Alba 9-3-2023
FAITHFUL IN THE LORD'S WORK
Ephesians 6:21-22
Tomorrow is Labor Day. The history of this day goes back to 1882, when a union leader named McGuire suggested a national holiday to honor the country’s working people. In September of that same year, workers staged the first Labor Day parade in New York City.
Organized labor then campaigned to make the day a national holiday. President Grover Cleveland signed a bill making Labor Day a national holiday in the United States in 1894.
Ever since then we have set aside this weekend as a national tribute to the contributions that laborers have made to our country’s strength. There is also another day dedicated to workers called “Take our daughters and sons to work day.” Next year it will be on April 25th.
I read a story of a father who took his daughter to work one day. His daughter seemed excited to meet each co-worker. On the way home, however, she seemed sad. “Didn’t you have a nice time?” her dad asked. “Well, it was okay,” Amy responded. “But I thought it would be more like a circus.”
Her dad was confused and asked, “What do you mean?” She said, “Well, you said you work with a bunch of clowns, and I never got to see them!”
Work is an honorable endeavor. God is a worker. That’s how He first reveals Himself in Scripture. Genesis 1:1 states that God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 2:2 calls this activity “work”: “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.”
And God didn’t stop working after creation. In John 5:17, Jesus declared, “My father is working until now, and I am working.” Jesus kept working until on the cross He was able to say, “It is finished.” He completed the work of salvation so that our sins could be forgiven by His sacrifice.
And then, before ascending up to heaven, He gave us the command in Mark 16:15-16, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
So, while the work of bringing salvation to the world was completed in Jesus by His death, burial and resurrection, there is a work that continues to this day. In Ephesians 6:20 the apostle Paul calls himself an ambassador of the Lord to make known the gospel.
And in 1 Corinthians 3:9 he says, “For we are God’s fellow workers.” The continuing work that God has given to His people is to make known that only in Jesus do, “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” (Ephesians 1:7)
And also that God is, “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9) This is the work that the Lord has given to the church. The job is ours. The apostle Peter tells us in I Peter 2:9 that we, “are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that (we) may proclaim the praises of Him who called (us) out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
In Ephesians 6:21-22 we are introduced to a man who was that kind of worker for the Lord. His name is Tychicus. The apostle Paul wrote; “But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts.”
Notice, Tychicus is called a “faithful minister” in the Lord. The New Century Version of the Bible says he is, “a faithful servant of the Lord’s work.” The New Life Version calls him “a faithful preacher.” And the New Living Translation says he is, “a beloved brother and faithful helper in the Lord’s work.”
While Tychicus does not share the familiarity of name such as Timothy or Titus, Tychicus has been mentioned five times in scripture. Each time it refers in some way to the work he is doing for the Lord.
In the case of this letter to the Ephesian church, it is obvious that he delivered the letter himself. There was no postal service in those days. Letters were carried by trusted people from the writer to the intended receiver. In fact, Tychicus not only delivered this letter, but also at least two others.
One was to the church in Colossae. And the other was to a man in that church whose name was Philemon. We have both of those letters as well as this one to the Ephesians.
Think about it. If Tichicus had not done the work of carrying and delivering those letters, we would not have that part of the New Testament. And the beauty of this letter would not have been available for the study we have given it since this past January.
But there was a personal side to this as well. Tychicus was to share with the congregation information about the apostle Paul. Paul wanted to “comfort” the hearts of the people who were concerned about him.
While it may be true sometimes that no news is good news, there are times we really want to know how are loved ones are doing. Without that information we tend to imagine all sorts of things. But with that information we can either relax knowing that all is alright, or we can know specifically for what we should pray.
Tychicus would comfort the hearts of the people in Ephesus.
Paul had every reason to entrust this responsibility to Tychicus, because he was always a worker for the Lord. He had a willingness to do whatever was necessary. Paul even called him, “a beloved brother.” That is a high complement.
The “brother” part is understandable. It is a reference to someone who is a fellow Christian. In Christ, we are brothers and sisters in the family of God. We have a Heavenly Father who loves us, cares for us, and watches over us.
The Bible says that when we are Christians, we are doubly made part of the family. Jesus said that we must be born of the water and Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:5). This birth is, “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:13)
This new birth takes place when we, in faith, repent of our sins and are baptized into Christ. Acts 2:38 says, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
But, if there is any question as to whether we are then in God's family, Romans 8:14-16 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
So not only does God take us into His family by giving us new birth, He also completes it by adopting us! So if you are in Christ, you should have no doubt about whether or not you are part of God's family.
