St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians: A Message of Joy – Part 5 from His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria

This message is also available in Arabic.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. One God. Amen. May His grace and mercy rest upon us, from now and forevermore. Amen.

Sermon Highlights:

Lessons we learn:

~ Spend more time focusing on what is positive (as St. Paul spent more time speaking about Timothy and Epaphroditus, faithful disciples)

~ Contemplate the relationship between true joy and humility, obedience to God, and discipleship

A Quick Review

Two weeks ago we began a series contemplating joy, through a study of St. Paul the apostle’s Letter to the Philippians; a letter characterized by its message or spirit of joy. Philippi was the first town in Europe to come to faith in Christ, and this was why the church at Philippi held a special place in the heart of St. Paul the apostle.

During his more than two-years of imprisonment in Rome, St. Paul the apostle wrote 4 Letters from within the prison:

A personal letter to Philemon, which is just one chapter long,

the Letter to the Ephesians,

the Letter to the Philippians, and

the Letter to the Colossians

Other significant facts pertaining to St. Paul and the city of Philippi: This city was named after the father of Alexander the Great, Philip of Macedonia, and its significance is that it was the first city in Europe to attain the honor of coming to faith in Christ; it was also here that St. Paul met Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth (Acts 16:14), as well as the slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination (Acts 16:16); it was also in Philippi that the prison guard came to faith in Christ at the hands of St. Paul, during the time he was imprisoned with Silas (Acts 16:19-23).

Having served them as a church, when the people of Philippi heard that St. Paul was imprisoned, despite their very humble means, they sent him a financial gift through their local church servant, Epaphroditus. When St. Paul received their gift he was greatly filled with joy because of their love and so he began to pen this Letter to them, and so although he wrote it from within prison, we see that it is filled with joyous emotions. There was great affection between the people of the church of Philippi and St. Paul, and we see this throughout this Epistle in its many very strong expressions of beautiful human emotions.

Today we are picking up on the 3rd and final section of Philippians Chapter 2. Let us read it together.

Philippians Chapter 2

Timothy Commended

19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. 20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. 22 But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. 23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. 24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.

Epaphroditus Praised

25 Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; 26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.

The grace of God the Father be with you all. Amen.

Discourse

St. Paul the apostle wrote this Letter from within prison, to a people he loved, in the presence of a Church-servant he loved; Epaphroditus.

The Letter to Philippi has four main characters: Christ, St. Paul the apostle, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. In the portion I just read, from verses 19 to 30, St. Paul speaks of Timothy and Epaphroditus – taking several verses (12 to be precise) to commend and praise their work and love, in comparison to later on in the Letter when we will see him comment very briefly about a negative situation between two other characters in the church, Euodia and Syntyche.

‘Euodia’ means ‘a pleasant scent,’ and ‘Syntyche’ means ‘good luck, lucky.’ A disagreement had developed between them. From his very quick and gentle commenting on the conflict between them, we learn from St. Paul that it is best to give more attention or to speak about what is positive, and to give minimal attention and commentary on correcting what needs correction.

Back to Timothy and Epaphroditus, I want you to see how St. Paul is not just giving us theoretical advice on good Church-service, but he gives us these two as living examples of what a good Church-servant looks like. And so St. Paul here very beautifully provides us with a picture of what humble service looks like by describing these 2 humble servants to us in great detail.

And so in this marvelous way, St. Paul presents us with the contrast: he first tells us of Timothy and Epaphroditus, thus giving us the bright and shiny image of good servanthood, and then later tells us of Euodia and Syntyche, which is what happens to that image when it is spoiled or tarnished through conflict.

He of course had started out by giving us Who and what the ideal servant looks like, that is, Christ Jesus, and then referred to himself as the servant who so greatly longs for his flock and for his service, and how joyous he is that the people of church of Philippi would be so loving as to take up a collection and send him a financial gift so that he could have some income to take care of his expenses while he is in prison.

