The power of love and forgiveness
Philemon 8-20
Introduction-
They say that love is powerful and they say that forgiveness is powerful, but to put the two together is supernatural.
Only the power of God and the Holy Spirit working in our lives can we love and forgive people.
Even if you don’t go to church, you can finish this song, Jesus loves me, this I know….For the Bible tells me so.
A lot may know the song, but a lot of people don’t feel loved.
People may know that the Bible tells us that we should forgive, but that does not make it easy for us.
This morning the text is about love and forgiveness.
It is found in the book of Philemon (8-20)
This book is short, it is not preached out of often because it is basically a letter from Apostle Paul to Philemon.
Inside of that letter are nuggets of truth for all of us this morning.
Happy Mother’s day again to all the Mom’s this morning.
I can think of no love like a Mom’s love.
Illustration
Ancient story goes that this young man had a girlfriend and the girlfriend demanded of him if he loved her, he would bring the heart of his mother. He was running back to the girlfriend with her heart and he slipped and fell on his mothers heart. In a smothered voice from under him, he heard his mother ask him if he was alright. Love of a mother, forgiveness of a mother is great, but it does not compare to the love and forgiveness God has for each of us.
Let me set up this text this morning
Paul is writing a letter to a man named Philemon, a slave owner who became a believer under Paul’s ministry.
One of his slaves, Onesimus apparently had stolen something and ran away.
Under Roman law, that was punishable by death.
Onesimus also met Paul and came to Christ and became one of Paul’s ministry helpers.
Onesimus the slave wanted to make things right, he needed to return to his owner Philemon.
Philemon (8-20)
Apostle Paul’s audience is Philemon, the church of Colosse, and each one of us.
The theme of this short letter is Apostle Paul urging Philemon to show grace to his runaway slave Onesimus.
How hard is it for you to forgive?
I cannot picture Paul “smoothing things over”, kissing up to someone, I see him telling it like it was.
Philemon was a believer in good reputation, Paul makes the request because it was the right thing to do.
Philemon would do the right thing no matter how hard it is.
Paul was asking Philemon to forgive Onesimus and restore him to the position that he had before he ran away. (They were a big part of the family)
Philemon had an opportunity to model what Christian forgiveness is all about.
Paul told Philemon that if he could not forgive the debt, to just put it on Paul’s account.
The theological word for that is imputation.
That is exactly what Christ did for us on the cross. He took our sin upon himself so that we would not be held responsible, so that our relationship with God could be restored
Imputation- To take responsibility.
Romans 5:8
“But God demonstrated his love for us in this; while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
“For it is by grace you have been saved; through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.”
There is power in forgiveness, and it comes from God, we are not able to forgive as God forgave us without the power of God to help us.
Forgiveness comes as we release the situation or the circumstance to God. It is not based upon the response or actions of the offender.
C.S. Lewis
“Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea, until he has something to forgive.
Deep wounds come from many places.
They usually come from people we have gotten close too.
God is not asking you to get over it. God is not asking you to put it behind you.
He is asking you to release that person of what they have done to you, so that you can move on.
Keep forgiveness in mind as a read this verse again
“Therefore, all though in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 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- I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly, he was useless to you, but now he has become useful, back to you and too me. I am sending him- who is my very heart-back to you.”
Why a message on forgiveness today? On Mothers day? Because I think Mothers sometimes feel like slaves that want to run away. We all need encouragement from time to time to hang in there and to do the right thing even when it is tough.
Paul becomes an encourager!
Ever had to make a hard decision?
One you know that you need to make, and you just need that word of encouragement.
I appeal to you on the basis of love.
I am sending him- who is my very heart back to you.
If you are going to experience God’s love and forgiveness. It has to be unconditional. The same way he offers it to us.
Life experiences are never perfect scripts. They don’t line up into perfect situations. They come with hurts and they come with very hard decisions that usually involve forgiveness to people that have hurt you deeply.
Apostle Paul is in the middle of two believers that have a very hard decision to make that could affect their lives positive or negative. Onesimus the slave has run away from his master and after becoming a Christian realizes that the right thing to do is to go back and ask for forgiveness. Philemon, the slave owner faces a decision also, with a letter from apostle Paul in hand, his slave returns to him after stealing and running away and asks to be restored to the position that he had before he ran away.
Illustration-
I don’t know if you are familiar with Elizabeth Browning. If you have been to any of the weddings I’ve done you have heard me use some of her poetry. Elizabeth was raised by a tyrannical father. It is said that when she married Robert Browning, their wedding was held in secret because of the fathers disapproval. After the wedding the Brownings sailed for Italy, where they lived for the rest of their lives. But even though her parents had disowned her, Elizabeth never gave up on the relationship. Almost every week she wrote them letters. Not once did they reply. After ten years, she received a large box in the mail. Inside, Elizabeth found all of her letters; not one had been opened.
It would be foolish for me to ask if you have ever been hurt. We have all been hurt in some way over the years.
We have all had to make tough decisions when we could have taken the easier way.
This is not about easy- it is about the love of God for us. It is about doing the right thing. It is about seeking or giving forgiveness and relying on the power of God to help us.
This is like a good play and you are in the audience.
You have one seeking forgiveness- Onesimus the slave.
You have one that needs to forgive and move on- Philemon
You have Paul, the encourager, who knows both people and wants to see them restored to what it was before the conflict
What part of this scripture is the Lord trying to show you this morning?
Need forgiveness?
Need to forgive?
Need to have the mind of Christ and be an encourager?
No matter what you need this morning, God has the answer. It is found in two characters of God. In His love and in His forgiveness.
God’s love and forgiveness is accessible!
Listen to this verse a minute as I finish this morning,
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Where all hope lies is in God’s love and forgiveness
From the mom this morning that wants to run, to the person that needs to forgive, the answer is found in the love and forgiveness of God.
At the event on Friday, while a man was enjoying one of the 3000 hotdogs we made, he told me that at 17 years old that he was struck by lightning, a direct hit and he told his story of God’s love and mercy. Every one of us needs to tell our story. Everyone of us needs God’s love and forgiveness.
It is not easy, it takes a big person to forgive someone.
Little people carry grudges, little people allow bitterness to eat them up.
Forgiveness is not forgetting, it is not necessarily becoming friends, it means that you are going to let God have it and not let bitterness eat you up. You are going to do the right thing.
Isaiah 43:25-
“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
God is omniscient- he can’t forget. What he means is that he will not remember them against us anymore.
Ephesians 4:32-
“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as Christ also forgave you,”
Amen.
