Sermon Tone Analysis

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*Philippians 8**.*
*Patterns:* The Olympics have come and gone, the finest athletes in the world competing together.
Now I have never aspired to be an athlete but there are some that do.
They see that one who is the top of their field and seek to emulate him, study video and replays, examining his technique, practising to become like him.
It may not be sport; you may want to play the guitar like Jimmy Hendrix or whoever.
Whatever the field, we see those who have made it, been successful, and take them as a pattern.
Now hero-worship is a bad thing; but the Bible does exhort us to imitate those who are successful in their Christian walk – 8x in fact in the N.T.
We are told to imitate God in [*Ephesians 5:1*/ Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;/] and Paul says: [*1 Corinthians 11:1*/ Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ./]
So there are those in the faith who are held out as patterns *[P]* – examples to emulate.
I do not advocate emulating sportsmen, musicians etc but, in this letter to the Philippians, Paul holds up several examples.
First of all there was the example of Jesus Himself – they were to have the same attitude, the same way of thinking that He did.
*Jesus:* (Phil 2:5-8) *[P]* He didn’t grasp on to His equality with God, but emptied Himself, humbled Himself, became a man, served as a slave was obedient, as far as dying an accursed death.
He is a pattern of meekness, humility, submission and sacrifice.
Then in (Phil 2:17-18) there is the pattern of *Paul:* *[P]* He is an example of rejoicing in extreme suffering, he was facing possible death.
He was a pattern: they were to rejoice and share their joy in exactly the same way he did.
And in the passage today we read of two more men who are examples to us; and who Paul commends to the Philippians in the letter he wrote to them.
And we need to remember that it is a letter.
Paul didn’t write it with the intention of it being a book of the Bible.
It is that, it is Divinely inspired and we study it – we analyse it, draw theology from it and lessons for our Christian life – and I hope to do a bit of that today – but first and foremost we must remember that it is a letter *[P]*.
We can get so caught up in our Bible study that we miss the wood for the trees.
Look, there were no phones, e-mail, texting, Skype – the way to communicate when you were separated by distance, was by letter.
Some of you may be old enough to remember writing them.
It used to be something that we did when we were young, on Sunday afternoons: write to the rellies in England.
Now Paul is in prison in Rome, he can’t go to his friends in Philippi, but he loved them and kept in touch.
There were practical matters to arrange and to inform them of what he intended to do.
It is personal!
This is not a theological treatise, it is a personal letter, there was stuff to sort out – and Paul’s care and concern come through.
Maybe there is a lesson for the likes of me here – the details of what people are doing and are up to flies past me, but have they got their theology straight?!
But Christians are known by their love – care and concern and that is shown in practical details of what is going on in people’s lives: Josephine has been in hospital, so someone cooks a casserole for her.
[*1 John 3:18*/ Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth./]
So let us read this letter, and as we do notice the love and concern that the believers have for each other: [*Philippians 2:19-30*/ But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition.
For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.
For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.
But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the Gospel like a child serving his father.
Therefore I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me; and I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly.
But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.
For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.
Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you.
Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard; because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me./]
Although it might seem at this point that we’re reading someone else’s private correspondence, Paul accomplishes much more here than updating the Philippians on his plans.
Paul begins by praising Timothy for the qualities that have made him an invaluable member of his team.
But more than just giving Timothy a well-deserved pat on the back, Paul accomplishes something in addition: he holds Timothy up as a model for other believers.
Some people are lavish in their praise, others are more subdued.
Hannah plays in an orchestra and, let’s be frank, it doesn’t always sound that great.
But one of the teachers, Gaynor, is always gushy, telling them how well they are doing, how wonderful they all are.
Then there is another teacher, Mr Williams – if at the end he says at the end “that wasn’t too bad”, you know that you were really something!
I don’t know which Paul was like; but he was pretty hard on John Mark in Acts, when he returned to Jerusalem.
His departure was taken by Paul as abandonment, and he was unwilling to take him on another missionary journey.
