Christ-Centred Missions

The scripture reading today comes from Philippians 2 verses 19 to 30.

Philippians 2:19–30

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you.

For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.

For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father, he has served with me in the gospel.

I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me.

And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier.

And your messenger and minister to my need.

For he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.

Indeed he was ill, near to death.

But God had mercy on him.

And not only on him, but on me also.

Lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

I am the more eager to send him therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.

So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men.

For he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

This is God's word to us today.

Okay, thank you, my beautiful wife.

We are continuing to work through the book of Philippians.

And we are about halfway through.

If you're new to Watermark, we are working through this amazing, amazing book in the New Testament.

And I encourage you to get hold of a Bible, maybe ask someone to lend you one or download one, and read this book with us.

It's a wonderful book of the New Testament.

Now, this passage that we're looking at today follows on very closely from the flow of thought of the last couple of weeks.

There's a flow of logic that Paul is applying here.

And so let's just recap where we've come from so we can see what it is that Paul's actually saying to us today.

But maybe actually, let me just interrupt my own flow of thought and say, let's just pray quickly that God will speak to us this morning.

So, Heavenly Father, again, as we come to your word, we come with humility and trepidation.

God, it's incredible how you've put together your Bible, your word.

And this morning, God, we pray that you'll speak to us.

We pray that you'll grip our hearts.

Lord, we pray that you'll allow us to see inside of our own hearts.

And you'll allow us to see the motivations of our hearts.

That, God, we really will respond to you.

Christ, won't you not just fashion and shape our behavior, but shape our hearts, God.

God, may our hearts be shaped around the gospel and who you are.

God, we pray that we, not that we will be numbered with the earthly wealth you're successful,

but that we really will experience the true blessings of spiritual blessings, God.

And so, we pray that for ourselves.

We pray that your word come and speak to us.

In your wonderful name, amen.

Okay.

So, sorry about that.

I forgot to pray a little earlier.

But prayer is more important than what I've got to say.

We want God to speak to us.

So, that's okay.

So, remember a few weeks ago, two weeks ago, in fact, we looked at Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

And Paul writes this amazing passage where he says,

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or out of a sense of self-important,

but consider others more significant than yourself.

Let each of you not serve his own interests, but the interests of others.

And then Paul gives kind of the gold standard of motivation.

And he says,

For the reason for this is, remember how Jesus treated you.

That though Jesus was God, he didn't grasp or hold on to his godness,

but he poured himself out.

He laid aside his majesty in humility.

He took on humanness and ended up on the cross.

And it's in a picture of Christ's incredible selfless service,

pouring himself out for the sake of others.

And not just anyone, not just his friends, but his enemies.

The very people that had shaken their fists at him and said,

We don't want you to be our God.

And had rebelled against him.

Jesus poured out his life for us.

And Paul says that life of Jesus becomes the paradigm for the Christian life.

Remember, a Christian is not just somebody who believes in the existence of Jesus

or the deity of Jesus.

Even demons believe that.

A Christian is someone who's following Jesus.

Who says, I want you to be my Lord, my King.

Whose life is imitating the life of Jesus as they follow him as Lord and as King.

Pouring out our lives like Jesus did for the interests of others.

And Paul actually uses a great illustration here.

He says his life, like Jesus, is he's pouring it out for others.

And he says, my life is like a drink offering which is given in the service of others.

And the illustration here is how in the Old Testament,

someone would bring an offering to the temple.

And they'd bring their offering.

But the offering wasn't quite complete.

Maybe a goat or a lamb.

It was completed when the priest would bring a drink offering.

Maybe a glass of wine or some kind of sacred drink.

And pour it out on the offering.

It was a way of completing the offering of the worshiper.

Paul says, your life, you've offered your life to Jesus.

And I am pouring myself out like a drink offering.

I'm giving myself away to supplement, to complete your worship and affection and adoration for God.

This is the pattern of Christ's life.

This is the pattern of Paul's life.

And then we saw how Paul uses this phrase when he encourages the Philippians to do the same.

He says, therefore, work out your own salvation.

And what that means is, you Philippians, I'm calling you to live out this gospel-shaped life that has been given to you.

Because you've been given salvation, this free gift of grace, we need to live it out.

And we saw that salvation doesn't just mean forgiveness of sins.

