Philippians 2:19-24
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.
Especially since the time of Henry Ford and the industrial revolution, almost everything around us is mass produced and can be acquired "off the shelf." True craftsmanship which makes something one-of-a-kind is disappearing as every energy is given to avoid what is costly, time-consuming, or labor-intensive.
Consequently, we are accustomed to standardization, interchangeable parts, and homogeneity on many fronts. If your old Chevy Impala, purchased in Bay City blows a gasket in Biloxi, Mississippi, you expect Bubba at the local auto parts store simply to find a duplicate on their shelf. A Big Mac in Bend, Oregon will have exactly the same all beef patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on the indistinguishable sesame seed bun as the burgers at McDonald's on Garfield Road.
People, however, do not come in stock. We don't deny having a common physiology or that organ transplants can't be done. I speak rather of the blessed distinctiveness which human beings have enjoyed as persons individually created and cherished by God.
Adam could not say he was in any way more perfect than botany or beast, but he did rejoice in the unique favor of being made like no other. Adam was made in the image of God to know God as Father, to bear the likeness of God the Son and to reflect the righteousness of God, the Holy Spirit. At the very beginning, God took special care when it came to the crown of His creation. All the rest of what God created was in no way inferior or less important to God, but when it came to the creation of man, God chose to fashion man by hand.
Eve also was brought into being through the manual marvel of God who took in hand the flesh and bone of Adam to shape her when no other suitable helper was found. There was nothing "on the shelf" to meet the exceptional need of Adam. The beginning of humanity was not the Lord setting up a Henry Ford styled production line. It was the peculiar formation of human beings, each of whom to the end of time would be individually loved, personally called to faith, and singularly valued.
There are no cookie-cutter Christians. Yes, each of us have been created and redeemed by Christ, but there the resemblance ends. It is analogous to a master painter who produces a beautiful canvas. He is the artist of all his works, but each painting is beautiful in its own right and unlike all the others.
Likewise, each Christian has been given distinctive gifts, opportunities, and callings as unique as a fingerprint. Though we are all members of the body of Christ, "God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body." (1 Cor. 12:18-20)
This gives none of us the right to boast, as St. Paul says, "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." (Rom. 12:3)
We Christians ought to see each other in the distinctive rolls God has given. Each of you were re-created in Christ to have an unparalleled place in the composition of Christ's church. You are not a cog or unessential. When you are not here, we don't just plug in someone else. You are not a transferable commodity. You are a child of God whom He has personally baptized, named, and called. God does not lump you into a batch of believers. He fits you exquisitely into union with himself and with other Christians exactly where He means for you to belong.
And to do so, Christ did not avoid what was costly, time-consuming, or labor-intensive. Just the opposite. Your redemption was costly. Even the salvation of one human being would have required the death of Christ. Jesus didn't compress the paying of your ransom into a free weekend. He committed his entire life. He doesn't limit his good things for you to a hurried hello and good-bye. His labor of love was exhaustive because you mean that much to him and there was no cheap or cheaper method to rescue you.
Christ did it by hand. Personally. Carefully. Painstakingly. Each human being's sin was paid for to the last drop of his precious blood. He knows you by name and by touch.
St. Paul commended his friend and fellow servant of the Gospel, Timothy, to the church at Philippi. Paul said of Timothy, "I have no one else like him." Paul was so grateful for this special young man who was like a son to him. Timothy also shouldered undertakings for which God had uniquely prepared him. In a particular place for a particular time, there was no one else like Timothy.
But the same is said for you. In your specific circumstance, with the unique opportunities to touch the lives of others as no one else can, you serve in the cause of the Gospel, not seeking your own interest but those of Jesus Christ.
Of course, there could be no other like Timothy. Just as there will never be another St. Paul or another Martin Luther or another C.F.W. Walther. Why? Because we don't need a facsimile or replica of them. God isn’t into making run of the mill Christians. We have you. And you. And you. And you.
God is well able to apply his grace exactly where it will do the most good, and He has certainly done so for you. With precision and genius, with the investment of His own life, He has placed you right were you belong in his kingdom, and called you to joyful service which is yours alone.
Don't let anyone make you think being a Christian is ever generic. Christ is far too committed to you ever to regard you as plain stock.
