WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:05.400 Good morning, church. It's good to see you this morning. Our sermon text today is Philippians 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:10.779 chapter 2, verses 19 through 30. That's page 922 in the Pew Bible, if you want to follow along 00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:16.960 there. I believe we'll have it on the screens too as I read it the first time. Philippians 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:22.080 chapter 2, verses 19 through 30. Let me pray, and then I'll read our text for us. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:33.099 Father in heaven, you have, by your great grace, transferred us from death to life by the gospel 00:00:33.099 --> 00:00:40.619 of Jesus, the light of the world, who came down for us. And you are also, by your grace, transforming 00:00:40.619 --> 00:00:49.119 us into the image of your Son. So we pray as we come to your word today, your spirit would be at work, 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:55.899 granting us eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts that receive wonderful things from your word 00:00:55.899 --> 00:01:02.019 to make us more like your Son as we live our lives together as your church in the midst 00:01:02.019 --> 00:01:08.200 of this time and this place. We pray this, Father, in the name of Jesus and by the power of your spirit. 00:01:08.739 --> 00:01:17.019 Amen. All right, Philippians chapter 2, verses 19 through 30. Paul writes this. He says, 00:01:17.019 --> 00:01:23.539 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you, 00:01:24.479 --> 00:01:30.019 for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek 00:01:30.019 --> 00:01:37.060 their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son 00:01:37.060 --> 00:01:43.060 with a father he has served with me in the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him just as soon as I see 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:47.980 how it will go with me. And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also. 00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:54.340 I have thought it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, 00:01:54.760 --> 00:02:00.939 and your messenger and minister to my need. For he has been longing for you all and has been distressed 00:02:00.939 --> 00:02:09.199 because you heard that he was ill. Indeed, he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:17.500 and not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:22.239 send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:31.399 So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men. For he nearly died for the work of Christ, 00:02:32.219 --> 00:02:36.979 risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. 00:02:36.979 --> 00:02:44.479 Well, perhaps you've noticed it too, but for the last five years or so, there's been a 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:51.439 growing body of literature, both popular and scholarly, about the pervasive rise of loneliness 00:02:51.439 --> 00:03:01.519 in our culture. People more and more are feeling alone. And even things like social media haven't 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:07.060 seemed to help. Though we are more and more superficially aware of what other people are 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:13.260 doing and thinking, we feel less and less that we are truly known and truly loved. 00:03:14.640 --> 00:03:18.780 Earlier this summer, the graphic novelist Kristen Radke published a book called 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:24.379 Seek You, A Journey Through American Loneliness. At one point she writes in this book, she says, 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:30.019 loneliness is often exacerbated by a perception that one is lonely while everyone else is connected. 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:36.280 It's exaggerated by a sensation of being outside something that others seem to be in on, 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:43.379 a family, a couple, a friendship, a joke. But then she says this, she says, perhaps now we can learn 00:03:43.379 --> 00:03:51.519 how flawed that kind of thinking is because loneliness is one of the most universal things any person can feel. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:59.280 And as studies continue to report how such pervasive loneliness can cause not just mental, 00:03:59.380 --> 00:04:04.400 but even physical health problems, some countries like Japan have created governmental positions 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:10.160 to try to help the problem. There's a minister of loneliness in Japan now. It's quite a title. 