19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.
20 For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.
21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
22 But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.
23 Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.
24 But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.
25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.
26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
28 I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
30 Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.
Introduction
There is a movie currently playing entitled Ordinary People. While I have not seen the movie, the title of it struck my imagination. That, joined with a sermon I heard on tape from a pastor friend, caused me to want to speak to you today on the subject of “ordinary people.”
I’ve been impressed as I’ve studied Christian history to see God so very oftentimes use ordinary people—those people who seem most unlikely to be used—to do his great work. All of us have heard of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great preacher of another generation. He spoke to 5,000 people every Sunday morning and 5,000 people every Sunday night. When he got through on Sunday morning, he would ask those who were present not to come back that night and make room for the other people who wanted to come and couldn’t get in. I suppose that his sermons in printed form are in the libraries of more preachers and teachers today than the sermons of any other man who has ever lived. But did you know that Charles Haddon Spurgeon was converted when he listened one day to the testimony of a simple workingman in an ordinary worship service? In fact, he slipped into that little chapel to get out of a terrible thunderstorm, and this simple workingman was giving his testimony. When he heard what God did in the life of that ordinary man, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great preacher became a Christian.
Dr. Abraham Kuyper, the Dutch scholar and theologian had finished preaching a marvelous sermon one day, and a very plain peasant lady came up to him with a shawl over her head and draped across her shoulders. “Dr. Kuyper,” she said, “that was a marvelous sermon, but you need to be born again.” It wasn’t long until he was, and for the rest of his life, he kept the picture of that peasant lady on his desk to remind him of what she had said to help him come to know the Lord.
Most of all of us have heard of D. L. Moody. He was to the last generation what Billy Graham is to ours—a man marvelously used of God to stir the masses and turn them back to him. But did you know that D. L. Moody was led to Christ by Edward Kimball, an obscure shoe salesman? Once Moody had been won to Christ, had started to grow in the Christian life, and had finally felt a call into Christian service, he went to England. While he was in England he heard Richard Barley speak. Richard Barley was a butcher and a lay preacher. And he went to hear this butcher lay preacher speak one day and Richard Barley said, “The world has yet to see what God can do with one man who is totally committed to his will.” Moody was so impressed by what this obscure lay preacher said that he committed his life to being that man.
Now, the world has built monuments to D. L. Moody. There is a Moody church in Chicago, Moody Bible Institute, Moody Press, Moody Monthly magazine. But if you want to know about Edward Kimball, the shoe salesman who led him to Christ, and Richard Barley, who challenged him to commitment and dedication to Christ, you have to read the footnotes. God has down through the years used ordinary people, obscure people, plain people to do some of his greatest things.
I’ve been impressed as I’ve read in the Bible how many times God used the ordinary men and women of Bible times to do his greatest work. Many times as they did their work, they had to stand in the shadows of greater men. They had to be willing to play second fiddle, but without them the work of God would never have been done as it was done.
We have an example of two of those ordinary, plain vanilla Christians in the passage of scripture from the book of Philippians chapter two. You know the passage was written by the apostle Paul, a man with a keen mind who was able to comprehend the deeper things of God. Paul was man with a sharp pen who wrote 13 of the books of the New Testament. A man who honeycombed the Roman Empire with Christian churches. A man who had such strength and stamina that he could withstand the difficulties and the hardships and the persecution of his day, and keep on working for God. We know something about this great man, the apostle Paul.
But in his writings, Paul mentions two men who are rather obscure. These men were rather ordinary people who were important in Paul’s life and in the work of God. In verse 19 he mentions the name of Timothy. Now we know something about Timothy, but not a great deal. We do not know when he was converted. We only know that on Paul’s second missionary journey, he enlisted Timothy to be his helper. We know that Timothy had a godly mother and a godly grandmother who taught him the scriptures from the time he was a child. We also knew that his father was a Greek. Since Timothy was uncircumcised, we have to believe that he was brought up in Greek culture and was taught many things about the Greeks. No doubt, since his father was a Greek and his mother was Jewish, Timothy was looked upon by many people as a half-breed. He had many weaknesses. He seemed to be timid and reserved. He never asserted himself like he ought to in the ministry.
