Philemon – 1st Sermon
[This was the first of a pair of sermons preached on this wonderful little letter of Paul. The aim was to summarise the letter, while encouraging the listener to get into the feelings and experiences of the individuals involved. The main applications came in the second sermon.]
THE MESSAGE OF PHILEMON
I want to take you back in time to a day in the year AD 61. It is early evening, and Philemon and his wife Apphia are looking out from the veranda of their home in Colossae. Silhouetted against the sinking are two figures, making their way wearily yet purposefully towards them. As they draw closer, Apphia says to her husband, “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.” “You mean Onesimus – Mk Useless? He didn’t just run away, he took half our savings with him. Wherever has he been all this time? Whatever has he come back here for? He must realise I could have him killed. Still, I suppose he was bound turn up again – just like a bad denarius.”
The two travellers make their way up to the 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. “This is a letter from Paul to the house-fellowships here in Colossae.” Onesimus says nothing. But he too has a scroll, which he gives to Philemon. “Well,” says Philemon, “we’ve better see what this has to say. Please come in, Tychicus. Any friend of Paul’s is a friend of hours. Onesimus, you rascal, you’d better stay out here. I havn’t a clue about what we’re going to do about you.’
Husband, wife, and traveller go 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’ – This is a letter from Paul, too. It’s ‘To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home’ – “You must meet our son Archippus. He’s one of the leaders of the church here in Colossae. He’s a bit of a scholar. Paul gave him some work to do, straightening out the bad teaching in some of the other house fellowships, and I’ll bet Paul will want to know how he’s getting on.”
‘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 you to know that although he’s stuck under house-arrest in Rome he’s continually thanking God for you and praying for you.”
‘Because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints’ – “Yes, even at 1,000 miles away he’s keen 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.’ – “What does that mean, Archippus?” “Father, Paul seems to be hinting that although he’s delighted with the news he’s heard about you, there’s something more he wants you to do.”
‘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 much you did for all 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’ – “Philemon, Archippus was right. There is something Paul wants you 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,” says Philemon, “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 ran away from us, stealing our money, made your way to Rome, to Paul, and he led you to Christ?” Onesimus smiles, and nods. Philemon and Apphia are thinking exactly the same thing: ‘While he was with us, we did everything we could to talk to him, to treat him fairly, to pray for him, and we couldn’t get him the least bit interested in the things of Christ. To be honest, we’d just about given up on him. He was lazy, uncouth and dishonest. So what does he do? He steals from us, runs away, and finds Jesus in a prison in Rome. It’s Apphia who puts her feelings into words, “It’s just like in that old hymn, isn’t it? – ‘God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform’.”
‘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 is sure you’ve undergone a complete transformation.’ Onesimus’ smile is becoming a little broader.
‘I am sending him–who is my very heart–back to you’ – “Wow, Paul really cares about you, doesn’t he? It’s so painful for him to send you back to us that 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 favor 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 overules even the bad things we do and turns them into good!” exclaims Archippus. “It’s just like in the story of Joseph: ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good'” (Gen 50:20).
‘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.’ – Archippus speaks up again, “Dad, Paul is asking you to do something difficult but very important. He is asking you 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 often said, ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ And hasn’t his teaching recently been, ‘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’ – Philemon: “See how Paul puts himself in your place, Onesimus! Well, of course I would welcome him with open arms. And now he is asking me to welcome you in his place! I don’t think I want to 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 do owe us rather a lot. There’s the money you took when you ran away, and, of course the value of the work you should have been doing…”
‘Not to mention that you owe me your very self’ – “Dad, think of what your own life would have been if Paul had not led you to Christ. Think of the value of eternal life. Now, are you going seriously to ask Paul to pay back what Onesimus owes you?”
Well, Paul’s gentle persuasion wins the day. We can imagine the reconciliation that took place between the runaway slave and his aggrieved owner, through the courteous intervention of a wise Christian leader confined to a jail over a thousand miles away.
“Onesimus, it is my privilege and duty to forgive you completely. I see that we are equal before God, and have the same need both to receive forgiveness and 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 as a brother in Christ.”
And when at last Onesimus opened his mouth to say something, it was to ask if he could keep the letter that Paul had sent to Philemon. This was his reason: “If someone ever makes a collection of Paul’s letters for future generations to read, I’d like to make sure this one is included.” “Yes, but what will they make of it? Supposing some Christians, say, 1,937 years from now, who were neither slaves nor slave-owners, picked up this letter and tried to find in it a message from God for themselves. What would you say to them?’ “Well,” replied Onesimus, tucking the precious scroll under him arm and wearing a big smile on his face. “I’d say to them, ‘Come back next week, and you might just find out.'”