It was a hand delivered letter. It arrived at his home. He opened it, and read it.
(Had loaded a copy of the book of Philemon from "the message" into an envelope. Opened it as if it was a delievered letter, and read the text.)
That’s it. The letter, or as we know it today, the entire book of Philemon. The second shortest book in the New Testament. Just 330 Greek words long. About the same as the Gettysburg Address, which of course is not in Greek. But you get the point. However, the book may not make much sense, or at the very least all the sense it should, without as Paul Harvey would say, “The rest of the story.” Here is how the play unfolds.
Scene One – A.D. 53, Ephesus, Acts 19:8-10
For three months Paul preached in the synagogue. But when the resistance, and distractions became too much, Paul rented a Greek amphitheater and had been presenting the gospel daily for two years. According to Luke “all Asia” hears the gospel.
Philemon, a farmer who lives roughly a hundred miles away, in all likelihood made regular trips to the big city of Ephesus. While there, at some point, it seems that he hears the gospel message from Paul and believes. Then he heads back home near the twin towns of Colossae and Laodicea, and launches a house-church.
Scene Two – A.D. 54-55, Laodicea, Philemon 2
Philemon, Apphia and Archippus (possibly Philemon’s wife and son) have started a church in their home. Their home is probably a rather spacious and considerable home as he is a farmer in the area with hired servants and considerable land.
But at some point, one of his servants named Onesimus, steals money from him and takes off on a thousand-mile journey to Rome where he becomes an urban prodigal and run-away immigrant of sorts.
Scene Three - A.D. 63, Rome, Acts 28
(read Acts 28:11-31) Paul is now living in Rome, one of only two cities in the world at that time believed to have exceeded one million in population. And the way the story probably unfolded, Tychicus, one of Paul’s associates, is evangelizing and preaching one day, possibly even in Onesimus’ dialect, drawing him to the message. Onesimus, the run away thief of a slave belonging to Philemon is saved, enters into a discipleship program with Paul, and eventually reaches the point of joining the leadership team there in Rome.
But at some point, the leaders come to an agreement that reconciliation must take place. Onesimus must own up to his past, and go back to Philemon, and repent for his actions. So Paul drafts the only personal letter of his that we still have today. Paul praises Philemon for his work and witness, and then appeals to Philemon to accept back Onesimus. Not just as a slave, but as a brother in Christ.
One of my favorite verses in Philemon is verse 15 (read). Paul is saying, maybe the reason that Onesimus was separated from you was so that he might run to the city, hear the gospel, and receive eternal forgiveness.
Notice this important piece, Onesimus’ salvation didn’t come while working at the very site where this home church is taking place. It is in the heart of the city that the contrast of secular living and the gospel message hits home, and changes his life for eternity.
How’s that for a Biblical contrast of ministry mentalities? “If you build it, they will come.” Didn’t happen for Onesimus. If you go to the land, to posses the land. Paul went to Rome, and it made all the difference for Onesimus.
The saying goes, “All roads lead to Rome.” Kind of like all roads lead to Lexington. Cities, then and now are the catch basin of society. Criminals, immigrants, people rejected by others, outcasts, marginalized groups don’t find their home in the countryside. They find themselves in the hearts of our cities, looking for life changing answers.
Paul and I are kindred spirits. Paul saw the city as an opportunity for global evangelism. He knew that the cities were collecting people from all over the continent and across continents. Paul saw ministry in the city as worldwide ministry.
Scene IV – A.D. 64, Laodicea, Colossians 4:7-9
Tychicus and Onesimus begin the journey to Laodicea, and news probably spreads through the young church of the pending situation. We are about to have a reunion, that might brew in to more of confrontation.
Try to imagine the situation Philemon finds himself in. He has three options under Roman law. He can brand the runaway Philemon as his permanent slave. He can execute him. Or he can purchase his freedom by buying the proper types of papers from the government.
Now follow this. Philemon is in the upper echelon of society. He hangs out with other slave owners. Think of the pressure on him. If he frees Onesimus, what will the other slave owners think? Every slave in the region will run away on that precedent. Word will get out. Hey, run away, get saved, and get freed.
You have heard of jailhouse conversions. Right? Same kind of scenario could play out. Philemon would be less than popular in his social circles.
What choice do you think Paul expected Philemon to make? If you aren’t sure, read the letter again.
So what happened? Well, we don’t know for sure. What we do know is that Philemon didn’t tear up and burn the letter. . .right? So it may be safe to assume that the message Paul had been preaching for more than 15 years, “In Christ there is no difference between slave and free” was finally being heard, and for possibly the first time in history, a church was integrated with slave and free.
And isn’t this interesting? Paul never said, “Philemon, start a church for former slaves on a side street in town.” Or, “Onesimus, go back home and start a new church in the slums of the city specifically to minister to converted run away slaves.” No, Philemon was to welcome Onesimus, convict slave, into his home-church.
If you compare churches today to the work place, to schools, to public shopping malls. Ironically, you will find that our churches have become the most segregated portion of our society. Just look around this morning.
