Approximate text of my sermon from a week or two ago, on Paul’s letter to Philemon, relating it to the contemporary situation in the UK.
For what it’s worth, I say ‘Phy-LEEmon’ and ‘Oh-NESSimus’. But you can say whatever you like!
I want to start by saying a bit about flags. If you’ve been out and about or watching the news, I’m sure you’ve noticed that there are loads of flags lining the streets, whether that’s the English flag (the cross of St George), or the British flag (the Union Jack). It’s known as ‘Operation Raise the Colours’, and it’s described as a display of patriotism.
Now, there’s nothing with being patriotic. It’s entirely appropriate to value and celebrate the good things about your country, your family or your culture. There’s an appropriate sort of pride that we can take in these things.
We’ve just heard a letter from the Apostle Paul to a man called Philemon. And Philemon had a lot to be proud about. Philemon lived almost 2000 years ago in the city of Colossae, in modern-day Turkey. He was clearly a man of some means. He had a big house and a big household. He was probably quite successful in business. He would have been quite wealthy. It’s likely that he was a Roman citizen, with all the freedoms, rights and privileges that came with that. Philemon had a lot to be proud about.
And if we feel that we’ve got a lot to be proud about too, then we need to listen carefully. Because this letter that Paul wrote to Philemon is very challenging.
Let me explain a bit more of the story, because it’s quite easy to get lost.
Colossae was around a hundred miles from Ephesus. It might have been when Philemon was visiting Ephesus that he met Paul. And through Paul, Philemon became a Christian. His life was transformed. And he started to use the things he had for the sake of his brothers and sisters in the family of God. He opened his house to others, he was hospitable. They didn’t have church buildings in those days, but a church met in his house. Like a big home group. Christians who were in need would come to him, and he would help them. His life was full of love and faith.
Now, like pretty much anyone of his status in the ancient world, Philemon owned slaves. When we hear that, it’s really shocking to us. How can a Christian have slaves? We’ll come back to that later. But we need to remember that slavery in the Roman world was just the way things were. It was hard to imagine a world without slavery. And we also need to remember that slavery in the Roman world was very different to the transatlantic slave trade, for at least three reasons. First, it wasn’t about ethnicity. Second, slaves could purchase their freedom, and many did. And third, you could rise to quite high status even as a slave.
Anyway, Philemon owned slaves. And one of those slaves was a man called Onesimus, a name which means ‘useful’. Onesimus had run away from his master Philemon. We don’t know why. Maybe there were good reasons.
Onesimus wasn’t a Christian when he ran away. But somehow he’d ended up with Paul. And, through Paul, Onesimus became a Christian.
Now, if you want, you could think of Onesimus as an asylum-seeker. He had fled from his master, and it wasn’t safe for him to return. Maybe he was an economic migrant? But, for Onesimus, it was clear what he needed to do. He needed to go back. But maybe it wasn’t safe for him just to go back on his own.
Earlier in the summer we were looking at Paul’s letter to the Colossians. And that letter was sent at the same time as this letter to Philemon. They didn’t have the Royal Mail in those days, so letters were delivered by hand. And the letter to the Colossians, along with the letter to Philemon, was delivered by one of Paul’s fellow missionaries, a man called Tychicus.
So Onesimus went back to his master Philemon, along with Paul’s friend Tychicus, and along with a letter from Paul to Philemon, urging him very strongly to receive Onesimus back into his household. Paul wanted Onesimus to find asylum – safety, refuge – back in Philemon’s house.
It’s quite risky, isn’t it? Put yourself in Philemon’s shoes. How would you feel about Onesimus? Disappointed? Angry? What would you do if you found him? What would you do if you were an employer, and one of your employees deserted you, or stole something big, or damaged the reputation of the company? How would you feel? Philemon has his reputation to think about too! Paul is asking him to do the unthinkable!
Back to the flags for a minute. Both the English flag and the Union Jack have a big red cross. And that cross, of course, is based on the cross of Jesus. The dominant symbol of Christianity is the cross. If you want to understand the message of Christianity, you need to understand the cross. Some people think that Christianity boils down to this: be nice, just like Jesus. No: Christianity is about Jesus dying on the cross. What’s that all about?
In this letter to Philemon, Paul doesn’t mention Jesus’ death on the cross. (He does mention the cross in the letter to the Colossians, so it’s clearly in his mind.) But the letter to Philemon does include a word at the beginning and end that we often find at the beginning and end of letters in the New Testament. And that word is: grace.
Verse 3 (all quotations from the NIV): ‘Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’
Verse 25: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.’
What does grace mean? ‘Grace’ means ‘gift’. Jesus is God’s gift to us, and Jesus gave his life for us.
Now, the thing about God’s grace is that it is given to people who don’t deserve it. Jesus didn’t just die for people who have things to be proud about. Jesus died for people who have nothing to be proud about. Bad people, outsiders, slaves, weak people, sick people, and so on.