God has made all this possible though Jesus Christ who, by His death on the cross, took down all the barriers our sins created. By our submission to the Lord in faithful obedience, we become brothers and sisters in an eternal family.
We may not be able to choose into which family we are physically born. But we can choose to be part of the family of God, “who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). No better choice could be made. And the work we are called to do is to help others join the family.
Notice, Tychicus is not just called a brother, he is called a “beloved” brother. The truth is, that even in the family of God there are times we deal with someone who is not the most loved among us. We have to be careful here, because that person who is the most difficult to deal with, may not be somebody else. It just might be our own self!
But isn't it wonderful to know a beloved brother or sister in the Lord? One in whom the Lord shines through in so many ways? Isn't that what each of would desire to be?
Think about that word, “beloved”. Where have you heard that before in scripture? Well one place for sure is in Matthew 3:17. When Jesus fulfilled all righteousness being baptized in the Jordan River by John, there was a voice from heaven that filled the air saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
And it happened again when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain and Moses and Elijah appeared with Him. Peter thought it would be a great idea to erect a tabernacle for each of them. But God made it clear that only one deserved that honor saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Luke 9:36).
In that context, one might think that “beloved” is such a sacred term it could only be used for Jesus, God's only begotten Son. But we see in scripture that it is also applied to those who are in Christ.
In II Peter 3:13-14 Peter writes to a group of Christians saying, “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.”
The “beloved” in Christ are to be “diligent” because, “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Let's go back to the word “faithful”. You see, in Christ, we all are called to be faithful. That is another word that Paul used to describe Tychicus, a “faithful minister”. And other translations have it, a “faithful worker”.
“Faithful.” What we see in the times that Tychicus is mentioned in the Bible is that whenever there was a need that had to be filled by someone that you could trust to accomplish what was necessary, Tychicus came to mind.
There is no book in the Bible by his name, but that seems to be because, as I said, he was entrusted to be the carrier, not the recipient of the inspired words. When the apostle Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the one who could faithfully deliver the letters was Tychicus.
Also in Acts 20:4, Tychicus is listed among the faithful men who were trusted to accompany Paul as he took the money that had been raised from other churches for the poor Christians in Jerusalem.
And when Paul, from his second imprisonment in Rome, wrote asking Timothy, who was in Ephesus, to come to him and bring his cloak and parchments, it was Tychicus that Paul sent to Ephesus to take Timothy's place. (II Timothy 4:12)
It is apparent that Paul knew that Tychicus would faithfully carry on the work of the church there.
When Paul says Tychicus was faithful, it refers to his ability to persevere through anything. No matter what barrier, no matter what temptation, no matter what feelings he had… He was faithful.
And the accounts that are given in scripture certainly bear that out. Tychicus was a faithful friend to Paul for at least 13 years, maybe even more. He stayed by Paul’s side even when that was not an easy thing to do.
He didn’t leave Paul when he was warned about the trouble that would come in Jerusalem. He didn’t leave Paul when Paul was imprisoned. And he didn’t desert Paul even when many others did at the end of Paul’s life.
Tychicus was faithful to Paul, and in his work for the Lord. Listen to that word as I repeat it slowly. FAITH… FULL. Tychicus was FULL of FAITH. In order to be truly faithful, one needs to be full of faith.
When we mention the heroes of the faith, the name of Tychicus is not normally one that first comes to mind. Will Rogers once said: “We can’t all be heroes, because somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by.”
If by heroes, Will Rogers means those who are considered to be heroes by the general public, then I guess he has a point. We all need those people who will encourage us.
But I would suggest to you that Tychicus was indeed a hero of the faith, and that all of us can be heroes, too, if we are faithful.
We have a lot of people in this church who are heroes because of their faithfulness. They’re the kind of people who stick with this body through thick and thin. They come and worship with all their heart.
They’re the people who tell you that they will pray for you, and then they do it – every single time. May we all be people like Tychicus who was a beloved brother and faithful minister in the work of the Lord.
Because as Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV) says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
For a Christian, every day is a Labor Day to celebrate our labor for the Lord.
CLOSE:
General Eisenhower once rebuked one of his own Generals for referring to a soldier as "just a Private."
He reminded the General that the Army could function better without its Generals than it could without its foot soldiers.
"If this war is won," he said, "it will be won by Privates."
And as the spiritual battle for the souls of men is won, it will be won by the privates, the servants… the faithful…
Then when the battle is over, and the work is done, we will be able to hear those wonderful words from Matthew 25:21...
“Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