00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:14.379 I don't know if anyone grows up wanting to be the minister of loneliness, but there you go. 00:04:14.379 --> 00:04:22.860 So what does God have to say about all this? Does God have a word of hope to us, 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:30.980 adrift as we are in our sea of loneliness? Well, the good news is that he does. 00:04:32.540 --> 00:04:38.819 The passage before us at the end of Philippians chapter 2 gives us a snapshot of God's answer in 00:04:38.819 --> 00:04:45.779 action. What we see here in verses 19 through 30 are more than just the mundane details of the 00:04:45.779 --> 00:04:53.339 Apostle Paul's missionary logistics and travel plans. What we have here is a window into the life 00:04:53.339 --> 00:05:01.060 of a living church, a church that is alive with the life of Christ. I like how Bible scholar Morna 00:05:01.060 --> 00:05:09.019 Hooker put it. She says, this text provides a window into what it means for men and women to live in the 00:05:09.019 --> 00:05:16.360 Lord and therefore to work out in their daily lives how to share the attitude of Christ, being concerned 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:23.660 for others rather than themselves. It's a window into what a living church looks like. In other words, 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:35.000 what this passage is showing us is that a living church is by nature a caring church. And a caring 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:44.400 church, this passage shows us, is led by caring leaders. In a sea of loneliness, God's answer is the 00:05:44.400 --> 00:05:49.920 new community that's brought into being by his word and his grace, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:56.220 So first, we're going to look at what it means to be a caring church. And then second, we'll look at 00:05:56.220 --> 00:06:02.280 what it means to have caring leaders. That's where we're going this morning. So Philippians 2, 19 through 00:06:02.280 --> 00:06:08.060 30 shows us that a living church is a caring church. Now, where do we see this in this text? Well, if you 00:06:08.060 --> 00:06:14.040 look at it right, we see it in almost every verse. Paul is concerned for the Philippians, eager to send 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:18.680 them news about his situation in prison as soon as he finds out, and eager to hear word back from them 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:24.560 about how they are doing. In fact, he hopes to visit in person as soon as he can. And then there's 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:30.780 Timothy. Timothy is like a son to Paul. But more than that, he's genuinely concerned for the Philippians 00:06:30.780 --> 00:06:35.879 welfare, not just his own. And then there's Epaphroditus, Epaphroditus, who is willing to visit 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:41.139 Paul in prison, traveling many miles to see him, and bring support from his home church in Philippi. 00:06:42.060 --> 00:06:47.579 And then, of course, there's the Philippians themselves, sending aid to Paul, eagerly waiting how it's going 00:06:47.579 --> 00:06:55.979 with him, longing to see him again. And in all of this, we get the impression of a community that 00:06:55.979 --> 00:07:07.500 genuinely and honestly cares for each other. Isn't that what we're longing for? A place, a people where 00:07:07.500 --> 00:07:14.959 we're known and loved and thought of and cared for. Now, we have to be careful at this point. 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:21.859 We have to be careful not to over-idealize the church family or to make it out to be something 00:07:21.859 --> 00:07:26.680 that it's not. Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes about this in his classic book on the church called Life 00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:33.560 Together. He warns us that if we have some impossibly high ideal for what we think the church ought to be, 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:39.839 how well it ought to be loving me and caring for me and meeting my needs, our own wish dream, as he calls 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:45.560 it. If that's our idea of the church, then inevitably we will become disappointed and cynical. 00:07:46.019 --> 00:07:50.979 And then he says what will happen is that our own idea of what the church should be will end up 00:07:50.979 --> 00:07:58.079 destroying the very reality of the church right before us. So we have to be real with the church 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:01.739 and acknowledge that in this life it is not and it will not ever be a perfect church. 00:08:01.740 --> 00:08:11.600 However, if we are being real, then we can also see that a living church, though not perfect, 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:16.439 is still and will be a genuinely caring body of believers. 