Being Useful (Onesimus)

Being Useful

God wants you to be useful!

Philemon

Introduction

There is hope that no matter where you come from, God can use you. Last week, I went to my daughter Breanna’s graduation from college in North Dakota. While there, I ran into some people that I knew from my past. (Show picture) One of the person’s was a girl that I knew from growing up (named Jessica). (Jessica) was a few years younger than me and was a part of our church, youth group, and eventually went to the same Bible college as me – Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, North Dakota (where Breanna just graduated). Jessica came from a rough family upbringing – divorce, step-parents, constantly moving houses, and all kinds of difficulties. Suffice it to say that things were not the best for her. But she learned to do something early on that can change any person’s life for the better - she chose – in the midst of trials – to cling and rely on Jesus no matter what. She determined that he would be the center of her life. As a result, she made every effort to regularly go to youth group at our church and make her faith a primary part of her life – despite anything she went through. Upon graduation from high school, she somehow made a way with God’s help to go to Bible college in North Dakota. It wasn’t easy. But God made a way. While there, she became a part of a travelling singing group with the school and became great friends with a girl in her group. On one break, she went home with her friend and met her brother. One thing led to another and before long, Jessica was dating and eventually married to her friend’s brother, who was farming in Iowa.

Fast forward to today. How is this girl from a broken family doing? Well, she has been married 29 years to the same man, lived in the same house, became a regular worship leader at her church, and raised 4 children – one of them attending Bible college (thus the reason we ran into her). On top of all that, she has written a book (Reframing Rejection), has a website (welcomegrace.com), done Christian speaking at events, and even is a regular contributor to nationally known podcast entitled Your Daily Bible Verse. Looking back, you would never guess where she started and where she would end up. Any yet, she is a great example of this: no matter where you have come from, God can use you! He used her! For goodness’ sake: He even used me – a shy, mama’s boy from Havre, Montana! If he can use Jessica and me, the he can use you!

That’s what my message today is all about: “Being Useful” for the Lord!

Our story in the Bible comes from the book of Philemon. It is a short book with only one chapter and 25 verses. This story centers around one person and his relation to two other characters. The main character is a slave named Onesimus. The other two characters are Paul the apostle, and Onesimus’ former master Philemon. Let me give you a little background on what happened as far as we can tell from what is written in the Bible.

Body

Background: Onesimus was a slave of a man named Philemon in the area of Colossae, which was a city in Asia Minor (see map). Onesimus was probably one of many slaves in the household. At some point, Onesimus ran away from his master. Some time later, Onesimus met the apostle Paul in one of his missionary journeys and committed his life to Christ. His life turned around and he started becoming a spiritual son to the apostle Paul. At some point in this relationship with Paul and his journey of faith, Paul and Onesimus felt that resolution needed to be made to make things right with his former owner. So, he wrote a letter to address this issue as Paul sends Onesimus back to his master Philemon. This letter is the Bible book we call Philemon. The apostle Paul is writing a letter to Onesimus former master Philemon to address the past mistakes of the slave Onesimus. This story will give us some lessons on how we can be useful for the Lord. Let’s dive into the three characters and see how we can learn from them.

Character #1: Onesimus.

His name means “useful”.

The word Onesimus literally mean “useful” in Greek. There is a play on words later when he called him previously “useless” and now he is living up to his name being “useful”. The name Onesimus might be foreign to us today, but it was a common slave name back in this day and age. Might be similar to common names in early colonial days in America like Bacchus, Virgil, or Venus.

He had a checkered past.

One commentator called it difficult, discreditable, and scandalous. As far as we can discern, Onesimus was a useless worker/person when he was with his master. Verse 11 says, “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.” He likely did not work hard. Maybe avoided work. Maybe he wanted a free ride. On top of that, he ran away even though he wasn’t supposed to. And if that wasn’t enough, many commentators believe that v.19 alludes to the fact that Onesimus may have robbed his master as he was running away because Paul basically says “I will repay what he owes.”.

