My focus today is on Philemon, with a special emphasis on
verses 10-12: “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in
chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to
you and to me. I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you.”
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go
to the house of the Lord.’”[i] Now
that our feet are standing within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As
we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love
deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
Philemon is Paul’s shortest
epistle and the only one written to a non-clergy individual. Yet, it possesses the
characteristics of the longer church
epistles: an opening greeting, thanksgiving, body, closing and farewell.
Philemon is also a masterpiece of subtle suggestion for it reveals an aged,
imprisoned Paul as unexpectedly diplomatic, urbane and witty.
A carefully crafted letter written to transform attitudes about
social norms, Paul teased meaning
out of words, particularly, the words useless and useful. However, if I focused
only on that, I’d be finished in 5 minutes and you’d be first in line at IHOP.
So, to quote the late Billy Mays, “Wait!
There’s more!” …
Paul wrote 5
letters from captivity: Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, 2nd
Timothy and Philemon.[ii] While
incarcerated with other Christians, Philemon’s runaway slave, Onesimus, visited the imprisoned Paul. Philemon was a
wealthy host of a house church in Colossae. When Onesimus delivered news about
a crisis of the faith in Colossae, Paul penned 3 epistles: Colossians,
Ephesians and Philemon.
Paul found Onesimus quite useful to the Christian mission,
but also faced a dilemma. As the slave owner, Philemon had the law on his side.
Paul must return him. Paul admitted to and accepted blame for Onesimus’s defection. Paul owes Philemon, but Philemon owes Paul more. How?
Paul brought the Gospel
to Philemon’s household. By doing so, Paul assumed authority as head of his
household. The Gospel brings the forgiveness
of sins and new life to all who receive it. It also creates new
relationships. Philemon’s acceptance of the Gospel created a relationship not
only with the Lord, but also with Paul and the members of his household,
including his slave, Onesimus. … Paul sent Philemon his slave, but now Onesimus
is not property because is a Christian and an equal before the Lord.
And although Philemon owed Paul, the Apostle wanted him to
read between the lines of his letter and follow his wishes. Paul saw that in
the presence of Christ, slave and master are equal. Read Galatians: “There
is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one
in Christ Jesus.”[iii]
Paul provided a solution to Philemon’s complicated situation that brought freedom
to the slave and honor to the owner. … That, my friends, is the gist of Paul’s
Letter to Philemon.
But wait, there is more! The letter contains a number of elegant
puns. For example, in Greek, Onesimus means useful. Paul wrote that before his conversion, Onesimus was
without Christ (a-Chrestos) and was useless
(achrestos). Since Paul introduced
the Gospel to him, he became useful (euchrestos)
because he became a “good Christian” (eu-Chrestos).
In other words, Onesimus, like Philemon, found his true identity in the Gospel
of Jesus Christ.
A second pun revolves around the heart. Paul remembered how
Philemon “refreshed the hearts of the saints” by offering
hospitality and financial support to fellow Christians.[iv] When
he wrote of returning Onesimus, Paul used the same phrase sighing, “I am
sending my very heart.”[v]
Paul’s request to “refresh my heart” meant
that he wanted Philemon to honor him by freeing Onesimus for missionary work.
Most people never consider Paul a clever linguist wise about
the standards and practices of his Greek culture; or how he presented the
Gospel to that culture. I am certain he prayerfully struggled when he wrote – “There
is neither slave nor free” and “Slaves be submissive” – with tact
and diplomacy in an attempt to create new relationships among Christians. The
paradox is that while in chains, Paul gave freedom
by proclaiming the Gospel to both slaves and masters.
One must marvel at Paul as he offered an honorable solution
to a Christian leader. Paul offered a comfortable
solution to an uncomfortable situation. With Philemon, he built rapport,
persuaded his mind and moved his heart. His message to Philemon is a message to
all of us. We are useful servants with a heart for Christ’s mission.
We are useful servants with a heart for Christ’s mission. … What is that mission?
Simply, the salvation of souls.
Paul brought the Gospel to Philemon, and Christ – through His
suffering, death and resurrection – saved him and his household from eternal
punishment and offered him eternal life.
Paul personally knew that salvation came through faith, an
encounter with the Risen Christ, a death and resurrection moment that changed everything.
