus.
Who says, I want you to be my Lord, my King.
Whose life is imitating the life of Jesus as they follow him as Lord and as King.
Pouring out our lives like Jesus did for the interests of others.
And Paul actually uses a great illustration here.
He says his life, like Jesus, is he's pouring it out for others.
And he says, my life is like a drink offering which is given in the service of others.
And the illustration here is how in the Old Testament,
someone would bring an offering to the temple.
And they'd bring their offering.
But the offering wasn't quite complete.
Maybe a goat or a lamb.
It was completed when the priest would bring a drink offering.
Maybe a glass of wine or some kind of sacred drink.
And pour it out on the offering.
It was a way of completing the offering of the worshiper.
Paul says, your life, you've offered your life to Jesus.
And I am pouring myself out like a drink offering.
I'm giving myself away to supplement, to complete your worship and affection and adoration for God.
This is the pattern of Christ's life.
This is the pattern of Paul's life.
And then we saw how Paul uses this phrase when he encourages the Philippians to do the same.
He says, therefore, work out your own salvation.
And what that means is, you Philippians, I'm calling you to live out this gospel-shaped life that has been given to you.
Because you've been given salvation, this free gift of grace, we need to live it out.
And we saw that salvation doesn't just mean forgiveness of sins.
Salvation doesn't just mean that one day when you get to heaven or when you die, you get to heaven not to go to hell.
Salvation in the Bible means that once we were separated from God and now we've been reconciled, we've been reunited.
Once sin got in the way and there was division, but now we've been brought back to God.
Salvation means we are united, our union with Jesus by the work of the Spirit and work in our hearts.
So now that we experience not only His forgiveness and grace, but also His love, His acceptance, His fatherhood, His welcome.
Salvation means no longer living independent of God, but walking in deep relationship with Him.
Salvation also means that once we lived for ourselves and our own self-interest,
where once we were curved in on ourselves, making ourselves king and lord and our ruler,
now we realize that God is king.
And our lives no longer revolve around ourselves, our lives start to revolve around Him.
And salvation means that rather than living inwardly for ourselves, we now get to live outwardly.
For God and Christ our King, but also for others.
Remember, hundreds of years ago, everyone thought that the sun revolved around the earth.
We were the center of the universe.
Until some scientists discovered, actually, we revolve around the sun.
Salvation has come to the place where once we thought we were the center of the universe,
life revolved around us, to come to realize that actually, life revolves around the sun, the Son of God.
Our lives revolve around Him.
And so salvation is not just pardoned from sins, it's reconciled relationship with God,
where He becomes our life and our reason for being, following Him and orientating our whole lives around Him.
And so Paul says, live out this salvation, work out this salvation, work out this Christ-centered, gospel-shaped life.
Imitating Jesus, setting your heart on Him.
So that's where we've come from.
Okay?
Now, in this passage we're going to look at today, in chapter 2, verse 19 to 30, Paul is going to do two things.
The first thing that he's doing is he's giving some travel plans to the Philippians.
There are these two guys that are with him, Timothy and Epaphroditus, and he's updating the Philippians on their travel plans.
But the second thing that Paul's doing, the deeper thing that he's doing, is he's holding up these two lives, Timothy and Epaphroditus,
as examples, almost exhibit A, exhibit B, of what he's been talking about the whole time,
of what the Christ-centered, gospel-shaped, others-focused life looks like.
Okay?
So let's look at what the passages say and see how that makes sense.
So firstly, let's understand the travel plans.
Look at the first section, verse 19 to 24 with me.
Paul's writing to these Philippians, and he's wanting to tell them that he's going to send Timothy.
So Paul's in prison in Rome, and he's going to send Timothy to visit them.
And the reason he's doing so is because Paul has heard from Epaphroditus, who we're going to meet in a few minutes' time,
about the opposition and the challenges that the Philippians are facing.
Remember in chapter 1, Chris preached about it a few weeks ago.
Paul writes and he says,
Stand firm, one heart, one mind, not afraid of any opposition you face.
Paul has heard from Epaphroditus that the Philippians are facing this opposition.
And so he wants to find out how they're doing.
And so he's going to send Timothy to them, get a report, and then Paul is going to meet Timothy somewhere else,
maybe Ephesus or one of the other cities.
But he's sending Timothy to get a report.
And so look what he says in verse 19.
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I may be cheered by news of how you're doing.
Verse 23.
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 I shortly will come myself also.
So what's happening here is Paul is in jail.
