Today's message is simple. Don't honor power. Honor people like Epaphroditus.
So in the section of scripture in Paul's letter to the Philippian church, we hear Paul only really give one set of instructions, one short bit of instruction to the Philippian church. And it's to welcome this guy whose name sounds like something between a sneeze and a disease, Epaphroditus. Can I get a bless you? Paul says to them, look, welcome Epaphroditus. He's sending Epaphroditus back to them and welcomes him in the Lord with all joy and honor people like him.
Before we unpack what that looks like and what it is that is worthy of that honor in such people, let's talk about the consideration that we have to do something else to honor people of power. History has got a lot of examples of how we elevate the powerful. So take Alexander the Great, right? He conquers Egypt with mighty power. And what do they do? They make him Pharaoh, which isn't just any kind of ruler. Elevating him to the status of a god-king. He's a Julius Caesar. After his mighty powerful victories, the Roman Senate decides to give him a golden chair and crown him a dictator for life. Of course, a month later, some in that same Senate decide that's too much power, and they take his life. There's probably a lesson in there somewhere.
And there's Napoleon, the great mighty conqueror, who after all his victories, and there's this grand ceremony in the Notre Dame, crowns himself. History has a lot of examples of honoring power, of people like Napoleon even taking that honored position of power for themselves, crowning themselves. And this just isn't some relic from our distant past. We still do this today, even if it looks a little different. So whether it's powerful leaders or athletes, powerful entrepreneurs or entertainers, we have our own way of giving them their golden chairs, of crowning them as god-kings and queens.
We give them our undivided attention, following their every move in the media. We spend big money on tickets to their shows. We fill stadiums in their honor. We follow these new people called influencers on Instagram, the new gatekeepers of culture, who present themselves like our digital friends, who happen to be famous. So of course, we like their posts. We follow their stories and buy their products. And with every view, every like, and every dollar we give, we are extending the reach of their digital throne and kingdom. And it's typically not their moral character that we're enamored with, honor, or secretly desire for ourselves. No. It's how many millions of views they've got, right? It's their physical strength, their captivating beauty, their intellectual prowess. It's their success, their status, their impressive influence. Their rings of power, if you know Tolkien, or have Prime Video. It's that power that we are enamored with, that we honor and desire.
Well, in stark contrast, God's word to us in Paul's letter to the Philippians tells us to honor not power, but people like Epaphroditus. So what marks people like Epaphroditus? Well, the simple answer is humility, the humility of Christ. And while the word humility is not mentioned once in this section of scripture, the clues are all there, but that's what Paul is highlighting. So let's look at how that works.
Let's explore what this humility that we are to honor looks like, and we're going to do it through three lenses. The first lens is the bigger context of this letter—what humility looks like there. Then we're going to have another lens and we're going to focus in on this particular passage. And the final lens is we're going to look and zoom in on modern-day examples of Epaphroditus-like people, including some people in our own congregation here.
The first lens, the lens of this letter: We've talked about how this letter is overflowing with Paul's joy. Joy that cannot be bound, as we've said, because it's rooted in and grows out of the solid, unshakable good news of Jesus Christ. A joy that is in and found in the loving, overcoming, unifying humility of Jesus Christ. That summarizes a lot of this letter. Last week Heather pointed out how this humility that we see here is not something to be ashamed of, as it was in that culture, but actually is something that should cause us to tremble with joy at the goodness of it all. Most of all when we behold it in Jesus on the cross, but also when we become aware of God working that humility in us. And as we work out that humility in our lives.
The last part is exactly what Paul is doing in this section that we're looking at this morning. He's highlighting, honoring, celebrating with joy how these two people, Timothy and Epaphroditus, are working out that extraordinary humility in their ordinary lives.
Which brings us to our second lens here. It's a humility therefore that's not just reserved for the mighty Son of God or even for people who are passionate and ambitious like the Apostle Paul. But this kind of humility can be worked out even in lives like Tim and Timothy, who seem to struggle with shyness and being unsure of himself. It can be worked out in people like Epaphroditus, who is just your average delivery guy for the Philippian church.
Paul talks about Timothy and Epaphroditus, and we're going to focus mostly on Epaphroditus. But what he says about Timothy equally applies to Epaphroditus. And so when Paul's talking about Timothy, he sends the hope to the Philippian church as well. He writes, "I have no one like him who will show genuine concern for your welfare. All of them, a bunch of unidentified people, are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ." So, as you notice here, for Paul, looking after the interest of Jesus Christ and showing genuine concern for the welfare of others like the Philippians or Paul are two ways of saying the same thing.
