Contentment Gives Away Precious Things

I'll get you to open to Philippians chapter two this morning. We are currently working through, for those of us that are new to the church here, through a series on the book of Philippians, which is a letter that Paul the Apostle writes to a church in the first century AD, a place called Philippi. And it's a wonderful, wonderfully encouraging, happy letter that he writes with an overwhelming theme of joy. And so our series is called capturing joy, how joy can be found in the strangest of places as Paul writes from a prison, a jail sort of situation. I'm gonna read from Philippians 2:19-30.

Verse 19: 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've thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my fellow 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 also on me, 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 honour such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. So far, the reading. Well, you might think it's a bit of a strange passage for us to look at this morning because it's almost like Paul is writing a quick little email, sending something on Outlook Express. I'm sending Timothy.

I'm sending Epaphroditus. You know, I hope it's okay with you guys, but I don't need him. And yet, at first glance, that's what we might think and we might even wonder why would God include this passage in His word, this inspired word that is meant to give instruction and teaching to the church of all ages. It seems that Paul is just organising two blokes to be messengers to the Philippians.

But there is so much that is being said here, so much communicated by Paul and his particular contentment while he is in this situation in jail. As we've seen throughout the Philippian letter, this contentment, this peace sprouts from joy, because it's a joy that can exist in all situations, across all personality types, a resilient joy that nothing and no one can steal from Paul. And it is grounded for Paul in this rock solid work of Jesus Christ and what was done on the cross. And so as we read this passage in scripture, I want us to hear this single truth: Contentment gives away precious things because it's focused on the bigger cause of God's mission, and it is sourced from the life changing power of Jesus Christ.

That's a long sentence, and we're gonna break that down. But let me say it again: Contentment gives away precious things because it's focused on the bigger cause of God's mission sourced from the life changing power of Jesus Christ. Let's have a look at that. First thing: contentment gives away precious things.

Now like I said before, you could be forgiven for thinking, if Paul had a laptop, this is almost like those things that you quick or an Apple iPhone, a sort of something you just type away and send. It doesn't necessarily have all the flowery connotations of the glories and the hallelujahs or anything like that. Paul is just organising some people to give a message to other people. But it's more than that because we read the affection that Paul had for these two men as well. They aren't just runners.

They're not lackeys that are just going to quickly go and do this for me while I'm sort of stuck in this situation. For Paul, they are precious friends. They are gospel coworkers. In Timothy's case, Paul says he is like a dear son, as a son would treat his father, and so that is how he has treated me, verse 22.

Have a look. He says, you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father, he has served with me in the gospel. In another letter, one written directly to Timothy, which is the letter 1 Timothy, Paul begins his letter with these words: "To Timothy, my true child in the faith." Paul was a single man. He didn't have any kids.

Timothy was his son. Here is Timothy and Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus, remember, had originally been sent to Paul by the Philippians. So Epaphroditus was sent to Paul with some food, with some money maybe, because remember this is a situation in the first century prison: you weren't guaranteed of getting food. You weren't guaranteed of getting water.

There wasn't sort of a justice system like we have it. You guys probably remember earlier this year, I have a friend, an Afghan friend whose family was captured by the Taliban, kidnapped by them, held hostage in a home somewhere. His greatest concern for his family was that they might starve, because at least three carloads of people had been kidnapped. And how was this group of Taliban extremists going to feed this family? Who gets fed first?

The prison guards do. The captors do. And so it's the same situation here. If the Philippian church are worried about Paul, they send Epaphroditus to go and look after every need that Paul might have. And here is Timothy and Epaphroditus, such a comfort to Paul, and yet Paul is giving them away.

How can Paul do this? Well, it's because Paul is supremely content, supremely satisfied in his situation right here. Remember last week in the few verses just before this passage, verses 17 and 18, we catch a glimpse, a summary of this peaceful state. He says, verse 17: "Even if I'm to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all." Paul is saying, even if I'm to die for the sake of having been able to proclaim the gospel to you, I am in Rome for the gospel's sake.

Even if I am to die here today, it was worth it. I am glad and I can rejoice. Paul is saturated with contentment, but notice first what this contentment does. It gives away. It serves.

But this sounds so counterintuitive, doesn't it, to how we think about contentment? We are constantly being told contentment comes with accumulation. It comes with having more. But true contentment is a state of the heart, and generosity can actually produce far more contentment than we think. Author and pastor Charles Swindoll writes, "We can miss contentment if keeping rather than releasing becomes our objective.

We too often love things and use people when we should be using things and loving people. We are most content," he says, "when we're grateful for what we own, satisfied with what we make, and generous to those in need." Contentment gives away precious things. Timothy and Epaphroditus were precious to Paul. And so what motivates this generosity?