Accepting Christ and the Gospel meant Philemon and Onesimus were equal before
their Savior. Despite cultural norms, Paul advocated that the master free his
slave and make him a true equal. That, my friends, is radical.
When we accept Christ’s mandate in Matthew 28:19-20 – to make
disciples by baptizing and teaching – we love and live radically. Living and loving radically means Christ is the root of our lives.
Believe it or not, there are Christians who do not live and
love radically. Their acceptance of Christ changed nothing. They separate soul
from body, eternal life from earthly life, worship from work, and Sunday
morning liturgy from Friday night lights. Radical Christians and useful
servants know that God gave us soul and body, and commanded us: “You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”[vi]
That is radical.
We are the Lord’s useful
servants. Am I passionate about how I announce the Gospel to someone today? Do
I prayerfully prepare myself to struggle and challenge a Philemon the way Paul
did?
Let me close with an inspiring story of my friend, Minh Dang,
and her struggle and challenge, and then pose one question to ponder.
Minh founded an organization to end human trafficking and
slavery. In spite of the fact that slavery is illegal in every country, there
are 27 million slaves in the
world.[vii] 800,000 people were trafficked across US
borders last year. There are hundreds of thousands of slaves in America, and 83%
are American citizens.
This summer, after President Obama recognized Minh as a
Champion of Change, she said, “It’s
really bitter. I’d really love to get an award for having invented the iPad.
I’m getting an award for telling my horrendous story. … I’m really glad to be
recognized, but that recognition doesn’t fill the hole where my mommy doesn’t
love me or the hole of my wounds.”[viii]
… You see, Minh’s mother stopped loving her at age 10. Her mother and father
forced her into slavery for 12 long years. In short, they were partners in
crime. They were criminals.
7 years after she broke free from her parents, Minh is a
doctoral student at the University of California. I met her while working in
Berkeley.
Professional, punctual, perky, pretty and polite, Minh was
her Los Altos High School teachers’ delight and her coach’s dream – an
overachieving academic athlete. In college, she shocked everyone when she
revealed that since the age of 10, her parents enslaved her for more than a
decade for financial gain.
I mention Minh because slavery is alive and well in America
today. The FBI reports that people are beaten, starved and forced into
dehumanizing situations, working grueling jobs in restaurants, factories or as
domestic servants for little or no pay. When they outlive their usefulness,
they are dumped or murdered.
Human trafficking is organized crime at its worst, and it is
very much alive in Oklahoma City. This summer, the FBI arrested 60 people in
OKC for trafficking human beings. Think about that the next time you are in a
restaurant, nail salon, classroom, factory or order lawn care or a new roof.
Are these people trafficked?
A couple of weeks ago, Vicar Smith reflected on how Jesus
sometimes makes us feel uncomfortable. We struggle with some of Scripture’s
teaching because it makes us feel uncomfortable. Telling Minh’s story and the
plight of 27 million people today is not uplifting. Few will ever experience
freedom. None will turn out to be doctoral students or be awarded by the White
House, but they are all God’s children and we have a mission to them and their
captors – to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the salvation of their
souls and for the freedom to live with dignity. As useful servants, that is our
radical mission.
Minh said, “If everyone
KNEW about human trafficking but didn’t DO anything to put an end to it, then
awareness would be useless. What is one thing you can commit to doing?”
What is one thing you can commit to doing? LWML members are
committed to “1001 Orphans” –
a ministry that shields orphaned children in Kenya from slavery. … Our Synod
and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service teamed up to create awareness
in our churches and to respond proactively with tangible forms of mercy. Human
trafficking is an attack on human life. God created all human life for a holy purpose. We must then be
concerned about and become engaged in ending a practice that takes the most
vulnerable and sells them as a commodity for unholy purposes.[ix] Christians
choose and protect life.
Our
two greatest lawgivers – Moses and Jesus – ask us to choose. Sometimes choosing
to live a radical Gospel life is a struggle, but I believe that our presence
here implies that we desire to live the Gospel as Christ lived it. As His useful
servants, we pray for the wisdom and courage to choose wisely in every situation,
especially difficult ones. And when we pray, may the peace of God which
surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil
4:7). Amen.
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