Philippians 2:25-30 Silent Heroes

Philippians 2:25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. 26 For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. 27 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. 

28 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. 29 Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, 30 because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.

Silent heroes.... don'tcha love these guys?   I have this great fondness for these saints who are so briefly mentioned in Scripture that we usually miss them.  

Paul is in prison in Rome at the time of this writing, and the Philippians, dealing with their own persecution, sent Epaphroditus to care for Paul's needs. The selfless care their mentor modeled, they now demonstrate.   I'm not sure, but I'll betcha 2 gelatos that this guy wasn't hopping on a flight with Delta to get there.   I'm looking at the map and shaking my head.... 800 miles if you walked directly west and crossed the Adriatic Sea in between.  *Heavy sigh.  

If my husband parks far away, I joke: "That's ok, I can take a cab from here". If I leave town without GPS on my phone, you won't see me for days.  But this guy?... no car, no phone, no Chick-Fil-A ... even when he's sick. 

Epaphroditus gets there and he is almost to the point of death.  I am sure that a trek like that would involve some serious physical sacrifice just to minister to Paul's needs and bring the gift from the Philippians.  Instead of taking care of himself, he is worried about Paul. Ugh... I feel this need to make him a pot of Pasta Fagioli, except I'm a few hundred years too late. I wish I could ask him about it.. maybe one day.

   

I've had the honor of knowing some silent heroes like this... living with devastating loss, shattered dreams, thinking they'd be relaxing at this stage of life and instead raising their grandkids, and some carrying burdens that would snap me in two.  Yet they pour out anything that's left to care for others... mind-boggling and inspiring... it is so clearly Christ on display. I wanna be like that when I 'grow up'.  Silent heroes.  Right there in our midst and we don't even know it.  We judge by the outside and don't make time to know what's inside, and so we miss God's glory on display in them.

We see it again - the best leaders are those who are willing to humbly minister to the needs of others, even while struggling themselves. Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus were either sharing the gospel or pouring into others in the body of Christ.  

"Epaphroditus".... his name shows up twice in all of Scripture and only in the book of Philippians.... the words are few, but the lesson is profound.   #goalsgoalsgoals