He's expecting that he's about to have a trial.
And he's not sure which way the trial will go.
He might be executed for disturbing the peace or offending the emperor.
But he actually anticipates that God has got more work for him to do.
And so he's anticipating to be released from prison and to go on his way.
And so he says, as soon as I find out which way my trial goes,
I'll send Timothy so that he can let you know what's happened.
And then as soon as I'm released, I myself will come and visit you.
So that's what's happening in that section.
And then he writes updating travel plans about Epaphroditus.
Look at verse 25.
He says,
Now Epaphroditus is the guy who's actually going to carry this letter from Paul in jail
to back to Philippi and hand it over to the Philippians.
So Epaphroditus is going to go now.
Now Timothy's going to go a little bit later once he finds out what's going to happen in Paul's trial.
And then when Paul's released, he's going to come later on further still.
But the background that's what's happening here is
in Roman times, when somebody got put in jail,
the state didn't see it as their responsibility to look after their prisoners.
Things like food and blankets and clothing.
They didn't see that as their responsibility.
That was the responsibility of the family members or friends of the prisoner.
And so Paul gets arrested.
He's under house arrest in jail in Rome.
And the Philippians, this other church a couple of hundred miles away,
they hear about what happens to Paul.
And they're not a very wealthy church,
but they take it upon themselves to take up a financial offering
and to send it to Rome by way of this guy Epaphroditus
and maybe one or two others
to bring this offering to look after Paul's needs while he's in prison.
And so Epaphroditus and one or two friends,
they go on this long trip all the way from the city of Philippi around the coast,
sail all the way to Rome to look after his needs.
But somewhere along the trip, Epaphroditus falls ill.
Very ill.
In fact, so ill that it looks like he may die.
And word gets back to the church in Philippi
that their messenger, their minister, Epaphroditus,
is on death's doorstep.
He's about to die.
And that's the last thing they hear,
is that Epaphroditus is on his deathbed
and we don't know what's happened to him.
It's kind of like, imagine you get a message,
a text message,
saying your mom or your child or your brother or sister
has collapsed, has fallen over,
the ambulance is on their way to the hospital,
please pray desperately, we don't know what's happened.
Your heart races and you suddenly feel like,
what's happened?
But you don't have any news.
And so you're desperately trying to phone somebody,
what's happened?
You can't get through to anybody.
And all you've got is the bad news.
And you don't know, what's the situation?
Are they awake?
Are they conscious?
Are they not conscious?
Is everything okay?
Is everything not okay?
And you're frantically wondering,
what's happened?
Are they okay?
That's something of what the Philippians are going through.
They've heard news that their dear friend,
Epaphroditus, has collapsed and has almost died.
And that's the last they've heard.
And they don't have any update.
And so Paul is sending Epaphroditus back to them,
now that he's better,
to show them and to encourage them in their faith,
to see that he is doing well and to ease their anxiety.
So that's kind of what's going on here in this passage.
That's the first thing.
But as we said earlier,
there's something deeper going on here.
Paul is holding up these two guys
as almost examples of what the Christ-centered,
gospel-shaped life looks like.
In fact, we actually see a third cameo.
We see the life of Paul himself.
Let's look at Paul here.
Paul is, as we said earlier, he's in jail.
And I don't know about you,
but I've never been arrested.
I've never been convicted of a crime.
Not yet anyway.
And if I do,
I'm going to call on my friend Tiffany,
the barrister,
to come and bail me out.
And I'm going to put in a good word
to Justin Ma, the prosecutor,
and hopefully things will go all right.
But I've never been in jail,
but I have been sick.
And when I am sick,
I am very grumpy.
And I feel very sorry for myself.
It's called man flu.
Ladies somehow are able to suffer so much better.
Ladies just suffer
and don't feel sorry for themselves.
But as men,
we tend to feel sorry for ourselves
when we've got a bit of flu, right?
And so when I get sick,
I feel very sorry for myself.
Woe is me.
And I just am miserable.
Paul is not just sick.
He's in jail.
And he's in jail for something that he hasn't done.
He's just preached the gospel.
He hasn't disturbed the peace.
He's not trying to overthrow the empire.
He's not a rebel or political prisoner.
He's just trying to tell people
about the love of Jesus.
And because of the jealousy of people,
he's ended up in jail
and he may lose his life.
But look at how Paul responds.
While he's here,
he's got these friends around him.
He's got Timothy.
And look at how he describes Timothy.
