Reflection on Philippians 2:19-24

Sermon on Philippians 2:19-24

(Reflection by my dearest friend, Rev. Samuel Anbarasu)

Let us pray.

Triune god, the centrality of all our theological articulations, as we meditate upon your words, we beseech your presence to be with us. May your words be lamp to our feet and light to our path. In Christ name we pray. Amen.

At the age of 16, a young boy from America entered into College. His father was a pastor and he grew in a Christian family. In college, he met a person named Jacob Eames.  With the ideology of Jacob Eames towards philosophy and religion, the young guy slowly turns to be an atheist. He excluded himself from his family, Christian life and became an atheist, he is none other than Adoniram Judson.

Background and context

The letter to the church in philippi is a good example of a letter written by a pastor who has a deep affection for his congregation.  The author, the apostle Paul is in prison and although he expects to be released; there is still a possibility that he will face a death sentence.  Yet his strong sense of Christ’s presence,  his confidence that his life is in God’s hands, and his determination to fulfill his calling as a missionary pastor full him with joy, inspite of his circumstances.  The church in philippi was established by paul himself and its members had become faithful supporters of his evangelistic work.

Like the Philippians, Christians in south Asia are a small minority and are constantly under pressure from other religious communities.  Knowing that people also need human role models paul offers himself as an example of how to respond to persecution and conflict.  He also reminds them of the example of Timothy, a  selfless servant of the gospel and the church.

Paul in his letter to Philippians expresses his concern about the unity and communion in the view of Joy in Church. In Philippians chapter 2, Paul appeals to the church to be in unity and he put forward the examples of Jesus Christ, Timothy, Epaphroditus and finally himself. In the read passage, Paul exhorts Timothy for his involvement and participation in the work of the gospel with him. Today I would like to base my reflection on the topic: Discipleship of Timothy

Firstly, Discipleship means Genuine Concern for others.

In verse 20, we read “I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.” Paul wishes to send Timothy to church at Philippi, because he was the one who genuinely cared for Philippians. Timothy was so concerned about the well being of the church at Philippi. Paul exhorts Timothy that there was no one like him. The Greek word used here is ivso,yucon

(iso-phu-chon) which means likeminded or of kindred spirit. Timothy had the same mind like Paul. He shared the same love and concern for the church at Philippi like Paul. It is explicit that Timothy was very much concerned about the spiritual and physical welfare of the church. His concern was not fake or unauthentic but rather it was genuine. The Greek word used here is gnhsi,wj (gne-si-os), which means sincerely or genuinely. Timothy legitimately cares for the Philippians and so Paul sets him as the example to the church at Philippe. Christian Discipleship is to have genuine concern for others.                                  Secondly, Discipleship means to Seek others interest

In verse 21, we read “All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” Paul here commends Timothy because he sought the things of Jesus Christ rather than his own interests. Timothy seeks the interest of Christ and thus stands out in “the midst of a crooked and perverse generation” (V.15). In the same chapter verse 4, Paul appeals the church at Philippi to look at the interest of others. Timothy looks after and attends to the interests of the church in a genuine and upright manner. Marius Victorinus says “The others seek after their own interest; that is they are anxious to protect and keep what is theirs and in this they are not Christians”. So basically Christians will never seek their

own interest but rather they seek the interest of others. Here Timothy is portrayed as an exemplary model for the Philippians to follow. Christian Discipleship is to seek others interest.

Thirdly, Discipleship means Service

In verse 22, we read “he has served with me in the work of the gospel”. Timothy has proved his worth as a son to Paul through his service. Caird says “a son should learn his trade from his father”. Here Timothy also learns to be in the same mind and serve others like his spiritual father Paul. In Acts 16, we see that Paul calls Timothy to serve with him for the work of the gospel. Timothy was so committed in his service. He was with Paul and faced all the hardships that Paul faced for the Gospel. During the writing of this epistle, Timothy was also imprisoned with Paul. In the midst of all these tribulations, Timothy was successful in his service because of his deep commitment to Jesus Christ. Through this Paul commends Timothy’s worth to the Church at Philippi. Christian Discipleship is service to others.

Conclusion

Adoniram Judson followed atheistic beliefs and excluded himself from family. Once he went outside the city and stayed in a small inn. There next to his room, he heard coughing and a person screaming of pain. The inn keeper apologized to Adoniram and to bear with the noise, that the person in next room is struggling out of serious sickness. Next day their was a big calm. Adoniram went and enquired with inn keeper. Inn keeper replied that the person who was struggling, died early morning. The name of that person who died is Jacob Eamus. Jacob Eamus is none other than the person whom Adoniram met in college and because of him he changed himself as an atheist. This particular incident challenged Adoniram Judson to accept Christ and  become the disciple of Christ by serving as a missionary. Later, He served in Burma with his family for almost 40 years and translated bible to Burmese language. For me, Adoniram Judson is my Role model and a wonderful disciple of Christ like Timothy.

When we see the present scenario, we too struggle with various ideologies that can easily mislead us not to be the disciple of Christ. Here Timothy’s discipleship portrays that we must always be caring and concerned about our church. We must bear the mind of Christ and be more committed in our service. As our Christ’s one of  the main motto is nothing but “Not to be served, but to serve”. We must be focused more on the service to others and rather to ourselves. Every one of us has our own personal icons that we tend to follow. Here Timothy is presented as an exemplary icon for us to be followed as a follower of Jesus Christ.  As Adoniram Judson said “There is no success without sacrifice” I would say that in different sense that “There is no Christian witness without Discipleship”.  

Let us continue to be the Disciple of Christ like Timothy, Adoniram Judson and the list goes on, who knows, that our name also be in that list in future…

May God bless these words. Amen.