Page 40 - Living Light - A Message of Joy!

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Friday January 12 - The very human Epaphroditus
He longs for you all...indeed, he was ill and almost died. Philippians 2:26-27
Paul's commendation of Epaphroditus takes an unexpected turn. We might have thought him an ideal messenger from Philippi, free from any personal problems. But not so – Paul’s strong language suggests that Epaphroditus was physically weak, and even people back home began to question whether he was the right messenger after all.
In Rome, Epaphroditus fell ill. We’re not told what the problem was. It could have been the arduous journey, or the notorious Roman fever that had got to him. Whichever, it was almost terminal. His reaction was understandably human – he was homesick! Faced with illness, he wanted to go home. The tongues may have wagged in Philippi: “We knew he wasn't up to it”, “Why does he want to give up?”,”Where’s his backbone and perseverance?” Perhaps it was to counter this that Paul says such positive things about him.
There’s lots to consider here. The Philippians sent him to care for Paul, but were perhaps lacking in care for their own. Are we sometimes too quick to judge when people seem to fail? And why does Paul not say he prayed for healing? He seems to accept sickness and even death as part of life, even for God’s servants. Are we sometimes too presumptuous in praying for healing, rather than remembering that death is conquered by the resurrection? What an insight into ordinary church life!
Gracious God, forgive us when we’re too quick to judge others and when we put our own ideas before your greater plan for us. Amen.
Saturday January 13 - A risk-taker for God
...he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life... Philippians 2:30
Today, health and safety laws are aimed at minimising risks, if not eliminating them altogether. We live in a very protective society. The ancient world enjoyed no such luxury. Life was often perilous, with people routinely facing threats caused both by nature and by humans. Risk was part of life. What made Epaphroditus different was that he seems to have deliberately embraced risk ‘for the work of Christ’. Rather than remaining in his relatively safe home environment, he made the journey to Rome and associated himself with an imperial prisoner, Paul, in order to carry out a mission on behalf of his church. Risk wasn’t an inevitable fact of life for him; it was a deliberate choice to live dangerously, just as his Lord had done.
Infected by our culture, our Christian faith often seems risk-averse and too comfortable. May God raise up another generation of adventurous people ready to serve him without regard to their own ease and convenience! But be careful in praying this, as you may discover you’re the answer to your own prayer! But what sense it makes. As Jim Elliot, a childhood hero of mine, who was martyred in 1956 at the age of 26 when taking the gospel to the Auca people of Ecuador, wrote in his diary, ‘He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.’
A final word: Epaphroditus almost died, ‘but God had mercy on him’ (v 27) and he lived to continue serving.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, please make me a risk-taker for you. Amen.