GIVE HONOUR
“Therefore, I am all the more eager to send him to you 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.” Philippians 2:28-30.
We can learn a great deal from Paul about how to treat our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
The first valuable lesson is to acknowledge our fellow believers for what they are and what they do. Paul did not ignore or treat lightly the sacrifice Epaphroditus had made to come to him all the way from Philippi and to serve him selflessly while he was in prison. He was quick to recognise the risk Epaphroditus took either by travelling overland on foot or going by sea to Rome. Either mode of travel was long and dangerous but he did it out of love for Paul.
The next lesson is that there is no place for false humility in Christ’s body. As much as we are aware of our hopelessness outside of Christ as far as any effort to save ourselves is concerned, at the same time we are of infinite worth to God the Father as His sons and daughters. He gave His Son for us and He values us highly as people created in His image and redeemed by the blood of His Son to reflect Him in the world.
God has put His image in us and He has given us gifts and abilities to use for His glory. That includes His heart of compassion towards one another. Paul was in miserable and lonely circumstances, surrounded by hostile pagans to whom he meant nothing. The Philippian believers recognised Paul’s need and sent Epaphroditus to serve him, to comfort him and to provide him with his everyday necessities about which the Roman authorities probably cared nothing.
It was natural that Paul would be grateful both to the Philippians and to Epaphroditus for their sensitivity to his need, and that he would express his gratitude to them and honour Epaphroditus for his willingness to come. Imagine how distressed Paul must have been when their care and generosity almost cost Epaphroditus his life! Did they take that into account when they commissioned him to go to Paul?
Paul was not slow in giving honour to Epaphroditus. This did not mean that he was paying more attention to him than to God. Not at all! It was right for him to recognise what Epaphroditus had done for him and to express his gratitude to him because it was only through God’s grace at work in him that he could have done what he did for Paul.
As much as he welcomed Epaphroditus with open arms when he arrived at the prison, so Paul urged them to welcome him back with equal joy. Mission accomplished! It was just as unselfish for Paul to send him home as it was for them to send him to Paul. After his brush with death, Epaphroditus was terribly homesick. He was happy to serve Paul but he longed for his brothers and sisters in Philippi. Paul recognised that and willingly sent him back, knowing that it would not be long before Timothy would return with news about them.
All Paul lived for at this moment was the reassurance he received from those who brought news about his beloved converts. Some of them caused his anxiety and heartache when he heard that they were caught up in the sinful practices of the world or deceived by false teachers. Others brought him great encouragement and joy by their steadfastness in the face of hardships and persecution.
He had time and opportunity in prison to pray long and hard for the churches across the empire. And pray he did! He was more concerned about them than about the thousands of unbelievers he had met and to whom he had preached the message of Jesus. He knew that the believers were the message. It was the witness of their changed lives that impacted people with the truth of what Paul preached. He knew that his prayers played a significant part in the multiplication of the church through ordinary Christians everywhere.
Paul did not rely on the “big shots” to do the work. God’s way of spreading the gospel was through ordinary people reaching people. Therefore, it was imperative that his converts learn to live pure lives in the midst of corruption and wickedness. And for that he prayed!
He was lavish in his expressions of gratitude and encouragement because he knew that they needed it in the face of the hardships they endured for Christ. How much better it would be if believers would take a leaf from Paul’s book! There are many out there who look for opportunities to pull fellow believers down, either by failing to honour them for what they do or by exposing every flaw and fault they can find, real or imagined.
God came down hard on Ham for exposing and making fun of his father, Noah’s nakedness. I wonder what He thinks of those who show disrespect for the “nakedness” of others. Let us be quick to recognise the worth of our brothers and sisters and give honour where honour is due.
Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.