My father has a knack for finding and fixing discarded bicycles. Bikes that are considered useless by most become useful in the hands of this skilled mechanic. Of course everyone knows that with a bit of duct tape anything can be made useful again. Does that work on people too? Can those who consider themselves or others to be useless be made useful with a bit of strategically placed duct tape? No, even duct tape has its limitations. There is, however, something that can make even the most seemingly useless person, useful. It’s the gospel. It did that for a runaway slave named Onesimus, it did that for the Apostle Paul, and it does it for us.
Let’s begin with the story of Onesimus. Onesimus was the slave of a Christian named Philemon. Whoa! Hold it right there. What’s a Christian doing with a slave? Isn’t slavery wrong? Actually, the Bible never condemns slavery. In fact the apostles Paul and Peter encouraged slaves to obey and respect their masters, even the ones who weren’t nice (2 Tim. 6:1, 2; 1 Pet. 2:18). Of course slave owners were, in turn, to love and care for their slaves. The Golden Rule: “Love your neighbour as yourself” applied to them as it did to everyone else. We pray that Philemon treated Onesimus with such love and concern. If he did, Onesimus wasn’t very appreciative for he ran away and probably robbed Philemon in the process.
Although Philemon may have been ready to give up on Onesimus, God wasn’t. He steered Onesimus to Rome and made certain that, out of the million or so inhabitants, he came into contact with the Apostle Paul. When Paul first met Onesimus and found out that he was the runaway slave of a Christian he knew from Colosse (a city in present day western Turkey, a city over 1,000 km away), he recognized that his heavenly Father was at work. And so Paul went to work on Onesimus. He pointed out Onesimus’ sin of running away from his master, and then he followed that up with the good news of how Jesus had already paid for that sin. As a result Onesimus was not only converted to the faith, he became a trusted and reliable helper to Paul. The runaway slave who had once been useless, now finally lived up to his name, Onesimus, which means “useful”.
Just as God guided and directed Onesimus’ steps to Rome, he still leads us today. It’s no accident that we are here this morning. God brought us here to learn that, even though we often run away from him and our responsibilities as children, parents, employers, employees, and congregational members, he has forgiven us and has plans for us. Through the gospel God makes us useful again. How does God plan to use us? Let’s first see what plans he had for Onesimus.
Although Paul would have liked to keep Onesimus on as a trusted servant of the gospel, he sent him back to Colosse. After all Onesimus was still Philemon’s slave and if he was truly repentant of running away, he would return and take up his place again as a slave in Philemon’s household. Still, Paul wanted Philemon to know that he was sending Onesimus back a changed man. From now on Onesimus wasn’t just Philemon’s salve, he was his brother in the faith and Paul wanted Philemon to treat him as such. Paul went as far as urging Philemon to receive Onesimus as if he was receiving Paul himself (Philemon 17). Paul could have demanded these things because it was the right thing to do, but Paul didn’t command, nor did he beg, he simply expressed his confidence that Philemon would do what he had encouraged him to do and even more.
Dear leaders of St. Peter’s, note well how Paul worked. When we want our fellow members to share in the ministry we don’t have to demand it, nor do we have to beg. We simply need to explain well the challenges that lay before us and then remind one another of what God has done for us. We can be confident that God’s people will respond and do even more than we expect. That’s the power of the gospel.
Although Onesimus was a changed man, he still must have been nervous about going back to Philemon. After all Roman law gave slave owners the right to brand the forehead of runaway slaves, lock them in chains, or simply execute them. Onesimus knew he deserved any one of these punishments because he had not just run away from Philemon, but had probably stolen from him as well. Paul must have sensed these fears and so he wrote to Philemon that he would pay for any damage Onesimus had done. This promise allowed Onesimus to go back and serve his master free of the fear of punishment.
Do you see the parallels between Onesimus and us? Although we should be punished for our sins, Jesus told his heavenly Father to charge those sins to him. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross so that we now can serve our God without fear of punishment. Not only that, Jesus also provides for all of our daily needs. We’re like the man who was arrested for stealing bread. He admits his guilt but begs the judge for mercy explaining he stole the bread to feed his children. Because the man pleaded guilty the judge has to assess the fine. He fines the man $100 but before the man can be taken away, because he doesn’t have the money to pay the fine, the judge goes over to the clerk’s desk and pays the fine for him. The judge then gives the man a check for $1,000 to feed his children! That’s what Jesus does for us. He forgives us and then he equips us. With a Saviour like that how can we not eagerly serve him?
So what is it that God would have us do? Like Onesimus we will begin by undoing any harm our sins have caused. If we have run away from our obligations as parent or child, as boss or employee, as teacher or student, we will make amends. We will speak kindly to our spouse. We will listen to our parents. We will work to the best of our abilities as a boss, employee, teacher, or student. Let’s not stop there though, Onesimus didn’t. Tradition says that Onesimus went on to become the pastor of the church in Ephesus. Onesimus wasn’t content just to let his light shine before Philemon; he wanted his light to shine before the world.
We have that same opportunity too, don’t we? No, I’m not suggesting that we all become pastors. We can’t. We can, however, all get involved in the work of our congregation. “Sure, that’s what you think, Pastor. But I don’t have the energy I used to have. I can’t get around that well anymore so how can I do anything that will be useful to this congregation, or to anyone else for that matter?” Have you heard yourself say those things lately? Well, I wonder if that isn’t how Paul first felt, when he was put under house arrest in Rome? That’s where he was when Onesimus met him. I wonder if Paul didn’t glumly think to himself, “What good is a missionary who can’t even leave his house?” If Paul felt that way, he quickly got over it and went on with the business of preaching God’s Word to whoever came to see him. As a result, the whole palace guard came to know about Jesus (Philippians 1:13). Paul not only shared God’s Word with unbelievers, he spent his house arrest praying for and writing letters to encourage his fellow Christians. It was during this time that Paul wrote to Philemon, to the Colossian, Laodicean (letter since lost), Ephesian, and Philippian Christians and we still benefit from those letters. So you see, even if God has taken away your mobility, your eyesight, or your energy, you aren’t useless. You can pray for the saints and the work of the church. You can write letters (emails) of encouragement to the leaders of the congregation. And you can tell those who come to visit you about Jesus. No matter what the quality of your life, through Christ Jesus you are useful.
As a child I always looked forward to helping my father fix bicycles. It was neat to see how the right screws, a new tire, and a bit of oil could make useful what had once been useless. But that’s nothing compared to what the gospel can do. The good news about Jesus makes us who, by nature are less than useless, into useful tools of God’s bidding. Therefore we can and will go forward boldly and joyfully with the work and challenges God has set in front of us, no matter what our life is like. Amen.
