Today, as we look at the Book of Philemon, we are going to see forgiveness in action. So if you have your bibles with you today, open up to the Book of Philemon. Now I suspect that Philemon may be a difficult book for you to find. Unlike the Book of Eli it IS actually a book in the Bible, it is sandwiched between Titus and Hebrews. It is toward the back of your Bible.
It is hard to find because basically Philemon only has one chapter with 25 verses. But even though the book is short on length, it is deep and rich in content. Last Thursday, we had our first community Bible study group, and we actually looked at the Book of Philemon. So many people came up with all sorts of observations and a number of applications from the Book of Philemon that we can immediately apply to our life. That is what I wanted to do today is to share some of those observations as we go through the entire Book of Philemon. One thing to remember, it really isn’t a book. When it was first written it was written as a simple letter. A correspondence between two friends; between the Apostle Paul and his friend Philemon.Now keep in mind, when we are reading a letter, it is kind of like opening up and reading somebody else’s mail. Consequently t is helpful to have some background information on the letter before we read it.
As I mentioned, Philemon was a friend of Paul, and Philemon was believed to be a Christian, someone who was converted by Paul likely in Ephesus where Paul spent a lot of time. Philemon, in this particular story, is living in what is believed to be Colossae, and he is a wealthy Christian. It is believed that he owns a number of slaves. Now I know that sometimes this idea of slavery, especially as we encounter it in the Bible, is difficult for us to swallow because it just seems like that is obviously not a good thing. But we have to remember, this is 1st Century. Slavery was a deeply embedded social institution. Really, at that particular point, it was an economic necessity for some. Again, the Christians were just forming. They were still considered a cult. They were just a small band of believers. If they were going to try to dismantle slavery all of a sudden, to incite the slaves to riot or to revolt, they would have risked the backlash of the Roman government. So what did they do? They just simply spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They spread the message of love and reconciliation to fellow man. Slowly, they pretty much aided in the dismantling of slavery.
So the situation we have here in this letter is that Paul is believed to be in prison in Rome, and you have Philemon who is in Colossae, and he owns a number of slaves, including a slave named Onesimus. Now Onesimus actually means something. It means useful. Back then, it would have been a common name for slaves because some slaves were more useful than others. So Onesimus means useful. As the story goes, Onesimus the slave either stole something, either broke something, either damaged property, or simply ran away from Philemon. He makes his way to Rome where he seeks out Paul because maybe he knows that Paul knows Philemon. Whatever the case, he seeks him out and in the process Onesimus gets converted by Paul, but instead of Paul holding on and trying to protect Onesimus, he encourages Onesimus to go back home to Philemon and to reconcile with the master. He knows that Onesimus is going to be a little bit nervous about this so he sends a letter along with Onesimus back to Philemon encouraging him in his own gentle and creative way to receive Onesimus back into his home. So that is the background.
What we are going to do is go through the entire letter today because it is only 25 verses, and you really have to read the entire letter to get the understanding of really what is going on. As I read through the letter, kind of watch for Paul’s creative use of words. What someone would call rhetoric. He is very good at that. Pay particular attention to how he utilizes the word ‘heart’. Pay attention to the word ‘heart’ because this word heart actually becomes the heart of his logic to get Philemon to receive back Onesimus. So we are going to start back from the very beginning. It says:
(Scripture read here, Philemon 1:1-3.)
This particular letter starts out by saying Paul, which is the way letters were written back then is that the author would identify himself first. So Paul and Timothy are writing this letter to Philemon. If you pay attention, you see that it is not only to Philemon, it is to some other people in that home. It is to Apphia, which some would believe is actually Philemon’s wife. It is also written to Archippus which is believed maybe to be his son or possibly even the local pastor. Then it is also written to the church that meets in Philemon’s home. Back then, they didn’t have these nice church buildings with video and power point and all that stuff. They met in a home. Often, they met in the home of the wealthy people that got converted because they could accommodate in some cases up to 100 people there. So Paul is directing the letter not simply to Philemon but to his wife, possibly his son, possibly the pastor, and the entire church that meets in Philemon’s home. And the question is why? Because he wanted to increase accountability. He wanted to make sure that a lot of people were aware of this particular situation. We could read this letter and we could say this was a domestic issue really between Onesimus and Philemon. Why get so many people involved? The bottom line is that when two Christians, these were both Christians at the time, are having some sort of a dispute, if it is not checked by the church, it begins to effect the unity of the entire church. It actually can hinder the effectiveness of the church in the world. So Paul wants to make sure Philemon doesn’t just take the letter and throw it away. He wants to make sure that everybody is aware of this particular situation. So that is the opening.
