Philemon 1:8-20
Refresh My Heart
October 30, 2022
The Plea for Onesimus.
This short letter is one of the greatest of Paul’s writings. Even unbelievers have seen the power of this small excerpt of history. It speaks of a request for redemption and reconciliation. ILLS: The Setting. Here is the history of a saint who has been greatly wronged and is called upon to put it all behind him and forgive. Here is also the history of a sinner running from his past who found grace with God and was told to go back to what he ran from. In America we have never been able to get beyond our original sin of slavery. As I read more and more about the first slaves brought in chains to our shores in 1619. The Africans who were torn from their country in Angola, kidnapped and sold in the British colony of Virginia. The arrival of the enslaved Africans in the New World marked the beginning of two and a half centuries of slavery in North America.
Why does the Bible not speak out strongly against slavery? It gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12 never keep a slave more than 6 years and when you let him go give him some money; Ephesians 6:9 don’t threaten your servants; Colossians 4:1 treat your slaves with justice and equality), but it does not outlaw slavery altogether. Why? Slavery in biblical times was very different from the slavery that was practiced in America. I appreciate the exhaustive work of groups like the 1619 Project for exploring slavery in ancient times. In Biblical times, slavery was based more on economics; it was a matter of social status. People even sold themselves as slaves when they could not pay their debts or provide for their families. What the Bible does condemn is race-based slavery in that it teaches that all men are created by God and made in His image (Genesis 1:27). Both the Old and New Testaments condemn the practice of “man-stealing,” which is what happened in Africa in the 16th to 19th centuries. Africans were rounded up by slave-hunters, who sold them to slave-traders in the North America. This practice is repulsive to God. In fact, the penalty for it in the Law was death: “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death” (Exodus 21:16). In the New Testament, slave-traders are listed among those who are “ungodly and sinful” and are in the same category as those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, adulterers and perverts, and liars and perjurers (1 Timothy 1:10).
Know this… the purpose of the Bible is not to reform society but to point the way to salvation. When the Bible approaches societal issues, its always through the lens of the believers. If a person experiences the love, mercy, and the saving grace of God through trust in Jesus, God will reform his soul, changing the way he thinks and acts in society. In our text today a slave named Onesimus had stolen property from Philemon and had run away. Paul as an apostle, had authority in the church over the local ministries and members. But the Bible says that Paul chose to make a request instead of a command. “Yet, for love’s sake I rather appeal to you…”
FIRST Paul says, “I am sending him back.” V.12
RECEIVE HIM AND REFRESH MY HEART - There seems to be an allusion to the name Onesimus, which signifies profitable. Onesimus means "useful." Paul used a play on words, saying that Onesimus had not been much use to Philemon in the past but now had become very useful to both Philemon and Paul. Although Paul wanted to keep Onesimus with him, he was sending Onesimus back, requesting that Philemon receive him even though he ran away. We need to be useful. I always get a side look when I make the true statement, “If you can’t be used, you are useless.” Paul said, “For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever…” Now he will properly answer to his name. Now he has purpose in Christ and is useful. Onesimus had wronged Philemon and stole from him and ran away from him and lived as if he were his own but he was not his own; because he belonged to a system, his master was man and not God. But Paul says that now he is useful because in his running from man he found the grace of God! So, Paul pleads with Philemon not to hold his past misconduct against him, but to receive him now, anew and forever. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
SECOND Paul says, “No longer as a slave, …as a brother” V.15-16
RECOGNIZE HIM AND REFRESH MY HEART - He has changed. When Onesimus left, he was a sinner and a slave, when he came back, he was a saint and a brother to Philemon. Paul’s request was for Philemon to receive Onesimus back and also recognize him as a brother in Christ. Are we able to accept them who have changed and recognize them as brothers in Christ? Can we recognize them for who they are in Christ regardless of what they have done, where they come from, or even who they voted for? Our Baptist Church Covenant only has 1 scripture reference - Matthew 18! We pledge to be slow to give or take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, being mindful of the rules of the Savior in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, to secure it without delay! What did Jesus say in Matthew 18? "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established...' He goes on to say, "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." We use this text for a lot of applications but in its context Jesus is talking about gaining a brother. Binding and losing is about forgiving and forgetting and recognizing your brother when they come to you!
THIRD Paul says, “If he owes you, put it on my account… I will repay” V.18
RECONCILE HIM AND REFRESH MY HEART - Because Paul was Philemon's spiritual father, he was hoping that Philemon would feel a debt of gratitude that he would repay by accepting Onesimus with a spirit of reconciliation. When we are wronged, do we have the capacity within us to forgive the offender? We are commanded to! Luke 17:3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." Paul teaches in 2 Corinthians 5:18 “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” If God has reconciled you, then you can reconcile with your brothers. He laid down His life for It! Colossians 1:21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
