A Fugitives Journey Home

Some of us are old enough to remember the 1960’s TV series The Fugitive, starring David Janssen as Richard Kimble, a physician wrongfully convicted of his wife’s murder and sentenced to receive the death penalty. En route to death row, Kimble’s train derailed over a switch, which allowed him to escape and begin a cross country search for the real killer, a one armed man he saw leave the scene of the crime, while under the relentless pursuit of a police lieutenant obsessed with his capture. Kimble, that is David Janssen died of a major heart attack, when he was just 48 years old.

The book of Philemon is a book of 25 verses, 335 words in the Greek tucked between the book of Titus and the Book of Hebrews. The book was written about 60AD and introduces us to a real-life fugitive by the name of Onesimus.

Philemon 1–25 ESV

Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, I want 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 say. At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

PPT- The book of Philemon has 3 main characters.

Paul, Philemon and Onesimus

The apostle is the one writing the letter. You notice in verse 1 he refers to himself, not as an apostle, but as a prisoner for Christ Jesus. In verse 9 he refers to himself as an old man, and once again as a prisoner for Christ Jesus. It is the opinion of most bible Scholars that the imprisonment Paul is referring to is the one we read about in Acts 28:26-30 where he’s in Rome. He’s made an appeal to stand before Caesar, and so he’s being detained . He’s under house arrest. He has a soldier with him around the clock. Today he might have an ankle bracelet that gives GPS coordinates which tell of his whereabouts.

What has he done wrong? What is his alleged crime. Well he had been preaching the gospel, which made some people upset like he used to be, that is before the Lord saved him.

This isn’t his first stint in jail. If he was in the ECCJ, some of the jailers might refer to him as a repeat customer, we certainly have our share of repeat customers. It is interesting that Paul does not refer to himself as a prisoner of Rome but for Jesus Christ.

Philemon is he second main character. He lived in the ancient city of Colossae, which was in modern day Turkey. I once asked an inmate he had ever heard of Colossae. He thought for a moment, then with a straight face said, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Colossae, but I have heard of a colonoscopy.

Philemon lived in Colossae. It is likely that Paul had been instrumental in his salvation. We don’t read anywhere in the books of Acts that Paul ever visited Colossae, but he did have a 2 ½ year ministry in the neighboring city of Ephesus (Acts 19) and we are told that “all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, but Jews and Greeks, and its very possible, that Paul and Philemon met there and Philemon became a believer in Jesus, went back to his hometown and began to share the gospel with others. Verse 2 says he had a church within his house; his home became a place where believers met together for worship, for fellowship, to study God’s Word together, as we are doing here today.

One other thing I should point out about Philemon is that he was a slave owner. Slavery back in the days of the Romans empire was common place. It wasn’t racially motivated as was true in our country. Many salves were indentured or worked under contract and eventually attained their freedom. Some had good masters, others were not so good. From what Paul says about Philemon in this letter, he was a man of faith, he had a good reputation and no doubt treated those of his household well, which would have included Onesimus, who lived within his household as a slave.

The day came when Onesimus decided he didn’t want to work for Philemon anymore and so he up and left, apparently, he stole some of Philemon’s things on his way out. We don’t know if they had pawn shops in that day, or a black market where they could get cash in their stolen goods, but the letter infers that Onesimus had taken took some of Philemon’s things and fled to the far-off city of Rome, a city of close to a million people, where he thought he could blend in and start a new life for himself as a fugitive slave in the big city.

PPT MAP

Rome was about 900 miles by land or by sea from Colossae.We don’t know how long Onesimus was there, but in the providence of God the day came when Onesimus came in contact with the Apostle Paul. We don’t have the details. We don’t know how it happened, other than the Lord (v. 15) somehow Onesimus came in contact with the Apostle Paul who was in Rome under house arrest.

Being under house arrest you were able to have visitors.

PPT

Acts 28:30–31 ESV

He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

And so it was, while Paul was under house arrest, he met Onesimus and told him about Jesus Christ. And the gospel did its work in his fugitive slaves life, and he believed on Christ and became a follower of Christ“.

We might assume Philemon had prayed for the salvation of those in his household including his slaves. Maybe there were some who were saying, he will never come to faith in Christ. If he didn’t come to faith in Christ while he was living in Philemon’s home and under his influence, what are the chances of him becoming a Christian when he’s living in Rome, with all of its attractions.

