Episode 5: Sacrificially Serving Like Christ (2:12-30)

Who do you think of when you think of those sacrificially serving like Christ? We’re given three examples today in our next bible study in Philippians. Whether you’ve been listening to our podcast for a while, or are just tuning in, we’re so glad you’re joining us!

• Questions to Dig into over a Cup of Tea

  1. Where do you most need to remember both that God is at work in you, but also that you are to work out your faith?

  2. What strikes you about each of these examples?

  3. What will growing in genuine concern and love for others look like for you?

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  This episode is sponsored by Christian Focus.

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• Episode Transcript

  The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.

  Sarah: You're listening to the two sisters and a cup of tea podcast. A 20 minutes burst of Bible chat over a cup of tea and an English style biscuit as we make our way through a Bible book over the course of the season and drive it to our hearts. Whether you've been listening for a while or have just found us, we are so pleased that you're here. We're grateful for the sponsorship of Christian Focus this season. Christian biographies are wonderful for helping us see what the Christian life has looked like for different people over the centuries. Susanna Spurgeon by Mary K. Moller is an insightful biography taking us through particular parts of Susie Spurgeon's life, applying some of the lessons learned from Susie's life to the calling on pastors wives. A bonus selection of extracts from Susie Spurgeon's various devotional books makes it a sweet end to an inspiring portrayal of her life as someone devoted to the advance of the gospel. Pick up a copy wherever you get your books.
  Felicity: Welcome to two sisters and a cup of tea. My name is Felicity and I'm here in the States and I'm here with my sister Sarah. She's in the UK, and we are in Philippians this season. We're excited to be getting into the second half of chapter two during this conversation. But Sarah, I have an admission to make that recently I was in England, and I think pretty much every day that I was in England, I ate a mini egg. And to be honest, no one really just eats one mini egg. So I've basically been on a fairly steady diet of mini eggs. I've eaten so many eggs, they've basically taken the place of biscuits in my tea accompaniment.
  Sarah: I think that's okay because you can't really eat biscuits at the moment. Felicity: It's true. It's true. I'm not sure this is, like, the.
  Sarah: Best solution.
  Felicity: Not a long term solution, because my supply has almost run out. So I find that, you know, but I.
  Sarah: Every time supply chain.
  Felicity: I need to get back on the baking my own gluten free biscuits, probably. Sarah: Yes, do that. Just so. Yeah, you just need to do that. And I look forward to trying them when I come out soon.
  Felicity: Yes, yes, you say, just do that.
  Sarah: But, yeah, all right. Well, today we're thinking about the power of other people's example for our own growth in the Christian life. Lets, talk about that. Talk about where you've been particularly impacted by other people's example of pressing on in the faith.
  Felicity: I find that there's, like, the everyday people. So my local church family. So I have the privilege of being part of a women's Bible study, and we gather together once a week, this kind of room full of ladies. And I think because we do it week in, week out, we kind of, sometimes I just forget that I've just got a wealth of people in front of me who are keeping following Jesus and in the ups and the downs of everyday life. And that's just been a really sweet thing and to take a step back and just remember that and to give thanks for those ladies, because I think sometimes I find it easy, you know? So I was in England recently, and I saw a girl who, I haven't seen her for years, and I was so encouraged that she still keeping going, she's still following Jesus. And because I haven't seen her for years, that was like a more distinct, like, oh, I'm really encouraged by her. And I was. But I was also just thinking it is in the everyday people as well, just the people I encounter every day who are keeping following Jesus.

  Sarah: What about you?
  Felicity: Where is it playing out for you?
  Sarah: Yeah, no, I think that's really helpful. Just reminding us that we're encountering miracles everywhere we look. Aren't we in our church family each week? I think particularly, yeah, reading biographies is a standout thing, isn't it? I think it's just so inspiring seeing how people have managed to stand firm in the face of such opposition over the centuries. And I think it is always just a really, really good thing for my heart to read of other people's lives. And I think over the years, over however many years of being a Christian now, I think there's probably standout examples of people who I feel like I've just been watching how they've been living out this Christian life, and I've been listening to the way they pray, and listening to their wisdom as they talk through decision making and those kind of things, which actually is very, as you say, it's not extraordinary, life altering things, but the power of their example has been big in my life, and I'm just so grateful and thankful for the opportunity to kind of. Yeah. Be alongside them at different points in life, if that makes sense. Yeah.

  Felicity: And I've been encouraged to actually tell, tell people a bit more recently. I feel like I've had a spate of writing postcards to people, encouraging postcards. I think you're good at that, Sarah.
  Sarah: Actually, I do love a good postcard. All right, well, I'm going to read the rest of chapter two. Today, where Paul really seeks to tell us about two specific examples. Let's go. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky, as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labour in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father, he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon. But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed, he was ill and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. So then welcome him in the Lord with great joy and honour. People like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, he risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.

