Sermon Tone Analysis

PRAYER

Alright this is a 3 week series and today we are going to be looking specifically at the first 7 verses.

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So what is this letter of Paul written not to a church but to an individual.

A friend, a partner in the work of the Gospel; a fellow soldier of the faith Paul calls him in vs. 2.

Philemon is a letter with a soap opera, or a crime story behind it.

Escape and theft, and life change, reconciliation...all in one 25 v book of the new Testament.

The 3 main characters in this profile are Paul.

Onesimus, and of course Philemon.

Philemon was the slave owner of Onesimus, and was part of the church in Colossae.

As were Apphia and Archipus, possibly members of Philemon’s family; some believe his wife and his son.

It appears that Onesimus a slave (or bondservant) has wronged his master.

Although slavery was still an evil in the Roman empire, it was more familial; slaves lived in the same house as their master, ate with their masters, they were trusted with family matters, sent on trips.

Onesimus looks to have runaway, and possible stolen from his Philemon.

Which would mean that Onesimus is in trouble -

he was guilty of two capital crimes:

running away and theft v (18)

They were sins against the social order.

If it spread that slaves could runaway or steal from their masters, it would mean big trouble for the Romans social structure; the empire was built on slavery.

And so death was usually the penalty.

If your master was feeling generous, a caught slave would be branded on the forehead so all the world would see: with either an “F” for Fugitivus, or “CF” Cave Furem (which means “Beware of Thief”)

Onesimus could have received both!! His forehead would have looked like some obscure text message!!

Around the time that this letter was written Pedanius Secundus a wealthy Roman was murdered by one of his 400 slaves.

All of which were publicly executed as an example.

So this could have been a real danger for Onesimus.

It is no surprise that he made his way to Rome where Paul was a prisoner.

Runaway salves would attempt to disappear in the subculture of large cities, tried to flee abroad and be absorbed into the work-force, or sought refuge in a temple.

Somehow somewhere in Rome, Onesimus came into contact with Paul, maybe as a prisoner, maybe he was introduces, maybe he had heard of this man Paul and his wisdom and somehow got an invite to the house where he was under house arrest.

And somehow, someway, Onesimus came to be a follower of Jesus.

v 10

And so we have Paul under arrest, a friend of this runaway slave an thief, and

And so Paul finds himself a spiritual father of both of the wealthy, church hosting, Philemon and Onesimus, his runaway, thief slave.

Loving them both, seeking reconciliation between them and using his position as spiritual father, brother in Christ, prisoner for the sake of Jesus for their reconciliation..he writes this letter to Philemon.

The issues surrounding Onesimus’ escape or betrayal of Philemon are unknown.

So what we see here is a letter with the aim not simply to point out error, not simply to be seen as correct, but to see Jesus glorified and unity prevail.

I. Conflict is Inevitable

why

because of our make up!!

Paul is a prisoner for being an evangelist, pastor, and a preacher, living his life chained to two Roman Guard, with errand boys running through Rome to make sure he has all his necessities.

He literally cannot go to the bathroom without a guard chained to him, All the while he is leading churches!!

He is friends with leaders and prisoners, with the wealthy and the poor.

The free and the slave.

The staunchly Jewish and the Greeks.

Two drastically different world views.

And he is preaching a gospel that invites everyone in!!

There is now neither

What does that mean for Christian community?

We are called to be unlike every other community on the planet.

We are family!!

We are family often with nothing in common but Christ.

“Community” is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives

Often we surround ourselves with the people we most want to live with, which forms a club or a clique, not a community.

Anyone can form a club; it takes grace, shared vision, and hard work to form a community.

The Christian church was the first institution in history to bring together on equal footing , men and women, slaves and free, Jews and Greeks, jocks and geeks.

The apostle Paul loved this aspect of the church, the kingdom

he called it the “mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God.”

By forming a community out of diverse members, Paul said, we have the opportunity to capture the attention of the world and even the supernatural world beyond

By forming a community out of diverse members, Paul said, we have the opportunity to capture the attention of the world and even the supernatural world beyond ().

In other words, the church ought to be the place where the world looks and says I’ve never seen a community like this; a collection of different backgrounds interests, loves and what brings them together; how is this possible, what is this mystery…it is Christ!

"'Community' is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives." —Henri Nouwen

In some ways the church has sadly failed in this assignment.

Still, church is the one place I visit that brings together generations: infants still held in their mothers’ arms, children who squirm and giggle at all the wrong times, responsible adults who know how to act appropriately at all times, and those who may drift asleep if the preacher drones on too long.

Married, single, parents, and non.

If we want the community experience God is offering to us, we have reason to seek a congregation of people “not like us.”

but there will always be the danger of conflict when our eyes are removed off Christ and onto what makes us different; that is how the world functions, the only result that ought to come from us seeing our differences is thankfulness and awe on some ways.

Conflict is inevitable, BUT and this is important to remember

II.

Chrisitian Conflict is a Family Matter

Because conflict with each other is conflict with family members....

Paul’s hope is for Christ to be glorified and unity of the Christian community to remain or be restored.

And it is not just a chocolate covered onion!

look at Paul’s identifying words for everyone involved.

He is a prisoners of Christ---with his brother Timothy

addressing his fellow-worker, Philemon, and Archippus our fellow soldier

Hey guys before I go any further....”Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Can each of us say that when we enter into a conflict that our goal is for Christ to be glorified and unity to remain or be restored.

Can each of us say that when we enter into a conflict, a painful conversation that our goal is for Christ to be glorified and unity to remain or be restored.

When we enter into conflict or a painful conversation our goal is for Christ to be glorified and unity to remain or be restored.

and that will change how we approach and speak to each other.

Lalainia and I have taken this to heart....every time we have a disagreement and she is sitting in the living room heated!

upset…I enter and I say....

“Greetings, Lalainia.

I Bradicus, pastor for Christ, beseach you, my sister and fellow worker, nay…soldier.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”

Actually, I rarely do that!

Maybe I should?

Paul wants to make it very clear in his letter that we are all on level playing field, sinners saved by grace and our defining factor is not in our wealth, what we own, whether we are in prison, or a runaway slave…our identity and motivation for unity is found in Christ.

So he is not just offer superlatives to butter up Philemon!!

You know it isn’t like the job review time and the boss starts with

me and the boss starts with the well,

“Well, um..you are well, groomed, people like you, your desk is always tidy.....HOWEVER....

And you know that there isa correlation between how a

He is not just trying to disguise or prepare Philemon for the big ask.....He is laying the framework for every Christian interaction.......that,

We are one in Christ!!

We are all (as Martin Luther put it) We are all mere beggars

telling other beggars where to find bread

He is not just putting Philemon in his proper place, he is putting himself in his proper place.

What would our conflicts look like if we firmly planted ourselves in the gospel story, before we opened our mouths?

PAUSE

But from Paul’s language there seems to have been some crime between a slave and his master.

Now some of us…if we were wronged.