Philemon was a leader in the church
at Colossi. He had a church that met in his home. He is believed to have been a
wealthy man who Paul had at some point saved, whether this reference was to the
salvation of his soul or physically. This letter was written by an aged Paul
towards the end of his life in a prison in Rome.
The subject of the letter is an
escaped slave named Onesimus who has run into Paul as he is in prison and been
converted to the Christian faith. The reason for Onesimus’ departure from
Philemon is unknown, but it was not on good terms. Paul writes this letter of
reconciliation and sends it by the hand of Onesimus to Philemon so that he
might accept him when he comes. There are five big lessons that can be derived from
the small book of Philemon:
1.
A bad situation
is not an excuse to not act as a Christian should. Neither is a good one-Now
if you think that the letter Paul writes to Philemon only deals with what
Philemon should do or should have done, then I would encourage you to read it
again. Paul’s letter does not absolve Onesimus for leaving his master. The very fact that Paul was sending Onesimus
back shows that Onesimus probably shouldn’t have left in the first place,
except it is for the Lord to work his salvation as we will note below. I think
the lesson we can draw from here is a lesson that is taught by another passage
that deals with the situation Onesimus was in before he left Philemon.
Now that is a
hard teaching. Here’s the point. We are not allowed to use our situation as an
excuse not to act as a Christian should act. Our situation should have no
bearing over what we say or do in the sense of allowing us to sin in the
process. In all that we do, in every situation that we find ourselves in, we
are still Christians. Onesimus needed to know that, as did Philemon; being in a
good situation allows us to slack off with our responsibilities as Christians.
It is who we are, in all things, good or bad.
2.
Correct in love
not out of command-Paul’s like, “I’ll repay anything he
has cost you, (even though you owe me your very life… but I digress).” The
point is, even in correction, we should do everything out of love. Paul could
have just commanded Philemon to take Onesimus back or said that he was going to
stay with him, and that would have been that. He had that authority. But he
didn’t. This is not the only time Paul writes like this.
He knows that
he is an apostle and has the authority to bind and loose things on earth. But
he rather appeals to his brethren out of love, so that they might consider
their error and return without hard feelings. As we have seen over the past
couple of days, Paul is not afraid to be very bold and blunt with people he
loves if they will not repent after he is nice about it. But he does give them
the easy option first. I think we can look to this as an example to follow
before we just jump on people back at the first sight of wrongdoing.
3.
Everything
happens for a reason-Do you think everything happens for
a reason? Even if everything does happen for a reason (I suppose that reason
could be good or bad), I don’t think we will really know what that reason is.
Paul said that Onesimus’ departure happened for a greater reason- so that he
might be saved. Notice what Paul prefaced it with: Perhaps.
That implies to
me that Paul didn’t know if this was for sure the reason that Onesimus left, on
a grand scale. He just said it could be the reason. And I think that is the
best we are going to get. So does everything thing happen for a reason? Be sure
that He does work His providence in our lives. Don’t get hung up on figuring
out the reason everything happens. Just let God do His work, and us what we are
called to do.
4.
The gospel is
for all-What I find most ironic about this story is how Onesimus
became a Christian, or at least how he did as it is implied to me. For an
unknown number of years, Onesimus had been a bondservant in the house of an
apparently influential Christian. Paul praises Philemon at the opening of his
letter for being such an inspiration to people. It is obvious that he is a
leader and is doing things to advance the cause of Christ. Except to Onesimus,
so it seems.
The first point
that I believe that we can draw from Philemon is that the gospel is truly for
all, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. It seems that in all
his teaching and encouraging of the saints, Philemon either never tried to
teach Onesimus or Onesimus simply wasn’t willing to listen to his master’s
teaching. The letter doesn’t specify which, or even technically if Onesimus was
already converted. I speculate that he wasn’t as there seems to be a contention
that was building between the slave and his master.
Paul is
appealing to Philemon to reconcile his servant, who had once been useless to
him for reasons unstated, as no longer a servant, but more than that- a fellow
brother. In all the time that Onesimus spent with Philemon, was he not taught
the gospel? Did he have to wait until he met Paul to hear the good news of
Christ? Were there social reasons for him not hearing the word in the house he
formerly served?
All these are
questions that don’t really have clear answers from the text, but the main
point I think is this: the gospel is for all. We should proclaim it to everyone
we know, regardless of social standing or prejudice. Paul had a reputation as
doing such, even preaching to the guards who were chained to him when he was
under arrest. Onesimus was no different when he came to know Paul, and he
received the good news, becoming useful to both Paul and Philemon in the Lord.
5.
We do not
always get the full story, but we do get stories-This
is a lesson that is outside of the text of Philemon that I have had to learn
the hard way over the past few years. The Bible
is full of really interesting stories. If you don’t believe me, I would
encourage you to read it more deeply than you have before. Put yourself into
the story as you would if you were reading a novel or watching a movie. I
wasn’t always able to read the Bible
this way, but when I started to read it like this, when I started to actually
grasp the entire context and connecting elements, it was almost surreal.
The Bible is beautiful, and when you get
past the “read x number of chapters” to get my daily reading in (though this is
helpful to form a habit of reading) you will be enticed. It is the Word of God
that is living and active. It is amazing. But some of these stories come at a
price, that price being that we don’t get the full story. Once I read Philemon
in a way to where I could read into the context and meaning behind it, I was
enticed. I wanted to know more. How did Philemon receive Paul’s letter? Was
there actual reconciliation?
What happened in the first place? How did
Onesimus get to Paul? What did he do that was considered “useful”? Did Paul
ever get to visit Philemon and the church in his home after the letter was
delivered? All of these are questions that will be left unanswered at least for
now. And this isn’t the only place in the bible where I want to know more.
There are whole books that are mentioned that have been lost to history. I want
to read those books so badly. The Holy Spirit, for whatever reason, did not see
fit to have them preserved throughout the ages. What we do have preserved we
can rest assured is what He did see fit for us to have
“Onesimus was separated from you for a short
time. Maybe that happened so that you could have him back forever, 16 not to be just a
slave, but better than a slave, to be a dear brother. That’s what he is to me.
And I know he will mean even more to you, both as your slave and as one who
shares your faith in the Lord.” (Philemon
1: 15-16,
ERV)[i]
MERRY CHRISTMAS 2018 FROM THE ADVICE BLOGGER
MERRY CHRISTMAS 2018 FROM THE ADVICE BLOGGER
[i] Adapted from: “5 lessons from the book of
Philemon” by wharrin
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