Salvation doesn't just mean that one day when you get to heaven or when you die, you get to heaven not to go to hell.

Salvation in the Bible means that once we were separated from God and now we've been reconciled, we've been reunited.

Once sin got in the way and there was division, but now we've been brought back to God.

Salvation means we are united, our union with Jesus by the work of the Spirit and work in our hearts.

So now that we experience not only His forgiveness and grace, but also His love, His acceptance, His fatherhood, His welcome.

Salvation means no longer living independent of God, but walking in deep relationship with Him.

Salvation also means that once we lived for ourselves and our own self-interest,

where once we were curved in on ourselves, making ourselves king and lord and our ruler,

now we realize that God is king.

And our lives no longer revolve around ourselves, our lives start to revolve around Him.

And salvation means that rather than living inwardly for ourselves, we now get to live outwardly.

For God and Christ our King, but also for others.

Remember, hundreds of years ago, everyone thought that the sun revolved around the earth.

We were the center of the universe.

Until some scientists discovered, actually, we revolve around the sun.

Salvation has come to the place where once we thought we were the center of the universe,

life revolved around us, to come to realize that actually, life revolves around the sun, the Son of God.

Our lives revolve around Him.

And so salvation is not just pardoned from sins, it's reconciled relationship with God,

where He becomes our life and our reason for being, following Him and orientating our whole lives around Him.

And so Paul says, live out this salvation, work out this salvation, work out this Christ-centered, gospel-shaped life.

Imitating Jesus, setting your heart on Him.

So that's where we've come from.

Okay?

Now, in this passage we're going to look at today, in chapter 2, verse 19 to 30, Paul is going to do two things.

The first thing that he's doing is he's giving some travel plans to the Philippians.

There are these two guys that are with him, Timothy and Epaphroditus, and he's updating the Philippians on their travel plans.

But the second thing that Paul's doing, the deeper thing that he's doing, is he's holding up these two lives, Timothy and Epaphroditus,

as examples, almost exhibit A, exhibit B, of what he's been talking about the whole time,

of what the Christ-centered, gospel-shaped, others-focused life looks like.

Okay?

So let's look at what the passages say and see how that makes sense.

So firstly, let's understand the travel plans.

Look at the first section, verse 19 to 24 with me.

Paul's writing to these Philippians, and he's wanting to tell them that he's going to send Timothy.

So Paul's in prison in Rome, and he's going to send Timothy to visit them.

And the reason he's doing so is because Paul has heard from Epaphroditus, who we're going to meet in a few minutes' time,

about the opposition and the challenges that the Philippians are facing.

Remember in chapter 1, Chris preached about it a few weeks ago.

Paul writes and he says,

Stand firm, one heart, one mind, not afraid of any opposition you face.

Paul has heard from Epaphroditus that the Philippians are facing this opposition.

And so he wants to find out how they're doing.

And so he's going to send Timothy to them, get a report, and then Paul is going to meet Timothy somewhere else,

maybe Ephesus or one of the other cities.

But he's sending Timothy to get a report.

And so look what he says in verse 19.

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I may be cheered by news of how you're doing.

Verse 23.

I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me,

and I trust in the Lord that I shortly will come myself also.

So what's happening here is Paul is in jail.

He's expecting that he's about to have a trial.

And he's not sure which way the trial will go.

He might be executed for disturbing the peace or offending the emperor.

But he actually anticipates that God has got more work for him to do.

And so he's anticipating to be released from prison and to go on his way.

And so he says, as soon as I find out which way my trial goes,

I'll send Timothy so that he can let you know what's happened.

And then as soon as I'm released, I myself will come and visit you.

So that's what's happening in that section.

And then he writes updating travel plans about Epaphroditus.

Look at verse 25.

He says,

Now Epaphroditus is the guy who's actually going to carry this letter from Paul in jail

to back to Philippi and hand it over to the Philippians.

So Epaphroditus is going to go now.

Now Timothy's going to go a little bit later once he finds out what's going to happen in Paul's trial.

And then when Paul's released, he's going to come later on further still.

But the background that's what's happening here is

in Roman times, when somebody got put in jail,

the state didn't see it as their responsibility to look after their prisoners.

Things like food and blankets and clothing.

They didn't see that as their responsibility.

