The Rule of Love

Lord, grant me the grace to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change those things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference

Wilberforce

MP

dedicated his life to abolishing slavery

Undoubtedly influenced by Paul in Galatians 3:28

Galatians 3:28 NIV

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

And yet, today’s passage, written in Paul’s own hand, was used by his opponents who argued that slavery was accepted by Paul, so it must be OK.

What gives?

Paul vs. Wilberforce

Wilberforce wealthy, influential, close friends with the prime minister. Was in a position to change the way of the world, and set out to do so.

Paul couldn’t have been in a more different situation - old man, prisoner, hoping for freedom, but on his way to the executioners block.

Not in a position to change the world.

But he could change life for one person.

Onesimus was in a no win situation.

If caught, fugitives could be punished by being whipped, burnt with iron, or killed. Those who lived were branded on the forehead with the letters FUG, for fugitivus. Sometimes slaves had a metal collar riveted around the neck.

Paul recognises that he is not hte moral authority in society, but he feels strongly about how human beings, how followers of Christ should treat one another.

With love.

With love.

Paul treats Philemon with love and respect.

Paul displays his love and respect for Onesimus.

He leans hard on Philemon to do the same.

Philemon 16 NIV

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.

What can we learn from this?

Sometimes we can’t change the world, but we can always change our attitude to vulnerable people

You can’t always legislate to make bad things go away. We’re particularly guilty of this in the PCANZ. If there’s soemthing we disagree with, we force a resolution through GA. It doesn’t help. It doesn’t extend the kind of radical love that Paul calls us to. What if we replaced slave with another word in this verse? Woman. Liberal. Conservative. LGBTQI. Tangata Whenua. Doubtful. Hopeful. Broken. Seeker. hurting. Vulnerable. Lost. You. Me. All of us.

It’s not actually that hard. Lead with love. Make that our starting point. Everything else will fall into line - not because we make it so, but because we will be living in harmony with God’s will for our lives, and in harm,ony with God’s will for the world.

This is the law of love.

It’s not about what is right, or what is wrong.

It’s not about enforcing our will on others.

It’s about recognising the things that we are not in a position to change in the world we share, and choosing to respond with love.