Sixteenth
Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 18 – Year C
September
8, 2013
Philemon
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.
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—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. 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.
So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 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. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.
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—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. 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.
So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 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. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
One thing more—prepare a guest room for me, for I am
hoping through your prayers to be restored to you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ
Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and
Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
It’s not very often in the lectionary that we
have the opportunity to look at an entire book of the Bible. We have that chance today; luckily it’s a
short book. The story of Philemon is
interesting, the story of a runaway slave, a new found friendship, an existing
relationship and a slave-owner. It’s a
story of grace and forgiveness, and the new relationships and expectations that
are often the result of being part of the family of God.
In the past when I’ve looked at the letter to
Philemon I’ve focused on the words of Paul, of how he uses all sorts of persuasive
arguments (even the power of guilt) to try and convince Philemon to receive his
servant Onesimus with mercy – and hopefully send him back to Paul so he can
continue to be of assistance to Paul in his imprisonment. That’s about all we know. We don’t know what Onesimus did to be
imprisoned (it might have just been that he was a runaway slave), we don’t know
why it was that he left Philemon – if he ran away, if he stole something. We don’t know. And we don’t know with certainty what happened
after Philemon received Paul’s letter.
We may not know a great deal, but we do know
that the people that compiled the contents of the Bible felt that the letter to
Philemon was of great enough importance to include it. Some people have postulated that it was
included to help us see how to reconcile our Christian faith and standards with
a world or culture that sees things in a different way. Slavery at the time Paul wrote was
commonplace. Slavery was accepted, and
the roles of slave and slave owner were widely known. Paul in writing to Philemon does not pass
judgment on the validity or acceptableness of the institution of slavery, yet
he does call on Philemon to look to Onesimus in a different context because
they have become brothers in Christ due to Onesimus’s conversion.
The reality that Paul never condemned the
practice of slavery – in fact the Bible almost unanimously upholds it has often
been used in the past to argue for its continued practice. We here in the United States went through our
own time of challenge. 150 years ago, the people of North America and
their faith communities were struggling with the issue of slavery. How were they to treat something that the
Bible supported in many instances? A
biblically literal perspective required that slavery continue, yet the rights
of another human being for freedom and equality demanded that it come to an
end. As historical theologian E Brooks
Holyfield writes, “The debate over slavery would introduce American readers to
critical questions about history, doctrinal development, and hermeneutics. It compelled some theologians to recognize
that they had to choose between biblical literalism and a form of interpretation
that took into account historical criticism, the social and cultural context of
the biblical writings, diversity and development within the canon, and the
force of presuppositions in biblical scholarship.”[1] Today, I think
that there would be very few people who would argue that slavery should be a
part of our society regardless of what our scriptures say.
Paul is calling on Philemon to look into his
heart and see a more central truth – more central than the cultural
understandings, more central than the way scriptures may have spoken on the
topic of slavery, more central than the way society was treating the issue of
slavery. Paul is calling on Philemon to
look into his heart and see that in Christ things have been changed; through
Christ he and Onesimus have been changed.
They have each been given a new identity, and with that new identity
comes new ways of living individually and living with each other; even if
society didn’t recognize that change.
In the waters of baptism we are reborn, we
are created anew. In the waters of
baptism we are claimed by God as God’s own, as children of the Most High, as
sisters and brothers of all those throughout time who have also been washed
clean. In Christ the things that kept us
separated, are no longer reason to say we are not siblings in faith. It’s not that those differences that had been
suddenly cease to be; it’s that they no longer have the same power they once
had.
When Paul wrote in Galatians (3:28) that “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor
is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,”
it’s clear that in Christ there is still differences in the sexes, there are
still differences between people of different faith backgrounds, there are
still differences between the ‘have’s’ and the ‘have not’s’. It’s just that in Christ Jesus, we cannot use
those differences as the basis for how we interact with one another; there is a
new reality to that relationship.
To Philemon, Onesimus is a slave, his slave. And he would be legally within his right to
do almost anything to him he wanted.
Paul see’s things differently.
Philemon’s previously useless slave has become as dear to Paul as his
own heart. Paul goes so far as to
request that any and all debts and wrongs that Onesimus may have or may have
done be given to Paul. Through Paul’s
words he identifies himself with Onesimus, in fact charges Philemon to welcome
his slave as if he were Paul himself. In
Philemon’s eyes he will likely always see Paul when looking at Onesimus, and
think of Onesimus when he thinks of Paul.
However, this conversation is not limited to only
Philemon’s ears. What of Apphia and Archippus,
and the rest of the church that met in Philemon’s home? No doubt they will be watching with interest
to see what Philemon will do. Will he
follow the suggestions of Paul? Will he
release him from his service? Will he
send him back to Paul? And I’m sure Onesimus
who carried the letter from Paul is the one who is most curious concerning what
Philemon will do. What he will do in
Christ.
It is "in Christ" that Paul commands
Philemon to do that which will refresh Paul’s heart. When Paul speaks of ‘in Christ’, he does so
reminding Philemon of the new reality of the relationship they have as kindred
brothers in faith. It is as his brother
that Paul can command, challenge, provoke and remind his brother Philemon. As his brother, Paul can praise Philemon for
his faith, for the many ways he provides for those in his community. It is as a person of faith that Paul urges
Philemon to live out his faith even further, to do that which still needs to be
done for his new brother in Christ.
Within this short letter from Paul to Philemon we
find the challenge of our call to discern in Christ what is the right thing to
do. It would be a wonderful thing, it
would be an easy thing, if determining what is right, if doing what is right
was as easy as cleaning our room, or holding the door for someone in need. But, doing the right this often means having
to challenge what our world, our society holds to be true. Doing the right thing in Christ means
learning to see people in ways that are different than what our upbringing and
world has trained us. It means being
willing to let go of what we have felt were our rights and privileges. It means embracing the reality that in Christ
those we may have formerly viewed as outsiders, as strangers, have been bound to
us as sisters and brothers. Fellow
travelers on the way that we are called and challenged to be of service
to. Amen.
[1] E.
Brooks Holfield, Theology in America:
Christian Thought from the Age of the Puritans to the Civil War (New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press, 2005), 494-95
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