Christianity is all about the cross of Jesus. And Christianity is all about God’s grace. It’s about Jesus dying so that people who don’t deserve it can be forgiven and welcomed back into God’s family. People like Onesimus. And people like Philemon.
I want to say three things about grace.
First: Receive God’s grace.
Philemon received God’s grace when Paul told him about Jesus. Onesimus received God’s grace when Paul told him about Jesus.
What about you? Maybe you are exploring Christianity? Maybe you think being a Christian is about trying to be good. Maybe you’ve never thought that Christianity is all about God’s grace.
The most important thing I want for you is for you to receive God’s grace in Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done. The offer is there. All the bad things you have done can be forgiven. You can be welcomed into God’s family, not as a slave, but as a son or a daughter. And you can find acceptance and healing because Jesus died and rose again.
And the first thing we should want for anyone we meet is for them to come to know Jesus. So if anyone comes in here – whatever their nationality, whatever their status, whatever they have done – we want them to receive God’s grace in Jesus Christ.
That’s what Paul wanted for Onesimus. Yes, eventually Onesimus needed to return to his master Philemon. But not before he was introduced to Jesus.
That’s the first thing I want to say: Receive God’s grace.
The second thing is this: Be humbled by God’s grace.
Jesus went from heavenly glory to a shameful death on the cross, for our sake. And when we receive God’s grace in Jesus, that leads us to humble ourselves too.
It’s really interesting how the letter begins: ‘Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus’. Now, Paul was in prison, because he was a Christian. But he could have introduced himself differently. In fact, listen to how the letter to the Colossians begins: ‘Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God’. Paul had a lot that he could be proud about. Paul was a Roman citizen. Paul had a good family and a good upbringing. Paul was an apostle, specially chosen by Jesus. But instead, he says, ‘Paul, a prisoner’.
And we see here that Paul is turning the values of the world upside down. That’s what the cross does. And when we see the sign of the cross all around us, that’s what we should think. Jesus humbled himself, for our salvation. And whatever we might boast about, we need to put that to one side.
So, if I was introducing myself, it’s not, ‘Anthony, English and proud of it’. It’s, ‘Anthony, a refugee in the kingdom of God’.
Paul urges Philemon to welcome Onesimus back. Why? Because Onesimus is now Philemon’s brother. That’s what we are: brothers and sisters in Christ. In God’s eyes, Philemon and Onesimus are of equal status! In the church, all of us enter through baptism. It’s a level playing field. All of us receive communion in the same way.
And this is the beginning of the end of slavery.
How can a Christian have slaves? Slavery was everywhere until Christianity came along. True, it took hundreds of years. But there’s no doubt that it was Christianity that led to the abolition of slavery. And we get hints of that in this letter.
What was Paul encouraging Philemon to do? Verse 17 is the key verse: ‘welcome him as you would welcome me’. And welcome him, verse 16, ‘no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother’. Maybe there are even hints that Paul hoped Philemon would grant Onesimus his freedom? If you think of your slave as your brother, you’re not going to treat him the same. And by saying this, Paul planted a stick of dynamite under the whole institution of slavery.
The reason slavery is basically illegal throughout the world today is this: because of Christianity. Because of the grace of God, seen in the cross of Jesus.
Receive God’s grace. Be humbled by God’s grace.
Third: Be an instrument of God’s grace.
Onesimus could have started a new life elsewhere in the world. It would have been quite easy for him to do that. But instead, he took the hard route to reconciliation. Philemon wasn’t just his master now, he was his brother too. They were part of the same family. And when there’s a breakdown of relationships within a family, you do something about it.
Many families are torn apart because of broken relationships. And the family of the church is no exception. When we see the lengths that Paul and Onesimus went to, to bring about reconciliation, we need to stop and think. Are there any broken relationships in our own lives? Are there any fellow Christians that we’re not on speaking terms with? Should we do something about that?
Onesimus didn’t seek reconciliation on his own, but he got Paul to help him. So Paul writes this bold and courageous and risky letter to restore a broken relationship between Philemon and Onesimus.
Sometimes reconciliation isn’t possible. Sometimes it’s simple. And sometimes you need to have someone else involved, as is the case here.
So, again, are there any broken relationships in your own life? Do you need to ask for the help of a third person, to act as a mediator? Or are there broken relationships between other people that you could help to heal? Could you act as a mediator between other people?
Like Paul, and like Jesus, we need to be reconcilers, bridge-builders, peacemakers. We need to be people who search for the lost sheep and bring them home.
Receive God’s grace. Be humbled by God’s grace. Be an instrument of God’s grace.
I wonder what happened next with Philemon and Onesimus. It’s quite interesting that we’ve got this letter, isn’t it? I’m sure Paul wrote lots of letters that haven’t survived. I think it means that Philemon responded well to the letter. Otherwise why would we have it today?
And that same story of transformation is worked out in the lives of every Christian believer, as we receive God’s transforming grace, and as we start to see other people not as slaves and masters, not as citizens and asylum-seekers, but as sisters and brothers in Christ.
And that’s the difference the cross of Jesus makes in our world.