Timothy

We all know Timothy. He is St. Paul’s disciple and St. Paul wrote to him two letters in his name, the last being the 2nd Letter to Timothy, which is also the very last letter of St. Paul’s writings and in which he shares many of his experiences and teachings.

The word ‘Timothy’ means ‘honored, honored of God.’ St. Paul speaks very highly of Timothy here and sends him to give the people of Philippi warning: “Be careful … be careful because there is something that can destroy Church-service.”

They had sent Epaphroditus to St. Paul and now St. Paul was sending Timothy to them, to warn them to be careful and to guard against conflicts, which can destroy a person’s service or ministry. And notice St. Paul’s sense of responsibility here, that he is not postponing addressing this matter of caring for the guiding of his flock until later, when he comes out of “the mess” he is in (out of prison). He does not excuse or give himself any justification for postponing his responsibility of care toward them, not at all, but he rather says, “For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state” (v 20 –speaking of Timothy).

Next St. Paul tells us the reason by which servanthood and ministry are weakened: 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. St. Paul is describing to us the reality that exists. As one who is an experienced professional, St. Paul the apostle is telling us how any service is weakened, and he gives a precise and reality-based diagnosis. He says, “For all seek their own.”

Timothy served with sincerity, but “all seek their own”; they fell into the sin of self, where a person only sees their own needs and has no sense of those around him nor has a sense of responsibility [toward them]; a person with a need could be right in front of him, and he wouldn’t even notice or care about them.

21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. Meaning that a person could be carrying the name of Christ but they do not think about Christ, rather, they only think of themselves. And here is the great sin.

20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. Of Timothy, St. Paul is saying, “He is a faithful person, a responsible person.”

22 But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. St. Paul is reminding them that Timothy was discipled at his own hands. And you of course remember that Timothy came from a Jewish mother and a lineage of faith, as St. Paul reminds Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5 saying, “When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice.” And so Timothy had a very good upbringing.

Later on, St. Paul had Timothy circumcised in accordance with the Jewish tradition, in order that he would be able to serve among the Jews. And so Timothy had the right preparation and the right mind of servanthood, but more important than all of this or that was Timothy’s humility. Beloved one, I want to tell you that what makes a servant successful is their humility and nothing else. Not his talents, not his efforts, not his education or knowledge; the only thing that makes a person a successful servant before Christ is their humility, and a person’s humility can be easily seen in their very lives, as the saying of the desert Fathers, “Blessing descends upon a child of obedience.”

A child of obedience represents a person who is humble. A humble person is one who obeys God and their path is blessed and smooth, whereas a person who does not obey God, their path is not so smooth. And so St. Paul here is telling us that Timothy practiced true discipleship, he lived faithfully and with sincerity.

I want to give you another picture, that of Judas, the disciple of Christ. And because he was a disciple of Christ, Judas witnessed Christ’s miracles, heard His words, and lived in the midst of the other disciples, but he forgot about humility and so fell into the sin of self, caring only about his own interests, which led him to fall into another even graver sin; the sin of treachery. So I plead with you, be careful.

And as St. Paul gives us these words of warning, I have wanted to ask him, “You are in prison Paul, you should be worrying about yourself right now,” but he would say, “Forget about prison, I want to make sure I’m taking care of and serving these people, and I want to make sure that I send them the most sincere of my disciples, and that would be Timothy, my son.

St. Paul described Timothy as being his son, he said, “But you know that he has been as a son with his father.” It is a great blessing that one would be discipled by and a true disciple [of their teacher], and in the history of the saints and the fathers the wilderness, this is how a teacher and their disciple are referred to. For example, we say, St. Anba Pachomius father of the cenobites, and his disciple Tadros; St. Anba Abram father of monasticism and Wissa, his disciple; St. Anba Abram Bishop of the Governorate of Faiyum and St. Mikhail el-Behery, his disciple.