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:25.060 But what is it? What is it that makes the church a caring place? A place where people are known and 00:08:25.060 --> 00:08:32.379 loved? And how does this care? What does it look like in practice? So let's take a minute and let's 00:08:32.379 --> 00:08:37.899 think about the principles that make a caring church and then the practices. Now as far as principles go, 00:08:37.899 --> 00:08:46.899 think about it. What was it that made the Philippian church such a community of genuine care for one 00:08:46.899 --> 00:08:57.319 another? Imagine walking into the church meeting at Philippi. You walk in and there's Lydia, the seller 00:08:57.319 --> 00:09:02.799 of purple claws, the textile merchant, probably somewhat wealthy, upwardly mobile, put together. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:08.899 Then you walk a little further down the row of chairs or whatever it is, and then there's the 00:09:08.899 --> 00:09:14.759 Philippian jailer. He's a kind of practical, no-nonsense sort of guy. He's retired Roman military with his 00:09:14.759 --> 00:09:22.600 wife and kids. And then you walk a little further in, and then there's the former fortune-telling slave 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:30.220 girl. A big smile on her face, probably some cool tattoos on her arms, most likely poor now that she 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:37.319 just lost her job, or at least on the lower socioeconomic end of things. And as you walk in and 00:09:37.319 --> 00:09:44.200 see such a diverse group of people, men and women, slave and free, Jew and Gentile, you have to wonder 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:48.960 what in the world would make these people care about each other so much? 00:09:51.560 --> 00:09:57.360 And it's the same for us today. We are here from all sorts of walks of life and backgrounds, 00:09:57.860 --> 00:10:03.560 and we actually care about each other. What are the principles underneath all that? 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:10.560 Well, as we take a wide view of the Bible, let's take a step back and just look at a wide view of what 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:15.639 Scripture tells us. And as we do that, let me mention three things. First, we care about each 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:22.039 other because we believe that absolutely every human being is created in God's image. And this is true 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:29.879 no matter what. Every human being, every gender, race, class, ability, you name it, they are image 00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:35.959 bearers of the living God of infinite worth and value. C.S. Lewis, at the end of his famous essay, 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:41.400 the way to glory said, there are no ordinary people. You've never talked to a mere mortal. 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:49.400 So we care for one another because we behold in each other the very image of God. 00:10:51.280 --> 00:10:56.440 And second, we care about each other because we believe that in Christ, we've all been made 00:10:56.440 --> 00:11:04.180 co-heirs, co-inheritors, co-participants in God's kingdom. Listen to what Paul will say in another 00:11:04.180 --> 00:11:09.600 letter, Galatians chapter 3. He says, for in Christ, you're all sons of God through faith. 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:15.320 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There's neither Jew nor Greek. 00:11:15.460 --> 00:11:20.300 There's neither slave nor free. There's no male and female. For you're all one in Christ Jesus. 00:11:20.300 --> 00:11:24.620 And if you are Christ's, then you're Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. 00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:32.779 Now, what does that mean? Well, when Paul says that we're all sons in the ancient world, that meant 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:38.500 to be a sort of adopted son. That meant you had been given all the rights and all the privileges of 00:11:38.500 --> 00:11:46.580 the true heir of the family. Now, you see how radical it is then when Paul says that everyone in Christ, 00:11:46.580 --> 00:11:54.440 everyone in Christ is made a son of God. That is a full inheritor, a full legal recipient of all the 00:11:54.440 --> 00:12:02.580 rights and privileges of God's kingdom. We are, all of us, co-heirs with Christ. And that's why we 00:12:02.580 --> 00:12:11.180 care for one another so radically. When we look at each other, we see ultimately a fellow member of the 00:12:11.180 --> 00:12:18.660 family of God, one with Christ. So we care because we believe in the image of God, and we care because 00:12:18.659 --> 00:12:23.480 we believe in the union we have in Christ. But the last principle, the thing that makes the church a 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:28.000 caring church, and this would have been true in Philippi and in all the churches of the first 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:33.500 century, and this is true all down history to today. The last principle, the thing that makes 00:12:33.500 --> 00:12:38.360 the church a caring church is the principle of grace. Grace. 