Then he basically goes on and he puffs up Philemon. He goes on to say: (Scripture read here, Philemon 1:4-7.) Paul is very creative here. Before he brings the hammer down, he is going to puff Philemon up and say, man, you’re a great guy. You are a guy that just oozes love. You are a wonderful guy. In fact, the name Philemon means the affectionate one. One who loves. Some suggest it means the one who kisses. He builds up his ego. He says you are the man of love. Paul is probably feeling so blessed and so thankful that he has left the people, his church, in charge underneath somebody who just loves them, just wants to care for them. He goes to say at the very bottom there: “You, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.” This is the first use of the word ‘heart’. If you like to write in your Bible, highlight it, put a big circle around it or whatever because this is Paul’s first use of the word ‘heart’. By the way, it is okay to write in your Bible. It is. It’s okay. This was the place where he first uses the word ‘heart’. Another translation says it’s one who makes the heart cheery, one who makes the heart happy. Again, Paul is just building up Philemon’s ego saying you are one who makes the hearts of the people in your church very happy.
Then he goes on to say, and this is where he starts to kind of lay down the hammer a little bit. He says: (Scripture read here, Philemon 1:8-11.) Keep in mind, when he says ‘Therefore’ what he is saying is because of everything I just said, how wonderful you are and everything else, now he is going to go on and lay the hammer down a little bit. This is an interesting passage because he says “although I can order you”. How can he order him to do that? The reason he can order is because he was considered his spiritual father. Back then, people took that seriously. If you converted somebody then that person was really like your father. So he could order Philemon to reply to his request. But instead of ordering him, he just says I am going to appeal to love. I am going to appeal to the very thing, the character that Philemon is known for. I am going to appeal to you on the basis of love.
Now wouldn’t it be nice to be a fly on the wall at that time. Here is Philemon reading this out loud with his wife sitting right next to him, maybe in a big dining hall or whatever. He is reading this letter and he is reading this thing about love, and he is thinking, man, why did Paul have to mention the L-word? Why did he have to say love? Apphia is probably there nudging him and saying what do you think about that one lover boy? How are you going to worm yourself out of that? Paul has got you pretty well here. Again, he is kind of using Philemon’s own character to appeal to him; to get him to receive back Onesimus into his care. Really, what Paul is doing, he is appealing to the thing that all Christians should have. They should have love in their heart. We should. We are known for our love. To deny that we can’t forgive somebody is to somehow deny that we have the love of God in our hearts. There is a passage that speaks to that. I think it is Romans 5:5 and it says “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given to us.” He has given us love. So Paul is assuming that what he is dealing with are two mature believers. He is dealing with Onesimus and he is dealing with Philemon. The more you grow in your faith, the more you realize that love is the foundation for Christian character because God is love. It cannot be denied that love and forgiveness is at the foundation of the Christian character, so that is why Paul is appealing to it.
But Paul being that he is, he is not afraid to throw in some other comments. He says I’m just an old man and now also a prisoner. The sad thing is the guy was only 57 years old when he wrote that, and I’ll be 58 this year. So anyway, he is saying I’m an old man and I’m a prisoner, so do what I ask. Do what this old man and this prisoner says. A few other points before we move on, he speaks the first mention of Onesimus. He says “my son, Onesimus”, which is further indication that Onesimus was converted in Rome actually while Paul was in prison. It’s the first use of the word Onesimus. But then he does a little play on words. He says “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 me.” Remember Onesimus means useful. Formerly he was useless because he ran away, but now that he has converted, he is a new person and he’s come back. He is now useful to both you and me. In other words, in the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So Paul is using a little play on words.
Then he goes on to say: (Scripture read here, Philemon 1:12-14.) This is the second use of the word ‘heart’. “I am sending him who is my very heart.” He had complemented Philemon and now he is complementing Onesimus. He is displaying the intimate bond that he has with Onesimus. They are one. He is saying we are the same heart. We share the very same heart. Basically, he goes on to say as much as I would like to keep him here in Rome with me to spread the gospel to work with him, he says I am not going to do anything without your consent because I want it to be your free will. If you want to send him back here to work with me then that is great, but I want it to be your idea. That is what he is saying here.
Then he begins to give Philemon the larger perspective on the situation. He reflects a little bit. (Scripture read here, Philemon 1:15-16.) What he is saying is he is taking a heavenly perspective. He is saying, yeah, he might have been gone for a little while, but when he came back, he came back as a brother in the Lord. Someone that is going to be with you for all eternity. So he is helping Philemon to see the divine perspective. That possibly, in some situations, maybe God has his hand in the entire situation. Maybe God is involved in this particular situation, which we know he probably was because of the fact that we are reading this letter 2,000 years later. It is an amazing thing. Paul is helping Philemon to see the big picture.
He goes on to say: (Scripture read here, Philemon 1:17-19.) This is the part where he says welcome him as you would welcome me. But then he says something very interesting. He says charge it to me. If he has done anything wrong, charge it to me. Charge it to my credit card. I am not worried about it if he stole anything, if he damaged anything, charge it to me. I will take the heat. What is amazing about this passage is that he gives the clearest picture of the gospel, of what Jesus did on the cross. It says Christ was on the cross and he was saying to the Father if anyone of us ever did anything wrong, which we all have, he was saying I will take the heat. Charge it to me. Charge it to my account. This is a very Christ-centered statement. Philemon knows what he is doing there. He is saying, man, you are standing in the place of Christ in this particular letter.