That was the responsibility of the family members or friends of the prisoner.

And so Paul gets arrested.

He's under house arrest in jail in Rome.

And the Philippians, this other church a couple of hundred miles away,

they hear about what happens to Paul.

And they're not a very wealthy church,

but they take it upon themselves to take up a financial offering

and to send it to Rome by way of this guy Epaphroditus

and maybe one or two others

to bring this offering to look after Paul's needs while he's in prison.

And so Epaphroditus and one or two friends,

they go on this long trip all the way from the city of Philippi around the coast,

sail all the way to Rome to look after his needs.

But somewhere along the trip, Epaphroditus falls ill.

Very ill.

In fact, so ill that it looks like he may die.

And word gets back to the church in Philippi

that their messenger, their minister, Epaphroditus,

is on death's doorstep.

He's about to die.

And that's the last thing they hear,

is that Epaphroditus is on his deathbed

and we don't know what's happened to him.

It's kind of like, imagine you get a message,

a text message,

saying your mom or your child or your brother or sister

has collapsed, has fallen over,

the ambulance is on their way to the hospital,

please pray desperately, we don't know what's happened.

Your heart races and you suddenly feel like,

what's happened?

But you don't have any news.

And so you're desperately trying to phone somebody,

what's happened?

You can't get through to anybody.

And all you've got is the bad news.

And you don't know, what's the situation?

Are they awake?

Are they conscious?

Are they not conscious?

Is everything okay?

Is everything not okay?

And you're frantically wondering,

what's happened?

Are they okay?

That's something of what the Philippians are going through.

They've heard news that their dear friend,

Epaphroditus, has collapsed and has almost died.

And that's the last they've heard.

And they don't have any update.

And so Paul is sending Epaphroditus back to them,

now that he's better,

to show them and to encourage them in their faith,

to see that he is doing well and to ease their anxiety.

So that's kind of what's going on here in this passage.

That's the first thing.

But as we said earlier,

there's something deeper going on here.

Paul is holding up these two guys

as almost examples of what the Christ-centered,

gospel-shaped life looks like.

In fact, we actually see a third cameo.

We see the life of Paul himself.

Let's look at Paul here.

Paul is, as we said earlier, he's in jail.

And I don't know about you,

but I've never been arrested.

I've never been convicted of a crime.

Not yet anyway.

And if I do,

I'm going to call on my friend Tiffany,

the barrister,

to come and bail me out.

And I'm going to put in a good word

to Justin Ma, the prosecutor,

and hopefully things will go all right.

But I've never been in jail,

but I have been sick.

And when I am sick,

I am very grumpy.

And I feel very sorry for myself.

It's called man flu.

Ladies somehow are able to suffer so much better.

Ladies just suffer

and don't feel sorry for themselves.

But as men,

we tend to feel sorry for ourselves

when we've got a bit of flu, right?

And so when I get sick,

I feel very sorry for myself.

Woe is me.

And I just am miserable.

Paul is not just sick.

He's in jail.

And he's in jail for something that he hasn't done.

He's just preached the gospel.

He hasn't disturbed the peace.

He's not trying to overthrow the empire.

He's not a rebel or political prisoner.

He's just trying to tell people

about the love of Jesus.

And because of the jealousy of people,

he's ended up in jail

and he may lose his life.

But look at how Paul responds.

While he's here,

he's got these friends around him.

He's got Timothy.

And look at how he describes Timothy.

He says,

Timothy,

he says,

I have no one else like him.

The Greek word there,

actually means someone like-minded

or someone like-souled.

He says,

I've got nobody else

that has the same heart as me.

He goes on to describe Timothy

as someone who has served me

like a son serves his father.

Later on,

Paul will write to Timothy

and he'll say,

Timothy,

you are my true son in the Lord.

Now,

if I was Paul,

I would want to keep Timothy

close at hand.

At least I've got somebody

who's with me.

I've got a friend,

a brother,

a son.

But what does Paul do?

He sends Timothy on his way

to serve the Philippian church.

And likewise,

look what he does

with Epaphroditus.

You would think

he'd want to keep Epaphroditus

close and serve his own needs

and look after his own interests.

Maybe Epaphroditus

can go and buy some nice clothes,

some nice bedding,

make his situation

a little more comfortable.