Paul kept saying to this young man who was timid, reserved, and lacking in self-confidence, “Timothy, stir up the gift of God that’s in you. Make full use of your ministry. Timothy, do your best.” All the while Timothy, the ordinary worker, was the missionary companion who walked by the side of Paul (in prison and out), and was willing to assist him. He was willing to play second fiddle—willing to stand in the shadows. He was just an ordinary man. I think Timothy stands as the example of all of those who are willing to take second place, just so long as they can serve in God’s kingdom.
Paul mentions not only Timothy, but also in verse 25 he mentions Epaphroditus. We know little about Timothy, and we know less about this man. In fact, most of us can’t even pronounce his name! (I’m not even sure I am pronouncing it right.) All we know of him is found right here in this passage of scripture. He was a member of the church at Philippi. When they learned that Paul was in Rome and he was in need of financial help, the church members at Philippi wanted to offer financial assistance. In all probability, they called a business meeting and they presented the plight of Paul and his need for funds in Rome. When the necessary funds were raised they said, “We need somebody to take the long journey to Rome to deliver this money and stay there to help Paul while he is in prison. You understand that it is a difficult task, don’t you? It’s dangerous and you’ll probably have to be off from work for at least six months. Is there anybody willing to go?”
Back in the back of the congregation, up went a hand. A man named Epaphroditus said, “I’ll go. I’ll give up my work for a period of time. I’ll take the chance and run the risk. I’ll go.” He went to Rome to deliver the love offering that helped Paul sustain himself while he was in prison. He also stayed there and helped Paul out in his ministry.
In the process of all of that, he became seriously ill. In fact, he almost died. Paul said that Epaphroditus was “nigh” unto death. That word “nigh” literally means he was the next-door neighbor to death. He was as close to death as you could get, and he did all of it because of Christ. But Epaphroditus—who entered the scene of Biblical history in this book—departs just as quickly and we never hear of him again. He was just an ordinary Christian—a plain vanilla saint who did something for God.
When I read about these two men, I came to realize some important truths about ordinary people like you and me. There are three of them I want to share with you this morning.
1. God chooses to use ordinary people.
Most of the work of God is carried on by ordinary people. Every once in a while there will be some spectacular worker for God who comes along. There will be a man like Charles Haddon Spurgeon. There will be a person like D. L. Moody. There will be an evangelist like Billy Graham. Some shooting star that blazes across the horizon to draw attention to Christ and his great work. But by and large, the work of God is carried on day-in and day-out, week-in and week-out, month-in and month-out, year-in and year-out, by ordinary people like Timothy and Epaphroditus, and other people who are not even named in the Bible.
Sometimes we get so caught up in looking at the spectacular comets that shoot across the sky that we forget our own significance in the kingdom of God. We get to the place where we think that we are “nobodies” and that we have nothing to offer to God.
I love what Ethel Walters said: “God don’t make no junk.” When God made you, he made somebody who is useful, who is valuable, and who has potential in his kingdom. He never created anybody who has no potential or no place of service in his kingdom if they are willing to be used of him.
The one prerequisite for service, whether you someone great like the apostle Paul, ordinary like Timothy, or even more ordinary like Epaphroditus. That prerequisite is commitment to Jesus. We know about the commitment of the apostle Paul because he tells us in the first chapter of this book that his one sole purpose in living was to magnify Jesus Christ. People were concerned about whether Paul was going to live or whether he was going to die and he said, “That’s not my concern at all. I’m not interested in whether I am going to live or whether I’m going to die. I’m interested in the fact that whichever happens to me, I shall magnify Jesus Christ. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” That’s commitment.
But did you know that Timothy, the ordinary disciple, was used because he had an equal commitment to Jesus Christ? In fact, Paul said concerning Timothy in this passage of scripture, “I want to send him to you … for I have no man likeminded.” That word likeminded literally means “equal to.” Paul is saying, “I have no man who is equal in soul and spirit to Timothy. Nobody can match him, nobody can fill his shoes. Timothy is no second stringer. He is the best man I’ve got.”
