If you have been following these recaps you will know that we are lumbering through Paul's letter to the church in Philippi . As we move through the second chapter we have been noting that much of what Paul says by way of encouragement and challenge does not make sense unless it is heard, absorbed and applied within the context of Christian community. We noted last week that human relationships forged in Christian community are key to our individual growth in our experience of God's transforming love and grace. Paul brings this understanding of community to life quite vividly and tangibly by offering Timothy and Epaphroditus as examples of two people who live their lives into the lives of others for the sake of the gospel. (Here it would be best to just read the whole of chapter 2 of Philippians).
Earlier in chapter two Paul had challenged the church to have as its mind the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. What would this look like in the church community? What do a group of people look like who are slowly but surely, imperfectly but steadily, becoming more and more controlled by Jesus self-giving love. One descriptor he uses as he introduces the poem of Jesus' self-giving love is that we ought not look to our own interests but to the interests of others since we are, in humility, to regard others as better than ourselves. Certainly what Paul does not mean in this is that we are never to look after our own affairs or well being - if we were to live that way we would have no self to give and nothing to share. No, and at the risk of redundancy, what Paul has in mind is that our whole beings would be taken over by Christ's self-giving love as the Holy Spirit grows his love in us. As this happens, we will naturally reflect Jesus' concern for others in our thoughts and actions.
Now, let's come back to Timothy and Epaphroditus. Paul devotes a great many words to these two who are already known to the church and he crafts his language carefully in order to echo what has already come before. Note well: Timothy is coming to them precisely because he has looked to the interests of Jesus and not to his own (hear the echo from earlier in the chapter?) and Epaphroditus is obviously included in this category of person because of the way Paul talks of his great sacrifices for the gospel. Paul wants the Philippians and us to see in Epaphroditus and Timothy as walking, talking, flesh and blood examples of the sort of people we are to become. We should pray that God makes us into people who can be commended to others as those who will be "genuinely concerned for
New Testament scholar N.T. Wright, in his popular commentary, Paul For Everyone: The Prison Epistles, points out that we often have a long list of things we are looking for in a minister that come before the simple description of Timothy offered here, as one who will genuinely care for the welfare of the Philippians. Surely we must want our pastors to be those who handle scripture responsibly, lead worship sincerely, safe-guard the orthodoxy passed on to us, etc. and we see much of this discussed in Paul's' Pastoral Epistles. But if he or she does not genuinely care for the welfare of the God's people the rest does not much matter. Now, let's turn to the question of what it looks like to genuinely care for the welfare of others (this is a trait all Christians should want to be characteristic of them).
I mentioned in the homily that I used to run screaming whenever anyone in the church declared themselves to genuinely care for my welfare - all I could imagine is the busy-body approach to discipleship that is built on a model of Christians who regard themselves as better than other Christians helping the Christians who are not their equal to become better. Yuk. Thankfully, Paul paints a different picture of what genuinely caring for the welfare of others may be like. Our first clue is in the first part of chapter two where we are encouraged to not think of ourselves as better than others but in fact to think of others as better than us. This sort of humility is muted, absent or converts to spiritual pride when Christians set out to pull others "up to their level". To genuinely care for the welfare of others begins with a sincere concern to connect others to the redeeming and renewing love of God found in the gospel by revealing our weakness to them (of course within appropriate and respectful boundaries). Our connection point with others is on the ground we share in our mutual brokenness acknowledged as such. Spiritual maturity that leads, so to speak, is a vulnerable leading that points first and last to the solidarity we share as people who sin and are all-together in need of God's forgiveness. The atonement, of course, is the perfect model for this - God makes solidarity with us before he does anything else: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Questions for discussion:
1. Give an example of how you can bring the gospel to someone else in a way that genuinely cares for them and their welfare in a way that makes them feel your solidarity with them. Give an example of how you can bring the gospel to someone in a way that makes them feel inferior to you or someone else in the church.
2. Why are boundaries important when you are being vulnerable?
3. What happens to us when we think of ourselves as better than others?
4. Is it possible to confront someone while maintaining an attitude of not thinking of yourself as better than them? Is it possible to confront someone and do so in self-giving, self-sacrificial love? What does this look? What does it not look like?
Bonus Question: What Greek god or goddess is Epaphroditus named for?
Must be Aphrodite, the goddess of love. I would have never thought of that.
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