He describes Epaphroditus

as a brother in the Lord,

as a fellow worker,

as a soldier.

He says here

in verse 26,

you heard that he was,

that he almost died.

Indeed,

he did nearly die,

but God had mercy on him,

not only on him,

but also on me,

lest I should have sorrow

upon sorrow.

Paul is saying,

if Epaphroditus had died,

I would have experienced

sorrow upon sorrow.

So dear and close

is Epaphroditus to Paul.

And yet,

rather than Paul

holding on to him

and saying,

listen,

I need him for myself,

what does Paul do?

He pours out his life

and says,

listen,

you guys need him

more than me.

I'll send him

on his way.

Here is Paul,

rather than grasping

and demanding

his own needs,

he's giving away

his friends,

his brothers,

his laborers,

his sons in the faith

for the service

of others.

Look at how,

look at Timothy.

Paul writes here

in verse 20,

he says,

I have no one like him,

no one like mine,

like sold,

someone who will be

genuinely concerned

for your welfare.

For all the others,

they seek their own interests,

not those of Jesus Christ.

Now remember,

where else has Paul

spoken about

seeking the interests

of others?

Remember in verse 3 and 4,

we spoke about it earlier.

He says,

everyone,

don't serve out

of selfish ambition,

thinking of yourself

more important than others.

Seek not your own interests,

but the interests of others.

And then he goes on

to remind us,

this is the attitude

of Jesus,

who,

though he was God,

didn't grasp

at his Godness,

but in humility

poured out his life,

taking on humanity,

that led him all the way

to the cross.

He's saying,

let your life

imitate the life of Jesus,

not seeking your own interests,

but the interests of others.

Now look at how he describes

Timothy.

Timothy,

I have no one like him,

someone who is genuinely

concerned,

not for his own interests,

but for the interests

of others.

All others

seek their own interests,

but not Timothy.

Paul is holding

a Timothy here

as exhibit A,

another example

of the Christ-centered,

gospel-shaped life.

Someone who's not looking

to seek and serve

their own interests,

but one who's genuinely

concerned about

the interests

of others.

And notice here

the contrast.

The contrast is not just

others seek

their own interests,

not the well-being

of others,

but Timothy,

he sought your interests,

not his own.

Look at how he describes

Timothy.

He says,

all others

seek their own interests,

not those of Jesus,

but Timothy.

What marks Timothy out?

Timothy is a man

whose life is set

on Christ.

Timothy seeks

not his own interests,

but the interests

of Christ.

And having done that,

that results in

his concern

for the welfare

of others.

The contrast here is

Timothy is someone

who's like Paul,

doesn't seek

his own interests,

seeks the interests

of Christ,

and therefore

is living

for the well-being

of others.

This is the

Christ-centered,

gospel-shaped life.

And notice

when Paul says here,

Timothy is not

like others,

all of whom

seek their own interests

rather than those

of Jesus.

He's not talking

about the pagan

temple down the road.

He's not talking

about the priests

or the Roman

worshippers

of foreign gods.

Who is he talking

about?

He's talking

about other believers.

He's talking

about those believers

who,

in chapter 1,

he describes

as those who

preach the gospel

for their own

ambition,

their own needs.

Those who

preach the gospel

seeking to

damage Paul

and stir up

more trouble

for him.

Friends,

it's possible

to call yourself

a Christian,

to even be involved

in Christian ministry,

in Christian leadership,

and yet still

our lives

are revolved

around ourselves.

Friends,

it's possible

for us

to call ourselves

Christians,

to be involved

in Christian activity,

to serve on committees

and be leaders

in the church,

and yet

the orientation

of our heart

is around

ourselves.

Paul says

there are other

Christians in the city

of Rome

who are seeking

their own interests,

not those of Christ.

Conversely,

the Christ-centered,

gospel-shaped life,

as we see

in the life of Timothy,

is one whose life

is set on Christ

and therefore

is set on seeking

the interests

of others.

Friends,

Christian faith

is not demonstrated

by those

who go to church.

A mature Christian

is not just someone

who reads his Bible.

A mature Christian

is not just somebody

who is appointed

to serve

as an elder

in the church.

A mature Christian

is someone

whose life

has been so impacted

by the gospel

that they are shaped

by the gospel

who,

like Jesus,

like Paul,

like Timothy,

are seeking

not their own interests

but to pour themselves

out for the interests

of others.