Do you hear that? And did you notice how the language here is echoing the language earlier said in chapter two? There's a lot of echoing going on in Philippians if you're paying attention. So, earlier in the chapter, Paul writes, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, like establishing your own self-serving digital thrones, seeking after your own rings of power." A temptation we all have. If you haven't noticed that, you're either very exceptional or incredibly unaware. We need to recognize that at work in each of us, that temptation. You can learn how to recognize and resist, and then do what Paul says: in humility actually, no, don't seek that. Value others above yourselves. Don't just look to your own interests. Look to the interests of others. Let that mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
And then he goes on and describes, gives us the Christ poem at the center of which, if you look, it's a chiastic structure. Humility, the humility of Christ, is in the center of that hymn in the whole book. Like we said before, Jesus' humility is not thinking less of yourself. It's just thinking of yourself less. Being other-focused, and especially focused on those who are in a bad way.
This is a huge thing with Jesus, which was counter-cultural. In today's Gospel reading, we heard Jesus naming those who were in a bad way: the hungry, the stranger, the sick, the imprisoned. And he says, "Whatever you do or don't do to the least of these, even of his brothers and sisters, you are doing or you are not doing for him," with significant consequences, as we heard, scary consequences. So again, looking after the interests of Jesus here, we're also seeing, is looking after their interests. After the interest of people like Paul, who's writing this letter from prison.
So, Paul's day, prisons provided little to, usually just nothing for their prisoners. So people like Paul were in a bad way. They were totally dependent on others—friends—to bring them things like food and clothing, blankets, writing utensils. Books, as Paul says, in his other letters. And most of all, human companionship, which Paul makes the biggest deal about in his letters. Well, Epaphroditus was one of those friends, bringing a gift from the Philippian church for such needs. And so he followed the humble way of Jesus, all the way from Philippi to Paul's prison cell, which was most likely in Rome. And that would have been a long and difficult journey. It would have taken him anywhere from six weeks to two months to do. He would have started out with one or two weeks on the open sea, depending on the weather. And then there's going to be another 350 miles on land to travel. And he wouldn't have been speeding down the highway in an Amazon delivery van. He would probably have been walking, facing all kinds of dangers, whether it was bad weather or illness or the threat of constant robbery along the way.
In fact, Paul tells us, Epaphroditus got so sick that he nearly died. But Paul says God also showed him mercy, restored him back to health, back to life, in such a way we'll see in a minute, sparing his life and doing so, showing not only him mercy but Paul mercy. As Paul writes, "lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow," which shows Paul already had sorrow. Which I think is very interesting. The joy that he is experiencing and writing about and calling us to is not a joy that is sentimental without sorrow. It's actually many times alongside and intertwined with sorrow. Because in this age, yeah, it's rare that we ever just feel one thing.
Returning to Epaphroditus, what we find here is the humble descent and the eventual exaltation of Jesus Christ, described earlier in this chapter, is reflected in the life beautifully of Epaphroditus. Not to the same degree, but it's there. So just as Jesus left his home in glory to take the form of a servant to the point of death, even death on a cross, and God then exalted him back home to his Father's right hand, so Epaphroditus left his home in Philippi as he traveled great lengths to go to Paul's prison cell to serve him there to the point of death, Paul says. He uses the exact same Greek words from the Christ poem, the Christ hymn. And then what does God do? God restores him, brings him back to life. And what does Paul do? Paul honors, exalts Epaphroditus. He calls him "my brother, my co-worker, and fellow soldier, your apostle, your sent one." And then he calls on the Philippians to welcome him in the Lord with much joy and to honor people like him when he comes back home.
So Paul's highlighting a lot of similarities here. Of course, we know the big difference is that we worship Jesus in his humility, and we just merely honor people like Epaphroditus when they reflect that humility in their lives. But that's something we're supposed to do. This kind of worship and honor would have been profoundly counter-cultural, which we've talked about before. Worshiping a humble Savior and Lord and honoring someone like Epaphroditus who embodied that humility would be in stark contrast to the values of that day—stark contrast.
