Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC 9/9/13
Today we are going to
study the entire book of Philemon. That’s right we are going to look at every
chapter of this letter from Paul and we are going to do it all during this
morning’s service. Now, for those who are frantically trying to think about how
they are going to get to the doors and out of here discreetly, don’t worry; for
although we are looking at the entire book of Philemon this morning, the entire
book is only one chapter long. In fact it is quite a spectacular letter that is
often overlooked by many churches. It is one of the few letters in which Paul
writes to a specific person rather than to a congregation. And still it is even
different than other personal letters such as Timothy, because in Philemon,
Paul is not giving instructions on how to lead the church, instead Paul is
seeking a personal favor. It is an amazing letter in which we truly get to see
the heart of Paul on display. So why then is this letter often neglected? Is it because it is so short that it is
simply overlooked? That may be possible, but I believe that the biggest reason
that this letter is often neglected is because of some of the content of the
letter and how that has been used in the recent past.
This letter from Paul to Philemon is centered around a
slave Onesimus and how he should be treated by his master. Right away we may
become a little uncomfortable with the fact that this letter involves slavery,
but that tension is only made worse by the fact that for years in America this
letter from the Bible was used to support the institution of slavery in
America. In fact this book in particular was used to encourage laws requiring
people to return runaway slaves to their rightful owners since after all that
is what Paul did with Onesimus.
This book of the Bible is then a perfect example of the
need to look at the historical context of the Bible so that we do not miss what
is at the heart of this wonderful letter. By focusing on the slavery in this
letter we may be unable to see the forest for the trees. With that being said,
if we understand some of the historical context of this letter, we may better
be able to put this matter aside. First and foremost, just because an
institution exists in the Bible does not mean that the Bible is saying it is
good. In fact there are indications in this letter that Paul does not agree
with slavery. “Perhaps this is the reason he was
separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, no
longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother--especially to me
but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.” One may wonder then if Paul was against this
institution of slavery then why did he send Onesimus back to Philemon instead
of helping to keep him as a refugee. It
is a difficult question to answer, but often there are multiple ways of
fighting injustice and all are needed. Sometimes injustice is fought head on
with demonstrations, protests, and rallies;
other times injustice is fought within the system, finding a way to
transcend the oppression. It appears as the latter is true for Paul, but we
will get to that later.
The second thing to keep in mind before we proceed is
that the institution of slavery that we read about here in Philemon is very
different than that which we had here in the United States. First of all,
slavery was not a racial institution. Whereas slavery here started with the
slave trade in Africa and evolved into a twisted racial institution where black
people were seen as being a lesser human, as three- fifths of a person. Slavery
in the time of Paul was not racial. Slaves were either conquests of war,
criminals, or those who were financially indebted to their master. There was also a common practice that after
thirty years of faithful work a slave would be let free. This could even be a
reason Onesimus ran away, because he felt as though he should have been
released and wasn’t. All of this being
said, the slavery in the time of Paul was still a horrible and despicable act,
but we should not confuse it with the slavery that we are used to learning
about here in the states. We should also not let the fact that the institution
existed, and even the fact that Paul is working within the institution hinder
us from seeing the truth and the message that is here in the passage.
And so with all of that finally out of the way, let us
look at what this wonderful letter does have to say to us. We have already
touched on what is happening here in the letter, but let’s do a little bit of a
recap. In the letter we have Paul, writing to a man named Philemon who from
what we know about him is a land owner, a slave owner, a leader in a small
house church, and apparently a friend or an acquaintance of Paul. Paul, himself is writing from jail and while
in jail has met a former slave of Philemon named Onesimus. Onesimus has become
a Christian thanks to Paul and has gained the love and the trust of Paul, so
much so that Paul says, “I am appealing to you for my
child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment.” Throughout
the letter Paul speaks of Onesimus with endearment, and asks a favor of
Philemon. Paul tells Philemon that he is
sending Onesimus back to him, as would be normal when one finds a runaway slave
and knows the master; but Paul tells Philemon to treat Onesimus well, and to forgive
any wrong doings that he has done. And so we have the story for what is going
on in this letter.
Let us look closer however to find out the importance of
what Paul is saying. Paul is sending Onesimus back to Philemon and telling him
to take care of him, but under what authority is Paul saying this; after all
Onesimus is Philemon’s slave. In those
times, a person returning a slave to a master did have the legal right to
admonish or reprimand the slaveholder for any of his practices, and yet Paul waives
this right, this is not the authority that Paul is using. Maybe Paul is using
his own authority, since after all Paul has made quite a name for himself as a
leader of the new Christian movement. But Paul does not use this authority
either. Paul and Philemon are friends or at least acquaintances, so perhaps he
is appealing as friend to do this favor, and while there may be some elements
of this in the story, still this in not the basis Paul is appealing on.
