00:00:00:30 – 00:00:21:18
Clint Loveall
Hey, everybody. Thanks for joining us. Great to have you with us. As we continue through Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. We’re in the second chapter today. Kind of wrapping up that chapter, verse 19. I, I’m not I’m not exactly sure if you had to label this section. My God. I don’t know exactly what you call it.

00:00:21:18 – 00:00:43:18
Clint Loveall
Sort of some personal correspondence. I, I don’t know how devotional this reading is, though. I think some of it is interesting. Let me read, just quickly through the end of the chapter. We’ll come back and we’ll we’ll kind of see what we can find in it. I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered on by news of you.

00:00:43:22 – 00:01:10:03
Clint Loveall
I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. All of them are seeking their own interest, not those of Jesus Christ. But Timothy’s worth. You know how like a son with a father, he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him to you soon and see how things so as I see how things go with me, and I trust in the Lord that I will also come soon.

00:01:10:08 – 00:01:35:08
Clint Loveall
Still, I think it’s necessary to send to you a part for Titus, my brother and coworker and fellow soldier, your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for all of you, and has been distressed because he heard you heard that he was ill. Indeed, he was so ill that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another.

00:01:35:13 – 00:01:55:46
Clint Loveall
I am the more eager to send him. Therefore, in order that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious, welcome him in the Lord with all joy and honor. Such people, because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me.

00:01:55:48 – 00:02:26:31
Clint Loveall
Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. So you may know this, but Paul, of course, is not on his own as he does his work as he does his ministry to churches. He has a system of people who are helping him. Among them we have two here named Timothy and a perfidious Timothy. We we know more about because Timothy gets a couple of books that are letters addressed to him that we have in the New Testament, a Paradise.

00:02:26:33 – 00:02:49:36
Clint Loveall
This is mentioned, though we know a little less about him. In this case, I think what’s interesting is that both of these men seem to be in in good relationship with the church, maybe particularly Epaphroditus. They are evidently with Paul, or at least close enough to Paul that he could send them to that church as an encouragement.

00:02:49:40 – 00:03:25:12
Clint Loveall
I think on the plus side, Michael, there’s the idea of positive relationships here, that there is this business, this kind of a look behind the scenes at the church and behind the idea of issues in theology after relationships, particularly with the path for Titus, since evidently he was very ill and, and, near death, it seems. And so the idea that Paul is aware of these connections and wants to bless the church by sending him and by, you know, praising both of these men.

00:03:25:17 – 00:03:45:27
Clint Loveall
Again, I nobody’s going to read this probably as a devotional passage, but anybody in the church, I think, can appreciate the connectedness of friendships and connection with other Christians in other places, and the encouragement of getting good news from people and getting an opportunity to be together.

00:03:45:32 – 00:04:15:21
Michael Gewecke
I think that this is a opportunity to explore maybe a different side of biblical study than what we often travel here, because changes like this in the New Testament specifically, but it’s also true in the Old Testament, often become the ground upon which scholars will dig in and they will start to pull things apart. And this is a really good example of a time where you end with this.

00:04:15:21 – 00:04:35:53
Michael Gewecke
In 1718 year old Paul says, I’m being poured out. I’m glad. Rejoice with all of you in the same way. Be glad, rejoice with me, and then boom! Hope to send Timothy to you soon. You know, a lot of scholars will talk about moments like this seemingly disjunctive turns in the text and say, well, look, this is an example that this isn’t just one letter.

00:04:36:07 – 00:05:06:05
Michael Gewecke
You know, there’s things, there’s other letters combined into it, and that gets into what they call textual criticism, where they try to break apart. Back. If we had the original papers, you know, what would they have exactly look like? That’s a conversation that always happens. And and then also, though, there’s always a conversation that happens on the other side to say, yeah, but before we jump to speculation, before we throw our way, then I was saying that by definition, we can’t know.

00:05:06:05 – 00:05:27:36
Michael Gewecke
We don’t have those first papers. What can we know? Well, we know that we have this amazing discourse, this language about what it looks like to live out the faith. And if you were with us for the study yesterday and then the day before, this is an incredibly poetic, lofty moment in the book of Philippians. And suddenly it just turns to, I want to send Timothy to you.

00:05:27:36 – 00:06:01:13
Michael Gewecke
I hope to also send a path for Titus, and I want to submit to you. But let’s not rush forward and just assume that these things are doing different things. I want to submit to you when Paul talks about being of one mind, when Paul talks about this idea of being stars in the world as we have up here in verse 15, I want to submit to you that we should read this coming passage that we have today about these two fellow coworkers, and I think we should see gospel in that.

00:06:01:13 – 00:06:27:55
Michael Gewecke
I think Paul is offering to a community in Philippi examples of what he was saying, that they would have known that that in the case of our time for Titus, they knew incredibly well. And when they received this letter, this wouldn’t have needed any interpretation. They wouldn’t have needed help knowing who Timothy was, and they wouldn’t have to use their imagination to explore who.

00:06:27:55 – 00:06:52:30
Michael Gewecke
Apparently this might be. But Clint, if you go with me there and say that these men are examples, living examples in the actual community of Philippi who they can relate to have what Paul’s talking about. I do think this passage, though, it doesn’t resonate with us because we don’t know these two men like they did. We’ve all had people in our lives who have been that kind of person for us, who have showed us the faith in that kind of way.

00:06:52:39 – 00:07:02:47
Michael Gewecke
We wouldn’t need an introduction for them. And yet we could know, see and speak to the ways that they represent the best of the faith. I think that there’s something of that in this text.