Well, like we've said, contentment gives away precious things because it is focused on the bigger cause of God's mission. Why is Paul sending these two guys away? Well, he writes in verse 20 that he is sending Timothy because "I have no one like him who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare." And then there's this veiled statement about other possible ministers or preachers or workers, perhaps even in the Roman area in Rome, who wouldn't go to the Philippians, he says, who don't have genuine concern for them. Why?

Verse 21: "For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ." In other words, some people might say they are very concerned about the Philippian situation. They are very concerned and our prayers and our thoughts are with them, but only Timothy is willing to go. Other people are preaching Christ, but they are really only looking after their own interest, whatever those interests may have been, not the interest of Jesus Christ.

What are what is the interest of Jesus Christ? His church. The people in Philippi. So Paul says, likewise, I'm sending Epaphroditus, verse 26, because "he has been longing for you all and he has been distressed because you heard that he was ill." Think about that for a second, that logic.

He is distressed because you heard that he was ill. That's incredible humility. Think about it. Hands up all the blokes here who have in this cold and flu season had man flu. Anyone with a sniffle or something like that?

Okay. Now, every person, every man who's had man flu here, who's ever thought or become distressed when their wives have fawned over them, bringing them linctuses and Strepsils and warm soup? Who's ever been distressed when their wives have said, "No, no, that's way too much for me"? No one. We like being cuddled.

But Epaphroditus is worried about the Philippians who are worried about him, and he wants to go back to them. Contentment. This is the part of contentment. And you can see that in the common love of these three men. Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus are consumed by their love for the church.

They are willing to go to all sorts of lengths to serve the bigger cause, which is for the upbuilding and the expansion of God's mission. And this is part of that contentment, I believe. That this is part of that secret of contentment. Contentment is found when we lift ourselves up out of our selfish, self-absorbed hearts and minds, and we lock our hearts and minds onto something far greater than ourselves. When we are focused on the bigger cause of God's mission, it's surprising how much joy is instantly injected into our hearts.

Here's a little testimony. This week has been a massive week for me. I've been down in Geelong again for our project with the Way, the discipleship project. Came back Friday night and we have a state youth camp on this weekend. We have two of our boys that are there and Kyla, bless her.

She's looking after those boys. But I was arguing with the Lord saying, "God, I've had such a big week. Do I really need to go on my Saturday?" And I felt, well, firstly, Kyla's there and she's doing such a wonderful job. I wanna encourage her and support her.

I'll go. And I'm so glad I did. One of the most beautiful things I saw there was it's an old campsite in Mount Tamborine, Bob, the MTCC, a conference centre there in an old little part of the campsite and there's this honky tonk little piano where all the kids are staying. And there was a boy playing on the piano a version of Amazing Grace, and a guy on a busted up guitar playing along with him. And there was just a crowd of young people sitting and singing Amazing Grace.

I get emotional about this, but that was amazing. That was amazing. And I'm so thankful I could see that. And I wouldn't have seen that if I just said, "Okay, you've had a big week. Just take this Saturday off."

That joy, I wouldn't have had. I could have been with mates. I could have done other stuff and that would have been nice, maybe, but not joyful. Not this. Contentment is found when we are lifted out of our selfish self obsession and our hearts and our minds are locked onto something far greater than ourselves.

We can be proud of what we are achieving, therefore, in this movement of the church. We are achieving as people something that is genuinely of worth, genuinely of worth. And when we do this, our focus is taken off ourselves and we experience the liberating experience of self forgetfulness. And so our self pitying and our self soothing is grounded in that self obsession, but we find freedom when we are able to work towards things greater than ourselves. And this is how Paul, in his contentment, is able to give away the precious care of Timothy and Epaphroditus because his heart is set on the mission.

He loves the Philippians. Paul is saying, "Guys, I found the good life. I found the good life and this is what it is: serving you and serving Jesus and seeing His kingdom come." And we are all chasing the good life, aren't we? We want the good life.

But we would love to say with Paul, "I am glad and I rejoice," but this is the true contentment. The good life, the good life, exists only when we stop wanting a better one. The good life is only found when that itch for something different, something new is dealt with because that itch for something new and something different is the virus that is actually draining your soul of contentment. A famous artist was once asked to paint a picture of a dying church.

It was expected that he would paint a small, little humble congregation in a dilapidated building. Instead, he painted a stately structure with an impressive pulpit, magnificent windows, but near the door, he drew an offering box marked "Missions" with a contribution slot blocked by cobwebs. A dying Christian in a dying church is marked by a heart that isn't willing to serve, that isn't willing to give because they aren't willing to set their hearts on the mission of God, which is to reach the lost for Christ and to bring more glory to the God you say you love. This is our mission. We drive past it every Sunday morning.

