Sermon Dan Neary

The Example of Epaphroditus

Now we are past the half-way mark in our series through Philippians.

We can get right into the text… page ____ in the pew Bibles.

Epaphroditus… not the most famous Biblical character. He doesn’t appear in any other book of the Bible. You won’t find him as the object of art throughout the ages… I don’t think he’s ever been immortalized in a flannelgraph.

His name tells us a lot… simply translated, his name means of, or bearing the qualities of, Aphrodite (the Greek God of love and beauty). Most commentators indicate that the name would translate most easily into English as charming. What is probably more meaningful is that Epaphroditus was almost certainly a native of Philippi. He was culturally a Greek… and most likely raised religiously as a Greek. Epaphroditus was, most likely, introduced to our God by Paul himself.

Here was a man who came to faith under Paul’s ministry in Philippi and then rose to leadership in the church there that Paul founded.

Paul refers to him in remarkable terms.

1. Brother – indicating that P & E shared the same faith. They were each bound to Christ as their savior… which then meant that they were bound together as members of God’s family.

2. Fellow worker – indicating that they were co-laborers… sharing the same service. This echoes the theme that we’ve heard over and over again in this remarkable section of God’s Word… this letter to the Church in Philippi. We are each saved individually, buy God’s Grace and Christ’s work on the cross… but we are saved to become a People, the Church, the Body of Christ. We’re saved to be a People that worship God by doing His work… the work of worship, the work of edification (care) for fellow believers, and the work of outreach & evangelism. Paul acknowledges that his “brother” Epaphroditus is a member of The Body of Christ… a co-laborer and fellow worker.

3. Fellow soldier – there’s a pattern here of deepening commitment. Not just a brother due to God’s grace… not just a fellow work in service to God’s kingdom… but a fellow soldier, sharing in a same sacrifice. The military/soldier imagery speaks of sacrifice and total commitment. It speaks of leaving everything behind, clinging to nothing in order to fulfill the commander’s orders… and it speaks of peril, and even the threat of death.

Brother, worker, and soldier… Paul identifies Epaphroditus as one who is dear to the Apostle.

Epaphroditus was with Paul, in Rome, because of a job he had to do. Paul called him the Philippians’ messenger… the actual Greek word there is apostle. It appears he used the word apostle here not because Epaphroditus had any sort of title or office… but that he was simply a sent one, a messenger. The use of the word could remind us that when Paul used the word apostle to describe himself, he likely was thinking more of the functional definition of the word than the titular definition of the word. We’ve turned the word apostle into something like royalty… Paul uses that very same word here to mean something plain and functional.

Later in the book (Chapter 4), Paul makes it clear that the Philippians sent Paul money, probably a fair amount of money via Epaphroditus. We remember that Paul is writing from imprisonment (house arrest). When we place this in the appropriate cultural and historical context, we would remember that the Romans did not concern themselves with caring for the basic needs of prisoners. If a prisoner was going to be fed, clothed or otherwise cared for, it was going to come at the hands of the prisoner’s family or friends. Epaphroditus was literally on a lifesaving mission.

Many speculate that the Church in Philippi, and Epaphroditus himself, may have intended for this mission to serve Paul would be ongoing… at least until the time of Paul’s release. But Paul determined that the messenger who brought the care from Philippi would now deliver this very letter back to the Church at Philippi.

Epaphroditus longed to be home. What would be the normal sort of homesickness was compounded by his knowledge that the last word that his friends and family was that he was ill… very ill. Based on the series of events, it is likely that Epaphroditus became ill on the journey from Philippi to Rome… yet he persevered, carrying out his task.

Both Paul and Epaphroditus were concerned for their friends in Philippi because they knew that they were concerned for both Paul and Epaphroditus. Paul was not free to go… but it was now time that Epaphroditus did go back to his home.

We likely ought to understand “God’s mercy” as nothing less than a miraculous healing. Simply stated, Paul indicated that Epaphroditus almost died… think about that statement in a historical context. With the technology and medical science available in the first century, there were few near death experiences… just death experiences.

How many here today would say that they have suffered from a circumstance, condition or disease that could have killed you? How many of you almost died? Now how many of you would think that you would have made it 2,000 years ago?

Some of you likely credit God’s miraculous intervention in preserving your life. This is almost certainly the case with Epaphroditus.