As George Guthrie writes in his excellent commentary on Philippians, in the broader Greco-Roman culture, which was based on a system of honor and shame, leaders rose in status by gaining wealth, ensuring it on others, by social connections, by great speaking ability, by advanced education, or by making shrewd political moves. Sounds like honoring power. Sounds kind of familiar. He goes on, "Yet in a counter-culture expression of values, the Philippians are to honor people like Epaphroditus, because he had suffered for the cause of Christ, following the pattern set by the Lord in embodying self-sacrificial service."
And while this may seem like a transparent good in a culture profoundly impacted by the Judeo-Christian ethic of sacrificial service, it would have seemed tacitly odd on the streets of Philippi and as an example of counter-cultural thinking. And while it's not as counter-cultural today as it was back then, I think it still is today. Don't honor power. Honor people like Epaphroditus.
People like Brian Stevenson, who's portrayed in the film Just Mercy, bring us to our final lens. Stevenson—he was in fact, if you read his book, that he was raised in the church and therefore deeply impacted and formed by the gospel, the good news of the humble descent of Jesus. So after attending Harvard Law School, Stevenson could have pursued a career of great power and prestige, but instead, he chose a different path. In the likeness of Epaphroditus, he dedicated his life to serving those in society that have been overlooked: the poor, the condemned, the incarcerated. Stevenson sees himself as a "stone catcher," in reference to the woman caught in adultery, who they wanted to stone. He follows the humble way, the humble and merciful way of Christ, going to those who are in prison in a bad way, and especially to those on death row.
Honor people like Epaphroditus, like Brian Stevenson, like Craig Parker of Greater Boston. If you get to know the Christian community of Greater Boston, at some point you were probably going to either hear about or meet this guy called Craig Parker. He is one of the most humble, faithful followers of Jesus you will ever meet. He has loved and discipled countless people in the gospel, including people from our own congregation, the more people I get to know.
Craig's been on staff with the Navigators since 1980, and he's the city leader of Navigators in Boston. He also co-founded an organization that supports a rural Kenyan village affected by HIV, and has helped build a long-term partnership with the Roma people in Croatia. If you know those people who are in a bad way from the people around them. Well, on New Year's Eve, this is what he was doing in 2016, he entered the Suffolk County City Jail, which is in downtown Boston, to help lead an inmate Bible study. And maybe you don't know, but that jail is right next door to TD Garden. And so he walks out from that prison, and he's walking past TD Garden, the home of the Boston Celtics, and he's hearing this bustling activity around the arena. But all the while in the distance, he's hearing another basketball game going on in the jail next door. Two basketball games. One getting a lot more attention than the other.
Well, this really moved Craig, and eventually led him to work at building a network of church-based volunteers to serve those affected by incarceration. It's an amazing work that he's done. We're learning from. Craig serves the interests of Jesus Christ.
What I have also noticed, and I was just thinking about this, I was overwhelmed with how stacked we are here at Church of the Cross with Epaphroditus-like people. For example, Hannah Bansil, Executive Director of Ethiopia ACT, an organization that serves these families in Ethiopia that are in extreme poverty and struggling with serious suffering serious illnesses. We have our own Gary Moorehead, Founder and Director of Cataluma, a ministry that serves the refugees of Greater Boston. We have Christine Jones—she's here—Deputy Director of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund of our province that does this kind of work globally. We have Hannah McKnight—oh, there you are—she works for Matthew 25, an initiative in our diocese that serves well, inspired by our gospel reading, and serves the least among us in our communities.
I could go on and on. There are so many of these kinds of people in our congregation, and I can also tell you about all the people here who don't seek honor for the power they have in their degrees, in their resumes, in their wealth, in their profession. But rather, they see that power as something they are supposed to use to serve others and the common good and the gospel. It's really present. We are stacked here in so many ways in this regard.
I could go on, but it's time to bring this sermon to a close. I'm over time. So I'm going to end with one simple—I'll try to keep this sermon simple—one simple way you can honor people like Epaphroditus today after the service. Walk through those doors for the Justice and Mercy launch celebration that we're going to have in there. Where you're going to meet the Justice and Mercy team—again, people like Epaphroditus—led by Corinne Sampson, our Director of Justice and Mercy.
You're going to meet people like Epaphroditus—this team that's going to share with you three initiatives they have been working on for our community. Three ways to serve the interests of Jesus Christ here as our body. Three ways that we can follow Jesus down that humble path to those who are in a bad way: a homeless ministry, a food justice ministry, and a prison ministry that we learned about, of course, through Craig Parker.
We're going to hear more about that during the announcement, but for now, remember: Don't honor power. Honor people like Epaphroditus. In there, after the service.
Amen.