Pursued and Pursuing

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Philippians 3:12-4:1 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

A correction

Paul expounds on what he is teaching. That the gospel is that Jesus has done the good work and we cannot add to it. There are a group called the judaizers. They taught that people needed to not only follow Jesus but also follow the Jewish ceremonial law. That to be perfect one needed to be circumcized among other things. This was a different gospel. It was one of perfectionism. This was not the gospel of Jesus. Paul says that he was not complete in growing. Following the Jewish laws will not make one perfect. Paul is saying that he is humbled by knowing that he has so much more to go from what he has learned of Jesus and what he has learned about himself. He had grown downwards. Seeing how far down we are from the perfection that is Jesus makes us humble, patient, and gentle. This is the nature of true spiritual growth. 

A call

Justification is the idea that Jesus has paid the price for us and permanently altered the legal status of his followers. We are forgiven by God because of Jesus. But this should not lead to spiritual complacency. It should make us focus on moving forward and forgetting what is behind us. What does that mean? We are not to look at past failures. They have been confessed to God and He has forgiven us. Looking at these things can demotivate and drain us with an inordinate amount of guilty feelings. But past success can also have a similar effect. Looking at past growth can make us feel like we have arrived. Why run so hard? 

A word of comfort

A call to run harder from Paul during a time of COVID. What? We're tired. There's so many things. More things to do? Seriously pastor?! But maybe we aren't being called to add more... to do more... Maybe it is more of a perspective change. Maybe we should pursue Jesus in what we are already doing. How so? As an example, when getting out of bed is a gargantuan effort, let's pray, Lord won't you give me the strength to get up? So that in going thru this difficult season, we can give glory to God for getting us thru it. Whatever you are struggling with, take it to Jesus. There is a way to go thru difficult times being tired, being stressed, but there is also a way of going thru the same difficulties with resurrection power. 

Resiliency joy and hope

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.

Philippians 2:19‭-‬30 ESV

Rev. Travis Drake

How to deal when God doesn't give us what we want..

The excellence of Timothy

Paul tells of how he hopes to send Timothy because he has no one like Timothy. Paul gives the highest compliment to Timothy. Timothy is like a son in the gospel. Timothy pursued the good of others. He's the goat. But Timothy isn't being sent to them. Such disappointment. 

The faithful ordinariness of Epaphroditus

So Paul follows up and says he will send back Epaphroditus. This was one of their own. Paul was sending him back. Huh. The church knew him, they had sent him to help Paul. Paul elevates Epaphroditus as a minister. A worker in the gospel who they thought they knew. Paul commends the man they sent to him.

The necessity of sending Epaphroditus (not Timothy)

Epaphroditus is sent to them, not Timothy. The church doesn't need Timothy. They didn't need the greatness of Timothy. The church may have wanted the extraordinary, impressive Timothy. But really what they needed was the very ordinary, very familiar Epaphroditus. God often gives us not what we want, but what we need. We do not see what God sees. God doesn't give us the five star thing we want. He gives us the ordinary, mundane to minister to us.

Paul commends those very mundane things. We should look at those very ordinary servants in the gospel. He does not commend sin and failings, but he does say that earnest, familiar coworkers in the gospel deserve honor. The ordinary community group leader. The struggling worker in the gospel. Paul was a murderer, a gang leader, a persecutor of the church, he was a train wreck from the perspective of the church. So far from God. But Paul's life had been turned around. He was reformed by the Holy Spirit. 

What Epaphroditus reveals

God doesn't just use the extraordinary things. He uses the mundane. Yes, mundane people like you and I. What is special then? The Holy Spirit in the believer. It is not the skills, the personality, the looks, the talent. What makes us special is not gifted people but people who have been gifted by God with the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus did not come as Timothy. He came clothed as an Epaphroditus, so very ordinary. Jesus came as an ordinary looking guy. He did not have good looks. Jesus came here as a rural kid from nowhere that nobody knew about rather than a prince in a palace. Jesus came as a carpenter when the Jews were looking for a warrior or technocrat. He came with no powerful connections in the nation. 

Closing encouragements

Embrace the ordinary around us - if God does this with Jesus, then wouldn't it make sense that God does the same with other people in our lives. Don't get hung up waiting for the next great thing.