Philemon 1:1-22
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, 2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. 6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul-- an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus-- 10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. 12 I am sending him-- who is my very heart-- back to you.
13 I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. 15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good-- 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. 17
So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back-- not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20 I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. 22 And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.
“Onesimus”
Two little brothers, Harry and James, had finished supper and were playing until bedtime. Somehow, Harry hit James with a stick, and tears and bitter words followed. Charges and accusations were still being exchanged as their mother prepared them for bed.
She said, “Now boys, what would happen if one of you died tonight and you never had the opportunity again to forgive one another?” James spoke up, “Well, OK, I’ll forgive him tonight, but if we’re both alive in the morning, he’d better look out.”
It can be hard to let go of a hurt… hard to forgive… hard to forget. Some families have been feuding for 50 years over something that the rest of us would probably consider quite silly. But the fight is real. The problems are real. The anger is real. The hurt… is especially real. And to forgive? To make it like NOTHING happened? C’mon! Unrealistic right? Downright impossible!
Trouble in the Text
Well… in our scripture text today… Paul is asking the impossible. You see, Philemon was a very respected and influential person. Paul tells us this much in verse two where he writes, this letter isn’t just for you Philemon… it’s for the entire congregation that meets in your home. Paul was writing because there was about to be a very big problem for Philemon.
Philemon had a slave, (which in the Greek here is translated servant, employee, or helper), named Onesimus (which means “useful”). Onesimus was not very useful to Philemon… Paul even implies in verse 18 that Onesimus may have lost Philemon a good amount of money or that he may have even stolen money. Onesimus then added insult to injury by escaping to the large town of Rome to hide from his master. In Rome Onesimus had met Paul and was converted. Onesimus changed his life, and was now implored by Paul to return to Philemon! What kind of welcome do you suppose Philemon would give to Onesimus? The law gave Philemon full authority to string Onesimus up by the nearest tree if he ever saw him again. I imagine Philemon had something exactly like that in mind.
Trouble in the World
What kind of reception would you have for Onesimus… someone who had wronged you… someone who had hurt you so deeply? It’s not so very hard to put ourselves into Philemon’s shoes is it? We’ve all had people who’ve wronged us. We’ve all had people who’ve hurt us. Our world is a very cynical world with lots and lots of protections in place just because of people like Onesimus. We protect our money. We protect our homes. We protect our families. We even protect our identities. All because we KNOW that people can’t be trusted. Even when we do trust people… we are guarded and careful. What’s that saying? “Trust has to be EARNED.” And if anyone dare disappoint us… well… let’s just say it isn’t too hard to put ourselves into Philemon’s shoes.
Grace in the Text
So perhaps we can listen to Paul’s words again as if we were Philemon! Hear these words again, perhaps in a brand new perspective.
4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. 6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
Translation: “This is the part where I puff you up right before knocking you down.”
8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul-- an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus-- 10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. 12 I am sending him-- who is my very heart-- back to you.
Translation: “I’m a very old man and I taught you everything you know, and I could MAKE you do the right thing, but I’m hoping you’ll do the right thing on your own.”
13 I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. 15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good-- 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. 17
Translation: “Since you left me, Onesimus has proven that he can be a great servant of the Lord. It’s time for you to let go of the chain of anger, and it’s time for Onesimus to be free from the chains that keep him bound. It’s time for the both of you to embrace as brothers in Christ.”
So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back-- not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20 I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. 22 And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.
Translation: “Forgive his debt… or charge this debt to me! You can trust me! This is SO important that I’m writing this letter with my own hand! Let’s not even mention all that you owe me. I’m not even going to BRING UP the debt that you owe me! I trust that you will make an old man happy by doing what your told. Oh, and one more thing… I will be coming soon to check up on you.”
Grace in the World
Isn’t it great to have people like Paul in our lives? I bet you have one! People who make you do the right thing even when it pains you to do the right thing. They are the Jiminy Crickets’ on our shoulders. They are people who can remind us that we don’t have to carry the weight of anger, the weight of pain, the weight of blame. They are people that can remind of the large debts that we owe, and the large amount of grace that we have received. The are the ones who knock us off our high horses and remind us that every single one of us is not that very different from Onesimus. You see… we were once useless too, but in Christ Jesus… we’ve been transformed into something useful! And they lead us to doing the right thing… even if we may not like the way they do it.
So What?
Every single one of us could use a person like Paul because every single one of us is like Philemon… we have trouble letting go. Every single one of us could use a person like Paul because every single one of us is like Onesimus… in need of forgiveness… in need of that life changing transformation.
The point behind it all is that we should forgive when we have been wronged and seek forgiveness for the wrongs we have done. Forgive us our debts… as we forgive our debtors. We pray it every single week, but we don’t always LIVE it every single week. And we shouldn’t have to be forced into it. Paul knew that much. Sure he smothered the guilt trip on pretty thick… but he didn’t force Philemon. Paul knew… that it should be done freely. If you look to verse 9… why should any of us forgive? (LOVE)
Brothers and sisters, I could tell you how good it is for your health to let go of anger and forgive (because it’s true). I could tell you that you should forgive your debtors because you carry such a large debt yourself (because that is also true). But Paul’s entire argument hinges on this one word… love! We follow a God who has shown us enormous love… who has shown us extravagant patience and grace… who has given us way more than we have ever deserved… and we are called to love with that same kind of passion and commitment. And it doesn’t just mean loving the people we like, it means loving the people we like the least! We should do it out of love, not because we’ve been told to do it or because we’ve been guilted into doing it. We should do it because it’s the right thing to do. And because Paul is coming to check on you!
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
