Well, not a sermon really, but the notes of a talk given at a midweek meeting.  A revised version of something I produced many years ago.

Delivered with two voices (a) Philemon himself, and (b) Apphia, his wife, reading the text of Paul’s letter to Philemon (in italics).

I want to take you back to the year AD 61. My name is Philemon.  It is early evening, and my wife Apphia and I are looking out from the veranda of our home in Colossae. Silhouetted against the sinking sun are two approaching figures. As they draw closer, Apphia says to me, “Philemon, I’m not sure who these two characters are, but one of them looks just like that slave of ours – you known, the one who ran away, In fact, he didn’t just run away, he took half our savings with him. Wherever has he been all this time? Why has he come back?  Who is that with him?

The two travellers make their way up to our house. Sure enough, one is Onesimus, the runaway slave. The other introduces himself: “My name is Tychicus. I bring greetings from Paul in Rome.”  He hands over a scroll.

“Please do come inside, Tychicus.  Any friend of Paul is a friend of ours.  Onesimus, you rascal, you’d better wait outside.”

Husband, wife, and traveller make their way inside. Apphia is curious to know the contents of the scroll which Onesimus has brought. She unseals it, and begins to read:-

‘Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus.  To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, and to the church that meets in your home.  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’.

“Yes, it’s from Paul, alright. That’s the way he always starts his letters.”

‘I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers’

“That’s just like Paul too, isn’t it? He wants us to know that although he’s under house-arrest in Rome he’s continually thanking God for us and praying for us.”

‘Because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints’.

“Yes, even at a distance of 1,000 miles he’s delighted to hear news that we are growing in faith and love.”

‘I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.  Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints’.

“Perhaps he’s thinking of that terrible earthquake last year. He must have heard how hard we tried to help the believers who were injured and made homeless then.”

‘Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love’

“It sounds like there’s something Paul wants me to do. I wonder what it can be?”

‘I then, as Paul–an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus–I appeal to you…’

“Well, yes, anything Paul could ask me to do is nothing compared with what he has gone through for the faith.”

‘I appeal to you for my son Onesimus’

“Onesimus! – My son Onesimus! – Where is Onesimus? – We left him outside!  Onesimus, you’d better come in!

‘My son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains’

“Onesimus, you stole our money, ran away from us, made your way to Rome, to Paul, and he led you to Christ?”

‘Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me’

“Ha ha, that’s a good one, Onesimus. That’s what your name means, isn’t it – Useful? Paul says that you’ve undergone a complete transformation from useless to useful!”

‘I am sending him–who is my very heart–back to you’

“Wow, Paul really cares about you, doesn’t he? It was painful for him to send you back to us.  It’s as though he was saying goodbye to a part of himself.”

‘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 favour you do will be spontaneous and not forced.  Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good.’

“What a wonderful God, who overrules even the bad things we do and turns them into good!”.

‘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 man and as a brother in the Lord.’

“Let me get this straight.  Paul is asking me to take Onesimus back, to forgive him, and to receive him as a Christian brother. But that’s nothing less than the gospel demands. For hasn’t Paul always taught, ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ And didn’t he write, ‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’?”

‘So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me’

“Well, Onesimus, of course I would welcome Paul with open arms. And now he is asking me to welcome you in his place!  When he puts it like that, how can I refuse?”

‘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’

“Well, Onesimus, you did steal a lot of money from us.”

‘Not to mention that you owe me your very self’

“Yes, I often wonder what my life would have been if Paul had not led me to Christ. Am I seriously going to demand that Paul pays back what Onesimus owes me?”

“Onesimus, it is my privilege and joy to forgive you completely. I see that we are equal before God, and both have the same need not only to receive forgiveness but to show it. I welcome you just as I would welcome Paul himself. I forgive you for the ways in which you have wronged me. I receive you back, not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ.”

Friends: we are neither slaves nor slave-owners.  But if we are followers of Jesus Christ, we too have been ‘ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven’.  And the forgiveness we have received, we offer generously, sacrificially, lovingly, to any who have wronged us.

For as Jesus himself taught: ‘Freely you have received, ‘freely give.’