When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best

In 1944 a sales and marketing executive for a greeting card company named C.E. Goodman jotted down a slogan on a 3 X 5 card to convey why their cards were superior to others. The slogan he came up with was “when you care enough to send the very best” (http://corporate.hallmark.com/OurBrand/Brand-Legacy).  The greeting card company is known to you as Hallmark, and that slogan has been used ever since then. It is printed on the back of their cards, and that slogan is very true in this life. It does mean so much when you send someone your best.

In Philippians 2:19-30 Paul talks about two individuals in his life that he wants to send to the church at Philippi. One of them we are very familiar with, and the other we might not be. Timothy and Epaphroditus are the two that Paul mentions in this text. We can see that Paul did care enough to send the very best, as today we will look at some of the things that are remarkable about them. The text reads:

“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. 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” (Phil. 2:19-30).

Paul did send his very best to the church at Philippi. There are some things we can do as Christians to be at our very best each and every day. Let us now look at the lives of Timothy and Epaphroditus to see what some of these things are.

First, Christians are at their best when they pursue others’ welfare.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that some people are only concerned about themselves. I used to play basketball, and there were players who did not want to pass the ball to others. Even recently I saw some elementary league basketball where this happened; players would avoid passing the ball because they wanted to take the shot. This happens in sports, at work, at home and in many different scenarios, because a selfish person is like this no matter what they are doing.

Timothy was not a selfish person. In fact, Paul reminds the Philippians that he would be “genuinely concerned for your welfare” (Phil. 2:20). A selfish person would not do this, and Paul knows that he’s not sending a selfish person to the Philippians. Selfish people do not seek the interests of Christ (Phil. 2:21). Timothy is a man who was seeking the things that would be in the interests of Jesus Christ, and that’s why Paul could count on him to be a liaison to the Philippians.

When Paul tells the Philippians that he has no one else like him (Phil. 2:20), we can understand how important Timothy was to Paul. Whether you want to use the term right-hand man, best friend or adopted son, Timothy was the right man for this job because of his closeness to Paul and his unselfish nature. Timothy did the things which were in the best interest of Christ. Paul couldn’t go to the Philippians at this point since he was in prison, but he knew who he wanted to send to find out some news on this great church.

One of the ways to be at our best as a Christian is being concerned about others. Examining the life of Dorcas, we can see that she was a woman who was concerned about others. She took the time to make tunics and other kinds of garments for the widows in Joppa (Acts 9:39). People don’t do that if they are only concerned about themselves. Consider the character known as the Good Samaritan who not only stopped to take care of the man who had been stripped and beaten by robbers  but also provided the innkeeper with enough money to see to his needs (Lk. 10:30ff). Selfish people don’t show concern for others like that. One of the ways to keep us from seeking our own interests is to seek first the kingdom of God (Mt. 6:33). If we have a kingdom perspective instead of a selfish perspective we will notice the needs of others around us, have conversations with them in such a way that they can tell we are interested in them, seek ways to help them and let others know that we care about their welfare. Just like Timothy, we can be at our best when we are pursuing others’ welfare.

Second, Christians are at their best when they prove their worth.

One of my former elders, Allen Tilley used to ask me if I would ever amount to anything? While he was always joking when he said it, there is implied in that statement the idea that the individual in question had not proven anything about themselves to anybody. I told Allen one time I heard on the radio the number one insult to a man was to tell him he would never amount to anything.

Timothy had indeed amounted to something. Paul told the Philippians “But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel” (Phil. 2:22). Timothy had a proven track record in the church, especially from his dealings with the apostle Paul. The Philippians were well aware of this, and there would be no questioning this statement from Paul about Timothy.

As added proof of his claim about Timothy, Paul reminds the Philippians of the relationship that he has with the young preacher. Aside from this reference to Timothy being called his son, there are also three other passages where Paul refers to Timothy as his son or child (1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2). It is very clear that there is a special relationship between these two, and evidently one of the reasons is because Timothy has proven his worth for the sake of the gospel.

One of the ways we can be at our best as a Christian is to prove ourselves. It is a great thing when we obey the gospel and commit our lives to Christ, but that is only the beginning of our Christian life. The Lord sees how you respond from that moment on, and he knows if you are living for him or living against him. You’ve heard it said before of someone that they had something to prove. We as children of God have something to prove, because we have to show others that we belong to God.

