Look not only to your own interests.

I've been asked to preach another sermon.  Nothing surprising there I suppose, but the passage is a little more difficult than usual.  Its from Paul's letter to the Philippians, Chapter 2 and the last dozen verses.  Paul is telling his Philippian readers that fairly soon he will be sending his trusted friend Timothy to see them, so that he (Paul) may have first hand news of how they're getting along, and be encouraged thereby.  But first, immediately, Paul is sending back their own man Epaphroditus, (probably the one who carried Paul's letter to the Philippians), because Epaphroditus, in Paul's words "longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill". 

But Paul doesn't then move on to other topics, rather, he urges them to welcome Epahroditus and adds a remarkable commendation; "Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ".

Imagine being commended by perhaps the greatest hero of the Christian Faith. Imagine having the approval of the mighty Apostle and have him say of you 'honor men like him'.  But Paul is only doing what Jesus did.  Jesus called his disciples 'friends', and when he spoke of Saints long dead, he didn't call them by their failures, indeed he doesn't really name their failures, for example Jonah is not called Jonah the Nationalist or Jonah the Racist, but Jonah's preaching is compared to the Saviour's own preaching.

So one question is, how do we view one another ?  Do we see each other's labour for Christ, or do we see each others faults and failures, and build hierarchies of value among the people of God ?

And of course, Paul's commendation of Timothy and Epaphroditus serves to illustrate not only their relationship with the Apostle and the esteem he held them in, but exemplifies the principle he has laid out earlier in the letter ; "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus..."

Now, to preach that without sinking into mere 'thou shalt' moralising, that is my difficulty.