Maybe there’s someone you’ve been praying for, and you’ve lost contact with that person, you’ve all but given up hope of that person ever coming to faith in Christ.

Don’t count God out. You can be sure that Philemon had witnessed to Onesimus but he wasn’t ready for the gospel then, Some things had to happen first, and for some, it could mean some really hard times, even being put into jail with serious charges hanging over your head and the possibility of spending the rest of your life behind bars.

All we know is that the day came when Onesimus was ready to trust Christ

Philemon 10 ESV

I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment.

And it even goes on to tell us that Onesimus went on to minister to Paul for a time,

Philemon 11–16 ESV

(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

Bringing food and supplies, today a family might put money on someone’s canteen account in the jail. But back in that day, you depended on that, they didn’t take care of you like they do in our jails today. In Paul’s day if you didn’t have someone on the outside helping you out with food, clothing and hygiene supplies you were in a hard place.

Onesimus ministered to Paul until the day came when Paul said you need to go back home and get things right with Philemon, the well-known slave owner in Colossae who Paul not only happened to know, but knew him on a personal level. And writes Philemon this personal letter, in which he advocates for Onesimus, and ask Philemon to receive his former slave back, not as a slave but as a brother in Christ. And to treat him with the same love and courtesy the he would if Paul himself was there. Onesimus is mentioned by name in

Colossians 4:7–9 ESV

Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.

Notice he refers to Onesimus as our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you.

The play on words profitable, unprofitable ( Sam Buhler named their son Onesimus.

Another evidence that Onesimus was a changed man is that he was willing to go back to clean up his past and to make things right. Risky, how will he be received, will he be accepted, or severely punished? He was willing to do the right thing and trust God with the results. He knew it wat he needed to do.

Years ago I met a woman who had been falsely accused a man of raping her. The man was convicted and sentenced for a crime that he had never committed well the woman came to faith in Christ and her conscience wouldn’t leave her alone a man was being punished for something he had not done, not knowing what the consequences would be she went to the authorities told them she had made the story up and that the reason she was coming clean was because she had become a Christian and needed to make things right.

That is what Onesimus was doing.

Spiritual Realities:

1) Individuals with a criminal history can change, not on their own, and for some it is a more difficult road than others. For some its two steps forward, one step back; then two steps forward and one step back until they are able to grasp the freedom that is in Christ and can learn how to live differently. Some may live the rest of their lives behind bars, but it may be God’s will to use them in that place to reach some that only they can reach.

2) The redeemed ex-prisoner should be welcomed back as a brother or sister in Christ not as a second-class citizen. Paul says don’t send him back to the servant’s quarters, receive him as you would receive me.

One out of every 37 adults in the US has spent time in jail or prison.

That may or may not be true of you, but the truth told, none of us deserve God’s grace, and we should be willing to receive those whom God has welcomed into his spiritual family, because we are really no different from them. The ground that surrounds the cross is level. No one is more deserving of salvation than anyone else.

Illus: Convict and Judge.

3. You Don’t Always Know How a Person’s Life Story will End.

Were never told how the story ended. Onesimus went back, carried the letter with him along with Tychicus who was a member of the church in Colossae; he might assume he was welcomed back with open arms. We are left to wonder. Legend has it that Philemon, Aphia his wife and Archippus were martyred. There is an Onesimus who became a pastor in Ephesus. There are men and women all over the world who were once imprisoned but who are now trophies of his grace.

(Jacob Ketchens) ppt

4. The Importance of Doing the Next Right Thing

It was right for Paul to send Onesimus back to Philemon. It was right for Onesimus to go back and make things right with Philemon. It was right for Philemon to govie the former slave and to welcome him back into his household. As Paul writes to the church at Colossae a letter which more than likely accompanied this letter, the church is encouraged to continue in the faith and do the next right thing.

Application: What is your next right thing. To share your faith with your neighbor; to say I’m sorry for something you did wrong; maybe its to tell a friend that your on a different path now and you won’t be hanging around anymore; maybe the next right thing for you is to start praying again because you stopped a while back, when you got discouraged or angry with God.

Why do I say While there is time? History records that in 64 AD, an earthquake occurred in the area of Colossae that destroyed the city, a short time after the date of this epistle.

Realizing these words were written to Christians, some of whom who no doubt perished in the catastrophic event.

Isaiah 55:6–7 ESV

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.