Crossing the Great Divide

Philemon 1–25 NIV

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker—also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people. Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—that 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. 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 would not seem forced but would be voluntary. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever—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 fellow 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. And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Philemon is one of those letters in the Bible we rarely flip open. But since we have just finished a series on the letter of Titus, it seems like a good transition to keep moving to the next letter and look at Philemon. This is not because Philemon follows Titus as the next book of the Bible. It is because the theme of godly living which Paul writes about in Titus shows up with a real-world example in Philemon. Faith and regular life intersect in the example of Philemon and Onesimus. If Titus is the textbook instruction for living a godly life of faith, then Philemon is the case study for living a godly life of faith.

Here is how this is going to go today. Normally you are used to me putting a few themes in front of you in your outline. Today we are going to deal with the letter of Philemon in an expository way. That means instead of working our way through themes, we are going to work our way verse-by-verse through the letter. To make it a little easier, I am not actually going to move verse-by-verse. Rather, we are going to move section-by-section. So, it might be helpful today to keep the letter open in front of you. There are Bibles placed under the chairs if you would like to follow along.

Intersection of Faith and Love

opening of letter - Paul does not refer to himself as an apostle, but as a prisoner; appeal to Philemon is not based on authority

In the opening of the letter Paul addresses the letter in a way that is typical of most formal letters of the first century Roman empire. It identifies the author and the recipients. And as is usual for Paul, he tips his hand and shows his cards in the way he addresses letters. Often Paul begins a letter by identifying himself as an apostle. It is a way of declaring his authority to the recipients so that the words coming in the letter have some teeth. This time the only thing Paul chooses to put beside his name is that he is a prisoner for Jesus, and he co-writes this letter along with Timothy. In this letter, he is not appealing to the authority he has been given as a basis for his instruction.

addressed to Philemon, but also entire church that meets in his home; this is an open letter for all to see

The recipient of the letter is Philemon, and by extension a few others. It is also addressed to a woman named Apphia – this is likely Philemon’s wife. It mentions someone named Archippus. It is unclear if this might be a son of Philemon or someone else of high standing in his household. And then Paul makes it something of an open letter by including the entire house-church congregation that meets in Philemon’s home. Even so, most of the second person pronouns in the letter are singular. Paul’s message is really meant just for Philemon, but it includes an audience.

verses 4-7, thanksgiving prayer; ties quality of faith in Jesus together with quality of love for others

In verses 4-7 there is a thanksgiving prayer. This, again, is typical of first century letters. And again it serves as a way for Paul to lay the groundwork for his coming instructions. Verse five in particular has a unique construction in the original Greek language. In our English Bibles it seems to denote two qualities that Paul is exemplifying in Philemon: love and faith. To be more precise, it is a love for all of God’s people, and a faith in the Lord Jesus. But the way this sentence comes in Greek mixes the word order in a way that would not make much sense in English. It would literally read: the love and the faith which you have for the Lord and unto all God’s people.

verse 5 (literal): the love and the faith which you have for the Lord and unto all God’s people

Paul ties these two qualities together in a way that cannot be pulled apart. He is commending Philemon for being a man of faith in Jesus, which is expressed in the form of love for the people of God. These two qualities of faith and love inseparably intersect one another. Paul’s prayer of thanks for Philemon notes the way in which the quality of faith in Christ is affirmed and supported by the quality of love for others. And at the same time, the quality of love for others is affirmed and supported by the quality of faith in Christ. Verses six and seven further illustrate the way Paul sees faith in Jesus and love for others woven together.

This is all groundwork for what is coming next. Verses 8-21 are the main body of the letter. This is where Paul makes his request of Philemon with all his supporting arguments.

Leveling the Playing Field

verse 10, Paul writes to his friend Philemon on behalf of Philemon’s runaway slave, Onesimus

Verse 10 gives us the reason that Paul is writing this letter to his friend Philemon. He is making a plea on behalf of Onesimus. We figure out from verse 16 that Onesimus was a slave in Philemon’s house. And we can piece together from verse 18 that Onesimus must have done something wrong—such as stolen from Philemon—and then ran away trying to escape.