Scene V – A.D. 110, Ephesus, Ignatius of Antioch
Paul is now dead. He died pretty shortly after writing Philemon. Probably never even knew the outcome. But check this out.
A pastor of the Antioch church has been arrested by Roman soldiers. His name is Ignatius. They are marching him across Asia Minor to his execution, and while en route, similar to Paul, he is writing letters of encouragement to various church leaders encouraging them to remain strong and courageous.
He gets to Smyrna, and writes to the Bishop of Ephesus where Paul had begun his ministry almost 60 years earlier. The Bishop of Ephesus to whom he writes is named
. . .Onesimus.
Upon research of the evidence, numerous scholars see dozens of reasons to believe that this was in fact, our run-away slave, Onesimus. Now Bishop of Ephesus.
If that isn’t miraculous enough, think about this. How did this little, personal letter, get into the New Testament? Here’s one possible explanation.
In the early second century, the church was forced to collect the New Testament writings in defense of the canon. This compilation is believed to have very possibly occurred in Ephesus. So who do you think would be a likely candidate to help oversee the compilation in Ephesus? How about the Bishop? How about Onesimus?
Is it possible, that a letter in our Bibles today is there because of an international, migrant, criminal slave, who became a leader of the early church through the testimony of an urban evangelist? How is that for a great story?
And it is just one of many through the centuries.
In about 140 A.D. there was a letter written to a government official telling him that Christians were not a threat to the city – rather, they were the conscience or very soul of the city. This “Letter to Diognetus” gives a beautiful, historic snapshot of how early Christians viewed the role of the church in the world, as citizens of the city. It communicates a belief that God had commanded them not to abandon their post. They were to be the “soul of the city.”
During the first century, when people died, the bodies were tossed into the trash. Christians of the day began to collect and individually bury the bloated, diseased, rotting bodies that were in the garbage. Instead of evading the ugly realities of the day, the Christians embraced them. It opened the door for Christian evangelist to visit the sick, comfort the widows and orphans, and redeem starvation and sickness for eternal fellowship and love.
Any idea of how Christianity spread in Egypt? In the second century, church women provided nursing mothers who sat in public squares, often under pagan statues, while other women went up and down the streets to collect the unwanted babies abandoned in the night. They brought them, nursed, bathed, and raised them. The early church responded to a problem in their city – abandoned children – and developed a “baby hunt” ministry.
In the third century, Tertullian wrote, “We are but of yesterday, and we have filled every place among you – cities, islands, fortresses, towns, market-places, the very camp, tribes, companies, palace, senate, forum – we have left nothing to you but the temples of your gods.”
Early Christians penetrated the whole city, not by claiming space for their buildings or launching their own programs, but by penetrating everybody else’s space.
In the sixth century, Benedict of Nursia began a special monastery where he organized lay folks, sent them to the worst, most violent places in Europe, and organized their spirituality around work, worship, study and sleep. These Benedictine monks converted Europe spiritually and created economies in their regions through their efforts much like Jesus People USA has in our lifetime.
Check this out. India is situated between two Muslim bookends. . .Pakistan and Bangladesh. The entire area used to be Hindu, but not anymore. You see, the Hindu elite decided that the river people weren’t good enough for their religion. So they looked down upon them, and discriminated against them. In the seventh century, Muslim traders began sailing the river regions and building relationships with these people. Within a hundred years, both river regions had become entirely Muslim – because of relationships, brotherhood.
In 1994 there were 73 mosques in Chicago. That number doubled over the next three years. Many of which stand where protestant churches once met. Because of people willing to minister, and build relationships in the parts of the city where no one else would go. Where Christians wouldn’t go.
Walter Rauschenbusch had to re-think his Biblical theology after working in Hell’s Kitchen, New York. Most people have just criticized him as the liberal founder of the “social gospel” movement. But he could not live a life that didn’t connect the gospel message he believed in to ministry to the social outcasts, and lost sheep of his society.
John Mott and D.L. Moody were united by the YMCA movement of the nineteenth century. Mott planted a YMCA in every major city that could reached by train in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Years later, you can still see their impact in many of those same cities.
I could give you countless other examples. . .Bartholomew Las Casas, a sixteenth century Spanish missionary to Cuba and Peru. . .Roger Williams, a seventeenth century protestor of the Puritan movement that treated Native Americans like Canaanites and Amalekites who later went on to found the American Baptist Church. . .George Liele and David George, two eighteenth century African-Americans, former slave missionaries to the West Indies and eventually Africa. The first known foreign missionaries from the United States. Black, former slaves.
And of course, Bill Bright. Who began from the simple premise that the best and brightest of the world are being sent to American Universities. So why not meet them here with the gospel message of Christ, and then send them back to their home countries as business leaders, politicians, agents of reform who also happen to be Christians.
Well, what can we learn from these stories? How do they help us know how to address the challenge of our city? Our communities? A few realities. . .