He says,
Timothy,
he says,
I have no one else like him.
The Greek word there,
actually means someone like-minded
or someone like-souled.
He says,
I've got nobody else
that has the same heart as me.
He goes on to describe Timothy
as someone who has served me
like a son serves his father.
Later on,
Paul will write to Timothy
and he'll say,
Timothy,
you are my true son in the Lord.
Now,
if I was Paul,
I would want to keep Timothy
close at hand.
At least I've got somebody
who's with me.
I've got a friend,
a brother,
a son.
But what does Paul do?
He sends Timothy on his way
to serve the Philippian church.
And likewise,
look what he does
with Epaphroditus.
You would think
he'd want to keep Epaphroditus
close and serve his own needs
and look after his own interests.
Maybe Epaphroditus
can go and buy some nice clothes,
some nice bedding,
make his situation
a little more comfortable.
He describes Epaphroditus
as a brother in the Lord,
as a fellow worker,
as a soldier.
He says here
in verse 26,
you heard that he was,
that he almost died.
Indeed,
he did nearly die,
but God had mercy on him,
not only on him,
but also on me,
lest I should have sorrow
upon sorrow.
Paul is saying,
if Epaphroditus had died,
I would have experienced
sorrow upon sorrow.
So dear and close
is Epaphroditus to Paul.
And yet,
rather than Paul
holding on to him
and saying,
listen,
I need him for myself,
what does Paul do?
He pours out his life
and says,
listen,
you guys need him
more than me.
I'll send him
on his way.
Here is Paul,
rather than grasping
and demanding
his own needs,
he's giving away
his friends,
his brothers,
his laborers,
his sons in the faith
for the service
of others.
Look at how,
look at Timothy.
Paul writes here
in verse 20,
he says,
I have no one like him,
no one like mine,
like sold,
someone who will be
genuinely concerned
for your welfare.
For all the others,
they seek their own interests,
not those of Jesus Christ.
Now remember,
where else has Paul
spoken about
seeking the interests
of others?
Remember in verse 3 and 4,
we spoke about it earlier.
He says,
everyone,
don't serve out
of selfish ambition,
thinking of yourself
more important than others.
Seek not your own interests,
but the interests of others.
And then he goes on
to remind us,
this is the attitude
of Jesus,
who,
though he was God,
didn't grasp
at his Godness,
but in humility
poured out his life,
taking on humanity,
that led him all the way
to the cross.
He's saying,
let your life
imitate the life of Jesus,
not seeking your own interests,
but the interests of others.
Now look at how he describes
Timothy.
Timothy,
I have no one like him,
someone who is genuinely
concerned,
not for his own interests,
but for the interests
of others.
All others
seek their own interests,
but not Timothy.
Paul is holding
a Timothy here
as exhibit A,
another example
of the Christ-centered,
gospel-shaped life.
Someone who's not looking
to seek and serve
their own interests,
but one who's genuinely
concerned about
the interests
of others.
And notice here
the contrast.
The contrast is not just
others seek
their own interests,
not the well-being
of others,
but Timothy,
he sought your interests,
not his own.
Look at how he describes
Timothy.
He says,
all others
seek their own interests,
not those of Jesus,
but Timothy.
What marks Timothy out?
Timothy is a man
whose life is set
on Christ.
Timothy seeks
not his own interests,
but the interests
of Christ.
And having done that,
that results in
his concern
for the welfare
of others.
The contrast here is
Timothy is someone
who's like Paul,
doesn't seek
his own interests,
seeks the interests
of Christ,
and therefore
is living
for the well-being
of others.
This is the
Christ-centered,
gospel-shaped life.
And notice
when Paul says here,
Timothy is not
like others,
all of whom
seek their own interests
rather than those
of Jesus.
He's not talking
about the pagan
temple down the road.
He's not talking
about the priests
or the Roman
worshippers
of foreign gods.
Who is he talking
about?
He's talking
about other believers.
He's talking
about those believers
who,
in chapter 1,
he describes
as those who
preach the gospel
for their own
ambition,
their own needs.
Those who
preach the gospel
seeking to
damage Paul
and stir up
more trouble
for him.
Friends,
it's possible
to call yourself
a Christian,
to even be involved
in Christian ministry,
in Christian leadership,
and yet still
our lives
are revolved
around ourselves.
Friends,
it's possible
for us
to call ourselves
Christians,
to be involved
in Christian activity,
to serve on committees
and be leaders
in the church,
and yet
the orientation
of our heart
is around
ourselves.
