September 3-5, 2016 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Philemon 1, 10-21 “LOOK WHAT JESUS LETS YOU DO!”

PENTECOST 16

September 3-5, 2016

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Philemon 1, 10-21

“LOOK WHAT JESUS LETS YOU DO!”

1.     You can stop offending.

2.     You can let it go.

3.     You can be a peacemaker.

Philemon 1:1, 10-21 (NIV1984) “Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, ¹⁰I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. ¹¹Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.¹²I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. ¹³I 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. ¹⁴But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. ¹⁵Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good—¹⁶no 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. ¹⁷So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. ¹⁸If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. ¹⁹I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. ²⁰I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.”

          It always seems to come down to people, the people in your life. People can be a source of great joy and happiness. Think of the joys parents get from their children, the happiness a husband can provide for his wife, a wife for her husband, the joy of true friendship, the camaraderie at work. It works the other way too. People can cause you great heartache and you can cause heartache to others. Think again of parents and children, husbands and wives, friends and co-workers. It comes down to relationships and because of sin many relationships can suffer. God’s Good News for us today is that with Jesus in our lives we have what we need for our relationships to be a source of joy and not heartache. Look what Jesus lets you do!

          For instance He lets you, enables you to stop offending. When a relationship goes bad it’s because one or both parties in that relationship have caused hurt or offense by sin. In the word of God before us today the offender is named Onesimus. The book of Philemon is a very short book of the Bible, just 25 verses. It’s also a very personal book of the Bible. The Apostle Paul writes a personal letter to a man named Philemon regarding Onesimus. Onesimus had offended Philemon. How? He was a runaway slave. A word on slavery. In the Bible God does not condone slavery but as hard as this might sound to American ears, He doesn’t forbid it either. What He does do is teach Christian slaves and slaveowners how to live in a slave owning society to the glory of God. Anyway, Onesimus had run away from his master Philemon. By doing so he had stolen from Philemon. Philemon was out the money he had paid and the work he had hoped to accomplish. If we read between the lines of verse 18 Onesimus probably had not left empty handed. Probably stole some money to live on as he ran away. Onesimus, whose name means “profitable” had become very unprofitable for Philemon. Onesimus was the offender.

          But he stopped offending. How? “Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, ¹⁰I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. ¹¹Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.¹²I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. ¹³I 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. ¹⁴But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. ¹⁵Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good—¹⁶no 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.” Somehow (we know how!) after running away Onesimus came in contact with Paul, heard the Gospel message of a Savior for all people, even slaves, named Jesus.  The presence of Jesus in Onesimus’ heart changed him. He wanted to make things right. He needed to go back to Philemon. You can imagine his fear, his worries but his connection to Christ meant he needed to make things right.

          Your connection to Christ means you need to make things right too. Look what Jesus lets you do! You can stop offending. Now I want you to think of your relationships. Are there any that are broken right now? If so take an honest look. We all know how easy it is to blame others. But as Christians we know we need to look in the mirror first, the mirror of God’s law. Do I have a sharp tongue? Were the words that I said, true as they were, not spoken in love? Have I let drugs or alcohol or pornography get a hold of my life harming the people in my life? Brothers and sisters, if the mirror shows us we are the offender we can stop. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Believers in Jesus have beat drug addiction and alcohol abuse. They have quit porn. They have learned to say and mean those hard words, “I’m sorry.” If you are having trouble, give your pastors a call. We can help you with God’s words and point you to other help if you need that as well. Don’t let those relationships suffer. Look what Jesus lets you do! You, like Onesimus can stop offending.

          And you can let it go if you are the one hurt. Most of the time when relationships have trouble there can be fault on both sides. Oftentimes there is more on one side than the other. Such is the case with Philemon and Onesimus. Philemon was living in slave owning society. He was a believer in Jesus. We are not told what kind of master he was but he had suffered loss. A successful escape would only embolden others. If Onesimus came back to him what should he do? Why make an example of him of course. The law back then allowed all kinds of punishments for escaped slaves, including death. Masters who were too easy on their slaves were looked at as inciting violence and rebellion. How should Philemon handle this? “So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.”

          What should Philemon do? Let it go. He needed to welcome Onesimus back just as he would Paul, a brother in the Lord. Why? Jesus. “If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. ¹⁹I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. ²⁰I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.” Somehow (we know how!) through the ministry of Paul Philemon had become a believer in Jesus. He was freed from the slavery of  sin, death and the devil through Paul’s work. In that sense he owed a debt of love. So instead of collecting on the debt owed by Onesimus Philemon could let it go. Not in the Frozen way, in the forgiveness way. As someone who had experienced forgiveness from Christ Philemon could forgive as well.

          So can you. You can let it go. In the best case scenario the person who has hurt or offended you will like Onesimus come back and apologize. When that happens there is a part of us that thinks, “Well I will, but only after you’ve paid a bit. You need to hurt like I hurt.” Make sense. But it’s not Christ’s way. Look what Jesus lets you do. You can let it go and forgive and welcome that person back into your life as a brother or sister in Christ. What if they are not sorry? Still Jesus lets you let it go. Through Christ you can put it into the hands of the heavenly Father who knows just what that person who offended you needs, mercy or justice.

          There’s one more thing Jesus lets you do when it comes to relationships. You can be a peacemaker. Paul found himself in the unique position of knowing both parties, the offender and the offended. He knew both of their stories. He knew what Jesus would let him do, be a peacemaker, one who could intercede on behalf of another. Is that you? Are you the person, neither offended nor offender, who knows both and the misunderstandings and the hurts and the fears? Nobody should be a meddler or a busybody but in some cases the one that God wants to use to bring reconciliation is you! Look what Jesus lets you do.

          Jesus is the big difference maker in all of our lives. When Pastor Martin Luther studied this letter to Philemon he concluded, “We are Christ’s Onesimi!” In other words he saw a picture of Jesus. As he read of how Paul interceded on behalf of Onesimus he was reminded of how Jesus has interceded with the heavenly Father on our behalf. We the offenders. He the offended. We know how that has turned out. God let it go. That’s what Jesus enabled God to do. And with God it’s all about people. What joy we bring to Him when we follow His lead. Amen.