Friends,

I know we've gone on

about this quite a bit

the last couple of weeks

and so I apologize

for the repetition

but you see how strongly

Paul is making

his argument here

that the life

of the follower of Jesus

is someone

who is following Jesus,

who is imitating

their life on Jesus,

who is like Jesus

learning to not grasp

their own self-interest

but pour themselves out

for the glory of God

and for the interests

of others.

Like Paul,

like Timothy,

like Jesus,

let our lives

be shaped

around the gospel

poured out

for the interests

of others.

And then we see

the third little cameo.

We see Paul,

we see Timothy,

thirdly we see Epaphroditus.

He says here

in verse 25,

Now think about this.

Why is Epaphroditus

being sent from Rome

where he's working

with the great apostle Paul

back to Philippi?

Well the reason that he's

is because he got sick

and he's now better.

But notice the reason here.

The reason is not

because Epaphroditus

is saying,

Listen,

I'm a little homesick.

It's been a long time.

I just want to get home.

I just want to experience

some of my mom's cooking.

I just want to sleep

in my own bed.

It's been a long journey.

I just want to get back

to Philippi.

That's not his motivation.

What's his motivation?

Look at what he says.

He says,

He wants to go back

because Epaphroditus

heard that you

were distressed

upon hearing

upon his illness.

And he was anxious.

He was worried

about you guys.

He was worried

about the church

back at home.

And so he's desperate

to get back to you

so that he can comfort you

and encourage you

and stir you up

and minister to you

for your own peace of mind.

Here is a man

who's risked his life

and laid down his life,

almost died

for the sake of the gospel.

And now that he's better,

the motivation of his heart is,

How can I go back

and encourage those guys

back at home?

Epaphroditus

is not thinking about himself.

Everything about his life

oozes this ethic of,

How can I serve

and bless

and minister

to those around me?

Look at how

Paul describes them.

He says,

Receive him in the Lord

with all joy

and honor such men

for he nearly died

for the work of Christ,

risking his life

to complete

what was lacking

in your service.

The Greek phrase there

actually says,

His life came

to the point of death.

And that little phrase,

to the point of death,

is only used two times

in the whole New Testament.

One,

to describe Epaphroditus

and two,

to describe Jesus

in verse 6

or verse 8.

It says,

Jesus humbled himself

becoming obedient,

obedient to the point of death.

See what Paul's doing here?

Paul is saying

that Epaphroditus

is an imitation of Jesus.

And then he says,

He did though,

risking his life

to complete

what was lacking

in your service

to me.

And the word service

there is actually,

it's not just

generic service,

it's ministry,

it's priestly service.

Paul is picking up

on the language

that he shared

a little earlier,

the image of pouring

a drink offering out

on the offering

that someone brings.

And this is what

Paul is saying.

He's saying that

the Philippians,

when they took up

this financial offering

to serve Paul,

that was like

a follower of God,

of Yahweh,

bringing their offering

to the temple.

And Epaphroditus

poured his life out

like a drink offering

to complete

their offering.

Epaphroditus,

like Paul,

was pouring his life out

to complete

the offering

and the worship

of these Philippians.

Friends,

here we see

the Apostle Paul,

Timothy,

Epaphroditus,

these three cameos

of people

who poured out

their lives

for the well-being

of others.

We may be tempted

to look at

the Apostle Paul

and say,

yes,

well,

he was the Apostle Paul,

right?

He wrote most

of the New Testament

or much

of the New Testament.

Timothy has two books

of the Bible

named after him.

He's like a hero

in the faith.

But what about

Epaphroditus?

Here's a man

that we know

very little about.

He doesn't appear

anywhere else

in the New Testament

apart from

these few verses

and chapter 4.

We don't know

whether he was

rich or poor.

We don't know

whether he was

educated or not.

We don't know

what socioeconomic

background he came from.

We don't know

whether he was

very wealthy

and therefore

he could afford

to go on this trip

or whether he was

unemployed

and didn't have

anything else to do.

Here was an ordinary,

not very sophisticated,

not very famous,

not very well-regarded man

who briefly appears

in the New Testament

and then disappears.