Paul says
there are other
Christians in the city
of Rome
who are seeking
their own interests,
not those of Christ.
Conversely,
the Christ-centered,
gospel-shaped life,
as we see
in the life of Timothy,
is one whose life
is set on Christ
and therefore
is set on seeking
the interests
of others.
Friends,
Christian faith
is not demonstrated
by those
who go to church.
A mature Christian
is not just someone
who reads his Bible.
A mature Christian
is not just somebody
who is appointed
to serve
as an elder
in the church.
A mature Christian
is someone
whose life
has been so impacted
by the gospel
that they are shaped
by the gospel
who,
like Jesus,
like Paul,
like Timothy,
are seeking
not their own interests
but to pour themselves
out for the interests
of others.
Friends,
I know we've gone on
about this quite a bit
the last couple of weeks
and so I apologize
for the repetition
but you see how strongly
Paul is making
his argument here
that the life
of the follower of Jesus
is someone
who is following Jesus,
who is imitating
their life on Jesus,
who is like Jesus
learning to not grasp
their own self-interest
but pour themselves out
for the glory of God
and for the interests
of others.
Like Paul,
like Timothy,
like Jesus,
let our lives
be shaped
around the gospel
poured out
for the interests
of others.
And then we see
the third little cameo.
We see Paul,
we see Timothy,
thirdly we see Epaphroditus.
He says here
in verse 25,
Now think about this.
Why is Epaphroditus
being sent from Rome
where he's working
with the great apostle Paul
back to Philippi?
Well the reason that he's
is because he got sick
and he's now better.
But notice the reason here.
The reason is not
because Epaphroditus
is saying,
Listen,
I'm a little homesick.
It's been a long time.
I just want to get home.
I just want to experience
some of my mom's cooking.
I just want to sleep
in my own bed.
It's been a long journey.
I just want to get back
to Philippi.
That's not his motivation.
What's his motivation?
Look at what he says.
He says,
He wants to go back
because Epaphroditus
heard that you
were distressed
upon hearing
upon his illness.
And he was anxious.
He was worried
about you guys.
He was worried
about the church
back at home.
And so he's desperate
to get back to you
so that he can comfort you
and encourage you
and stir you up
and minister to you
for your own peace of mind.
Here is a man
who's risked his life
and laid down his life,
almost died
for the sake of the gospel.
And now that he's better,
the motivation of his heart is,
How can I go back
and encourage those guys
back at home?
Epaphroditus
is not thinking about himself.
Everything about his life
oozes this ethic of,
How can I serve
and bless
and minister
to those around me?
Look at how
Paul describes them.
He says,
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.
The Greek phrase there
actually says,
His life came
to the point of death.
And that little phrase,
to the point of death,
is only used two times
in the whole New Testament.
One,
to describe Epaphroditus
and two,
to describe Jesus
in verse 6
or verse 8.
It says,
Jesus humbled himself
becoming obedient,
obedient to the point of death.
See what Paul's doing here?
Paul is saying
that Epaphroditus
is an imitation of Jesus.
And then he says,
He did though,
risking his life
to complete
what was lacking
in your service
to me.
And the word service
there is actually,
it's not just
generic service,
it's ministry,
it's priestly service.
Paul is picking up
on the language
that he shared
a little earlier,
the image of pouring
a drink offering out
on the offering
that someone brings.
And this is what
Paul is saying.
He's saying that
the Philippians,
when they took up
this financial offering
to serve Paul,
that was like
a follower of God,
of Yahweh,
bringing their offering
to the temple.
And Epaphroditus
poured his life out
like a drink offering
to complete
their offering.
Epaphroditus,
like Paul,
was pouring his life out
to complete
the offering
and the worship
of these Philippians.
Friends,
here we see
the Apostle Paul,
Timothy,
Epaphroditus,
these three cameos
of people
who poured out
their lives
for the well-being
of others.
We may be tempted
to look at
the Apostle Paul
and say,
yes,
well,
he was the Apostle Paul,
right?
He wrote most
of the New Testament
or much
of the New Testament.
Timothy has two books
of the Bible
named after him.
He's like a hero
in the faith.
But what about
Epaphroditus?
Here's a man
that we know
very little about.
He doesn't appear
anywhere else
in the New Testament
apart from
these few verses
and chapter 4.
We don't know
whether he was
rich or poor.
We don't know
whether he was
educated or not.