1. IF WE PENETRATE CITIES, THE GOSPEL WILL TRAVEL.
Cities are magnets drawing people from surrounding communities, surrounding areas, even surrounding countries.
Did you know that the University of Kentucky, just UK. . .not to mention Transy, Asbury, Midway, countless other local universities. . .just UK has students and faculty representing every county in Kentucky, all 50 states, and more than 115 different countries. UK runs exchange programs with more than 50 different countries.
Think about the potential to share the gospel in the city, and watch it bounce from city to city, county to county, state to state, country to country, continent to continent. If we get into the city with the message of Jesus Christ, it will travel.
2. CHURCHES AND PARA-CHURCHES ARE PARTNERS IN THE CITY.
We do not have any concrete evidence that Paul planted a church in Ephesus or Rome. Two very large cities. He was the evangelist that provided fruit for the church leaders. He, as a para-church evangelist, is begging Philemon, the church planter to partner with him in the ministry to Onesimus.
But too often para-church organizations and churches operate at odds with each other. Listen to what Erwin McManus has written in An Unstoppable Force, which is must read if you want to understand where your pastor is coming from, “In many ways the emergence of the para-church reflects the paralysis within the local church. When we stopped calling youth to the mission of Christ, Youth With a Mission emerged. When we ignored the opportunity to reach university students, Campus Crusade emerged. When we settled for church attendance and neglected discipleship, Navigators emerged. When we hesitated to call men to the role of spiritual leadership, Promise Keepers emerged. Yet while the para-church was rallying and mobilizing men and women whose hearts were longing to serve Christ, it was at the same time accelerating the spiritual anemia and decline of the local church.”
Paul evangelized to feed the church. The church discipled to raise up evangelists to send back out into the world like Paul and evangelize the lost. It isn’t supposed to be a tug of war between para-church organizations and churches, it is supposed to be a healthy, biological cycle of the body of Christ feeding the body of Christ.
A third thing we can learn from this history of the city through the centuries. . .
3. URBAN EVANGELISM CAN BE COSTLY.
Probably the number one reason so few churches are involved in it. Just think about this. If you build a church of homeless people. . .who pays the bills? If you bus in 100 kids from the inner city, to tear up your building and drain your children’s ministry resources. . .who pays for it?
Imagine having to actually preach to a convert that stole from you, and ran away when he was your slave. Your property. Churches today would ask Onesimus to hit the road. We don’t have the money to minister to his type. You not only lost money during the stealing, now you are using your resources to train him.
Urban evangelism is not cheap. May not pay the bills. But someone in the body of Christ has to do it. Fourth. . .and you better believe this one is true. . .
4. THE GOSPEL IS RADICAL.
Did you see what it did? It took a slave and owner, and turned them into brothers in Christ. The challenge of the city will turn our world upside down. Things will not be the way we like them, want them, or even know how to deal with them.
We will be flying by the seat of our pants. . .or maybe a better way to phrase it. . .on the wings of the Holy Spirit. Fifth. . .
5. MINISTRY TO CITIES MUST BE FOR THE LONG HAUL. . .AN ENDURING COMMITMENT.
This little drama in the book of Philemon we looked at today took fifty-seven years. The original cast of characters never even saw its conclusion. We must commit to urban ministry for the long haul. . .not just until the federal grant runs out, the budget dries up, or fatigue sets in.
This is so important. Cities populations are constantly recycling. The people that live in the heart of the city of Lexington are not the same ones that lived there 50 years ago when we moved from Short Street. There is a group of people living there who have never experienced life in the city when all of the churches we looked at last week were actually ministering in the city.
City ministry is not a “pilot” program that we give up on if we don’t see the results we want in 30 days, six months, or even 10 years. Finally. . .from the city through the centuries, we can learn to. . .
6. IMAGINE THE POTENTIAL OF THE IMMIGRANT.
We know that not every immigrant is going to become the next bishop, pope, or General Superintendent. But what if you knew that 50 years from now, that non-English speaking Hispanic neighbor was going to be the next Billy Graham for migrant workers, or the Asian waitress serving your food was going to be the next Mother Teresa for a displaced Korean population? Would we see them any different? Would we minister any different?
I can tell you that I personally am on the look-out for a Hispanic pastor to launch a Spanish speaking congregation right here at SWC. What a great way to multiply our ministry. What a great way to watch the Gospel bounce from our community to the world.
The challenge of the city is a huge one. One we are just beginning to scratch the surface of over the past three weeks. But, we need to move on to other teachings, other Scriptures, other areas of growth in our Celebration Services.
So we are going to move this discussion of the city to Sunday Nights. On Sunday, June 11th, at 6 p.m., I will launch a new Connection Group for those who want to learn more about praying for, ministering to, and transforming cities for Christ. I sense the call burning in my heart, and I hope there are others with a similar interest. With a desire to see our church move back towards the heart of the cities God desires us to enter with strength and courage.
(This message derived from Ray Bakke’s "A Theology as Big As the City".)