We know almost

nothing about him

and yet God

puts him here

as an example

of what the

Christ-centered,

gospel-shaped life

looks like.

A man who is

willing to

pour out his life,

literally willing

to risk his life,

not for his own

interests,

not to serve himself,

but for the well-being

and the interests

of others.

As we come to close,

I want to tell

one other story

of another very

ordinary person

who follows this ethic.

It's a person

none of you would have met.

She was not very famous

when she died.

She was my grandmother.

My grandmother,

we used to call her

Granny Joan

when I was growing up.

She died about

three or four months ago.

She was 91 years old.

She had cancer

and passed away

very peacefully.

When she died,

I remember thinking

about her life

and thinking

here was a life

that most epitomized

Jesus' command

to love God

and serve others.

Her whole life

revolved around that.

When she died,

she was 91 years old.

A few years ago,

she was very upset

because the traffic

department in South Africa

where I come from

took away her

driving license.

They wouldn't renew

her driving license

because they said

her eyesight was too bad

and she was a danger

to society on the roads.

And that was a good decision

but she was very upset.

She couldn't believe

that they were taking away

her driving license

at 87 years old.

But part of the reason was,

apart from just that hassle

of shopping and groceries

and that,

there were a couple of things

that she loved to do

and she could no longer do

now that she wasn't driving.

One of the things

she loved to do,

she loved to go

to the police station

and bake some goodies

and pray for the police officers.

Now, just by the way,

in South Africa,

the police force

is not very political.

She is not deeply blue.

She wasn't a political activist

trying to make a statement.

In South Africa,

the police force

is a bit of a shambles.

People are overworked,

underpaid,

and many police officers

actually,

in the stress

and anxiety of their jobs,

turn their guns

on themselves.

There's many unfortunate cases

of people killing

family members

and taking their own lives

because of the stress

of the job.

But often,

she would go down

to the police force

and just listen

and talk

and pray with the officers.

One of the things

she also loved to do

is she would go

and take communion

to the old people

in the church

that were too elderly

to go to church service.

And I always laughed

how she used to say,

I'm going to take communion

to the elderly folk

as if she herself

wasn't elderly

at the age of 87.

But here was a life

who never wrote a book,

never preached a sermon

as far as I know,

didn't have a social media account,

didn't have 50,000 followers

on social media.

Here was a sweet old lady

who lived to pour herself out

for others.

She was not famous,

not that many people knew her,

but in the courts of heaven,

I'm convinced when she died,

she got a mighty cheer

because here was someone

whose life was Christ-centered

and shaped on the gospel.

Friends,

some of us

within the Watermark family

may literally

pour out our lives

as God calls us

to serve Him

in dangerous places.

Some of us

may be called

to be missionaries

to places like

Pakistan,

or India,

or North Korea,

or Afghanistan,

or the Middle East,

or somewhere in North Africa.

Friends,

some of us in this church

may literally risk our lives

as we go and serve God

in those places.

And some of us

may even lose our lives.

And friends,

if God's calling you

to serve Him

in a place like that,

it would be our joy

as a church

to get behind you

and to stand with you

and to encourage you.

We would love

to be partners

in the gospel with you

as some of us

literally risk our lives

for the sake of the gospel.

Go for it.

Do it.

We're right behind you.

May it be, Lord.

Send us out.

But friends,

for most of us,

we're not going to go serve God

as a missionary

in those places.

For most of us,

the call of God

is nothing less.

To serve God

as a missionary,

to pour out our lives.

The point of the book

of Philippians

is that God's call

on our lives

in Hong Kong

is nothing less.

It's the same.

That for the Christian

to live is Christ

and to die is gain

right here in Hong Kong

as we serve Christ

and serve others.

Living not for ourselves,

but for the glory of God

and the well-being of others.

Friends,

for those of us

that are school teachers,

may we go into that classroom

or on that Zoom call

for the glory of God

and the service of others.

May we spend our days

praying for the children

that we get to oversee.

For those of us

that are hedge fund managers

or investment bankers

or lawyers,

may we go to the office place

saying,

I exist for the glory of God

and the service of others.

Friends,

for those of us

that are graphic designers

or restaurateurs

or waiters

or artists

or stage managers.

Friends,

for those of us

that are sales people

or foreign domestic helpers,

may our heart,

our motivation

be nothing less

than the missionary

that goes to India.

