Every movement we make in response to God has a ripple effect, touching family, neighbours, friends, community.
Philemon and Onesimus... Had no idea that believing in Jesus would involve them in radical social change.
There are three main players in this little drama and a big supporting cast.
Paul, the apostle who although now a prisoner was once the itinerant preacher under who’s ministry the others found faith in Christ.
Philemon, probably a fairly wealthy business man of his time. Known for his faith and his ability to bring joy, encouragement and refreshing to others. A church leader perhaps in Colossae.
Onesimus his name means useful, but he’d proved to be far from that in his past. He was a runaway slave, formerly of little use to anyone but of great use to both Paul and Philemon because of his transformed life through faith in Christ. It’s possible that Onesimus is not only a runaway but a thief to boot.
Also involved but not mentioned here is Tychicus who has travelled with Onesimus to deliver the letters to the Colossian and Laodicean churches as well as this personal letter to Philemon (Col. :7-9)
The focus of the letter is the need for both Onesimus and Philemon to “do the right thing”, that is the thing that most honours God. For Onesimus it is to return to the master he had formerly wronged, for Philemon it is to take Onesimus back, but not as a slave and not subjecting him to the punishment the law and society might have expected. It’s a fascinating insight into household life and the impact Christianity had on it. But the things that caught my attention, and the thing I want us to think about most is how Paul speaks of Philemon:
Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people. V7
The “heart” is the deepest emotional place. It’s the place from which the compassion of Jesus springs.
We're all aware of things that drain our hearts and we know that there are other things that refresh our hearts. If we imagine that we have a "heart tank" that gives us the reserves for ministry and missions, we need to make sure it's regularly topped up. If our resources are low, our ability to minister will be low. We know that God can make up the difference, but that's about when we run out of resources not about when our resources are depleted. It's a different thing altogether.
What refreshes Paul’s heart?
1. Stories of faith among God’s people.
In almost all of Paul’s letter you will find something about which he gives thanks with regard to his readers. In Rome it is their faith that is reported all over the world; Corinth-all their spiritual gifts, Ephesus it’s their love for others as it is in the letter to the Colossians.
2. Expressions of love
Jesus remains largely unquoted in the the New Testament outside of the gospels. Only one time do we hear anyone make any mention of what he said and that is Paul in Acts 20 when he’s about to leave Ephesus. There are other times when people remember what Jesus said, but this is the only direct quote and it’s interesting because it’s not something we find in the gospels.
But clearly Paul understood one core aspect of the teaching of Jesus with great clarity. His call to love one another. And Paul is clearly refreshed when he hears about love in action amongst the people of God.
3. Generosity
Paul’s appeal for Onesimus and his obvious desire to have him around to help, is not pushed on the basis of authority and apostleship. Rather Paul wants Philemon to choose to be generous. Remember that formerly Onesimus belonged to Philemon as his slave. He owned him and as such he had the right to sell him, recover losses by exacting punishments etc, etc. But Paul knows that Philemon is a generous-hearted man (he even asks about the guest room), and wants him to express that generosity.
4. Forgiveness
There’s no attempt in this letter to cover up what Onesimus might be guilty of having done. There’s no attempt to suggest that this is not relevant to the current situation. A debt remains. Sin always has consequences. The death of Jesus doesn’t remove the consequences of sin, it removes the penalty for sin. But, again as Jesus would have said, if we’ve experienced forgiveness how can we withhold that forgiveness from each other?
Paul is not asking Philemon to forget the debt owed to him, in fact Paul offers to cover that himself (although I’m guessing he’s hoping for another act of generosity by Philemon at this point!). But he is asking him to forgive Onesimus for what he has done.
5. Obedience
Finally Paul’s heart is refreshed by obedience. Not to his words but to the full expression of a fully devoted life to the pattern of Jesus. In verse 21, Paul is confident of Philemon’s obedience. In other words he is confident that Philemon, above everything else, wants to follower Jesus wholeheartedly.