In the end, he kind of throws in something there. Oh, by the way, not to mention that you owe me your very self. Some people had a little problem with that on Thursday because Paul looks like he is strong-arming him. I guess he is in a way, but the reality is he does owe him his very life. Again, Paul converted Philemon. Paul was the one that got Philemon saved. Because of Paul’s obedience, Philemon now has eternal life. So in a sense, he does owe him.
Then he finally goes on to say: (Scripture read here, Philemon 1:20-21.) Third use of the word ‘heart’. I do wish that you would “refresh my heart in Christ.” Make my heart happy. Receive back Onesimus. Now if you have been paying attention, which I know at 9 o’clock it is hard, if you’ve been circling the word ‘heart’, you would follow a very creative use of the word ‘heart’. A refresher, in verse 7 speaking of Philemon, he says “You, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.” You are a guy that just makes people’s hearts happy. Verse 12: “I am sending him, Onesimus, who is my very heart.” Finally, verse 20, “so refresh my heart.” “Welcome him back as you would welcome me.” Do you see how Paul took that word heart and creatively weaved it through that letter to make his argument that Philemon has no choice but to bring him back, to welcome him back home. It is a beautiful letter. It is a beautiful way to reconcile two brothers who are in disagreement.Finally, he goes on to say: (Scripture read here, Philemon 1:22-25.) He ends the letter just how he began it, Grace to you.
When you think about this letter, somebody brought up that at any given time any one of us can be either a Philemon, we could be a Paul, and we could even be an Onesimus. We could be a Philemon, someone who has been hurt or damaged or offended by somebody. Someone who has to understand to deny the ability to forgive is to deny that the love of Christ has been made manifest in their heart. If there is someone here today like that, they need to consider that maybe it’s time for evaluation. It’s time for a heart assessment to see if there is someone out there that you may have to forgive. There are some people out there who would be like a Paul. Maybe there is a brother and a brother that are in disagreement over something. Maybe a sister and a sister. Maybe a sister and a brother. I am talking about people that are in the Lord. People that call themselves Christians. Maybe there is a Paul out there that has to be willing to stand in the gap to help the people get together. To help them to see the divine perspective that there may be something going on behind the scenes that they are not aware of. So maybe if you’re a Paul out there and you know people that are in some sort of disagreement that is causing some sort of a fracture in the church, maybe you need to intercede. Maybe you need to get involved. Finally, there might be a few of us here that would be considered an Onesimus. Someone who knows that they have said something damaging. Knows that they did something damaging and needs to humble themselves and go to that person and seek reconciliation. There was a 15th Century theologian who founded the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther, who said of this letter that in a sense we are all an Onesimus because we are all really in the fellowship of the forgiven. We all have been an Onesimus. We all have been to a place where we understand that we have sin and we fall short of the glory of God but we have been people too that have been able to receive the love of God, the grace of God that started in heaven and poured out through the cross and made its way into our heart. So now we need to be able to take the grace that has been given to use and freely give it to others.
As we go into this time of prayer, I would just ask that you open your hearts, that you would open your minds, and you would allow the voice of God to speak to you. If he speaks to you during this time, if you find that he is speaking to you, I would ask that you would respond. Stay in your seat if you want and just carry on with the quiet conversation with God. If you are feeling prompted, maybe get up and go and pray for somebody else in the church here. Possibly come forward and seek prayer for that or anything else. But just don’t delay. Respond to the way that God is speaking with you. Respond to the voice of God.
Let us pray. Gracious God in heaven, Lord, I thank you for this day. I thank you for this letter. Lord, I have to say, it is my favorite letter. It’s an awesome letter, and we get to see Paul’s creative use of words. We just thank you that you even chose to preserve this letter for so many years, Lord. A single sheet of papyrus that you chose to preserve and duplicate, Lord, and give it all the way up to the church here today. Lord, it is such good application. Lord, I thank you for Paul. I thank you for his creativity and especially his creative use of the word heart. So now, as we continue to go into our time of prayer, I pray that you would open our hearts, open our minds, open our ears that we might be able to hear you. Lord, if there is a Philemon in the group, someone who has been harmed by others, I pray that he or she would just open up their hearts and be willing to receive another brother or sister back into communion with them. Lord, if there is a Paul here, someone who is aware of a division between a brother and sister, sister and a brother, Lord, I just pray that you would help them to have the boldness and the courage to intervene not in the sense of a demand or an order but that it would be an appeal to love. I pray for the people who would be an Onesimus here, Lord, that someone who has hurt somebody, somebody who knows they have damaged somebody by words or action; Lord, I pray that they too would seek reconciliation. That they would humble themselves and seek the forgiveness of the brother or sister in the Lord. Lord, as Martin Luther said we are all in the fellowship of the redeemed. In that sense, we are all Onesimus. In that sense, we have all received the grace of God that has come to us down through the cross and into our very hearts. Lord, we love you and praise you, in His name.