His life changed when he came to faith in Jesus.

He got close to the apostle Paul. Paul considered him his spiritual child (v.10 – my son). Paul likely mentored Onesimus. Onesimus apparently took care of Paul and did errands for him while he was in prison. He delivered the letter to the Colossians for Paul as a courier (see Col.4:9). He is also called a faithful and beloved/dear brother in Colossians. He went from being useless to being useful and a faithful brother (which leads me to my next point).

He became useful for the Lord.

Verse 11 – “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.” Something happens when you connect with the God of the universe that created you. One of those things is that you start to understand your purpose in life. You aren’t there just to take and receive from everyone else. It isn’t all about you anymore. It is about Him, and it is about others. Onesimus is a perfect example of how this happens: a likely useless, lazy, wandering fool became useful for the kingdom of God. He turned into a testimony for the Lord.

We can do the same. You can do the same. God wants us to be useful!

Character #2: Paul.

His life was changed when he encountered Jesus.

On the road to Damascus, he was struck with blindness and Jesus spoke to him. Something amazing happens when we encounter Jesus in real life. Read the book of Acts about Paul’s story. He went from persecuting and killing Christians to the greatest supporter and spreader of the gospel of Jesus Christ. All because of an encounter with Jesus. He went from primarily being known as Saul to now being called Paul – a minister of the gospel whose life was forever changed.

He became a church leader.

Paul was one of the smartest people there was in his time – maybe of all time. He knew the Bible backwards and forwards. And yet, he missed what it was all about. But once he did get it, God called him to a greater calling. He would use his knowledge to become a missionary and church leader in the newly established New Testament church. He would preach, he would teach, and he would mentor people in their faith. He would become a spiritual father to people like Timothy, Titus, and Onesimus (to name a few).

He wanted right relationships among people.

He cared about submitting to authority and the relationship there. We see this when the high priest told somebody to slap Paul during a trial in Acts 22-23. Paul responded with “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall.” Those standing nearby said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest.” His response was to apologize for speaking out of turn at the high priest. He said, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.” (Acts 23:5) This shows that Paul submitted to authority and respected authority. He wanted right relationship. Even here in the book of Philemon, you can read about his pleading to the owner of the slave to make things right with Onesimus. He said that he could have ordered the owner to release and forgive Onesimus for what he had done, but instead he was appealing to him on the basis of love to make the right decision. The fact that Paul sent Onesimus back to his owner says a lot about his desire to make things right between the two people.

He modeled the ends DO NOT justify the means.

Paul could have determined that everything Onesimus was doing for him made up for anything he did in the past. He did not justify keeping Onesimus because he was useful. He could have determined that he was doing more good for Him now and he didn’t need to worry about Onesimus past or how it affected his former owner. But he didn’t. He didn’t justify that the ends justify the means. I see many people say things like, “I lied, but it all turned out. Therefore its okay.” (Watch a lot of romance movies and as long as they come clean sometime it is okay to deceive the person you are falling in love with). Or some people think it’s okay to stop attending church or moving away and stop attending church for a better job because they justify that they can make more money (the ends justify the means). After all, they say, God wants me to be happy.” (I have seen more people falter in their faith by making decisions based on money than what is best spiritually). Or we might justify things like King Saul did in the Old Testament. God told him to kill everything when he wiped out the enemy. And yet, he kept the best animals. His justification, “I am going to sacrifice the best animals to the Lord.” Samuel, God’s prophet saw right through it. His response in 1 Samuel 15:22 was, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” Sometimes we justify the means because of the results. We talk ourselves into justifying things because we like the result. Paul wasn’t doing that here. He loved having Onesimus and him being helpful. But it wasn’t at the expense of doing what was right and making things right between the former slave and his owner.

Paul modeled here that: we need to do what is right, even when it isn’t easy! (repeat that line)

Character #3: Philemon

He was a Christian.