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:47.659 Listen, at the very heartbeat of the church is the message of what God has done in Christ. 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:59.259 The whole human story is the story of humanity trying to solve our cosmic aloneness, trying to find our 00:12:59.259 --> 00:13:05.720 home. Do you remember how the story begins? God created us to be at home with him and through him to 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:11.220 be at home with one another. But when our relationship with God was broken because of sin, 00:13:11.379 --> 00:13:18.019 we lost that true home, and our fellowship with one another was lost as well. And humans have been 00:13:18.019 --> 00:13:26.399 on a journey of loneliness and alienation from the day we left the garden, friends. But God, in his 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:35.639 infinite mercy, stepped in. When we deserved to be left alone by God in our sin and in our 00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:46.259 rebellion, God in Christ went out and he became truly alone on the cross. Jesus dies in the 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:55.000 throes of loneliness saying, God, why have you forsaken me? So that you and I could come home again to God 00:13:55.000 --> 00:14:01.840 and know his fellowship again. He went out so that we could come in. And all of that is of grace. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:11.200 And if the grace of the cross is what makes us who we are, if the Son of God was willing to be alone 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:18.420 so that I could be welcomed, how could I not turn to my lonely brother or sister and welcome them the 00:14:18.420 --> 00:14:26.420 way that I've been welcomed? Right? It doesn't matter if they have it all together. I certainly didn't have 00:14:26.419 --> 00:14:32.719 it all together. And yet Christ did it for me. It doesn't matter if they don't look like me or talk 00:14:32.719 --> 00:14:41.899 like me. Look, I certainly didn't look like Christ. And I still don't. And yet Christ did it for me. 00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:48.559 And you know, we often think to ourselves, but you know, I'm not sure I have the time 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:55.299 to care for others. I'm so busy. Friends, think about it. God was running the universe. 00:14:56.259 --> 00:15:04.419 That's a pretty busy task, right? And yet he had time for me and for you. The infinite, eternal God 00:15:04.419 --> 00:15:14.819 slowed down long enough to enter time and to make time for us. When my time was almost up 00:15:14.820 --> 00:15:21.340 before the judgment seat of God, Jesus made time for me and he made time for you too. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:27.500 And he did it for all who would turn from trying to run their life their own way 00:15:27.500 --> 00:15:36.200 and trust entirely in him. That's the call of the gospel, to turn from trusting ourselves 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:42.060 and trust the one who's come and who's loved us and welcomed us and made time for us 00:15:42.059 --> 00:15:47.459 and to know the forgiveness of sins through what he's done. It's all of grace. 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:55.919 So this is what makes the living church a caring church. But what practically does it look like? 00:15:56.119 --> 00:16:00.239 Those are the principles. What does it look like in practice to be this kind of caring place? 00:16:01.059 --> 00:16:05.559 Well, look again at our text and notice a couple of things. Notice that it's very personal. 00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:12.079 Paul knows people's names, right? There's Timothy and Epaphroditus and a little later in the letter, 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:16.439 we'll hear about some other leaders in the church of Philippi, a couple of women named Euodia and 00:16:16.439 --> 00:16:22.119 Syntyche. And you read other of Paul's letters and you see he's just listing names of the people he 00:16:22.119 --> 00:16:28.759 knows and loves. Care in the church has to be personal. We have to know one another. 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:36.899 And that's why things like small groups and ministry teams are so important. You know, 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:41.000 that's why we do these things so that we can be known and so that we can be loved. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:47.740 You know, if you only come to church at nine o'clock and then leave right away at 1030, 00:16:48.860 --> 00:16:54.639 right, you won't really experience the care that we see in these verses. 00:16:54.639 --> 00:17:01.080 So why not sign up for a small group so you can get to know others personally? Or why not sign up 00:17:01.080 --> 00:17:05.420 for a ministry team at the second service, right, so you can get to know others personally? 