7) Identity and Epaphroditus

Identity and Epaphroditus (click the arrow to listen)

I thought it good to look at another person mentioned in Philippians. He came from Philippi and became a messenger of that church who liaised with Paul on his travels. There is not a great deal of information about him, but what there is does give us an insight into what made him tick:

But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, 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 2:25-30)

tough

What we learn of him here is his total devotion to the Philippian Church and to Paul as he journeyed as their servant. We do not appreciate the risks and dangers taken in the first century by those who travelled across land and sea. Paul does mention some he himself encountered:

I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. (2 Corinthians 11:26-27)

Travelling was tough; it was not suited to those with a weak constitution. It has only been in the last 200 years or so that travelling has become somewhat safer and more comfortable. For most people in the first century, it would have meant travelling on foot.

I am always amazed at the toughness of people in the past. In the 18^th century, John Wesley remarked in his journal that he lay down to sleep in the open quite often. One day he remarked that before he set off on his horse, he had to shake all the frost from his clothes! Even more to the point, as we think about Epaphroditus risking his life, was the experience of one of John Wesley’s itinerant preachers. They had a rule never to be late for a service. One man was expected at a remote place in the Mid-West of America. He had been unexpectedly delayed and because of their rule, decided to take a dangerous shortcut. It meant crossing a swollen river and tragically he was drowned in the attempt.

risk

As we read above, Epaphroditus risked his life to travel to Paul and fulfil the tasks given him. We do not know the exact circumstances which meant he was sick. He may have encountered one of the dangerous situations which Paul mentions from his travels. It may be simply that he became dangerously ill due to travelling hardships. Later in the letter we read:

Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:17-19)

Epaphroditus was carrying money for Paul. Clearly, if thieves became aware of the purpose of his journey, then he would have been a target for their predations.

We learn from the story of the Good Samaritan what happens when travellers encountered thieves in the first century:

Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half-dead. (Luke 10:30)

Epdaphroditus may have suffered in that way; although given that he managed to deliver the gift to Paul, it was possibly just sickness which laid him low.

faithful

If you have been following this series, you will realise that I am developing an understanding of our true spiritual identity as servants. There can be no greater testimony to being a faithful servant than being prepared to risk one’s life in that service. Again, in our Western cultures, this is not something we can easily understand. In fact, one of the aims of ‘risk assessment’ in church life is to prevent people from encountering any risk at all. The nearest I ever came to a serious risk was confronting an angry man wielding a 2-foot tent peg; he was determined to attack someone who had upset him and I was the first to notice and get in his way.

A more subtle aspect of his faithful identity as a servant was the fact that he could be entrusted with a significant sum of money. He could easily have disappeared with it to some remote place to begin a new life. It was never going to be a problematic temptation for someone whose identity was cemented as a servant of all to the degree that he would risk his life in that service.