Discipleship is one of the pillars of success and continuity of servanthood and responsibility from generation to generation, and how lucky is the faithful disciple! Christ’s disciples were faithful. Yes, one of them betrayed Him and he went his own way, but the faithful disciple … just look at John the beloved. Of him it says, “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved” (Jn 13:23).

And it is because of John’s faithfulness that Christ honored him and gave him to write the Book of Revelation and the [3] Letters and the Gospel [of John], as if to say, “John, you will write about things that the other disciples neither attained nor experienced.” For example, John was the only one to record the Farewell prayer for us in John 17; this prayer is not mentioned in any of the other 3 Gospels, or when he writes for us the Book of Eternity (the Book of Revelation) or writes us his 3 Letters and talks about love in all three of them and in them says things like, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 Jn 3:18), from where did he get these definitive truths? From discipleship; he was a faithful disciple to Christ. Timothy also was a magnificent disciple and his name is true to his nature: “honored of God.”

“For all seek their own.” In these words, St. Paul sets before us a basis for weak ministry, and so beloved one, whether you are the one serving or the one being served, whether you hold a position of great responsibility or small responsibility, please, place this verse before you and make sure that you are not amongst those who “seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus,” having the appearance of one who serves, the label of “Christian,” and a name that is well-recognized, but Christ is nowhere to be found in your life. Beware of this.

Epaphroditus

After he spoke of Timothy and sent him to ensure the wellbeing of the people of Philippi, St. Paul begins to talk about Epaphroditus. Remember Epaphroditus was sent to St. Paul by the people of Philippi, to deliver the gift they had for him, but Epaphroditus’ health was weak, as mentioned by St. Paul, “ 27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death.” And so despite his severe condition, Epaphroditus put his own wellbeing off to the side and made the very challenging trip – because remember, transportation and travel in those days was very difficult. And so he likely had to travel most of the distance by foot, all the way until arriving to St. Paul, at which point the illness had become so complete in him that Epaphroditus was near death.

St. Paul tells us, “But God had mercy on him (saved him at the last moment), and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.” St. Paul felt that in saving Epaphroditus, God was not only showing mercy to Epaphroditus but also to Paul, sparing St. Paul the agony of having sorrow upon sorrow. The first sorrow St. Paul was suffering is his being in prison, because yes, although he keeps talking to us about joy and “rejoice with me” and so on, but nevertheless, he is in prison, and this is a sorrowful thing, and the second sorrow would be that his disciple should die.

St. Paul goes on to say, “28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful.” But St. Paul, what is the nature of the relationship between you and Epaphroditus? And in the next verses we see the respect of the teacher toward his disciple, a marvelous thing! And by the way, the word ‘Epaphroditus’ is a Greek name that means ‘attractive or beautiful one, one who is pleasant.’

St. Paul describes his relationship to Epaphroditus in 5 ways: “25 … Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need.”

What magnificence! Listen again to how St. Paul describes his disciple: my brother, fellow worker (no St. Paul, he is your disciple, not your equal!), fellow soldier (meaning that as soldiers, they were both disciplined and committed, living with self-control), your messenger (as if to say, “People of Philippi, your servant-apostle is Epaphroditus, not me, but my disciple”), and the one who ministers to my need (yes, even my personal needs, Epaphroditus takes care of them for me). Clearly Epaphroditus is a wonderful person and St. Paul describes and honors him as such.

26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. By the time he had arrived to St. Paul, Epaphroditus’ illness had grew worse and the people of Philippi received the news of this.

28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, Meaning that, “Just as soon as he got better and was able to stand on his own two feet, I sent him to you right away! In that way you will be comforted and rejoice at seeing him well again.”

29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.

What St. Paul is telling the Philippians is, “I want you to set Epaphroditus and anyone else like him as an example, and you should honor such a person.” He had put himself at risk by taking the long journey, especially while in the ill condition he was in, just in order to deliver their gift to St. Paul, because what good would it have been if they had collected a gift for St. Paul and there was no way to deliver it to him? …

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