When Paul wrote this letter to Philemon, Paul writes in verse 1 that it is written to his “dear friend and fellow worker.” This likely means that he is a Christian, a fellow Jesus follower. He likely was a colleague or interacted with Paul during his missionary journeys in the book of Acts. We don’t know if his faith had been there even before Paul came, or if he was converted somewhere later in life after Onesimus ran away – maybe as a result of Paul’s ministry. It seems that this could have happened, as Paul indicates that he owes him something – possible eternal life due to his preaching.

He was the boss of Onesimus.

I am going to use the word boss because we understand that concept better today, although you can call him his owner or master if you like. Back in these days, some people were slaves by choice, others by birth, and others by being forced. The same can be said for slave masters. Some chose that career and were elevated or promoted to the position. Others were born into families with slaves and took them over as they got older. Others may have been stuck in the system by their parents and forced to be masters. We don’t know how Philemon became a master, or if he was a good master or poor one. He may have treated all of his slaves well. He may have given them opportunity to work their way out of his household and make a living for himself. What we do know is that Philemon was the boss and Onesimus left without permission.

He had every right to be upset at Onesimus.

Onesimus left without permission. He may have stolen money on the way out so he could start out on his own. He may have left the master in a tough spot, perhaps in the middle of harvest or when certain work needed to be done in a timely manner. As I said, Philemon may have been a good owner – even godly (who knows?). When Onesimus left, he had every right to be mad that he lost his worker, his investment in this man’s life, perhaps even the money and belongings he had given to this man over his growing up years taking care of him.

Reminds me of a story that happened last week at a hotel in Jamestown. I paid for the hotel. When I arrived, they had a small charge (for city tax) they needed to put on my credit card. I gave that to them. Then they charged me double what I had already paid when I arrived. I was told to call the owner when she returned to sort it out. I did. She got belligerent and refused to refund the extra charges. She informed me that I got a deal and she would have charged me $330 for the hotel room had she been there. She said that they don’t give refunds and started cussing and yelling. I was floored at her response. I had every right to be angry. What she was doing wasn’t right and proper.

Sometimes in life, things happen and we have every right to get mad. It can be how we are treated, righteous indignation over wrongs, or simply bad things happening that are out of our control. How will we respond in those situations?

We don’t know exactly how Philemon responded. But we do know how we SHOULD respond based on Paul’s appeal.

When wronged, we should respond with love and forgiveness.

In verse 9, Paul says “I appeal to you on the basis of love.” Then after explaining his heart for Onesimus and why he sent him ack to his master, he says in verse 17, “welcome him as you would welcome me.” Let me tell you something: you can’t welcome somebody you have “ought” against. If you don’t forgive somebody, you won’t invite them into your home. I know people that won’t forgive me and I have never been invited to their home.

Let me say this with as much love and compassion as I can… if you have been wronged by somebody at sometime – especially a brother or sister in Christ, learn from the appeal of Paul to Philemon. Let it go. Respond with love and forgiveness. Paul said, “if they owe you anything” (and you probably feel like they do – maybe an apology, or loss of a dream, or hurt and pain that they caused you… “if they owe you anything, Paul said, put it on my tab. I more than made up for it. Let the debt go. That is what forgiveness is! It is letting the debt go that you want them to be punished for. Fellow brothers and sisters, Jesus paid your debt. Let your debts towards one another go! It is the right, good, and Christian things to do!

Final Illustration

In the Bible, it uses the illustration that God is the potter and we are the clay.

Isaiah 64:8 says, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

Each of us is like a piece of clay that God wants to mold into something beautiful. It doesn’t matter where we came from or what we started out looking like. It matters that we have a grand potter that can mold us into something great. Some of us are dirty pieces of clay. Others have been formed into something bad by somebody else, and God reshapes us. Aren’t you glad that God can take pottery that is meaningless or useless and turn it into something useful? Listen to what it says in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” God is saying that we are jars of clay. And he is putting great treasures into us: treasures of his Word, his presence, his light, his love, the glory of his son Jesus, and the person of the Holy Spirit that lives in us. Talk about turning a piece of clay into something useful and great! God does that!