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:13.039 Care is personal. Find other ways of getting to know one another. The practice of care has to be 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:17.559 personal. But second, it's very practical. Paul's talking about a lot of practical things here, 00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:22.420 isn't he? I'm sending Timothy soon. I'm sending Epaphroditus now. And the Philippians were very 00:17:22.420 --> 00:17:26.400 practical in their care for Paul. We learned later in chapter four that Epaphroditus, the reason he 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:31.480 came to Paul was with a gift, probably a financial gift, so that Paul could be cared for in prison. 00:17:31.560 --> 00:17:36.000 So the Philippians sent this gift with Epaphroditus to care for Paul in prison, a very practical thing 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:46.160 to do. So we have to ask, what concrete ways can I, can we care for those around us? And again, 00:17:46.220 --> 00:17:52.060 you probably won't know how to do that kind of practical care until you get personal. So these 00:17:52.059 --> 00:17:57.359 things hang together. It's personal, and then it can be actually really practical. Once we get to 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:04.240 know each other, then we know how we can meet each other's needs. So it's personal and practical, and 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:10.980 finally, it's providential. And what I mean by that is we have to care for who God actually puts in our 00:18:10.980 --> 00:18:20.000 lives. The needs that are providentially in God's good sovereignty right before us. You know, when we 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.539 think about caring for one another, we can often skip right over, in our minds anyway, oh, I should 00:18:24.539 --> 00:18:28.859 be caring for one another. We often skip right over in our minds the very real people right in front of 00:18:28.859 --> 00:18:33.859 us. We hear Jesus say, love your neighbor as yourself. Care for the little ones. Care for the 00:18:33.859 --> 00:18:39.460 least of these. And we tend to skip right over our spouses, right? Or we skip right over our children, 00:18:39.619 --> 00:18:43.440 or we skip right over our roommates, or we skip right over the person who sits in the pew in front of 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:47.359 you, or we skip right over the children who gather for children's ministry right down the hall. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:51.099 You know, we skip over all these like very real people in front of us, and we think of this sort 00:18:51.099 --> 00:18:57.699 of like imaginary person, this imaginary neighbor I should be loving, right? No! Care is providential. 00:18:57.879 --> 00:19:04.859 Who is right in front of you? You know, we say that God loves the world, and we believe that, but we 00:19:04.859 --> 00:19:10.439 tend to, sometimes we tend to skip over the city that sits right here at our doorstep, right? Okay, love the 00:19:10.439 --> 00:19:16.279 world. Well, which part of the world should I be loving? We look at a map, you know? You don't need to look at a 00:19:16.279 --> 00:19:19.240 map. You just need to walk out your front door. There's the world that you should be loving. 00:19:20.379 --> 00:19:27.099 This is where God has placed us, right here, right in this little sea of loneliness that is New Haven, 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:31.480 and if you've lived here long enough, you know that's true. There are a lot of lonely people in 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:37.539 this city, and he's calling us, Trinity, and the other churches of Jesus Christ in our city to be living 00:19:37.539 --> 00:19:41.460 churches, which means to be caring churches right here. 00:19:45.619 --> 00:19:52.859 So a living church is a caring church, and if we're meant to be a caring church then, this brings us to 00:19:52.859 --> 00:19:58.159 the second big kind of idea of our passage. If we're meant to be a caring church, if that's part of what 00:19:58.159 --> 00:20:05.819 it means to be a living church, then that means we have to be led by caring leaders. This is the second 00:20:05.819 --> 00:20:12.679 thing we see in our passage. Through the example of Timothy and Epaphroditus, we are shown what sort 00:20:12.679 --> 00:20:22.939 of leaders we ought to recognize and honor and emulate. So first, this text helps us to recognize 00:20:22.939 --> 00:20:30.259 caring leaders. You know, too often the church has looked just like the world when it comes to those 00:20:30.259 --> 00:20:36.579 leaders in leadership in positions of responsibility. You know, we often seek the powerful, the productive, 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:43.460 the flashy, the strong, the eloquent, the entertaining. You know, we sort of exalt those people, 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:48.559 but those aren't actually the qualifications that God