Sermonette: Tychicus the Messenger
Tychicus, Being a Messenger
#1860s
Jared M. Ellis
Given 21-Feb-26; 14 minutes
description: Examining Tychicus, the companion and helper of Paul, we see many godly actions and characteristics like eagerness to serve and bringing the comfort of his news to congregations underlying his role of messenger that we should emulate. Ephesians 6: 21-22 shows that he had a larger role than the just delivering the messages; we see that he came to strengthen the hearts of brethren. Even though there are not too many references mentioning him, he had a large impact on the congregations he does visit. The apostle Paul made use of his services that he was eager to assist him building the faraway churches. Those far away locations involved traveling on ships, hostile countries, and navigating different cultures. Even though Tychicus did not have an important title, he exemplified whatever position we are given we should be quickly willing to serve God and the brethren and sometimes go outside our comfort zones to fulfill our calling.
transcript:
Brethren, I'd like to talk to you today about a congregation. A congregation of brothers and sisters, some Jewish, some Gentile, all of them brought together in the faith of Jesus Christ, but are struggling to be completely unified. Spiritual need and uncertainty are heavy in the air, and to top it all off, the man in charge of instructing them in the ways of God and Jesus Christ was just arrested by Rome. Fear and confusion are rustling through everyone as they await the news on what to do next. When finally the day they were waiting for arrives. The doors open and there stands a man with a letter, ready to deliver the message God had prepared for them and for us. Welcome to another installment of Jared's peculiar characters. Last time we looked at Oneahoris and what a help he was to Paul in his final days. Today we are going to look into another one of Paul's helpers, a man often referred to as Paul's messenger. The congregation that I described earlier was the congregation of believers in Ephesus in or around 60 AD. Paul was placed under arrest after being accused of bringing Gentile believers into the temple and preaching against Jewish customs. This would have been incredibly emotional and incredibly shocking to the congregation. Now Paul had a long-standing and special relationship with the congregation in Ephesus. It's very clear from his letter to them that Paul loved them and that the feeling was mutual. Please turn to Acts 20 and verse 37. This set of scripture emphasizes how much Paul was loved and how much he loved the brethren in Ephesus. In the verses leading up to this passage, Paul was preparing to leave Ephesus after ministering there for 3 years. Before departing, he exhorted them to keep following Christ's example in his absence. Here in Acts 20 in verse 37 through 38, we see how they responded. Then they all wept freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more, and they accompanied him to the ship. Brethren, this shows the depth of agape love Paul had for the congregation. There was clearly a very special relationship here. This would have made the brethren even more anxious upon hearing of Paul's arrest. Considering that Christ had been crucified for seemingly defying Jewish authority while in their eyes, Paul was on the same track. The fear for Paul's life would have been immense and incredibly disheartening. But Paul in his wisdom knew this. Paul knew that the brethren would be disheartened and quite frankly scared for their own safety as Ephesus itself was under strict Roman control at the time. And the elders in the congregation were known to be linked to Paul due to his stay there. Paul's solution to this problem is where we are going to meet our subject for the day. Please turn with me to Ephesians 6 verse 21 and 22. Now keep in mind, Paul penned this letter to the brethren in Ephesus while he was on house arrest. You can tell that he's writing this from a place of loving concern for the brethren, and I'm going to read this from the Amplified Bible. Ephesians 6:21 and 22. Now that, now that so you may know how I am and what I am doing, Ticicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything. In verse 22. I have sent him to you for this very purpose so that you may know how we are and that he may comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts. Here we meet the courier of the letter of Ephesians, Ticicus. Right off the bat, I'm going to tell you that Ticicus suffers from a disease that I like to call Oneoporus syndrome. And the symptoms are having very little said about him, but again, just because there is very little said, doesn't mean there is not importance. Ticicus is only mentioned 5 times in the Bible, and in most of these mentions, it's pretty much tul or Paul telling us what he had sent T Ticicus off to do. But focusing on what is said about him, we can paint the picture of a truly incredible Christian. Please turn with me to Acts 20 in verse 4. This is going to be the first mention of Titicus. Now preceding this scripture is a detailing of Paul's journeys that occurred before his extended stay in Ephesus. This specific scripture speaks about a trip that he was about to make to Asia. Let's read Acts 20 and verse 4. And so Potter of Berea accompanied him to Asia. Also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derby, and Timothy and Ticicus and Troemus of Asia. The mentioning of Ticicus here can very easily be read over. There is a lot of difficult names that I had to practice very much to pronounce in here. But this shows us that Titicus was very involved in the ministry. I think it can sometimes come across like these people were a group of disciples to Paul like the disciples were to Jesus Christ, but that's not the case. Titicus and all the men mentioned here were not just followers of Paul. These men were ministers, preachers, and followers of Jesus Christ. In the scripture we read in Ephesians 6, Paul calls Titicus a quote, beloved brother and faithful minister. Ticus was not a follower of Paul. He was a co-worker of Paul, which brings me to our first point here. The humility of Ticicus. Of the five scriptures where Paul mentions Titicus, 4 of the 5 of them are Paul sending him to do something somewhere. Whether it was to encourage and support the brethren in Ephesus or send him to Titus to relieve him of his duties so he could go to Paul, Ticicus is constantly mentioned going from place to place. He faithfully fulfilled his duty given to him by Paul. He was not described as this big preacher leading churches or evangelizing, but