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September 5, 2004
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
An Appeal to Love
Philemon 1-20
As many of you know, I missed worship and all of the events saying farewell to Larry last weekend because I was out in Washington state for my brother's wedding. I was, of course, very sorry to miss everything here, but it was a family event, the tickets were bought, and besides, I was the officiant. They couldn't get married without me!
Perhaps it was spending those days with family, but I found myself doing a lot of reminiscing. One of the memories that came back to me was the summer before he started high school and I started junior high. There was a girl in Michael's class, Molly, and I suspected something was going on with those two. And for whatever reason-this was long before email-Molly wrote my brother two or three letters that summer.
Now, my brother was a late sleeper, so I always got to the mailbox first and saw the letters before he did. I wasn't bold enough to steam them open to get the contents, but I was certainly not above reading a letter he foolishly left out on the kitchen table, or out in plain sight somewhere in his room. (I feel only slightly guilty about this, since I'm fairly certain he read my diary.)
As eager as I was to find out some juicy information, more often than not, the letters didn't make a lot of sense to me. They often made references to situations and people I knew nothing about. It was like listening to a telephone conversation, when you only hear half the story. It's hard to know what's really going on.
Reading Paul's letters is something like that. We are, in a very real sense, eavesdropping on half a conversation. Add to that a distance of two thousand years and a different culture, and that only complicates matters further. To be honest, with the twenty-one letters in the New Testament, much of the interpretation is based on educated guessing.
Paul's letter to Philemon is no exception. In order to help us with those educated guesses, we turn to Paul's other letters. Some of the same names that appear in Philemon also appear in Colossians, also written by Paul and Timothy. Onesimus, for example, is mentioned there as "the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you" (Col 4:9). Archippus is mentioned in both letters as are several others-Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke-to whom Paul sends greetings at the end of each letter. Because of those parallels, we can safely assume that Philemon hosts a church in his home in Colossae, a city in Asia Minor, part of the Roman Empire.
The letter's subject matter certainly grabs our attention: Paul is sending this letter back to Philemon with Philemon's runaway slave, Onesimus, with the appeal that Philemon will "welcome him as you would welcome me" (v. 17).
Many of you may be sitting there, wondering how in the world Paul could return a runaway slave. To us, in the context of our nation's history of slavery, such an act is unthinkable. Isn't Paul being immoral and unchristian by sending Onesimus back?
A good question.
For Roman citizens in the 1st Century, slavery was a fact of life. People became slaves in various ways: taken as prisoners during war, through kidnapping by slave hunters, or as a result of a debt. But the fact remained, the economic welfare of the Empire depended upon slaves. (Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament, pp.503-504)
But perhaps more importantly, Paul lived apocalyptically; that is, he believed that the world would end in his lifetime. When you believe that the world might end tomorrow, changing long-standing social structures is hardly a priority.
So Paul sends Onesimus back to his master. We don't know why Onesimus left in the first place-if he was mistreated in some way, or simply chose to run away. There was a provision in Roman law that a slave could appeal to a friend of the master to mediate on the slave's behalf, so perhaps Onesimus asked Paul to be mediator with Philemon (Cain Hope Felder, NIB vol. 11, p. 898). Or perhaps Onesimus ran away and came upon Paul accidentally. It is also possible that Paul might be seen to be "harboring" this runaway slave, thus making himself libel for the value of each day's work that was lost, and subject to arrest (Ralph P. Martin, Interpretation: Philemon, p. 136). And as a runaway slave, Onesimus faced dire consequences. He could be imprisoned, and upon his return to his master, it was within the master's rights to punish him without mercy, or even to put him to death.
These are the possible circumstances surrounding Paul's letter to Philemon, with one added detail: for whatever reason Onesimus spent time with Paul in prison, during that time Onesimus has become a believer under Paul's influence. Paul calls Onesimus "my son" and himself his "father" (v. 10). That detail, for Paul, changed everything.
And it changes the way he approaches Philemon. Before Paul makes it clear to Philemon why he is writing, Paul offers thanksgiving to God for him. He calls Philemon "our dear friend and co-worker" (v. 2) and "my brother" (v. 7), and praises Philemon for the glowing reports he has received regarding Philemon's faith and love.
And then Paul begins to outline the reason for his letter. Paul admits he could "command you to do your duty" (v. 8), but he chooses instead to "appeal to you on the basis of love" (v. 9). Paul makes it clear that Onesimus is now a Christian, that he has been of great value to Paul during his imprisonment, offering a service that Philemon himself would have been glad to offer (v. 13). But rather than keep Onesimus with him, Paul sends him back to Philemon, so that Philemon's "good deed might be voluntary and not something forced." Paul writes, "Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for awhile, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother-especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me." (vv. 15-17)
No, Paul does not condemn the practice of slavery, but what he does here is still radical. Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians (3:28) that "there is no longer Jew or Greek…slave or free…male or female; for you are one in Christ Jesus." The situation between Onesimus and Philemon is the embodiment of this verse, if Philemon will act upon the truth Paul sets before him.
Paul continues: "If [Onesimus] has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self." (vv.18-19) Without subtlety, Paul reminds Philemon that Philemon owes everything to Paul. More accurately, Philemon is indebted to Jesus Christ. As such, Paul appeals to Philemon to live according to Christ's love, rather than the world's conventions.
We don't know what happened when Onesimus delivered this letter to Philemon, but the fact that it is still around almost two thousand years later is a pretty good indicator that Philemon did "refresh [Paul's] heart in Christ" and welcomed Onesimus back as he would have welcomed Paul. It is fairly safe for us to make the educated guess that this story has a happy ending.
This event in the life of three people two thousand years ago still speaks to us today.
First, it serves as a reminder of the power of God's transforming love that makes all things new. This kind of love changes everything, who we are, how we relate to others. This powerful love is there for us, if we want it. Just as the relationship between Onesimus and Philemon was transformed, or the way the potter can remake a broken pot, new possibilities are open to us through Jesus Christ.
Second, we are reminded that the Christian life is difficult. To truly follow in Christ's path, we are called to do things that make us uncomfortable, things that defy conventional wisdom. Sometimes God calls us to confront an injustice, even when we'd rather not, or to seek reconciliation, although it seems easier to just avoid it, or to do the right thing, even if it comes at a cost-financially or socially-to ourselves. God's love is unconditional, but it is demanding. To believe otherwise is to deceive ourselves.
Finally, Philemon points to the fact that Christ is our unity, that we belong to one another as much as we belong to God. To me, this is especially important in this time of partisanship, whether it is in the national arena, as the political parties vie for God's seal of approval, or in our denominations, as churches bicker over issues of who can be ordained, or how scripture should be interpreted. Master and slave found themselves on equal footing because of the unity they shared in Christ. No doubt there are imbalances in our own realities that Christ is waiting to upset!
The bottom line is, when lives are lived in connection with Christ, our behavior in the world should reflect that connection. Christ calls us sisters and brothers, and appeals to us on the basis of love, that our good deeds might be voluntary and not something forced.
Daily Christ makes his appeal to love. It's up to us to decide how will we respond. Amen.
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