is looking for. 00:20:50.779 --> 00:20:57.539 Leaders in the church are meant to have a deep grasp of biblical faith and doctrine, yes, 00:20:57.539 --> 00:21:06.039 but they're meant to have a deep grasp of the faith so deep that it melts their hearts and makes them 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:13.599 love others like Christ has loved them. Look at what Paul says of Timothy. He says, I have no one like 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:20.579 him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare, for they all seek their own interests, not those of 00:21:20.579 --> 00:21:26.559 Jesus Christ. Or listen to what Paul says about Epaphroditus. Not only do we see in verse 26 that 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:31.099 he had been longing, Epaphroditus had been longing for his spiritual family back at Philippi and 00:21:31.099 --> 00:21:35.559 distressed because they heard he was ill. He's very concerned and caring for them. But in verse 30, 00:21:35.619 --> 00:21:40.919 we learn that Epaphroditus nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life, Paul says, to complete 00:21:40.919 --> 00:21:48.019 what was lacking in your service to me. So this is how we recognize godly leaders in the church, 00:21:48.019 --> 00:21:53.220 by the quality, not just of their doctrine, of their understanding of the biblical faith, 00:21:53.420 --> 00:21:55.660 but by the quality of their care. 00:21:59.920 --> 00:22:04.619 But this text helps us not just to recognize godly leaders, it also commands us to honor 00:22:04.619 --> 00:22:08.839 such leaders. In verse 29, Paul says to the Philippians about Epaphroditus, 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:15.700 so receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men. Now think about who we typically honor. 00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:21.779 Usually we honor those who achieve great accomplishments, right? We honor those who are 00:22:21.779 --> 00:22:29.140 healthy and wealthy and successful. But look at Epaphroditus in this passage. He gets sick, 00:22:29.860 --> 00:22:38.400 he falls ill, he's weak, and Paul has to send him home early, right? And look at Paul in this passage. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:43.519 He admits weakness too. He says, I was worried about Epaphroditus when he got sick. We were on the brink of 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:47.319 sorrow. I'm going to send him back to you so that my sorrow doesn't multiply. 00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:56.440 A little earlier in the service, we read a passage about Timothy from 2 Timothy. And what do we learn 00:22:56.440 --> 00:23:01.339 about Timothy in there? Timothy's the one who shed tears, probably when he and Paul were parted at some 00:23:01.339 --> 00:23:07.720 point in their ministry. Timothy was the one who needed to be reminded not to fear, but to be strong. 00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:18.460 What sort of leadership team is this? Sick, sad, and afraid. Who wants to honor a bunch of people like 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:29.960 that, right? But don't you see that illness, that sorrow, those tears? It was all evidence of deep 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:37.299 love, of genuine care for the people of God. And that's who we must honor. 00:23:39.019 --> 00:23:43.019 You know, practically speaking, right now as a church, we're kind of prayerfully in the process 00:23:43.019 --> 00:23:48.519 of nominating new elders and deacons. Elders and deacons are the officers that God's kind of 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:53.420 instituted in the church, the sort of roles that God's instituted in the church to care and lead the 00:23:53.420 --> 00:23:58.940 life of the church. You see this in the very first verse of Philippians. Paul writes to the church 00:23:58.940 --> 00:24:04.440 of Philippi, but also to the overseers, the elders, and the deacons, right? And right now as a church, 00:24:04.500 --> 00:24:10.000 we're in the process of kind of prayerfully nominating new people for those offices. You know, and as 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:19.799 members, let me say to you, as you think of who we might honor and call to these offices, yes, consider 00:24:19.799 --> 00:24:27.799 those who have a firm foundation in the faith. That is required. But along with that, there must be 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:35.059 genuine care, genuine concern for the interests of others, a willingness to lay down our lives 00:24:35.059 --> 00:24:41.460 in order to love other people, in order to love the church. That's who we want to honor. 