God,

I'm pouring out my life

for the glory of God,

for the advancement

of the gospel

and for the service

of others.

Friends,

in Paul and Timothy

and Epaphroditus,

we have these amazing examples

of the gospel-shaped life,

of the Christ-centered life.

People who didn't seek

their own interests

but laid them down

like Jesus

for others.

Paul tells us

that Epaphroditus

put his life on the line,

almost risking,

risking his life,

almost dying

for the service

of these believers.

Friends,

at the heart

of the Christian faith

is not just an ethic

or a moral imperative

to lay down

our lives for others.

At the heart

of the Christian faith

is one who didn't

just risked his life

but he really did

lay down his life.

At the heart

of the Christian faith

is the author

of life himself,

the one from whom

all life comes,

who died on a tree,

who died on a cross,

that we who are separated

might find life.

Friends,

at the heart

of the Christian faith

is Jesus Christ,

the only one

who is perfect,

never did anything wrong,

who allowed himself

to be treated

like an outcast,

hung on a cross

to bring those of us

who truly were outcasts

into his family.

Friends,

at the heart

of the gospel

is Jesus

in the garden

of Gethsemane

staring the cross

in the face

and praying

and praying this prayer

saying,

God,

if there's any other way

to bring salvation,

any other way

to reconcile sinners

back to you,

any other way

to redeem those

that have been separated

from you,

to bring them back

into your family,

God,

let it be.

But then he says,

not my will,

but your will be done.

Not my interests,

but your interests be done.

Friends,

this Jesus,

when we see

not just how great

and glorious he is,

when we see

how gracious he is,

when we see

what he's done for us,

friends,

it will transform us

into the kinds of people

who naturally,

joyfully,

willingly

pour out our lives

for the interests of Christ

and for the well-being

of others.

This is the Christ-centered life.

This is the gospel-shaped life.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus,

we get on our knees

before you this morning

because we confess,

God,

that the natural disposition

of our hearts

is to be self-seeking

and self-serving.

Father,

like John the Baptist,

we want to pray the prayer,

may you increase,

may we decrease.

we want to,

like Jesus,

say,

not my will,

but your will be done.

Father,

won't you open

the eyes of our hearts.

Holy Spirit,

won't you open

the eyes of our hearts

to see the gospel

more clearly,

to see who you are

and what you've done

for us,

that we,

Christ,

may follow you,

that we may imitate you,

that the ethic

of our lives

may not be

what's in it for me,

but how can I serve

the interests of others.

Father,

pray for us as a church

that though we may not be

a particularly fancy church,

may not be a particularly

big church,

God,

may we be a church

that radically

and disproportionately

pours ourselves out

for the interests of Christ

and the interests of others.

Father,

come and change us.

Come and start with me,

God.

God,

won't you come

and radically rewire,

reoriented,

reshape my heart,

God,

to be like you,

Jesus.

Do that to us,

we pray.

Father,

this morning,

we want to give you

permission to

wreck our

neatly packaged,

well-orchestrated lives

and say,

God,

come and be

God.

Come and be king.

Come and have your way.

There's maybe just

one last thought

is

one of the reasons

why I guess

we don't do this.

Let's just keep our eyes closed

and keep focused on God.

One of the reasons

why it's so hard

to do this

is because it feels

like we're going

to lose out.

If we give up

our lives

for the sake of others,

we feel like

it's going to be a loss.

One of the things

Paul does

is he gives us

the example of Jesus

who died on the cross,

but then he shows us

Jesus didn't stay dead.

It wasn't the end

of the story.

Paul goes on to say,

therefore,

God has highly

exalted him,

given him the name

above every name,

that the name of Jesus,

every knee will bow

and given him

the title of Lord of all.

The counterintuitive

thing of the gospel

is that as we lay down

our lives,

we actually find life.

As we pour ourselves

out for others,

we actually discover

abundant joy.

The secret to the

fullness of life

is to pour out

our lives for others.

Friends,

when we follow Jesus,

we don't lose our lives,

we gain life.

God,

why don't you open

our eyes to see that.

Why don't you help us

to see the wonder

of the cross,

the wonder of the gospel.

Help us to follow you,

we pray.

In your wonderful name,

Amen.