Philemon 1-21; Luke 14.25-33
St Paul’s letter to Philemon, today’s second reading, shows how the love of God gets worked out in practical ways; it’s an example of what Jesus means in the gospel when he talks about taking up the cross and being his disciple. A life of faith changes us and our daily life to make us people of humility, sacrifice, and cross-shaped love.
In the case of our second reading, it’s about a relationship between two people: a man named Philemon, to whom the letter is addressed, and someone named Onesimus, more about him later. Now piecing together the details of a New Testament letter requires some care. It’s like overhearing a phone conversation while standing in a line at the grocery store; you’re only getting half the story and don’t know all the details. Even so, in today’s second reading it is possible to get a sense of what is happening and what it might mean for us. NT Wright, Anglican bishop and New Testament scholar says, “The letter to Philemon is a little masterpiece of Christian persuasion, in which love, grace, and reconciliation are set forward as the true marks of God’s people.”
Philemon, we gather from the letter, is both a Christian and a prominent citizen in his town. And his faith in the Lord and love for other believers have been a gift for Paul. “I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love.” This is no small thing. Paul was writing from prison and would’ve needed all the encouragement and joy he could receive. Philemon, as a person of faith, is a gift.
Philemon also seems to be a person of means. He has a house large enough for a church to be able to meet there and enough property to require the use of manual labor—servants, slaves. And it’s here where the heart of the letter emerges. One of Philemon’s slaves, Onesimus, has left Philemon’s household and found his way to Paul. Why he left, we can’t be sure. It was certainly common for slaves in the ancient world to run away and escape their circumstances. Only since there’s no mention of that detail in this letter, there could be other reasons the two are estranged. We only have a part of the conversation, the letter side of the conversation. But we know enough to see that the relationship between two people has broken down.
We also know that after Onesimus found his way to Paul, he became a Christian through Paul’s influence. He’s a changed person. And it’s hard to overstate what that change means. Paul, in another letter, says, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see everything has become new.” New creation, a fresh beginning: that is Onesimus. Paul goes on to describe this change in family terms: Paul has become Onesimus’ father and Onesimus is, Paul says, my child, my heart, my beloved brother.’
This has practical implications not only for Onesimus the servant, but also Philemon the householder. In Galatians, Paul says, “There is no longer slave nor free…for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Because Onesimus is a new and changed person, the relationship with Philemon has also been made new and also must change. So Paul takes up the task of reconciling two people. In this letter, he asks the master to welcome back his servant in a way that is made new at a practical level, “No longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother.” Because of Jesus Christ, Onesimus in a new person. Because of Jesus Christ, Philemon and Onesimus are now family. And you certainly can’t treat a family member as a slave.
Now Paul doesn’t condemn slavery outright, as you heard. That comes later for the church through people inspired by Paul’s writing, by the grace of Jesus, and by the work of the Spirit. What Paul does, though, is breathe the spirit of Christ, and of equality among Christians, into a widespread practice in the ancient world. And that is remarkable. Because there are other letters from the ancient world that speak about slaves in condescending and accusing tones. They treat slaves as essential to the economy but scarcely human. Runaway slaves were assumed to be guilty no matter how they may have been treated by their masters. If they were caught, the generous option was to punish them first and then give them a second chance. More often, getting caught was a death sentence.
Paul, in contrast, asks Philemon to welcome back Onesimus and have renewed trust in the very person he’d fallen out with. And what’s particularly interesting to me is that Paul doesn’t base this request on any remorse or repentance on Onesimus’ part. Reconciliation doesn’t begin because Onesimus feels bad or is appropriately apologetic. Reconciliation begins somewhere else. Paul bases his appeal to Philemon on the reconciling love Jesus Christ and how Christ changes us. He encourages Philemon to live differently than the world around him because of Jesus and to put the love and grace of Jesus into practice in a practical way. Philemon—Christian, prominent citizen, householder—must change because Onesimus has been changed in Christ. Love, grace, and reconciliation are true marks of God’s people
Our calling and task as Christians is always to consider the gift of God’s new creation—the life, grace, and love of Jesus—and work out the implications of that gift in our life through a heart renewed by the Spirit. We are called to be a living sign that a different world is possible; that in our world and in our lives, God’s world is possible.
