2024 Week 39

Hello, Springers!

You can read something a hundred times but still notice something new you overlooked.

That happened to me this week when I read these words Paul penned to the church in the Roman city Philippi.

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
Philippians 2:17-18

It’s an odd picture to modern people who don’t offer animal sacrifices. Perhaps the closest we come to Paul’s picture is when we use cooking sherry in a Thanksgiving turkey. Otherwise, the image is lost on us.

So what does it mean to be poured out as a drink offering upon a sacrifice?
Someone might quickly respond, “It’s servant leadership!” but this phrase has become cliché.

But if we grasp Paul’s picture, we can also understand his simile and servant leadership.

In ancient times, a sacrificial animal was slaughtered, prepared, and placed on the altar, where it was cooked. Often, the sacrifice was eaten by the priest, or it was shared in a meal with the priest and the one making the offering. A drink offering was some strong drink that could be poured out as a stand-alone offering or added to an offering being burned on the altar. In that case it was poured over the offering.

Paul says that the offering on the altar is the faith of God’s people in the church. He says that he is the drink being poured over it to flavor what is being offered.

Paul compares all his leadership in the church, all his suffering for the gospel, and all his work to a drink being poured out to sweeten the flavor of the main thing—the people’s faith, their committed trust in Christ’s work on their behalf.

This is the best picture of servant leadership: pouring out one’s life to flavor the main work of others. Paul is most concerned with God’s people growing in faith—committed trust in Christ’s work.

I hope you’ll join me in living a life of servant leadership here at Valley Springs. Let each of us take this view of leadership. Let us pour out our lives and rejoice together in the main thing – growing in faith.

in Christ,

Pastor Tag