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:50.839 But again, Paul says we don't just want to honor them. This text is also implying very strongly 00:24:50.839 --> 00:24:57.639 that we want to imitate them. So this text isn't just helping us recognize godly leaders and helping 00:24:57.639 --> 00:25:03.220 us to sort of commanding us to honor godly leaders. It's also inviting us to imitate leaders like this, 00:25:03.399 --> 00:25:10.759 to imitate them. Paul will say later in the book of Philippians, brothers and sisters, join in imitating me 00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:16.779 and keep your eye on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 00:25:19.220 --> 00:25:25.420 You know, as I look around this room, I see men and women of the faith who, by God's grace, 00:25:25.940 --> 00:25:33.960 are worthy of imitating and emulating. I know at Trinity there are a lot of Timothys 00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:42.519 and a lot of Epaphroditus's and I see a lot of Lydia's and Euodia's and Syntyche's, men and women who 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:51.380 Paul will call, and today Paul, people whom Paul would surely call his fellow laborers and fellow workers 00:25:51.380 --> 00:25:57.740 and fellow soldiers. So let me just say, if you're here and you are young in the faith, 00:25:57.740 --> 00:26:08.259 find one of these Epaphroditus's. Find one of these Euodia's and start to model your life after them. 00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:13.200 Invite them to lunch and ask them questions about what it means to follow the Lord Jesus. 00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:18.940 Ask them to pray for you. You know, the world is going to put, the world is going to put a whole 00:26:18.940 --> 00:26:26.640 host of people before you and say, imitate them. And we're going to be bombarded by images and messages 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:31.800 that say, imitate people like this, celebrities and influencers, the rich, the powerful, the stylish. 00:26:32.120 --> 00:26:37.400 But friends, the end of those things isn't happiness, it's loneliness. 00:26:40.080 --> 00:26:47.280 Imitate the Timothys and the Syntyche's. The world might have no idea who they are, but that's okay. 00:26:49.280 --> 00:26:54.980 Because the church is the lighthouse in the sea of loneliness, proclaiming a God of grace 00:26:54.980 --> 00:26:57.519 and embodying a culture of genuine care. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:07.640 And here's the thing. If you find those Timothys and Epaphroditus's, and if you find those Syntyche's 00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:13.059 and Euodia's, and if you read church history and find more godly examples to imitate and emulate, 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:15.519 here's what you find. 00:27:17.420 --> 00:27:23.460 Here's the secret that empowers and sustains and shapes their life of love and genuine care. 00:27:24.980 --> 00:27:27.860 And at first, it might surprise you. 00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:37.140 Because what you hear is that ultimately, at the end of the day, they don't love the church 00:27:37.140 --> 00:27:38.880 because the church is so lovely. 00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:45.380 And they don't serve and care and sacrifice and weep because they think it's such a great cause. 00:27:45.380 --> 00:27:51.440 Or because they find the people so special or the work so engaging and fulfilling. 00:27:53.280 --> 00:27:55.180 Yes, at times, all those things will be true. 00:27:55.700 --> 00:27:58.100 But that's not ultimately why they do it. 00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:01.160 That's not why they love and serve the church. 00:28:01.260 --> 00:28:03.780 That's not why they lay down their life to care for the people of God. 00:28:05.180 --> 00:28:06.220 So why do they do it? 00:28:06.220 --> 00:28:14.539 Well, to put it pretty bluntly, they don't do it for your sake. 00:28:15.160 --> 00:28:16.660 They do it for Jesus' sake. 00:28:17.799 --> 00:28:19.600 Look again at Timothy in verse 21. 00:28:20.600 --> 00:28:24.900 They all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:28.120 Look again at Epaphroditus, verse 30. 00:28:28.120 --> 00:28:29.920 For he nearly died for what? 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:30.880 For the work of the church? 00:28:31.019 --> 00:28:32.420 No, for the work of Christ. 00:28:32.420 --> 00:28:37.680 Timothy and Epaphroditus did what they did 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:41.820 because they had a king who loved them and gave himself for them. 00:28:42.060 --> 00:28:46.340 And there was absolutely nothing that their king couldn't ask them in return 00:28:46.340 --> 00:28:47.420 that they wouldn't give. 00:28:48.779 --> 00:28:52.759 And if that meant, like Timothy, leaving their mentor behind in a prison 00:28:52.759 --> 00:28:54.900 and go serve a church in Philippi 00:28:54.900 --> 00:28:57.120 and help them sort out their squabbles and disagreements, 00:28:57.200 --> 00:28:59.680 then he'd go because of King Jesus. 