So maybe you’ve heard it said, ‘read your bible’ so you tried and failed. Our hope as leaders is that all of us will pick up God’s word and come to understand the true nature of God. After all, the bible is God’s Word curated over centuries detailing His nature, His will, the meaning of life and humanity’s historical interactions with Him. The Bible details the hidden keys to the Kingdom. Hence, the reason we are reviewing a new book each week.
This week we move this short letter to Philemon: a wealthy member of the church. The letter was sent to ask for forgiveness or leniency towards Onesimus, a runaway slave. The heart of the letter is the Christian idea of forgiveness and reconciliation. As CS Lewis once said, “Everyone says that forgiveness is a wonderful idea, until he has something to forgive.”
It was 2006. I was on my first foreign mission trip in Tanzania. Twas the night before when I was asked to preach on forgiveness to a group of 2000 people in a Rwandan refugee camp. I was nervous. I had never preached internationally. I did not know of the whole story of the Rwandan people and the struggle of living in a refugee camp or the reason behind their reluctance to return to a place they once called home. I can remember not sleeping well and feeling unprepared. The next morning, we ventured from our missionary rooms at the catholic convent to the camp. We were stopped half way by the Rwandan military. A search of the vehicle by men with AK47 machine guns and then a second review at the camp. As we reached the venue, a large mud brick hall with benches, windows and loud sound system with tons of distortion, there were people waiting outside and inside already. I was getting more and more nervous with each passing moment. Finally we were paraded to the stage with seats of honor where we looked out over all the people. I was sitting next to our missionary host who was describing much of the proceedings. And then just before it was my time to preach with an interpreter for the first time, the host leaned over and said, “You have ten minutes and make sure to ask them to stand in repentance and forgiveness at the end.” This completely threw me. I had stayed up and organized all my notes in my bible and now, I was being asked to shorten the message AND create enough of an impact they would stand for forgiveness and begin reconciliation. It still makes me cringe to think about it all. However, I did what I was asked. I believe I preached forgiveness and repentance through an interpreter. I really can’t tell you what was said. It is all a blur. As I finished with a call to stand to repent and ask for forgiveness, I went back to my seat. The room was eerily quiet. As I sat down, the host leaned over and whispered, “I was joking about the 10 minutes. I didn’t think any preacher could just preach 10 minutes. I think they are in shock.” I was so deflated. As we sat there in silence with only the hum of the loudspeaker's feedback, the Holy Spirit began to work in those present.
The Rwandan people have an eastern mindset. The group’s importance supersedes the individual. What felt like five minutes of silence was broken by a woman at the back right closest to the mudbrick window. She stood and publicly called out to the Lord. There would be 30 more seconds before the second person from the other side of the room would scream out a request for forgiveness. Then another and another would stand until most of the room was standing. Somewhere in the middle of this wave of repentance and forgiveness, the makeshift band began to blast worship music. The room was filled with Holy Spirit tears, shouts of freedom and people sharing hugs.
Desmond Tutu once said, “True reconciliation is never cheap, for it is based on forgiveness which is costly. Forgiveness in turn depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgment of what was done wrong, and therefore on disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know.”
The Rwandans in that Tanzanian hall knew the horrors of genocide. A number of years had passed but the stain of those days was still on their hearts. The release that morning was like nothing I had ever experienced. I really do not have words for it. I was changed, as much as anyone in the room.
In the same way, this letter from Paul to Philemon breaks the stronghold of cultural bias that reduces individuals to a possession or just means to an end. True repentance and faith work in tandem to foster love of God and others.
An elderly man once asked in a bible study, “How many times will God forgive my sins in this life? When will His the forgiveness end?” After a little bit of silence, someone suggested the group recite the Lord’s prayer. Let’s do that now.
<Lord’s Prayer>
We talked about the origins of that prayer in Matt 6 and Luke 11. In particular we discuss Jesus' words, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others.” Interesting for its conditional nature, but also it’s a command to forgive. Jesus dives in a little more forcibly in Mark 11: 25 when Jesus says, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
We then went into some other writing which has Jesus saying to Peter, “seven times seventy.” Basically equivalent to saying there is no limit (Matt 18:21-22; Luke 17:3-4). What an incredible message of hope this brings. Think about this, If Jesus told them there is no limit to the number of times we are to forgive, it only makes perfect sense our Lord would demonstrate the same behavior with us. All your trespasses, sins, debts, defects of character can and are forgiven when you believe in and live as He did. Jesus forgave our sins! Our God forgives our wrongs!
It’s one of the factors which really upset the Pharisees. Before this, it was believed only God could forgive sins so when Jesus forgave sins, they didn’t know what to make of it. They were bound by the rules of the day (the law) and couldn’t celebrate this good news that through Jesus this restraint was nullified. All now can be forgiven.
A truth he demonstrated over and over again. It’s utterly inspiring to think of how God forgives.
He forgave His unbelieving murderers (Luke 23:34) while still on the cross. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
He also forgave Peter for denying him 3 times ( John 21:15-19). 15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.
Jesus said “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.” (Luke 17:3)
Like Philemon, we are asked to forgive and restore relationships. It is one of the most unique aspects of being a Christ follower. There are no conditions. If we ever are tempted to add any, we should remember the famous words of author and scholar Robert Spear. He said in 1902, “There is rarely a place where we are so like God as when we are lifted up to His nature and enabled to forgive one another as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us (Eph 4:32).
Communion
Creative: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/philemon/
References: Quest Bible Overviews p:1760-1762, The Bible Exposition Commentary (Wiersbe) Volume II, p. 272-3, POJ p. 60