It's on our board: to grow in and share the love of Christ. Let's not be what Paul accused those people, those certain people in Rome, that they seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But now, finally, we come to the last phrase in our statement. Contentment gives away precious things because it's focused on the bigger cause of God's mission when it is sourced from the life changing power of Jesus Christ. In order to keep our hearts and our minds focused on that bigger picture, on the mission, we must understand the bigger picture also of our own need.

And it was our great need that was met in Jesus. And this is what Paul was also so aware of as he sent those two precious sons in the faith to the Philippian church. In all of these things, he could only do it because to do it meant that he was grounded in Christ. I'm not sure if you've noticed this as we read this passage. It is remarkable, but I missed it definitely the first couple of times I read through this.

The word or the phrase "in the Lord" is mentioned three times in these few verses. In the Lord. So have a look at verse 19: "I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you." Verse 24: "And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also."

And then verse 29: "So receive him, Epaphroditus, in the Lord with all joy." What does it mean? Now if we've been a Christian for a while, you probably skipped over these phrases because it's almost Christianese, you know, saying, "In the Lord, we'll do this and whatever." Like, it doesn't mean much when we say it. What does Paul mean when he's saying it?

Well, to hope in the Lord and to trust in the Lord is to find in Jesus the source and the power for everything you do. When Paul was sending these men and he was hoping that he would one day also be able to visit them, he knew that none of any of this was possible without the power of Jesus Christ behind it. And this isn't some abstract knowledge like "Jesus is God and therefore, I guess, in some way, He must be allowing this to happen." This is a deeply relational understanding for Paul. Paul is saying, "I hope and I trust in Jesus to allow these things because I hope and trust in Jesus who loves me.

Who loves me, who cares about me, and they hopefully will allow these things because He loves His church." Jesus is the source and the power that will allow any of these things to take place, but He is also the object of my trust. I hope in the Lord that He will do this because He can provide that, but I also put my hope in Him to provide this. And it's similar then when Paul comes to say that the Philippians are to receive Epaphroditus in the Lord. The truth is the Philippian Christians could genuinely receive in the Lord this Epaphroditus.

They could receive him as a brother. They could receive him as Paul would later say in the 1 Corinthians letters, to receive him like he was an arm that had been ripped out of its socket. An eyeball that needed to be placed back in. Receive him because they so desperately need him to be with them. Because they so desperately love him that they would receive him in the Lord.

The intensity and unity of Christian fellowship is second to none. Why? Because we are in the Lord. We don't belong anywhere else like we belong with one another. But this isn't because we are all necessarily like minded people and we just get along really well.

This isn't unity because we all share a similar lifestyle or cultures. It's not because we all support the same football team. In fact, I know there are very different supporters of footy teams in this place. This unity is only available because of the work of Jesus Christ. And so far from being a Christian knee throw away line, "I hope in the Lord to see you, to do this or to do that," is the awareness that we are doing it because of Jesus Christ and what He's done for us, but also because we have trust in Him to be able to do these things.

I am doing it for Jesus Christ because He has done something for me. Friends, will we be willing to let contentment be found by us? Contentment in knowing that we've received such an incredible gift in Jesus. Contentment to know how great our debt was and that it was paid for in full. Understanding accurately what our need was because you will only be able to live generously with the big picture of God's mission constantly before you if you live with the understanding of what Jesus has had to have done for you personally first.

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been entertainment, God would have sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness.

And so God sent a saviour. Don't forget that. Don't you ever forget that because only in that will you find true contentment. And this is what this little passage in Philippians is showing us. Contentment to give away precious things because it's focused on the bigger cause of God's mission, but that can only ever be sourced in the life changing power of Jesus Christ.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word again to us this morning. We thank you that you are at work and even the mundane sort of things. Even in this passage of administrative duties, Lord, your grace, your peace, and your power is visible. Oh, God, I pray for generous hearts in our church that we may serve one another with our time, with our affections, with our prayers of intercession, that we may serve our neighbours and our friends that may not know you.

Lord, that we will support even this little humble church. I thank you, God, that you are able to overhaul hearts, that you are able to change our hearts even as you are doing something in them right now. As we sense the incredible power of this truth and we know it is true for us. Lord, correct our thinking. Align our priorities. Help us to see the great cause, the direction of everyone on this planet, and help us in serving and working for that cause to find true contentment, peace, and joy.

Father, we praise your name. We thank you that the work of Jesus Christ has been done. It is not a case of us needing to do it or be good enough or in some way be able to sort ourselves out first. You have done it for us. And you simply ask us to believe and to receive that.

And so again this morning, we receive that, and we believe that. Help us to live the way that you want us to live. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.