Furthermore, Paul acknowledges that this mercy shown Epaphroditus was mercy shown to Paul himself. Although Paul was accustomed to pain, hardship and suffering… he was grateful that God spared him the sorrow of losing this particular friend.

Paul was glad that Epaphroditus had survived his suffering, and he wanted to share this great joy with his friends in Philippi.

Although we really can’t be sure… it seems likely that Philippians were not expecting to see Epaphroditus back in Philippi. They probably either

· Thought he was dead… loosing his life in the line of duty, or

· Would stay on with Paul since that was the likely plan

Whatever the case, Paul is urging the Philippians to welcome him in the Lord with great joy.

If they thought he was dead… rejoice, God intervened.

If they thought he would stay… rejoice, sometimes (sometimes?) plans change. What seemed like God’s direction before, is now something different. We usually can’t figure out precisely how we’re going to end up when we follow the steps that God places before us.

Not only does Paul say to welcome Epaphroditus… he urges the Philippians to honor him:

· For his sacrifice, almost dieing… risking his life

· For his work… I don’t know what you think of primarily when we say “work of Christ”… I think I usually think of evangelism. Maybe we’d think of all manner of outreach. In this case the work of Christ was tending to Paul’s needs

· For his representation… making up for the help you could not give sounds a bit pejorative in our English Bibles. This is really more just a statement of fact. Paul was imprisoned in Rome; the way the Church in Philippi could help was for them to send their representative with their gifts and well wishes.

So… what do we learn from this lesser known figure Epaphroditus?

Paul clearly holds him high regard…
he is an example for us.

I would like to propose that this introduction of Epaphroditus is a sort of Fanfare for the Common Man.

What you’re hearing, of course, is Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. He wrote it in 1942, during WWII. It was common for American composers to write fanfares for war heroes and leaders and armies… but Copland set-out to write a fanfare in honor of the strength of the common man, knowing that any huge enterprise, especially one like WWII, demanded the best from everyone… every citizen. Hence his Fanfare for the Common Man.

This passage in Scripture is a sort of a Fanfare for the Common Man. Specifically we can look to two places:

1. But… the first word in the passage. Paul talked about himself, the Apostle, and his desire to see the Philippians again. He talked about sending Timothy, the Pastor, to work with the Philippians. But, he said, he was sending the common man, Epaphroditus. He was neither bishop nor pastor… maybe a deacon… certainly a servant.

2. Honor men like him… glory belongs to God… but honor is rightfully due to his people. We glorify God when we honor those who are distinguishing themselves by serving God. And not just those who preach or pastor or lead in some other way… Paul urges us to honor people like Epaphroditus… those who simply do the work that God calls them to do.

Do you know what is remarkable? Seated before me today are a room full of those like Epaphroditus. Row by row we ought to honor each of you that so faithfully carry out your work for the Lord. Things seen and unseen, spectacular and common, upfront and behind the scenes, sometimes with specialized skill but often times just plain hard labor. Thank God that we have so many here to honor!

Let’s allow this passage to remind us once again to continually honor those who so diligently serve God in worship, service, and outreach. We should continually play fanfares for our fellow believers.

But we should also allow this fanfare to be a call to us common people. I suppose there might be a few of you here that are really extraordinary… but basically we’re all just a bunch of common people here. Let’s hear the fanfare and allow it to call us to deeper commitment. Not that we would desire the fanfares or praise… but that we would pursue that which is praiseworthy.

Let these words that describe Epaphroditus be a call to each of us. Let’s remember how Paul described his dear friend:

· Brother – The fanfare starts by calling us to faith. Everything starts with faith… the faith. Hear the fanfare this morning, God’s call to believe. Allow God to give each of us grace to believe more deeply. Do you hear God’s call to faith today?

· Fellow worker – The fanfare calls us to service. Not service that earns God’s favor… the only thing that earns God’s favor is that which is already done in Christ (that is where faith and belief comes in). But once we believe and are saved, we are called to work. We are called to take-up our membership in the Body of Christ, the Church, and join in the work. Do you hear God’s call to service today?

· Fellow soldier – The fanfare calls us to sacrifice. God’s word calls us to live up to, live out, and work out this Gospel of Salvation. We are called to sacrifice, even through suffering. Are you hearing God’s call to sacrifice today?

I urge you this morning to allow God’s Holy Spirit to speak to you this morning… make a decision to respond to His leading in faith, service, and sacrifice.