Heroes of the Faith
Sermon Summary
24 Sept 2000
Reading - Phil.2:19-30
With the Olympics well & truly in swing, talk of heroes abounds. Athletes sparking of one another, audiences in Aust. & around the world inspired by champions efforts to seek gold. However, hero worship is a fickle thing. Currently in USA, NBC television ratings are down around the 14 mark instead of the anticipated 18 due to 3 things
- Wrong time of the year – ie. there are many other competing sports events ocurring this time of the year.
- Geographical distance from the States & the consequent 14 hour time lag – ie. people have to sit up late at night to see events live.
- U.S.A athletes are not doing as well as some may have anticipated.
In Australia, one can’t but help to feel for people passing out of the limelight eg. Kawolski, Lewis, perhaps O’Neil if she retires etc. The limelight comes and goes so quickly. If you are going to be a hero, it is better to be a hero with regard to eternal things, not passing and fickle worldly popularity.
In the Phil. 2:19-30 passage, there are at least 3 heroes – people that should inspire and enthuse, motivate and prompt personal evaluation & rededication to things that count.
- Paul – in prison for the faith, not resentful & self-absorbed, concerned enough for the Philippians to send his highly appreciated friend & co-labourer Timothy to them. A man with a proven track record of self-sacrifice & deep abiding commitment to Christ, the church, and the spread of the gospel.
- Timothy – a young man who joined Paul & Silas on Paul’s second missionary journey, & had been with Paul ever since. Paul says of him in this passage that, ‘I have no one like him’, ‘he takes a genuine interest in the Philippian Christians’, ‘he looks out for Christ’s interests’, ‘he proved himself working with me’.
- Epaphroditus – an esteemed member of the Philippian church. Travelled the many miles to Rome with a commission to serve Paul. A man who almost died for the work of Christ, whom Paul says is ‘his brother, fellow-worker, fellow-soldier’, and is to be received with joy & honoured, like all others like him!
These are heroes that we should honour. Heroes who have not vied for Olympic gold, but for things eternal! However it is important to be stimulated by them, and others like them, not be over-awed by them. The truth is that you too could be a hero like them also. You see they were not chosen by God because they were heroes, but they became heroes because they were willing to be used by God. They were willing to be people fit for the Master’s use!
- Bible Heroes Are People Just Like You & I: eg. Jas.5:17-18 ‘Elijah was a man just like us.’; Acts.4:13 Peter & John were ‘unschooled ordinary men. It is God who did the extraordinary in them and through them! The truth is that it is ordinary people who God best works through 1Cor.1:26-31
- God uses ordinary people willing to put Christ’s interests first & foremost in their lives, just like the three heroes in this passage eg. There can be no doubt that Paul, Timothy, & Epaphroditus put God’s interests first in their lives. Paul exhorted the Phil. to do this 2:3,4. Doing this means that one has the attitude of Christ, the mind of a servant 2:5-11 cf. Matt. 20:27,28 ‘he who wants to be the greatest must be a servant..’ Unfortunately, too often we want to be served rather than serve. We are too easily consumed with our own interests, not those of others, & least of all, Christs!
- A servant is called to adjust their life to fulfill their Master’s concerns, not vice versa. God calls ordinary people to be willing to adjust their lives to His demands, not ordinary people who want Him to adjust His call on them to suit their lives! One of the greatest tests of our commitment to Christ is the degree to which we change our program, or routine, or our life to spend with him, care for others, and participate in the Church’s mission.. Where we require Christ, the church, other’s needs to fit around our lives, we have a clear indication of a deeper problem. You cannot go on with God & stay the same!
- God calls all to be heroes, but not all are willing to be heroes. Rom.12:1,2; 1Cor.3:1-3. We need to want God-sized attitudes and actions, not just human-sized ones! We need to live beyond our own resources & limitations!
Conclusion:
Timothy, Paul, Epaphroditus and others like them went to extraordinary lengths to fulfil God’s call on their lives, not because they were great, but because they were ordinary people fully committed to God. Therefore God could do great things through them.
God also wants to do significant things through you. If you don’t think that God can do anything significant through you, it says more about your belief in God than you have said about yourself; if you don’t want him to do significant things in & through you, then it also says much about God’s right to be your Lord. The truth is he is able to do anything He pleases with one ordinary person fully committed or consecrated to him. If you are willing to put Christ’s interests above your own, and adjust your life to suit him, instead of the other way around, God will do significant things through you. If further chapters of Acts were ever recorded, you could be in them – Timothy, Paul, Ephaproditus, and you!
Olympic gold is a great achievement, but ‘gold’ for God is really the only worthwhile achievement Use this Olympic period to face the fact that God wants you to be a hero for him, and recommit yourself to His interests as being first, not your own.
Blessings