I don’t know how you feel about yourself or if you realize how useful you are in God’s sight. You are so useful that he puts his greatest treasures in your life. He wants you to be used for His glory! Isn’t that good news! God wants you to be useful!

Response

I want to end with three simple yet powerful challenges on being useful.

1. Are you ready to be useful?

Are you ready to make things right? Are you ready to be useful, even if you weren’t useful in the past? Are you ready for what the Lord has for you to do? Your heart needs to be pointed in the right direction before you can be useful? Some people say, “That’s a good idea. Somebody needs to do that.” But those same people won’t lift a finger. They aren’t ready to do anything useful. They are like Onesimus was early in life – useless. How about if say to the Lord, “Here am I, send me” like Isaiah did in the Bible. How about we say, “I am willing to be useful for the Lord’s service.” If the Lord says, “Go”, are you ready to go? I hope so!

2. Are you willing to be useful?

It takes more than being ready. You must also be willing. There’s an old hymn that goes like this, “I’ll say yes, Lord, yes to your will and to your way. I’ll say yes, Lord, yes I will trust you and obey. When your spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I’ll agree. And my answer will be yes, Lord, yes.” We sing the song that way at church. But do you know how we often sing that song in our hearts. “I’ll say yes, Lord, yes to your will and to your way. I’ll say yes, Lord, yes, I will trust you and obey. When your spirit speaks to me, I will see if I agree. And my answer might be yes, Lord, yes.”

Are you willing to be useful? I’m telling you there are more than enough things you can do to be useful for the kingdom of God. Ministry to kids, youth, adults. Music, cleaning, decorating at the church, maintenance on the church and the van. Teaching, fellowship, encouraging, praying. The list goes on and on. If you see a need, meet a need. That is being useful. Are you willing to be useful?

3. Are you able to be useful?

Sometimes we have the desire and the readiness to do things, but we aren’t able? If you are here today, you may not be able to mow the lawn due to physical limitations. But you might be able can hang out in children’s church to be a helper. You might not be able to drive the van, but you can pray for the pastor, the youth, the church service. You may not be able to spend hours and hours doing ministry at the church, but you can call someone on the phone and encourage them. How about instead of thinking of excuses why you CAN’T do certain things – you are NOT ABLE – How about you think of things that you CAN do.

I can tell you that if everyone was engaged in being useful, our church would thrive. I can tell you that if everyone was ready, willing, and able to be useful we would not lack in the kingdom of God. In fact, who knows – maybe Jesus return would happen quicker because the gospel would be shared to the uttermost parts of the earth earlier.

What I do know is this? God has called us, equipped us, and instructed us to be useful. He even gave us a book of the Bible to remind us of this. Will you get engaged in being useful?

Where can you be useful in the kingdom of God and in the church?

These two areas often overlap. I want you to ask the Lord and consider where God wants you to be useful? Is it in financial giving? Maybe you can’t do as much physically, but you can financially. Does the Lord want you to step up in some ministry role in the church? Greeter, nursery worker, sound technician, youth or children’s helper, or maintenance on the church. Is there some area he is laying on your heart that is not being done or is not being done well where you can be useful? Can you be useful in prayer more? Is Satan distracting you, or the craziness of life pulling you away from areas you can pray more? That is a great way to be useful! I really believe that God gave us this theme this year “Engaged” because he wants to take this church and its influence in this community and area to a new level. And the way to do that is through being engaged. That includes being engaged in being useful in whatever way the Lord calls you to.

Caution: Don’t make up excuses! But accept the Lord’s promoting because when the Lord is in it, it will work out. It always does! Amen?!

Let’s pray