Today's reading is concerned with the relationships between two people and one Christian community.
Paul founded the church in Philippi on one of his journeys around AD 50. Since the city lacked a Jewish synagogue, Paul began his preaching at a 'prayer place' by the River Crenides. From its earliest days, the Church in Philippi was one which gave Paul the fewest problems and the least cause for worry - they were the jewel in his crown. Women seemed to have played a leading role in the community from the start, and personal names appearing in the letters suggests that the community make-up was predominantly Gentile.
The middle part of the name of our hero in today's story almost certainly means that he came from a family which had traditionally followed the cult of the goddess Aphrodite. Epaphroditus would have been a convert to the Christian Judaism which Paul taught and, it seems, was a very devout and devoted servant of his community.
At the time of writing, Paul - an habitual jailbird! - was spending one of his many and varied sessions in prison somewhere in the ancient world. We don't know where Paul was! There is a major debate among scholars about whether Paul was in Ephesus or Rome when the story we heard today takes place. The church in Philippi heard that Paul was going through hard times and was in need of practical and financial support and needed someone to visit him in prison to offer much-needed encouragement.
If Paul was in Ephesus, the journey could have been almost a weekend round trip. If Paul was in Rome that journey was a major undertaking with many dangers.
The scholars who believe Paul was in prison in Ephesus argue that the Church in Philippi would have been quite reluctant to send one of its members a great distance to Rome but was quite likely to send someone the much more modest distance to Ephesus. They also argue that the teaching content in the letter relates much more closely to the kind of things Paul was writing and preaching during his time in Ephesus.
Scholars who argue that Paul was in Rome argue that the fact that Epaphroditus was seriously homesick proves that the journey must have been substantial and the time away from home equally demanding. They also point out that Paul's references elsewhere in his letter to the Roman Praetorium would rule out Ephesus as a location, as the City did not have sufficient status for such an institution at the time.
Wherever Paul was, - and for the sake of argument let's settle on Rome - the church in Philippi decided to send Epaphroditus as their messenger to provide financial support and also practical help to Paul.
Then something went wrong. We don't have the details; we only hear about it after the event. Something caused Epaphroditus to become so seriously ill that he nearly died.
Rome often suffered from an epidemic known as a 'Rome Fever'. Today this is thought to be a kind of malaria. Could this be what brought Epaphroditus close to death?
Another view is that the sheer effort of the journey from Philippi to Rome caused Epaphroditus to fall ill during the journey, and that he nearly died because he insisted on completing his journey rather than turn back.
And yet another view is that Epaphroditus worked so hard to sustain Paul's mission while Paul was in prison that he simply burnt himself out. There can be no doubt that Epaphroditus was certainly brave. Anyone acting as the personal attendant of a man waiting for trial on a capital charge in ancient Rome was at considerable risk of becoming implicated in the same charge. The stress and fear of such a task must have been tremendous.
So now, Paul has a problem. Epaphroditus's health is broken and he needs to convalesce. Word has reached Paul and Epaphroditus that the church in Philippi is aware of Epaphroditus's illness and is worried about him. Epaphroditus is desperately homesick but feels guilty that he is causing so much worry at home, and he also believes that his community in Philippi will think he has failed in his mission and has let Paul down. And deep down Epaphroditus probably does feel that he has let Paul down - and Paul will surely be aware of Epaphroditus's feelings of failure. Equally, Paul realises he dare not risk keeping Epaphroditus as his helper in case his health fails him again with potentially fatal results. Paul has no real choice but to send Epaphroditus back to Philippi; and he writes a letter to the church telling them that they should honour Epaphroditus for what he tried to do.
Through nobody's fault, the best intentions of the Philippian Christians have ended up in a mess. And Epaphroditus is now beset by those nagging doubts: "What must they think of me? Would it have been better if I had never come? When my church asked me to do this, should I have said 'no'"
This, I think, is where the story becomes very contemporary and relevant to ourselves; because sometimes, through nobody's fault, the plans and intentions of every Christian community - including this one here in Manchester - end up in a mess, and will do so again. Some random event from the outside world - such as a bout of illness, a bereavement, a redundancy, a conflict, or some other sudden lack of capacity and resources - will cut right across our plans and, as Paul did, we just have to say, 'It's time to stop and reassess where we are and where we're going; we can't carry on down this path'.
The challenge to us is to recognise that it's alright, on those occasions, to step back from our burdens and workload in order to convalesce, to regain our health and energies and become whole again.
Our work as disciples does not call us to reach burn-out for Jesus: we are not expected to battle on until we stare death in the face. And if we do reach that stage, then there is probably something else going on which springs more from pride and stubbornness and the fear of 'what they will think of me', rather than the service and perseverance to which an effective disciple is called.
Perhaps we ought to be bold and say that if Epaphroditus drove himself to exhaustion and ignored his other options to maintain his health and wellbeing, in the belief that this was the kind of sacrifice that was called for, he got it wrong. And if ever we follow the same destructive path, we also get it wrong.
Paul could be proud and stubborn and drove himself to extremes - but in his dealings with Epaphroditus, when he truly understood the situation, he was supportive, loving and deeply caring. Perhaps we all have a tendency to recognise when someone else is driving themselves too hard, but we don't always notice the burn-out, exhaustion or health crises which are staring us in the face.
We live in a world of random risk. We know from our own experience, as well as from today's story that sometimes things will go wrong, and it won't be anybody's fault. And just as Epaphroditus listened to the wise words of Paul and accepted his guidance, so perhaps we need to listen more closely for the loving words of Jesus when he says to us: 'Stop now. Let's have no talk of failure: I truly value the service you have given, and your community should honour what you have done; don't be worried about what they may think of you. But you can do no more for the present. I'm sending you home for a while to recover your wholeness of life once again.'
Amen
(Philip
Jones)
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.