September 8, 2019

In the New Testament there is a beautiful short letter from St. Paul to his friend Philemon. First let’s look at the background story of the letter. Then let’s look at it as an application for us today.

St. Paul had taken three missionary journeys that took him through what is present-day Turkey. It was probably in the town of Colosse that Paul met Philemon and baptized him. The local Christians in Colosse met in Philemon’s house. It was like a house church. At that time the young man Onesimus probably met Paul for the first time. The young man Onesimus would know Paul because Onesimus was a servant in Philemon's house, he was the slave of Philemon. Onesimus was not yet baptized then.

A few years later, Paul is in prison in Roman, waiting to meet the Emperor in his defense of the Gospel. Even though he was a prisoner, Paul could meet with his friends: Luke and Mark and others. It was when he was a prisoner in Rome that Paul met Onesimus again. Onesimus had run away from his master, Philemon. It seems also that he had stolen money to make his escape to Rome. Somehow when he was in Rome, Onesimus met up with St. Paul again. Here Onesimus converted to Christianity and was probably baptized by St. Paul because Paul calls him "my child, whose father I have become in my imprisonment." Paul loved him very much.

Modern prisons are first class hotels compared to the dungeons of old. A prisoner’s family or friends would bring him food and take care of him. It seems that Onesimus was helping St. Paul, serving him as he had his Master Philemon. And here St. Paul makes a pun on his name. The name “Onesimus” means “useful” or “beneficial.” Paul writes, “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.”

Paul would have loved it if Onesimus could keep serving him, but he could not do that because Onesimus was a run-away slave.

The laws of Rome were strict about slaves, and were very harsh toward run-away slaves. Paul must send Onesimus back home to his master, Philemon. Surely Onesimus was afraid of going back, he could be beaten and severely punished by his master. And so Paul wrote this letter for Onesimus to take back and give to Philemon, asking Philemon to be kind to Onesimus.

Philemon should be kind because, 1) Onesimus had received baptism and was now returning as more than a slave, now as a beloved brother in the Lord. 2) He should be kind because he is now returning as a truly "useful" servant to both Philemon and Paul. 3) He should be kind and receive him back just as he would treat Paul his partner in the Gospel. 4) Onesimus might have been a thief, but Paul promised to pay the debt, but then Paul reminded Philemon that Philemon was in debt to Paul because though Paul he had received Salvation. 5) And finally, Paul says, make me happy, "Refresh my heart in Christ." If you read between the lines, you can see Paul making the hint that Philemon should free his slave, and perhaps even send him back to Rome so that he could help Paul. This is the purpose of this letter. Finally Paul wrote, "Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say."

Finally, what happened to Onesimus? It seems that he was welcomed home. The next we hear about him is about 40 years later in a letter of Ignatius, one of the early church fathers. He wrote to the Ephesian church where the Bishop's name is Onesimus, a well respected, beloved, and very useful member of the church of God.

Paul wrote this letter to Philemon about Onesimus, but it is like a prayer. It could be like the prayer that Jesus prays to his Father about us. We are like the run-away slave. We all have had our rebellious days like the slave boy Onesimus. We have run away from home with the silverware and have become lost -- until we heard the Gospel of forgiveness and hope that gives the courage to return home. The Gospel is like a letter from Jesus to God the Father. “Dear God, this beloved child” -- add your own name here -- “has run away, but now comes home begging for your mercy. Please forgive this child and put the debts of this child on my account and I will pay, not with silver or gold, but with my own precious blood shed on the cross.” We all know that we have sinned and only deserve to be beaten and whipped like a disobedient, run-away slave. But we have something even better than a nice letter from St. Paul; we have the promise of Jesus Christ, “I will repay it.” It is in the power of this love that we come home.

In this short letter we see the family-like dynamics of the young church in the Apostolic Age. Paul loved and was concerned about this slave boy. Paul could make an appeal for him to his master based on their mutual love in Jesus Christ. It was this love that overcame social, economic, racial, and all other barriers. It was the love of Jesus who became our slave. He served us. He bore the burden of our sins and dying on the cross to forgive them. The Jewish court and the Roman court of Pilate condemned him as "useless," but through his death and resurrection, Jesus became very "useful" indeed.

This letter shows the same love that is in the church today, too. No matter where you go, you are a member of the family of God. We all have had our rebellious days like the slave boy Onesimus. It is like we too have stolen money, run away from home, and have become lost. But we were found by the Holy Spirit and led home and accepted by God our Master and Lord through the Gospel of forgiveness and love.

It is in the power of this love that we receive other run-away slaves when they come home. And we have to receive them, because they are family. Even if we do not always like them, they are family, members of the family of Christ. This is the basis of Christian hospitality. We love and accept others as Christ loves and accepts us. We help others and plead for them, as Christ helps us and pleads for us, even before our Father in Heaven. We become like Paul when we intercede and help others. We become like Philemon and the church in his house that accepted Onesimus. In this way to the church and to God we truly become “Useful.”

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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