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 Eat ‘n Park. So, to quote the late Billy Mays, “Wait! There’s more!” …
Paul wrote 5
letters from captivity: Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, 2nd Timothy
and Philemon. 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 own household, including his slave, Onesimus. Paul chose to
return to Philemon his slave, Onesimus, not as property but as a Christian
equal with Philemon before the Lord.
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.”[1] 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.
Now, if you like
Paul’s wisdom, you’ll love his wit. 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. When he wrote of returning Onesimus, Paul used the same
phrase sighing, “I am sending my very heart.” 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.”[2] 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? To help answer those questions, let me close with an inspiring
story of my friend, Minh Dang, and her struggle and challenge, and then pose
one more 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, 167 countries still have some form of modern slavery,
which affects an estimated 46 million people worldwide.[3]
The U.S.
Department of State defines modern slavery as “the act of recruiting,
harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled labor
or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud or coercion.”[4] There are hundreds of
thousands of slaves in Afghanistan, Russia and Iran. The top countries with
millions of slaves are India, China and North Korea.
Slavery was
abolished in the United States in 1865 with the passing of the 13th
Amendment to the Constitution, which reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been
duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to
their jurisdiction.” Yet, that has not stopped human traffickers. In 2017, the
National Human Trafficking Hotline received reports of 8,524 suspected human
trafficking cases.[5]
In the United
States, both U.S. residents and foreign nationals are being bought and sold
like modern-day slaves. Traffickers use violence, manipulation or false
promises of well-paying jobs or romantic relationships to exploit victims.
Victims are forced to work as prostitutes or to take jobs as migrant, domestic,
restaurant or factory workers with little or no pay. Human trafficking is a
heinous crime that exploits the most vulnerable in society.[6]
In the first half
of August, the FBI’s Operation Cross Country located more than 200 victims of
human trafficking, The FBI and its partners located 141 adult victims of human
trafficking. The Bureau identified and located 84 minor victims of child sex
trafficking and child sexual exploitation offenses and located 37 actively
missing children. Agents and investigators also identified or arrested 85
suspects with child sexual exploitation and human trafficking offenses. The
average age of victims located during this year’s Operation Cross Country was
15.5, while the youngest victim discovered was 11 years old.[7]
Now, let me get
back to Mihn. In 2013, 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.”[8] … 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. 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 criminals.
After she broke
free from her parents, Minh became an undergraduate and then a graduate student
at the University of California. I met her while working in Berkeley. She has
since completed her PhD, and now serves as the Executive Director of Survivor
Alliance, an international non-governmental organization focused on building
communities for survivors of slavery and human trafficking.
I mention Minh
because human trafficking and slavery are very much alive and well in America
today. Victims are beaten, starved and forced into dehumanizing situations,
working grueling jobs in restaurants, factories or as domestic servants for
little or no pay. 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? When they outlive their usefulness, they are dumped or murdered –
even by their own parents.
You know, sometimes
Scripture makes us feel uneasy. We struggle with some of Scripture’s teachings
because it makes us feel uncomfortable. Telling Minh’s story and the plight of
millions of 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? The Lutheran Church is committed to Christ Cares for
Children.[9] It provides boarding
facilities so vulnerable children in Kenya have the opportunity to successfully
complete primary or secondary school. In addition to living at the school for
24 months, the children learn to plant, harvest, cook, tend to livestock, clean
the compound and care for their personal space. These children begin and end
each day with devotions. Choir practice, Bible study and catechesis occur
throughout the week. The children are full, contributing members of the
Lutheran Church, and some teach Sunday school classes for the younger students.
By being involved in a ministry that is engaged in ending a practice that takes
the most vulnerable and sells them as a commodity for unholy purposes, we
choose and protect life.
Our greatest
lawgiver, Jesus, asks 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 Amen.
[1]
Galatians 3:28.
[2]
Luke 10:27.
[3] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-that-still-have-slavery
[4]
Ibid.
[5] https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/country-studies/united-states/#footnote:marker:2
[6] https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/violent-crime/human-trafficking
[7] https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/press-releases/fbi-announces-results-of-nationwide-sex-trafficking-operation
[8] http://oaklandlocal.com/2013/06/minh-dang-on-fighting-modern-day-slavery-in-oakland-and-world-wide/
[9] https://files.lcms.org/file/preview/x9OJO7sZjxReaNPgOfmNXOFYyf4jSKma?
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