Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
For great is his steadfast love towards us,
And the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.
Praise the Lord!
(Psalm 117)

The Lord be with you.

A Prayer:

Heavenly Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Saviour seeking again your grace and forgiveness for the times when we have not been the people you have called us to be. Fill us again with your Holy Spirit that we may live with the mindset to forgive others constantly aware of your grace and mercy that brought us forgiveness in Jesus Christ, Amen

Reading:  Philemon 1 – 23

Hello and welcome.

Today we’re going to be looking at one of the shortest letters in the NT. It’s the letter of Paul to Philemon, written by Paul in his old age, probably from Rome, where he was in prison. It’s a beautiful letter, full of love and wisdom. In itself, it teaches us how Jesus wants us to relate to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

But as I looked at it this week, I think the letter also goes deeper, and gives us a wonderful picture of the Gospel in action.

As we listen to Paul’s words to Philemon, we hear another Voice behind those words, the words of Jesus, when He says, ‘Love your enemies’, and particularly when He puts those words into action when He dies for us on the cross.

So let’s begin, firstly, by asking ourselves, ‘Who is Philemon?’ Paul tells us in verse 1, he’s ‘our dear friend and fellow worker’. The Greek word for dear friend is ‘beloved’. And throughout this letter, we can feel the deep affection that Paul has for Philemon.

We tend to associate Paul with deep theology, and that’s absolutely right. But Paul’s theology isn’t about dusty books, it’s about love going into action. Paul loved Philemon and his family because he knew the love of Christ in his own life.

By the way, you’ll notice in verses 1-3, Paul isn’t just writing to Philemon, he’s also writing to Apphia and Archippus.  Commentators on these verses think Apphia is Philemon’s wife, and Archippus is his son. Paul also addresses the letter to ‘the church that meets in (their) home’.

In those days the early Christians had no property or buildings. They would meet in homes in the city that they lived in, in this instance Colossae, where Philemon and his family lived.

Interestingly, in Rome, the oldest churches were built on the sites of houses that had been used for worship.

I find that fascinating at a time when it’s difficult for us to gather for worship in a church building. Home groups take on a new importance. Imagine if in the future new churches were built on the site of our old houses where we had gathered for home group!

Paul concludes his greetings to his friends with the words ‘Grace and peace to you…’. The words he’s going to use now are full of the grace and peace that comes from God.

And so, secondly, we see in verses 4-7, Paul moving on to the content of the letter, which is summed up in the word ‘Thanks’. What is he giving thanks for?

V5 – ‘I hear about your (Philemon’s) love for all His holy people and your faith in Jesus’

Are we known for our love for each other and for our faith in Jesus?

That’s what Philemon is known for, and more than that, Paul says in v7 that his (Philemon’s) love has given Paul great joy and encouragement ‘because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of God’s people’.

Many years ago I was asked a question at an interview which went something like this:

‘What words would you like to see written in your obituary?’ As you can imagine I was quite taken aback by the question, and mumbled something like ‘he tried to be a good dad and husband, etc…’

….but as I look at Paul’s words to Philemon, here’s something I’d love to have been known for: ‘Your love gave us great joy and encouragement because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of God’s people’

Isn’t that a wonderful goal for us today, to be known by our love for each other, bringing joy, encouragement, and refreshment to our brothers and sisters in Christ?

We can do that in all sorts of ways, maybe a quick phone call or text, maybe using the church directory to pray for one person a day…

While I was looking at Philemon, I noticed the words of the preceding letter, Titus, in chapter 3:4… ‘But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour APPEARED…’

We’re here to share those words not just with a needy world, but also with our brothers and sisters to bring joy and encouragement and refreshment. When the kindness and love of God touches our hearts it changes us. And we can share that not just in what we say but in who we are.

That was what had changed Philemon. And that is why Paul give thanks.

And this leads to our third and last point, which is where Paul has been heading towards, and which is the main request in the letter. Paul asks Philemon to take back a former slave called Onesimus who had run away from him and probably stolen from him in the process.

Now thankfully we live in a country where slavery is illegal, but in Paul’s day it was the norm. A slave running away from his master would usually be met with some grisly torture, such as having his forehead branded with an ‘F’, for ‘fugitive’. But more often the slave was crucified.

Now, if we add theft to Onesimus’ running away, we can see how serious his plight is.

But all along, Paul’s letter has been preparing Philemon for a change of heart towards Onesimus because something very significant has happened.

We see it in verse 10 when Paul says ‘I appeal to you for my son Onesimus who became my son while I was in chains’. Paul had a habit of referring to people who had because Christians through his ministry as ‘my children’.

And what Paul goes on to tell Philemon is that all along God has been at work in Onesimus’ running away and eventually meeting Paul in prison.

Paul appeals to Philemon to see God’s hand at work and also to see that Onesimus is now his brother in Christ. This is a massive shift which will start to change the whole world of slavery…

….no longer a slave, but a brother or sister in Christ.

It’s difficult for us in the 21st century to grasp how life changing this was for the early Christian believers.

But there’s more.

Paul is not just asking Philemon to take Onesimus back, he’s asking him to forgive him, as a new brother in Christ. And Paul is laying himself on the line by saying, ‘Philemon, if he’s taken anything from you, put it on my tab. Here’s my IOU.’

And here we get to the heart of the Gospel. Paul is showing Philemon in action the truth of what Jesus did for us.

While we were still God’s enemies, Jesus laid down His life for us on the cross. He took our sins upon Himself, sparing us the punishment that was rightly due.

Martin Luther said this about what Jesus did for us: ‘We are ALL His Onesimi’

All along Paul has been preparing Philemon to receive Onesimus back as a brother. In no way does Paul water down the seriousness of the crime Onesimus has committed.

But he encourages Philemon to see this slave in a new light, as a forgiven child of God. And he encourages him to see how God has been at work.

I believe this letter not only reveals what God has done in Jesus, but it also calls us to forgive those who hurt us.

The Lord’s Prayer says:

‘Forgive us our sins,
As we forgive those who sin against us…’

And there’s a wonderful ending to this story from church history. Apparently, in AD110 the bishop of Ephesus was called…Onesimus. Could this have been the same Onesimus Paul spoke about?  Commentators think so.

And this same Onesimus died a martyr’s death in the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan.

Was his life so changed not just by his conversion, but by Philemon’s willing forgiveness and acceptance of him as a brother?

One day I guess we’ll know.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, help us to have the same attitude as Paul who, through the grace of God saw the potential of a runaway slave. Also, by the power of your Holy Spirit, help us to be peacemakers reconciling our brothers and sisters where there has been discord. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen

The Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.
Amen

The Blessing:

Jesus Christ is the light of the world
A light no darkness can quench
Stay with us Lord in our daily living
and bind us together in your love,
let your light scatter the darkness
and fill your church with your glory.

The blessing of God Almighty.
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be with us and remain with us always.
Amen.


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