  Felicity: Thank you, Sarah. I always think that we have in verse twelve there where basically the headline is this idea of working out your salvation with fear and trembling. And I think it's helpful just at this point, just to remember back in chapter one, verse six, chapter one, verse six, being confident this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of creation. So in my mind, in a visual sense, you've got the overarching sovereignty of God. He has begun this good work in you, and he will bring it to completion so we can have absolute confidence in that. And then you've got this kind of other side of the circle. Just underneath that is this command to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. So there is an activity. We're not just to sit back and wait for God to complete the work, but actually, there is an active pursuing of Jesus and what it is to be a citizen of heaven, actually. And I think what we have in this passage, then, is kind of examples of that outworking of what it is. Is that.
  Sarah: Yeah, yeah, big time. In one of the commentaries I was reading, they described it as dependent activism, so wholly dependent on the Lord being at work in them, in us. But actually, that doesn't mean we sit back. That means we strive. There's the kind of command before wasn't there, to strive together in the faith of the gospel. And here we see three examples. Actually, it's because Paul uses his own testimony again and his own example again. And then we get Timothy, and then we get Epaphroditus, and they are all striving to work out their faith with fear and trembling, aren't they? And to press on, because the gospel changes everything. And they are real examples, aren't they, of, you know, he said, he's commanding them. Do everything without grumbling and arguing so that you may become blameless and pure and so that you may shine like stars. And actually, Paul is that example. He is that shining star. He's not grumbling or arguing. He's not complaining. He's rejoicing in the midst of his hardship. And I just. That just, again, seeing him teaching them by modelling his own example is really striking.
  Felicity: Yes, totally agree. And I think this is a very real. From what we can understand about the Philippian context, it is a warped and crooked generation in which they are existing, and the temptation must be, well, to not stand firm, and actually a part of not standing firm. I think the way that Paul says it here is to be grumbling and just to be arguing and to be divided and to be caught up on things that are not of Jesus. That seems to be the key. And I love then, verse 16, as you hold firmly to the word of life. So it's kind of like the word which we just saw in the first half of chapter two, as we hold to that, as we hold to this what Paul is saying, what God has given us in this word of life so we can shine like stars. I think it's very encouraging. It's challenging. It's like, oh, how do I do that? But actually it's really encouraging because, well, yes, as I hold fast to Jesus.
  Sarah: The word of life, you will shine. There will be an impact there. And that's encouraging, isn't it? It's great. It's wonderfully encouraging. And then we see these examples and I think what's really interesting is that from first glances, this passage kind of just looks like some travel plans, doesn't it? You're like, we really need to know about this. But it's so much more than travel plans. And it's so much more because, again, he's teaching them and he's modelling to them. Look at these guys, look at how they've served and look at how they are living out the first half of chapter two. They are kind of living examples of having the same mindset as Christ Jesus. So as we just zoom in on Timothy for a moment, I think what really struck me was that actually he shows genuine concern for their welfare. So he's really looking out for the interests of others. But it's described as looking out for the interests of Jesus. So to be of the mindset of Christ means loving your neighbour wholeheartedly. But it starts with loving Christ. Yeah.
  Felicity: Which is so, so helpful, isn't it? Because love your neighbour without loving Christ first is just like this immensely unachievable broad command. Like, what does that look like? But as we love Christ and therefore love those who he has died for.
  Sarah: And love like Christ. Love like Christ, which here looks like giving themselves wholeheartedly, doesn't it, to the work of the Lord. And you see that. And then in Epaphroditus as well, you see that actually he almost died for the work of Christ. He was wholeheartedly risking his life for the work of Christ. And yes, it doesn't look like a big deal. He was just a messenger. And he's not Paul, and he's not kind of got the kind of top spot, so to speak. But no, no, no. He's risked his life for the sake of Christ. He's served in the mindset of Christ, for the well being of others, and he is honoured here by Paul for that. And I think that's beautiful.
  Felicity: I. Verse 29. Yeah, that exactly is so beautiful, isn't it? They welcome him with great joy and honour. People like him. Like, this is it. This is what it is. And it's kind of like an outworking of
  verse 17, poured out like a drink offering of the sacrifice and service coming from your Paul is, as you say, using his own life as a testimony. Timothy and Epaphroditus, again point to this way outwork, what it is to model this mindset of Christ. It's just worth dwelling on it, isn't it? And thinking through, what does it look like to follow this example? I think that's where it's hit my heart this week, as I've been in this passage, is actually just valuing the example of others. And I love. In verse 19, Paul says, I hope in the lord you send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. And again, that's the kind of outworking of the partnership, isn't it? That he is expectant, that as he hears that they're keeping going, he will be cheered. But he is so intimately involved in their well being, spiritually speaking, that this is going to cheer him. And that that's a challenge to me, I think. Like, is that what cheers me? Like, am I really eager for other people's well being in the same way? Sarah: Yes. And on that, then, am I willing to see where my love of Christ is just a kind of boxed thing rather than overflowing to those around me?Because actually, here, to grow and abound in knowledge and depth of insight and to abound in love for Christ doesn't just mean I'll work out how best to live in this world. It means I'll learn how best to love. It's all relational, isn't it? And particularly at the start of chapter two, it's the mindset of Jesus Christ in relationship with others. Timothy Epaphroditus Paul. It's all in relationship to others, isn't it? So where does my love for Christ overflow into practical, genuine concern for others? And what does that look like day to day, week by week? Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I've been wrestling that through quite a lot recently.
  Felicity: Yeah. And with always the reminder to come back to Christ as the means and not just the model, separate, I think, because I'm by nature just such an activist, so I can very much. You know, that was a great phrase, dependent activism. I think I can just leave out the dependence and go for activism quite easily. And so reminded to come back to Jesus every time. And as I hold fast to the word of life, so then that will overflow into an outworking towards others and, yeah, and so the implication is that the more we love Jesus, the more we love others, isn't it?
  Sarah: Which is. Yeah, yeah.