Paul’s work to reconcile Philemon and Onesimus is a practical example of what Jesus means today in the gospel when he says, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” To take up the cross is to live as people formed by Jesus. To take up the cross is to work out the implications and meaning of Jesus’ life in our life. The gospel is about the lordship of Jesus over the world and in our lives—over the difficult decisions we face and the small choices we make.
Now this could very well mean that we will face challenges: Paul was imprisoned for preaching the gospel; Jesus encourages us to count the cost before we begin. But because it can be hard doesn’t mean it isn’t right. To take up the cross means having every part of our life shaped by the life of Jesus; to live with others in Christ-like grace and love and repent and confess when we fail; to do the right thing even when it is hard. Christians are people both humble enough and courageous enough to do what needs to be done for Jesus’ sake and in his name. God’s grace in Jesus inspires our own gracious work.
To describe the practical application of Jesus’ grace now worked out in our lives, Paul uses a beautiful phrase at the beginning of today’s reading: “To perceive all the good we may do for Christ.” To perceive all the good we may do for Christ. How might the grace of God in Jesus shape you and form you in cross-shaped love and living to perceive all the good that you may do for Christ?
One way that Paul shows the grace of Jesus put into practice through his life is when he talks about taking Onesimus’ debt onto himself. “If Onesimus has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.” Paul, by his own example, does what Jesus does. Jesus forgave our debt to God, “erasing the record against us…nailing it to the cross,” as Colossians puts it. Reconciliation includes the forgiveness of debts, literal and figurative. Christian love combines words of grace with acts of grace. “To perceive all the good we may do for Christ.”
Where in your world—your family, at work, in school—is the healing, restoring, debt-forgiving grace of God most needed? Where can we work together, and each of us separately, to serve others in our community with the courage and power of hearts made new in Christ so that we might look different from everyone around us? If you have ideas, let me know. In a world marked by fractured families, estranged friendships, and divided communities, life in Christ and cross-shaped love—together with the healing power of forgiveness and reconciliation flowing from that life—can transform relationships from transactions of power into bonds of grace and mutual flourishing.
How is Paul’s appeal to Philemon being spoken to you so that you might be a person of joy and encouragement, bringing fresh hope to people in need? “To perceive all the good we may do for Christ,” would be a great Post-it note next to your coffee pot as you begin the morning, or on the dashboard of your car. “To perceive all the good we may do for Christ,” would be a great heading for our congregation’s program year, a way to commit ourselves to the work of reconciliation, and the humility, sacrifice, and cross-shaped love that go with it even when it’s hard. Words of grace go with acts of grace as we “perceive all the good we may do for Christ.”
The task for Philemon is to live out reconciliation from God, not as an optional add-on but as the very heart of Christian discipleship and cross-shaped love. Yet the story of Philemon and Onesimus ends without us knowing what happened. We only have part of the conversation. Were they reconciled? Was Paul able to visit as he wanted to and as he mentioned in the letter? We don’t know. Church history does tell of a man named Onesimus who served as bishop in the city of Ephesus. Is that Onesimus the former slave from today’s second reading? We can’t be sure. How wonderful, though, for someone who had discovered grace, new life, and reconciliation in Christ to become a messenger of that life to others—his experience of grace and love making him a person of grace and love.
Yet since we don’t know how Paul’s letter to reconcile two people ends, in some ways the story is incomplete. What that means for us, then, is that the story today can be written now in our lives as we “perceive all the good we may do for Christ” with the grace of God in Jesus Christ and the work of the Spirit inspiring and encouraging us to works of love, grace, and reconciliation of our own.
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