Paul discusses the outcome of sufferings when he shows what is produced in the process: “…suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rom. 5:3-4). The NASB translates the production of endurance as proven character. We prove who we are by the character that we reveal. That is how others can have proof of our worth as children of God. This is a term that was used of the testing of metals (http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/robertsons-word-pictures/philippians/philippians-2-22.html). We need to realize every day that we are alive is a chance to prove our worth. Timothy had proven his worth to the church at Philippi, and we know that one of the ways to be at our best is by proving our worth with our Christian character.

Third and finally, Christians are at their best when they perform Christ’s work.

Have you ever been around people who are allergic to work? Well, not technically allergic, but that’s our way of saying they don’t want to do it. You might remember the character played by Bob Denver on the Dobie Gillis show whose name was Maynard G. Krebs. Every time the word work was used he would repeat it in a frantic manner. It did appear that he was allergic to work. Though that was a fictional tv show, there are people in life who appear to have that same allergy. Evidently there is someone who works at the hospital who every time she hears someone say they’re sorry, she says “that’s not sorry; sorry is a man that won’t work!” Some people in life are lazy and they will not lift a finger to do anything they don’t want to do.

Paul introduces us to a man named Epaphroditus who does not have an aversion to work. In fact, he was even willing to go so far in carrying out the work of Christ that he almost died (Phil. 2:30). According to what information Paul gives in this text and what he shares later in chapter four, Epaphroditus brought a gift from the Philippians to Paul during his imprisonment. Since the Philippians had heard about his illness, Epaphroditus had become distressed (Phil. 2:26). One explanation of this situation might be that somebody told the Philippians about his illness while somebody else might have accompanied him to help him ensure the gift got to Paul (Fee 278). In other words, it seems the distress of Epaphroditus was caused by the Philippians thinking that he failed to perform this duty in getting the gift to Paul. The apostle was letting them know in the letter that it had been delivered because Epaphroditus had followed through with his task.

Because of this whole ordeal, Paul was very eager to send back Epaphroditus to the Philippians, so that he would be less anxious (Phil. 2:28). It does appear that Paul was anxious because it seems that he is defending the actions of Epaphroditus by telling them he nearly died in carrying out the work of Christ (Phil. 2:30). This kind of man is definitely worth honoring, as Paul notes in verse twenty-nine.

Though Epaphroditus is not someone that we know very well from Scripture, there is a valid lesson we can learn from him. One of the ways to be at our best is working for the Lord. We sing a song in worship often called “I Want to Be a Worker.” One of the lines in the song reveals our willingness to labor every day in God’s vineyard. This work can be done in many facets. There is preaching, teaching, meal-cooking, card-sending, phone-calling, service-working, encouraging, setting up for worship, etc. The list goes on and on as there are limitless opportunities to be a worker for the Lord.

It is a fact that Epaphroditus is not as well-known as Timothy. The only book in the Bible that includes his name is Philippians, where it is mentioned twice. His name means lovely (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/epaphroditos.html) and we can see from this passage that he was doing something lovely for Christ by risking his life in taking this gift from the Philippians to Paul in prison. We don’t have to be well-known to be a worker for God. What Epaphroditus was doing was just as important as what Timothy was doing. They were both showing how we can be at our best as Christians, and that’s why Paul wanted to send them to Philippi.

God gives us the ultimate example of sending the very best, as He sent His Son to this earth on our behalf. We know that we can’t be just like He was without sin, but He is our ultimate example in living our life each day. Paul told the church at Corinth “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). We know that Paul gave his best for Christ, but when he wrote the letter to the church at Philippi he was in prison and couldn’t come to them. Therefore, he sent them two of the best examples he could in Timothy and Epaphroditus. With what Paul wrote about them in our text, we learn what happens when Christians are at their best. We are at our best when we pursue others’ welfare, when we prove our worth and when we perform Christ’s work. The next time you feel like you aren’t giving your best for Christ, go and look on the back of a Hallmark Card. When you care enough to send the very best, you’ll show it by your actions.