00:07:02:51 – 00:07:39:27
Clint Loveall
I think if if you’ve ever I mean, you and I are privileged to interact with a lot of great people. I have kids now who are well into adulthood that I had in youth group as a youth pastor so many years ago, and on the odd occasion that I have an opportunity to run into them and hear their stories and, or just, you know, those connections, so much of what we understand about the gospel we get from other people, we get from relationships.

00:07:39:32 – 00:08:06:34
Clint Loveall
And keep in mind that this is happening at a time where they don’t have benefit of the New Testament. They yeah, they are literally learning the faith from the teaching of these special people, these connections that they have. And I think this is a celebration of that. I will say it’s a little bit odd where it drops in the letter, and there are scholars that guess maybe there were a couple letters that got pushed together.

00:08:06:34 – 00:08:29:26
Clint Loveall
Maybe at some point this was the end of a letter that went to Philippi. I, I don’t know enough about those arguments to say yes or no. It seems odd that he would say, finally, my brothers and sisters, but whether or not that’s the case, I don’t think it undermines the idea of the relationship and the blessing that they are.

00:08:29:31 – 00:09:21:16
Clint Loveall
And that takes me to what I think is a fascinating line in this text, Michael. And that’s verse 21 where Paul says, all of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. Clearly, the relationships that Paul has in a circle are not all great. And just as he celebrates the faith and the work of these two men that he honors and and lifts up, he makes passing mention to some others where those relationships have not gone well, where that’s been painful, and where, at least through Paul’s eyes, they have chosen a different path and pursued their own agenda.

00:09:21:16 – 00:09:49:58
Clint Loveall
And, you know, that’s a much less fun part of the story. It’s a much harder part of all of our stories, where ties have been cut off rather than maintained and reunited. But Paul’s doing both of those things, and not only that, but Paul has been through this period with a partner died this where it looked like he might not survive.

00:09:49:58 – 00:10:13:21
Clint Loveall
So not only is there a celebration of relationship here, I think there’s just a broad picture of the kind of things that happen in life for us and for Paul that he had to navigate. Some of it is wonderful. And he he lifts it up in praise and gratitude and others of it is is difficult and he has to deal with it.

00:10:13:21 – 00:10:18:51
Clint Loveall
And there’s just there’s something very true to life about this kind of passage.

00:10:18:55 – 00:10:43:21
Michael Gewecke
I think it’s encouraging, Clint. It is really helpful perspective that we don’t glorify the early church as if it was a perfect time. I think we all want to do that sometimes. I think all of us want the vision that there was a moment in time that was perfect, where it was all put together, where Christians got it.

00:10:43:21 – 00:11:09:16
Michael Gewecke
When Paul himself was writing the book of Romans and everyone received it, and they understood the treasure it was, and they agreed with it. When you read this letter, when you read all of the Pauline letters, when you read acts, you see very clearly that the church was constantly searching for discernment of what God wanted them to do, and it was not clear to them.

00:11:09:16 – 00:11:28:36
Michael Gewecke
At many turns. There were moments in which debate happened and resolution came, and then the church moved forward confidently in that revelation. But this is a really good example, and I think when we get to it won’t be tomorrow, but the next day. But when we get to the next section of this text, I just want to be clear.

00:11:28:40 – 00:11:52:45
Michael Gewecke
I think it’s even sharper of a transition. When you get words like beware of the dogs, which is just coming around the corner here, I think here we have Timothy in a heart for us who represent the people who get it, the Christians who are giving themselves up, who are being faithful. Paradise was literally willing to give his life for the sake of the gospel that is sort of the subtext happening here today.

00:11:52:49 – 00:12:16:31
Michael Gewecke
And so these men represent what Christians are called to be. And and they don’t represent it. And, imaginary form for the Philippians, these are real people who were well known and loved. Right. And then Paul’s going to move on and point out that there’s real conflict and there’s real opponents. And Paul really, truly believes that their interest is not the proclamation of the gospel.

00:12:16:31 – 00:12:54:18
Michael Gewecke
Their interest is self-gain self-preservation, the acquisition of power. What whatever the exact combination of that formula was. It’s comforting to me, Clint, because what that means is when I look at the world in which we live in, and I see those same forces at work, certainly in pastors and leaders of churches and denominations, when you see churches that struggle to follow the center of the gospel, to know that Jesus Christ needs to be held at the center of our lives, and that that’s going to cost us something as we seek to be humble as he was humble, Clint, we’re not the only people in time who have struggled to do that work.

00:12:54:18 – 00:13:19:10
Michael Gewecke
We’re not the only people who have sought for discernment, looked for the people who could be our models and our, inspiration and and so therefore, we see in our own scriptures, I think, a kind of permission to see that God does work through flawed human people and institutions. And that’s the way God has always worked. And there’s something encouraging to me in that.

00:13:19:10 – 00:14:00:25
Clint Loveall
Sure, faith is wonderful. Life is wonderful, relationships are wonderful, church is wonderful, but they’re not easy and they have to be navigated. And that was as true for Paul and the church in Philippi as it remains for us. And so, again, not I don’t suspect this is a passage that people write dissertations on and probably doesn’t get studied or preached a lot, but there is something uniquely human and I think thought provoking in this from a standpoint of relationships and connections within the church and how it is that we navigate them.

00:14:00:25 – 00:14:04:54
Clint Loveall
And so, hopefully there’s been something here that you all could pick up on.

00:14:04:58 – 00:14:20:15
Michael Gewecke
Certainly glad that you’d have us here, today, that we could be in this conversation with you if it’s been helpful for you. We hope it’s connect you to that early church in Philippi. If so, give the video a like if it helps others find it their own studies do subscribe so you don’t miss more studies like this one.

00:14:20:15 – 00:14:22:24
Michael Gewecke
And we will see you all on Thursday.