Where are the godly Men? Part 2
Philippians 2:25-30
Repeat from last week: a year or two ago I attended a conference in LImburg where Henk Binnendijk was the speaker. He drew our attention to David’s lament in Psalm 12: O LORD, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
Binnendijk posed this question: Where are the godly men? Where are the faithful among us?
Last week Paul introduced us to Timothy, his Spiritual Son in the Lord; a man who is like no one else in his service, devotion and theology. These men follow the challenge to be like Jesus (vs. 5-7) and he has cited himself in the list of examples as well. Timothy was raised in the faith by his mother and grandmother and exhibited great qualities of leadership. Paul is using these men to give shape to the truths he has expounded on and the challenges toward godly living that he has issued. Follow Christ is the challenge and goal; he offers himself, Timothy and now Epaphroditus as patterns of following Christ.
And after last week you may have thought “Timothy is well and nice, but he is still a man that I struggle to relate to.” Timothy was pastoral, he grew up in the faith and he was mentored by Paul of all people. This is why Epaphroditus is Paul’s next recommendation.
A PROFILE OF EPAPHRODITUS
I. Committed 25a and 29-30a
Let’s talk about his name first. Semantically Epaphroditus breaks apart as follows: “ep - Aphrodite - us”. The preposition “ep” is translated “from or because of” and Aphrodite “is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. Her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus. (wikipedia) Why is this significant? Christian parents would never name their child after Aphrodite. In fact, it is reasonable to presume that parents would have renamed their child if they had become Christians while he was young. This suggests that Epaphroditus was a first generation Christian, who was converted as an adult. He didn’t grow up in the faith like Timothy - he didn’t even grow up in the Jewish faith. He had been saved out of paganism.
Look at Paul’s commendation of this first-generation Christian in verse 25a and 29-30a. His devotion was to the point of death. Who or what are you willing to die for? Epaphroditus had made a deep commitment to follow the Lord.
II. Missional 25b and 30b
Honestly, I hate that word: missional. It has become over-used and hip, which kills a word. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t descriptive of who Epaphroditus was. He was clear in his thinking, committed to his mission, and complete in his service. In 4:18 we read about Epaphroditus’ mission. The Church had commissioned him to see how Paul was doing and bring a financial gift to him. To undertake such a voyage in those days was a commitment.
He risked his life to accomplish this mission. The stakes were high and yet he was willing to pay. Like Timothy, he is sold-out. He has crucified his own desires in favor of following Christ’s concern.
III. Compassionate 26-29
Despite his sickness, Epaphroditus remain concerned for the Church. Concern for Paul is what brought him to Rome and concern for the Church in Philippi is what takes him back. The word translated “longed for” (in the ESV) is used by Peter in his second epistle to describe how we should long for the Word like new born babies long for milk. Paul uses it in 2 Corinthians 5:2 to describe our longing for heaven. Epaphroditus ached for people and it moved him to act. When the Church in Philippi wanted to do something for Paul, Epaphroditus was the man who was selected or volunteered for the task (we’re don’t know which).
Two lessons from Epaphroditus:
He was just like you
He held nothing back
Who are the righteous men in your life? Who are your role-models? These men that Paul has offered teach us that following Christ is possible, attainable, measurable. You can do it too. What’s holding you back?