  Felicity: But it's also.
  Sarah: I think that's then an interesting one, isn't it? And I think I've been mulling on this quite a bit of. We feel like time poor in our culture, like time is stretched, time is busy. It feels hard to carve out time for non essential, slow paced walking with others in love sometimes, I think, and this challenges me on that. And yet I still feel a bit like, ah, but I don't know how to fit this into my weekly kind of life or, you know, just general kind of pattern of life. What does this look like actually on the ground? To give myself wholeheartedly to two others around us whilst also keeping all the balls juggling in the air.
  Felicity: Well, yeah, and there's definitely an element of, you know, the Philippians are specifically on Paul's heart. And I know, we know that Paul was concerned for lots of people, but we are not supposed to. We're not the savior for everyone. We're not Jesus to everyone.

  Sarah: No one.
  Felicity: So we see who God has put in front of us.
  Sarah: Yeah.
  Felicity: Who can we encourage in their Christ following? Because it's quite specific, isn't it? It is spiritual welfare. It's not that we have to be serving every soup cushion all over our town, but actually, what does it look like with the people that God has put in front of me, which includes the people in our own home? Because I think that's the temptation for me, is that I get all kind of ministry minded and I forget that actually the primary place of my ministry is actually my children and my husband that's been. And so what does it look like to outwork this in my home, rather than it looking like, you know, all the other ways in which I have many possibilities on that.
  Sarah: No, that's really helpful, though, just actually thinking about. Actually just praying. Maybe I just haven't prayed about it enough. But just like, Lord, please really show me clearly who I can specifically love in this kind of vein over the next few weeks, whatever it is, and just. Yeah, that's a really helpful prayer to pray. I don't know why I've not been praying that.

  Felicity: Yeah, I think, yeah, a refiner. A refiner, isn't it? Refiner in terms of, like, ourselves, but also refining the circumstances that we see around us. Like, yeah, also.
  Sarah: But also we're in this because at each point it's been costly for Paul, for Timothy and Epapoditis service. Like, this is costly. And I think the temptation is just think, oh, it's just too much. It's too much. And actually it's been willing to lean in and go, lord, help me to want to count the cost for the sake of the gospel here. Give me wisdom on that, but help me to desire that because that is the best way.
  Felicity: Yeah. And in it all, to be dependent upon Christ in that. So as I count the cost, and I know it's going to be costly, well, let me factor in that. I need to then spend more time with Jesus. Like that's, and I think you said to me recently, like, I don't want to do anything that I can't pray for. And I think that's a really helpful kind of rule of life. But because we need Jesus, we need God to enable us. He is the means as well as the model. And so we need to then. Yeah.
  Sarah: Pray for us, please.

  Felicity: Gladly. Heavenly Father, we pray to so much for the way in which you show us what it is to outwork what we have in Jesus, to follow him and his love for others. And we praise you so much that that is through Jesus.
  Sarah: Thank you.
  Felicity: That he, he is the means and the model as we hold fast to this word of life, so you enable us to love in this way. And so, Father, we pray that you'd give us hearts that are leaning in, inclined towards this. Please, would you help us to be eager for the spiritual wellbeing of others. But we pray that you give us wisdom. Please help us to see our circumstances and the people that you've put in front of us wisely. We pray, Father, that you would show us where we are to love like this. Help us to be eager to do that sacrificially and wisely. For the sake of Christ and his name. We pray this in your name. Amen.
  Sarah: Amen. Well, I wonder who's been an encouraging example to you lately of pressing on in the gospel in the midst of hard times. Why don't you let them know how they've encouraged you? It might be something specific or it might just be as you've watched them from a distance. Actually, you've been encouraged. Why not share that with them? I'm sure it will bolster them no end and it will just be such a wonderful way to kind of partner with them in the gospel. We look forward to seeing you next week. We've got a guest joining us next week. We're really looking forward to that. And so do come and join us next week as we think about real life mission and partnering in the gospel, and we can't wait to share that conversation with you. We'll see you then.
  Felicity: See you then. Bye bye.
  Sarah: This episode has been sponsored by Christian Focus.

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