There was no other man likeminded who would naturally, genuinely, and sincerely care for their sake, for all men seek their own and not the sake of Jesus Christ. Paul said that what makes Timothy stand out is that he is not seeking his own. He’s not trying to build a reputation. He is not trying to get something for himself. He is not concerned about his own well-being. He is concerned about the things of Christ. Because of Timothy’s deep commitment to Jesus Christ, God was able to use him. The only thing necessary for God to use an ordinary Timothy is for him to stop seeking the things of his own and to start seeking the things of Jesus Christ. Only when he does that does he become useable.
Paul continues to say of Epaphroditus that he was, “not regarding his life to supply your lack of service toward me.” That word regarding is a gambling term. It means to risk. It means to bet. It means to lay something on the line. Paul said Epaphroditus was so committed to God that he was willing to lay his life on the line for the Gospel. And because Epaphroditus, this obscure and unknown Christian, was willing to lay his life on the line and risk something for Jesus Christ, God was able to use him.
God chooses to use ordinary people who are committed to him, but they must be willing to take risks. They must be willing to put something on the line. They must be willing to make sacrifices. What keeps us from being used is our unwillingness to make sacrifices. Even when we try to find people to sing in the choir, or people to teach Sunday school classes, the most common response in people’s heart is, “I don’t want to be tied down.” While we don’t want to be tied down, we claim also to be followers of him who was nailed down.
2. We need one another.
God uses us, and we need one another. The apostle Paul was a great man of God and he had many inner resources. In fact, he said in Philippians, “I’ve learned to abound and I’ve learned to obey. I’ve learned to get along with a little and I’ve learned to get along with a lot. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Yet Paul, who had so much Christ-sufficiency, needed Timothy and Epaphroditus. He was in jail and he couldn’t go to Philippi to get a report. He said, “I trust the Lord that I can send Timothy. He can do something that needs to be done.” He also said, “Epaphroditus came and ministered to my wants.” Paul, who did so much for others, had needs, and somebody else needed to minister to those needs.
We are bound up together in the work of Christ. No person is sufficient in himself, and no small group is sufficient in itself to accomplish what needs to be done. If you ever get carried away with your importance, I remind you that if all the preachers and all the garbage collectors were to quit at once, who do you think would be missed first? We need one another.
John Donne, the popular preacher and writer from England, wrote the words that Ernest Hemingway used for his finest novel: “No man is an island, / Entire of itself, / Every man is a piece of the continent, / A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, / Europe is the less. / As well as if a promontory were. / As well as if a manor of thy friend’s / Or of thine own were: / Any man’s death diminishes me, / Because I am involved in mankind, / And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; / It tolls for thee.”
We are all in it together. We are all tied to one another, and not only does God use ordinary people, but we need one another as we carry on the work of God.
3. We all need God.
God has chosen to work through people. He uses us, and we need one another. But we must never forget that most of all, we need God. We are dependent upon him. In fact, as Paul was in that prison making his plans for the future, he said, “I trust in the Lord that I can send Timothy to you. I trust in the Lord that I also may come to you.” When Paul uses that word trust, he was saying that everything ultimately depends on God.
Have you ever noticed how many times the Bible keeps emphasizing our dependence upon God? The psalmist said, “Except the Lord build a house, they labor in vain that build it.” Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing.” Paul said, “I have planted and Apollos has watered, but it is God who gives the increase.” James said, “Come now, those of you who say today or tomorrow we are going to go into this city or that city and we are going to buy this business or that business and we are going to sell and make a profit and get gain and become rich. What you ought to say is, ‘If God will, we will do this or we will do that.’ Your life, your existence, your property, your whole being is dependent upon him.” That’s why Paul said earlier in this passage of scripture to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Remember also that it is God at work in you to will and to do his good pleasure.
Don’t ever forget that while we are to work for him, our work depends upon him and it is God who works in us and through us to accomplish his great purpose. While we often focus upon the great men of history and the great men of the Bible, remember that behind them, there is an Epaphroditus and there is a Timothy. That very fact says to us that God chooses to use every one of us. Likewise, we all need each other, but most of all, we all need him.