I imagine Paul was a no-nonsense guy; when he gave praise, it really meant something.
Think about how significant it would be to hear this kind of affirmation from someone who probably didn’t regularly praise others.
But the praise wasn’t only for Timothy’s benefit – look back in (Phil 1:1) you will see that the letter was written /from/ Timothy as well, not /to/ him.
When we hear a leader publicly praised, we are challenged to be like them – it raises the bar to a higher standard.
From the outset of the book, Paul’s focus has been on the advance of the Gospel.
Although his focus has shifted from changing the Philippians’ perspective about his situation to the matter of sending Timothy, there is still a focus on the Gospel.
How?
By holding up this man as a role model of godly leadership for others to imitate and aspire to be like.
The list of qualities that Paul praises could just as easily have been a job description for the kind of worker Paul wanted.
*[P]* With each characteristic that Paul affirms in Timothy, we are challenged to reconsider how /we/ are doing in that area.
Would Paul say the same thing about /us/?
If not, what would it take to be more like Timothy?
What was it that he did that made the difference?
What would that look like in my ministry setting?
So what were the traits for which Paul praises Timothy?
The first is introduced as “like-mindedness” with Paul *[P]*, what we might also call being a soul mate.
This doesn’t imply that there was never disagreement but more likely that their core values and priorities meshed well together, that they were on the same page when it came to ministry.
What is more, he was genuinely concerned for the Philippians’ welfare *[P]*.
This was part of being like-minded – like Paul He was genuinely concerned for the church.
Why was this such a big deal to Paul? – Because most people seek their own interests rather than the interests of Jesus Christ.
Isn’t that what we see all around us everyone looking out for his own interests?
But we are to be different!
Timothy was not like all the rest, looking out for himself first.
He put Christ’s interests before his own *[P]*.
Remember, this is a pattern for us to emulate.
Paul also mentions Timothy’s proven character *[P]*.
This wasn’t just like-mindedness, having the same viewpoint – it was shown in action, he had a proven track record.
He had been with Paul throughout his missionary travels.
How was his character proven?
By his devoted service to Paul that could accurately be likened to a son’s devotion to his father, serving faithfully by his side like a father and son team.
Remember, service was one of the attributes in Jesus that we were to emulate.
Because he had proved himself, Timothy is Paul’s go-to guy when it comes to sending someone to the Philippians to minister on his behalf because of his was in prison.
Timothy could be sent, because it would be just like going yourself.
He saw eye to eye with Paul and would do what Paul would do.
He’d been with him enough to know what he would do, and would act on his behalf as his servant.
It is for these same reasons that Timothy can also he held up as a model leader *[P]* whom others could appropriately look up to and model themselves after.
So what is the pattern that we have in Timothy?
*[P]* Genuine concern for others, selfless faithful service.
Paul makes a series of statements in (Phil 2:20-21) beginning with “/for”/, each of these statements serves to strengthen or flesh out some aspect of what has gone before.
In English, we would much more naturally use rhetorical “Why?” questions *[P]* to let people know that what follows answers the question posed.
The /therefore/ in (Phil 2:23) signals the return to the specific idea of sending Timothy.*
*Paul is letting them know that he intends to send Timothy to them soon, then he goes off on a supporting sidebar about why?: Why did he send him?
To find out about them, to learn about their condition, he was concerned for them – but why Timothy?
Because there is no one like him who is genuinely concerned about their welfare.
Why is that?
Because everyone else is taken up with their own interests not those of Christ.
But Timothy is not like that – his character is proven.
So, as Paul was saying, he is going to send Timothy to them – why?
Because he loves them, he is concerned about them, and knows that they are concerned about him.
He is cut off in prison, rather a discouraging situation; nothing would cheer him up and encourage him as much as finding out how well these brothers that he loves are going on in the LORD.
He would hear from Timothy about them and would be encouraged – Timothy was acting on his behalf – he would rather go himself.
Sending Timothy is an interim measure, the way he mentions sending Timothy creates anticipation that something more is coming which is probably more important.
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