Somehow in a turn of events, Onesimus finds his way to Paul, and Paul convinces his to go back and make things right with Philemon. And so Paul writes this letter to send on behalf of Onesimus in order to smooth things out between Philemon and his runaway slave.

slavery was common for many households in Colossae; Paul’s request is only for this one slave, referred to as his own son

Perhaps we should deal for a moment with the whole issue of slavery going on in this letter. Philemon was a widely referenced book of the Bible 170 years ago when there was disagreement in America between Christians who were pro-slavery in the south and Christians who were abolitionist in the north. They would all twist the message of Philemon as either an argument in support of God-mandated slavery, or an argument for the abolishment of slavery.

We should note here that it does not seem to be Paul’s intention to make any particular sweeping reference to the institution of slavery one way or the other. We live in a time when we have come to realize the evil of owning and treating another human being as a piece of property. But it was a very common practice in the time of Paul. Not only wealthy households, but even those among the common class would typically own slaves. Someone such as Philemon, who had a home that was significant enough to host a house church most likely would have owned several slaves. Paul’s plea to Philemon is not looking for emancipation for all the slaves owned by Philemon, or the multitude of slaves likely owned by all the rest of the middle-class folks of the early churches. His argument does not seem to be either for or against slavery in general. It is just focused on one individual, Onesimus.

Onesimus is lifted from property to family (slave to son); Paul is lowered from family to property (brother to prisoner)

Paul’s treatment of Onesimus is surprising. He refers to Onesimus as his own son, a term of dear affection. He takes this man who is considered a piece of property who has wronged his master and then run away, and Paul elevates Onesimus up to the same level of close family as Paul. And since Paul refers to his friend Philemon as a brother, he is really saying that the runaway thieving slave Onesimus is elevated to the same level as his master Philemon.

At the same time, we should not forget that Paul introduced himself in this letter as a prisoner in chains for the gospel. Paul is lowering himself down to the social status of a slave. He is rather intentionally blurring the lines between rigid social status barriers. He is seeking to help the cause of Onesimus by leveling the playing field. As Paul is shaping up relationships between all those with whom he comes in contact, he erases the lines of the entitled social elite from the marginalized poor and destitute. He takes out any distinctions between the high and mighty and powerful from the lowly and weak and powerless.

Obedient but not Compelled

request, but not a command; receive Onesimus as a brother instead of a slave

The request that Paul is making to his friend Philemon is a complicated one. He never comes right out and says it, but instead heavily implies that Philemon should free Onesimus from being a slave. Paul says to treat him as a brother, that Philemon should welcome Onesimus as he would welcome Paul himself.

freeing a runaway slave who had stolen would ruin Philemon’s position, credibility, and standing in Colossae

But the plea made to Philemon is not an order, it is a request. Paul is not forcing or compelling Philemon to follow any specific instructions. Rather, Paul is advocating for Onesimus and leaving the decision up to Philemon to do what is best. I sort of understand it; Paul is placing his good friend Philemon in a pretty tough spot with this request. It is kind of a no-win situation for Philemon. He lives in a culture that commonly accepts and practices slavery. How can he set one of his slaves free without angering the rest of his slaves into bitterness? Or is Paul insinuating that he should, in fact, free all of his household’s slaves? But a move like this would certainly ruin his position and standing among the community and doom his family to be outcasts who will lose all their wealth and position. He would certainly no longer be able to host a Christian church in his home or be a benefactor of Paul’s missionary activity. Philemon’s life would be ruined by making the kind of move that Paul is asking.

forced compliance would free Onesimus, but Paul wants something else between Philemon and Onesimus — forgiveness

I’m sure Paul knows this too. He knows that the plea he is making to his friend Philemon is a request that will have deep repercussions within the community at Colossae. But forced coercion and mandatory compliance is not the answer. If Philemon has no choice except to do what Paul wants, then nothing is gained by it. Sure, Onesimus gains his freedom from slavery. But Paul is interested in something much deeper. Forgiveness.

Forgiveness

Everybody in that time would agree that a slave who steals and escapes deserves punishment, not forgiveness

This is really what the heart of the letter to Philemon is all about. It is about forgiveness. Putting the whole issue of slavery aside, Onesimus committed an act of stealing and abandonment that Paul and Philemon and everybody else in that culture would agree deserves punishment. The expected practice at the time would be that if Onesimus was ever caught and returned to his master, that Onesimus would be severely punished and then sold or sent to a much harsher slave environment than domestic house servant. He would be doomed for the rest of his life working in a mine or in the rowing galley of a boat.