what he did was humbly support Paul by delivering his messages, encouraging the brethren, and traveling wherever there were brethren in need. The trip to deliver the letter to the brethren in Ephesus alone would have taken him 6 weeks to complete. The trip to go from Rome to Colossi to deliver the letter of Colossians would have taken him a minimum of 8 weeks to complete. The humility of Tikakis shines because he was willing to take on incredibly tough tasks. Without needing to be mentioned. Seeing the pattern of how often Paul leaned on him to travel from place to place shows just how eager and willing Takis was to serve God's people. He was willing to sacrifice all comfort to travel by foot, ship, or whatever means he needed to get to where he needed to go. Brethren, are we eager to take on tough tasks? Are we eager to take on tough tasks without complaining? Are we willing to sacrifice all comfort to serve each other? This mindset that Ticus demonstrated as one of doing what the work requires, doing it without hesitation, without complaint, and without a need for recognition. Exemplifying the attitude he showed is showing an attitude of doing what is best for each other, no matter the personal cost. The second attribute of Ticicus is that he was a messenger. He delivered the very letters of Ephesians and Colossians that are in our Bible today. An interesting thing to consider is that he likely had no idea that the letters he was carrying in his hands were going to be preserved by God for you and me to learn from. All he knew was that his job was to deliver Paul's letters and that he needed to be there for the brethren in Ephesus. This was not the job for someone who had a shaky foundation. Brethren, messengers of God must be reliable and in more ways than just one. Paul entrusted Titicus to be able to make those dangerous journeys and trusted in his ability to get where he needed to go safely, and not to mention he needed to trust Ticicus in his ability to verbally portray his message. Not everybody in Ephesus or Colossi were literate and able to read Paul's letters. Paul had to have complete trust and faith that Ticicus would accurately portray his words to those brethren. As messengers of God, we are entrusted to accurately communicate God's words to others in the same way that Takus was. This is a responsibility that we all need to take very seriously. This is definitely something that speakers in God's church need to take seriously, but speaker or not. We do not want to be the reason someone has an inaccurate view of God's character or God's word. Paul trusted Titicus to accurately portray his message, and God places the same trust in us. Messengers of God must be reliable to deliver the message and to portray the message. Let's go ahead and reread Ephesians 6 in verse 22. We're going to pick up a third major characteristic of Ticus here. Again, I'm going to read it from the Amplified Bible. I'm going to take a page from Doctor Moss's book. I've sent him to you for this very purpose so that you may know how we are and that he may comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts. Brethren, here is another shining example Paul gives us of Ticicus. His job was not to make it to the brethren in Ephesus, hand out a letter, and be on his way. His job as Paul's messenger was to comfort, encourage, and strengthen the hearts of the brethren. Ticicus was literally Paul's messenger, but he was also God's messenger. The words of comfort, encouragement, and strength echoed in Paul's letters were not really Paul's words. They were God's words. The job that Ticicus was given was more than just delivering a piece of parchment with words on it. It was delivering comfort and love to the brethren he traveled vigorously to be with. T Ticicus, just like Barnabas, was a son of encouragement. Are we messengers of God in the same way Ticicus was? Do we bring comfort, encouragement, and strength to those around us by reflecting God's message? Something that we can apply directly into our lives through the example of Takus is that his job was to visit the brethren. It's not just the job of our pastor to visit brethren and be a messenger. It's all of our jobs too. In the same way Paul sent out Ticicus to be a messenger of comfort, encouragement, and strength, God sends us to be messengers of comfort, encouragement, and strength for each other. Do we take this commission seriously? Sometimes we as people can place major importance in titles like prophet, evangelist, apostle, or whatever and try to give ranks. But at the end of the day, we are all messengers of God. We are all commissioned to reflect the character of God every single day of our lives. The world may worry about titles, but messengers of God worry about service. Ticus was not concerned with titles. He was concerned with the well-being of those around him. And you can tell by his behavior, and if, again, behavior is a language, what was Titicus telling us? Brethren, like I said, Titicus was not some big preacher that led a big church. He was not a prophet, evangelist, or an apostle. He was a messenger. He was a fellow worker in Christ Jesus with Paul, one who humbly did the job asked of him to the best of his ability and without hesitation. Please turn with me to Colossians 4 and verse 7 through 9. This is the longest set of scriptures in which Titicus is mentioned. And I've saved it for the end because I believe it perfectly illustrates his character. And it also illustrates his commission and what we need to strive towards. I'm reading this again from the amplified Bible just because I want to. As to all my affairs, Ticicus, who is a much loved brother and faithful assistant and fellow bond servant in the Lord, will give you all the information. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing and that he may encourage your hearts. And with him is Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will let you know everything about the situation here in Rome. Brethren, messengers of God do what the work requires of them, no matter how difficult. Messengers of God bring words of encouragement, comfort, and strength to each other, not complaints. Messengers of God reliably reflect the message of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Ticus is not mentioned much in the Bible, but his attributes are clearly seen. So I leave you with these questions. Are you a messenger of God? Do you represent God's message in the same way that Ticus represented Paul's message? I hope and I pray that we all take our commission as direct messengers and representatives of God as seriously as Titicus did.
JME/aws+/