We don't know
what socioeconomic
background he came from.
We don't know
whether he was
very wealthy
and therefore
he could afford
to go on this trip
or whether he was
unemployed
and didn't have
anything else to do.
Here was an ordinary,
not very sophisticated,
not very famous,
not very well-regarded man
who briefly appears
in the New Testament
and then disappears.
We know almost
nothing about him
and yet God
puts him here
as an example
of what the
Christ-centered,
gospel-shaped life
looks like.
A man who is
willing to
pour out his life,
literally willing
to risk his life,
not for his own
interests,
not to serve himself,
but for the well-being
and the interests
of others.
As we come to close,
I want to tell
one other story
of another very
ordinary person
who follows this ethic.
It's a person
none of you would have met.
She was not very famous
when she died.
She was my grandmother.
My grandmother,
we used to call her
Granny Joan
when I was growing up.
She died about
three or four months ago.
She was 91 years old.
She had cancer
and passed away
very peacefully.
When she died,
I remember thinking
about her life
and thinking
here was a life
that most epitomized
Jesus' command
to love God
and serve others.
Her whole life
revolved around that.
When she died,
she was 91 years old.
A few years ago,
she was very upset
because the traffic
department in South Africa
where I come from
took away her
driving license.
They wouldn't renew
her driving license
because they said
her eyesight was too bad
and she was a danger
to society on the roads.
And that was a good decision
but she was very upset.
She couldn't believe
that they were taking away
her driving license
at 87 years old.
But part of the reason was,
apart from just that hassle
of shopping and groceries
and that,
there were a couple of things
that she loved to do
and she could no longer do
now that she wasn't driving.
One of the things
she loved to do,
she loved to go
to the police station
and bake some goodies
and pray for the police officers.
Now, just by the way,
in South Africa,
the police force
is not very political.
She is not deeply blue.
She wasn't a political activist
trying to make a statement.
In South Africa,
the police force
is a bit of a shambles.
People are overworked,
underpaid,
and many police officers
actually,
in the stress
and anxiety of their jobs,
turn their guns
on themselves.
There's many unfortunate cases
of people killing
family members
and taking their own lives
because of the stress
of the job.
But often,
she would go down
to the police force
and just listen
and talk
and pray with the officers.
One of the things
she also loved to do
is she would go
and take communion
to the old people
in the church
that were too elderly
to go to church service.
And I always laughed
how she used to say,
I'm going to take communion
to the elderly folk
as if she herself
wasn't elderly
at the age of 87.
But here was a life
who never wrote a book,
never preached a sermon
as far as I know,
didn't have a social media account,
didn't have 50,000 followers
on social media.
Here was a sweet old lady
who lived to pour herself out
for others.
She was not famous,
not that many people knew her,
but in the courts of heaven,
I'm convinced when she died,
she got a mighty cheer
because here was someone
whose life was Christ-centered
and shaped on the gospel.
Friends,
some of us
within the Watermark family
may literally
pour out our lives
as God calls us
to serve Him
in dangerous places.
Some of us
may be called
to be missionaries
to places like
Pakistan,
or India,
or North Korea,
or Afghanistan,
or the Middle East,
or somewhere in North Africa.
Friends,
some of us in this church
may literally risk our lives
as we go and serve God
in those places.
And some of us
may even lose our lives.
And friends,
if God's calling you
to serve Him
in a place like that,
it would be our joy
as a church
to get behind you
and to stand with you
and to encourage you.
We would love
to be partners
in the gospel with you
as some of us
literally risk our lives
for the sake of the gospel.
Go for it.
Do it.
We're right behind you.
May it be, Lord.
Send us out.
But friends,
for most of us,
we're not going to go serve God
as a missionary
in those places.
For most of us,
the call of God
is nothing less.
To serve God
as a missionary,
to pour out our lives.
The point of the book
of Philippians
is that God's call
on our lives
in Hong Kong
is nothing less.
It's the same.
That for the Christian
to live is Christ
and to die is gain
right here in Hong Kong
as we serve Christ
and serve others.
Living not for ourselves,
but for the glory of God
and the well-being of others.
Friends,
for those of us
that are school teachers,
may we go into that classroom
or on that Zoom call
for the glory of God
and the service of others.
May we spend our days
praying for the children
that we get to oversee.
For those of us
that are hedge fund managers
or investment bankers
or lawyers,
may we go to the office place
saying,
I exist for the glory of God
and the service of others.