The absolute last thing anyone would expect is forgiveness. You don’t forgive these kinds of actions from a slave. But this is where Paul sees an opportunity for the radical life of faith in Jesus to burst out in the open with a declaration of grace that is simply beyond comprehension in our world. This is hard for Philemon to give.

Forgiveness is hard for any of us to give.

C.S. Lewis: “we all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it.”

C.S. Lewis once said, “We all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it.” I love the idea of being forgiven. I’m not so in love with the process of forgiving others. The takeaway from Philemon for us today is to consider the ways in which the life of faith which we have talked about through the letter us Titus is a life of faith that invites us to be people of forgiveness.

Maybe the best place to start is always remembering that we are forgiven people. There is no explicit mention of this in Philemon. But there doesn’t need to be. Philemon lived in the city of Colossae. Paul has already shared about the forgiveness of God to the Colossian church.

Colossians 2:13–15 NIV

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

When Paul leveled the playing field between Philemon, Onesimus, and himself, he could just as well have added Jesus Christ to that list. Because it is Jesus who has emptied himself and become incarnate as one of us to take on the punishment for our sin so that we could be elevated to the place of children of God. We all need that forgiveness. There is not a ranking of some who just need a little forgiveness from God, some who need a ton of forgiveness from God, some who need hardly any forgiveness from God. We are all leveled out in the same place before God. Forgiveness starts with our own need.

Do we recognize just how much we need God’s forgiveness?

1. do I recognize just how much I need God’s forgiveness?

Jesus told it best as a story that goes like this.

Matthew 18:23–35 NIV

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

The first step to forgiving others is to always remember that we are people who need forgiveness from God.

2. have I allowed myself to receive the forgiveness of God?

The second step is this. Have I allowed myself to receive the forgiveness of God? Do you remember the story of the lost son—sometimes referred to as the parable of the prodigal son? After the foolish son has squandered all that his father has given to him, he convinces himself to go home and plead to his father. But he does not plead for his father’s forgiveness. Instead he pleads to be taken in as a servant instead of a son. He does not see any way that his father will ever forgive him for what he has done; and so he won’t even ask for it. But if you know the story, you know that in exuberant love the father joyfully extends full forgiveness to his wayward child even though the son does not ask or expect forgiveness to be given.

These two stories of Jesus illustrate how sometimes we need to be humbled to a place of receiving the forgiveness that God gives to us. Sometimes we refuse to extend forgiveness to others because we refuse to accept forgiveness ourselves. This makes sense; think about it. Accepting forgiveness is admitting that I messed up and that I was wrong and that my action and my life has brought harm or pain to somebody else. Accepting forgiveness takes vulnerability. Many of us are not very good at that.

3. am I willing to forgive others the way that I have been forgiven?

Are you willing to forgive others the way that you have been forgiven? This is the question that stares us down straight between the eyes from the letter of Philemon. It is not an easy question to answer. And sometimes it takes a long time to find ourselves in a place where we are able to finally forgive.

Don Henley, singer and drummer for the band The Eagles wrote a song after his time with Eagles called The Heart of the Matter. Henley sometimes talked about the process of writing music. About this particular song he once said that it is a song that took him forty years to write. When I hear the words, I understand. It is a lesson in forgiveness that took him forty years to learn and realize. He says this, “These times are so uncertain; there’s a yearning undefined, and people filled with rage. We all need a little tenderness; how can love survive in such a graceless age? I’ve been trying to get down to the heart of the matter, but my will gets weak and my thoughts seem to scatter but I think it’s about forgiveness.”

the forgiveness we have received from Jesus extends an invitation for us to forgive others as well

Forgiveness is about letting go of any thought of vengeance or anger or spite. Forgiveness is coming to a place in your heart where you can honestly hope and wish the best for someone who has wronged you. Forgiveness seeks a place of reconciliation. Sometimes the reconciliation is a peace of mind which allows us to let go of hate and anger. Sometimes the reconciliation is in a restoring a relationship that has been broken. This is what Paul hoped for between Philemon and Onesimus.

We live in a world in which we harm one another quite often. We live in a world that needs examples of forgiveness. The forgiveness we have received from Jesus extends an invitation for us to forgive others as well.