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:02.840 And if it meant like Epaphroditus, 00:29:02.900 --> 00:29:06.220 if it meant leaving their home and carrying a gift a thousand miles 00:29:06.220 --> 00:29:07.380 to the other end of the empire 00:29:07.380 --> 00:29:12.660 and then getting sick and almost dying in the cell of a political prisoner, 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:13.900 then he'd do it. 00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:14.180 Why? 00:29:14.279 --> 00:29:15.240 Because of King Jesus. 00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:21.460 And why in this sea of loneliness that we call New Haven, 00:29:21.860 --> 00:29:23.400 this city that God loves so much, 00:29:23.720 --> 00:29:26.759 full of so many men and women of such beauty and brokenness, 00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:30.640 why are we called to be a community of care and love for one another 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:32.519 even though we know it's so hard? 00:29:33.940 --> 00:29:37.420 Even though it's hard to make time to care and serve. 00:29:37.539 --> 00:29:39.799 Even though it's costly to care and to serve. 00:29:39.900 --> 00:29:40.819 Why do we do it? 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:45.500 Because the Lord Jesus calls us to do it. 00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:48.759 We do it ultimately for his sake. 00:29:50.379 --> 00:29:51.839 Because he bled for his church, 00:29:51.839 --> 00:29:53.459 and now he says, 00:29:53.639 --> 00:29:55.359 I want you to love what I love. 00:29:58.579 --> 00:30:02.679 And if we are a caring church led by caring leaders 00:30:02.679 --> 00:30:04.399 because of Jesus' sake, 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:06.720 then friends, 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:08.319 the light will shine forth from us. 00:30:08.819 --> 00:30:11.500 It'll shine out into our sea of loneliness 00:30:11.500 --> 00:30:14.279 and the weary will come in 00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:15.759 and find the home 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:18.019 that Christ purchased for you 00:30:18.019 --> 00:30:18.699 and for me 00:30:18.699 --> 00:30:20.019 and for them too. 00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:22.980 That's our mission, church. 00:30:23.980 --> 00:30:26.059 May God grant us the grace to fulfill it 00:30:26.059 --> 00:30:27.839 and may we all be eager 00:30:27.839 --> 00:30:29.720 to find our place in it. 00:30:30.639 --> 00:30:31.240 Let's pray. 00:30:38.500 --> 00:30:39.200 Father in heaven, 00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:39.960 we ask 00:30:39.960 --> 00:30:42.819 for a fresh filling of your spirit today 00:30:42.819 --> 00:30:46.519 that we might know the love of Christ 00:30:46.519 --> 00:30:49.740 and how deep and how costly it was for us 00:30:49.740 --> 00:30:53.180 that we would know the love of Christ 00:30:53.180 --> 00:30:54.660 that it would humble us 00:30:54.660 --> 00:30:56.960 and empower us. 00:30:58.160 --> 00:30:59.740 Would we see all the ways, God, 00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:01.180 in which your good providence 00:31:01.180 --> 00:31:02.740 supremely at the cross 00:31:02.740 --> 00:31:03.799 in your saving work 00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:04.819 all the ways 00:31:04.819 --> 00:31:06.980 in which you have cared for us 00:31:06.980 --> 00:31:08.460 and known us 00:31:08.460 --> 00:31:09.480 and loved us 00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:11.900 and in beholding you, God, 00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:12.900 would we then 00:31:12.900 --> 00:31:15.059 become a people that do the same? 00:31:16.200 --> 00:31:17.700 Fueled not by our own strength, 00:31:17.700 --> 00:31:20.319 fueled not by our own desire, 00:31:20.580 --> 00:31:22.220 but fueled by your very spirit. 00:31:24.420 --> 00:31:25.799 And Lord, make us a church 00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:28.220 where others can come 00:31:28.220 --> 00:31:29.840 and know the great care 00:31:29.840 --> 00:31:31.340 and the great love of God in Christ. 00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:33.279 Oh God, would you bring others 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:35.220 to sit at this table 00:31:35.220 --> 00:31:35.779 and dine 00:31:35.779 --> 00:31:37.759 on the great feast of your mercy, 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:38.279 we pray. 00:31:38.600 --> 00:31:39.799 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:39.920 Amen. 00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:40.000 Amen. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:40.080 Amen. 00:31:40.080 --> 00:31:40.920 Amen. 00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:41.920 Amen. 00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:42.000 Amen. 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:42.059 Amen. 00:31:42.059 --> 00:31:44.000 Amen. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:44.059 Amen. 00:31:44.059 --> 00:31:44.100 Amen. 00:31:44.100 --> 00:31:44.140 Amen.