Finally, maybe he is appealing on the basis of duty, duty as a Christian. This
one is more interesting because Paul in fact does say, “ For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command
you to do your duty, yet I would rather
appeal to you on the basis of love.” Here we get our answer. Paul says to Philemon, this is something that
is your duty to do as a Christian; I could command you to do your duty, but I
won’t. I could tell you that Christ commands us to Love the Lord your God with
all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength, and to
love your neighbor as yourself. I could
tell you that the sheep and goats will be separated by who does unto the least
of these. I could tell you that what the Lord requires of you is to act justly,
to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. I could tell you all of these
things and then command you to take care of Onesimus because of them, but I
won’t. I won’t to do that, instead I appeal to you on the basis of love.
Paul appeals to Philemon on the basis of love. That
though there is this overriding sense of duty that Philemon should have as a
Christian; Paul’s hopes and dreams is
that Philemon does not offer hospitality to Philemon out of duty, but does it
out of love. Paul sees the transformative power of love. Paul sees a runaway
slave, a fugitive, and does not see a criminal, but instead embraces him as a
son, and as a brother in Christ. Paul sees the system and powers that be, and
sees away to bring them tumbling down from within. Paul does not see a slave and a slave owner,
but rather two brothers in Christ. It is this love that Paul is appealing to
Philemon to recognize. “ Perhaps this is the reason he
was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back
forever, no longer as a slave but more
than a slave, a beloved brother--especially to me but how much more to you,
both in the flesh and in the Lord.”
Paul had a beautiful vision, a vision of love. A vision where there was
no longer a slave master and his slave but instead, two brothers in the love of
Christ. This should not come as a shock to any of us, we have heard this before
from Paul in Galatians 3. “ Before the coming of this
faith,j we were held in
custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be
revealed. 2So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we
might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no
longer under a guardian. So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through
faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor
free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you
belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the
promise.”
Paul is telling us that the law gives us guidance on how
we should live, but that we no longer live out of a duty to the law. We have
been clothed with Christ and now act in love. That there is not separation
between us, neither jew nor Gentile, male and female, and yes neither slave nor
free, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. We are all bound together by the love
of Christ, and our actions, our motives, or thoughts, should be reflective of
that love. For us this seems like yeah of course, but Paul claim here in
Galatians, as well as in our passage from Philemon was really quite visionary.
In a world in which divisions of power existed, Paul saw these divisions as
being toppled by the love of Christ. That through love, a slave and a master
were equals as brothers of Christ. That through love men and women, were equals
through the being brothers and sisters in Christ, an idea that was quite
revolutionary for that time. Paul is begging Philemon, to embrace this vision
of love, and to accept Onesimus back now as more than a slave, but as a
brother.
This truly is a powerful request, to request that a
slave-owner view a slave as a brother. For such an appeal its seems as though
Paul would have to appeal to some sort of authority, some sort of upper hand,
and yet as we mentioned Paul simply asks on the basis of love.
Paul does take it a step further and gives examples of
what that love may look like. Paul does
not have anything to gain from helping out this slave, and yet he teaches and
embraces Onesimus. As mentioned Paul has built a bond with the slave, so much
so that he compares himself to being like a father to him. And so now it must be a painful experience to
send Onesimus back knowing not knowing how Philemon will receive him. In fact
Paul even says, “I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to
you.” Paul
shows his own love for Onesimus in the letter as an example for how Philemon
should love him. Still Paul goes one step further; out of love Paul puts
himself at risk on the behalf of Onesimus. He says, “If he has wronged
you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am
writing this with my own hand: I will repay it.” Paul puts his neck out for Onesimus, the
ultimate sign of love, the same love that we learned from Christ’s love for us
on the cross.
And so this morning as we reflect on
this wonderful letter, we must ask ourselves how are we going to go forth into
the world? Are we going to go forth and
treat those we encounters as equals or will we continue to allow divisions to
remain in this church, in this community, and in this world. Are we truly going
to embrace others as brothers and sisters in Christ? And if we do why? Do we do
it out of some duty that we feel? Do we do it simply because we feel as though
that is what the Lord requires of us, or will we do it like Paul says, on the
basis of love? When we serve, when we treat others, when we simply live on the
basis of love; we may just find that it can be more transformational than
anything we could have ever fathomed.
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