Untitled from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, Therefore, I appeal to you for my son Onesimus,[a] who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. 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. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good— 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. So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
Grace mercy and peace are yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
Philemon 1:1, 11-21
A LETTER TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY
In the name of Jesus who has made us members of God’s family, dear fellow redeemed children of God,
My wife’s family has box of letters they treasure. They are letters written by Grandpa Urban to his sweetheart , Frieda. We knew her better as Grandma Urban. The letters were written by the 19 year old army private, Walter, to his soon to be wife during World War One. You seem to almost step back into a different time and world when you read them. Maybe you have a box of letters like that on your shelf at home. I would imagine that those scraps of papers would be even more precious if they were from a prisoner of war. That’s what we see in God’s word today- a letter from a prisoner to his family. The devil and his followers were fighting hard against the spread of the Gospel and Paul was now living under arrest in Rome. But God is faithful and watches over his people. As we open and read this letter, let’s see that it is a letter that rejoices in what God has done and it is a letter that encourages a joyful response.
Do you see the Disney movie “Cars”? Remember it is about a town that was bypassed when the interstate went through. Not as many people visited there anymore. Many of the people had moved. There was a sense that the good times of years ago were slipping away. That’s the way things felt in Colossae. At one time, Colossae was celebrated for its wool making and dyeing, especially an unusual color known as Colossinus, a dark pink drawn from cyclamen flower. But then the road system changed and people started moving to Laodicea and Hierapolis. Things seemed to be slipping away. There were some good things happening though. God used Epaphras to bring the good news of Jesus to the town. Satan had tried to mess up the young church with some false teachings but the Lord Jesus had kept the church safe. Philemon was a member of the church there in Colossae. Things were going OK for Philemon. Well enough that he owned a slave. His name was Onesimus. It seems that one day Onesimus ran off. It would also seem that something was missing, maybe something valuable, because Paul said later “if he owes you anything…” I’m suppose having a slave run away caused quite a ruckus in the neighborhood. The slave Onesimus ran out of Colossae and the Lord worked it out that he met up with Paul in Rome. Paul talked with him about the Savior and Onesimus was brought to believe in Jesus. He was brought into God’s family. Jesus made the former slave a useful servant of the missionary, Paul.
I suppose that Philemon had almost forgotten about Onesimus and all of a sudden Tychicus and some other travelers arrived with a letter addressed for the church in Colossae. It’s from Paul who was a prisoner under house arrest in Rome. Paul sent along another letter for Philemon. It’s a letter from a prisoner to his church family. Who should be carrying that letter but Onesimus!
Onesimus’ knees must have been shaking that first time Philemon saw him again. His hands must have been shaking as he held the letter Paul wrote. It had the address in those big letters Paul used when he wrote a letter himself. “Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home:” Paul wrote this letter from prison. He was under house arrest in Rome as he waited for his appeal to Caesar to play out. We hear about that in the book of Acts. Paul was a different sort of prisoner. His crime for which he was imprisoned was proclaiming the freedom Jesus brings. Although Paul certainly could lay claim to be persecuted for Christ at other times in his ministry, we shouldn’t think that Paul was in a dungeon here. The book of Acts tells us that he under guard in a house. While he was under guard and could not go to visit others, many came to visit him. Even sitting as a prisoner, Paul rejoiced in what god had done for him. He rejoiced that God had made him a child of God. Paul considered himself the chief of sinners but Jesus was his Savior. Paul shared that truth with Onesimus.
Paul has these words for Philemon. “ 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 both to you and to me. I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you.” That’s kind of a play of Onesimus’ name. His name means “useful.” The joy of being in God’s family allows family members to discuss even serious things like this in a tactful and sometimes even light hearted way.
“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. “ Being a member of God means we recognize that our comfort is not necessarily the most important thing. There was a family matter more important than Paul’s comfort that really needed to be taken care of- there was a rift between Philemon and Onesimus.
For that rift to be settled- the Good News of Jesus would be needed. With that reminder about the Gospel, Paul reminded Philemon of what God had for him in making him a member of God’s family. Paul doesn’t need to say it directly in his letter. Family knows. Philemon knew he was a spiritual Onesimus. With Adam’s hurried footsteps away from his Creator to hide, mankind ran away from the Lord. Adam’s guilt was passed down to Philemon and you and me. Christ intereceded for us. He took our debt on himself at the cross just like Paul assumed the debts of Onesimus. Jesus took Philemon’s sin, your sin and my sin. It was what Jesus did at the cross that would give Philemon the strength to take Onesimus back.
Are we standing in Onesimus’ shoes today? Have we sinned against an employer or taken something that did not belong to us? In addition to hurting our loving creator have we hurt mom or dad or friend with our actions? Are we worried about what’s going to happen? Let’s go to our God trusting in His
Gospel promise. Let’s go back to the ones we’ve hurt- trusting that God will work things out in the way He knows is best. This week there has been all kinds of talk about a pastor burning the Koran. The message of the cross does not need a publicity stunt nor is its power or glory lost when the pages are burned. No its promise stands forever. It’s promise of forgiveness stands for you.
Paul couldn’t force Philemon to take Onesimus back as a brother instead of as a slave. That would take Jesus and His love. “But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good— 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.” Paul reminds Philemon that God is able to work something good out even the sinful foolish things we do and that others do around us. That’s important for us to remember when we are wallowing in the heartbreak of something someone close to us has done.
The Lord has received you back as a member of his family. How might you be useful to him now? Your response of thanksgiving can’t be forced but God’s great love encourages us. “So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.”
One of my wife’s uncles copied some of the letters for the rest of the family to have a copy. The Lord has kept this copy of Philemon’s letter for us to treasure. Let’s hold this prisoner’s letter in our hearts and let’s copy this letter in our lives. Amen.
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