Friends,
for those of us
that are graphic designers
or restaurateurs
or waiters
or artists
or stage managers.
Friends,
for those of us
that are sales people
or foreign domestic helpers,
may our heart,
our motivation
be nothing less
than the missionary
that goes to India.
God,
I'm pouring out my life
for the glory of God,
for the advancement
of the gospel
and for the service
of others.
Friends,
in Paul and Timothy
and Epaphroditus,
we have these amazing examples
of the gospel-shaped life,
of the Christ-centered life.
People who didn't seek
their own interests
but laid them down
like Jesus
for others.
Paul tells us
that Epaphroditus
put his life on the line,
almost risking,
risking his life,
almost dying
for the service
of these believers.
Friends,
at the heart
of the Christian faith
is not just an ethic
or a moral imperative
to lay down
our lives for others.
At the heart
of the Christian faith
is one who didn't
just risked his life
but he really did
lay down his life.
At the heart
of the Christian faith
is the author
of life himself,
the one from whom
all life comes,
who died on a tree,
who died on a cross,
that we who are separated
might find life.
Friends,
at the heart
of the Christian faith
is Jesus Christ,
the only one
who is perfect,
never did anything wrong,
who allowed himself
to be treated
like an outcast,
hung on a cross
to bring those of us
who truly were outcasts
into his family.
Friends,
at the heart
of the gospel
is Jesus
in the garden
of Gethsemane
staring the cross
in the face
and praying
and praying this prayer
saying,
God,
if there's any other way
to bring salvation,
any other way
to reconcile sinners
back to you,
any other way
to redeem those
that have been separated
from you,
to bring them back
into your family,
God,
let it be.
But then he says,
not my will,
but your will be done.
Not my interests,
but your interests be done.
Friends,
this Jesus,
when we see
not just how great
and glorious he is,
when we see
how gracious he is,
when we see
what he's done for us,
friends,
it will transform us
into the kinds of people
who naturally,
joyfully,
willingly
pour out our lives
for the interests of Christ
and for the well-being
of others.
This is the Christ-centered life.
This is the gospel-shaped life.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus,
we get on our knees
before you this morning
because we confess,
God,
that the natural disposition
of our hearts
is to be self-seeking
and self-serving.
Father,
like John the Baptist,
we want to pray the prayer,
may you increase,
may we decrease.
we want to,
like Jesus,
say,
not my will,
but your will be done.
Father,
won't you open
the eyes of our hearts.
Holy Spirit,
won't you open
the eyes of our hearts
to see the gospel
more clearly,
to see who you are
and what you've done
for us,
that we,
Christ,
may follow you,
that we may imitate you,
that the ethic
of our lives
may not be
what's in it for me,
but how can I serve
the interests of others.
Father,
pray for us as a church
that though we may not be
a particularly fancy church,
may not be a particularly
big church,
God,
may we be a church
that radically
and disproportionately
pours ourselves out
for the interests of Christ
and the interests of others.
Father,
come and change us.
Come and start with me,
God.
God,
won't you come
and radically rewire,
reoriented,
reshape my heart,
God,
to be like you,
Jesus.
Do that to us,
we pray.
Father,
this morning,
we want to give you
permission to
wreck our
neatly packaged,
well-orchestrated lives
and say,
God,
come and be
God.
Come and be king.
Come and have your way.
There's maybe just
one last thought
is
one of the reasons
why I guess
we don't do this.
Let's just keep our eyes closed
and keep focused on God.
One of the reasons
why it's so hard
to do this
is because it feels
like we're going
to lose out.
If we give up
our lives
for the sake of others,
we feel like
it's going to be a loss.
One of the things
Paul does
is he gives us
the example of Jesus
who died on the cross,
but then he shows us
Jesus didn't stay dead.
It wasn't the end
of the story.
Paul goes on to say,
therefore,
God has highly
exalted him,
given him the name
above every name,
that the name of Jesus,
every knee will bow
and given him
the title of Lord of all.
The counterintuitive
thing of the gospel
is that as we lay down
our lives,
we actually find life.
As we pour ourselves
out for others,
we actually discover
abundant joy.
The secret to the
fullness of life
is to pour out
our lives for others.
Friends,
when we follow Jesus,
we don't lose our lives,
we gain life.
God,
why don't you open
our eyes to see that.
Why don't you help us
to see the wonder
of the cross,
the wonder of the gospel.
Help us to follow you,
we pray.
In your wonderful name,
Amen.