Philemon
Notes
Transcript
Gordon and Arlene Hood. Newport, Rhode Island. The U.S. Navel War College. Let’s pray:
1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer,
Paul tells us quite a bit in this short introduction to this letter. We know he is writing it, along with Timothy, and that they are in custody somewhere, and the recipient is Philemon. Where this is such a short letter, the whole thing being only 25 verses, I think it is extremely helpful to fill in some of the gaps and give a little bit of explanation of the context here.
Paul writes this letter during a period of imprisonment. I believe it was written from his first imprisonment in Rome, others speculate that this letter, along with Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, the other epistles that make up what we call The Prison Letters, could have been sent from Caesarea, where we know that Paul was imprisoned for two years from (Acts 24:27) and others claim that the letters originated from Ephesus, however, the New Testament provides no record of Paul being imprisoned there, so I don’t think either of those options are likely. I think the historical evidence alone points us to this first Roman imprisonment. When we consider the time frame of these letters all written roughly from 60-62 A.D., it aligns with the period of house arrest mentioned in Acts 28.
To put that in context in our heads, about 30 years after the cross. 30 years after Jesus died, was buried in a tomb, rose again on the third day, appeared to many and then ascended into heaven. 30 years of missionary work, 30 years of planting churches, visiting and strengthening churches. For some in this room 30 years goes beyond your imagination, because your imagination hasn’t been around that long. And for others of you in this room, you can’t imagine it, but 30 years have passed since your high school graduation, or in my case over thirty years have passed since my wedding day, and in many ways it still seems just like yesterday.
We know from our opening verse that Paul writes this letter to a man, it’s not addressed directly to a church. It was written to a man named Philemon, who lived in, or around the city of Colosse. According to a description found in the Lexham Bible Dictionary, Colosse was a city in the province of Phrygia located in the Lycus Valley within Anatolia, or Asia Minor, about 120 miles east of the major port city of Ephesus. Today this would be part of southwestern Turkey.
We don’t know how Philemon made his wealth, but long before him, In the 5th century BC, Colossae was a thriving economy, known especially for its unique textiles and wool, but in his day and age, In the first century AD, Colossae was a small agrarian town, or largely a farming community. This was likely the purpose of Philemon's slaves, one of which is mentioned by name later in this letter, a man named Onesimus.
We know that Philemon became a Christian, through the ministry of Paul. Probably from contact made in the nearby City of Ephesus, as we don’t have any Biblical record of Paul traveling to Colosse himself. But with Ephesus being a major port city, there would have been, occasion and cause, for Philemon to travel there, especially as a wealthy business man.
We know he was wealthy for a couple of reasons. One being that at the end of his letter Paul asks him to prepare a guest room for him upon his release from prison, and only the wealthiest of people had homes large enough that they were sectioned off into multiple rooms... and we also find out that his home was large enough to host the Church of Colosse in his house. Some of us are maxed right out trying to host a Growth Group in our space, imagine having the whole church over every week. And there weren’t multiple churches in town like there are today, there was one church, thee church of Jesus Christ in the City of Colosse. So the home was sizable.
As, I mentioned earlier, another indication of his wealth was that he was a slave owner. That was not something that poor men, or even man average men were necessarily able to do. The slave mentioned by name, Onesimus ran away, and it appears actually stole from him before going. Probably ran away to Rome with the idea that it was a much, much, larger city with the hopes of being lost in the crowd.
Rome was a city that was full of slaves. When I say full, I mean that upwards of 40% of the population is estimated to be slaves. So slavery was not just legal or allowed within the Roman empire at this time, it was common place, and this slave labor was what made their large building projects possible. Under the Roman law, the slave became the property of the slave owner. So if a slave were to runaway, it was commonplace to execute that slave, if the owner could afford to take the loss. Under the law, and by many in practice, they were treated with the same value as livestock. It is not right and never should have happened, but it was how it was. Capital punishment didn’t require escape, or a criminal offense, but if the slave owner was done with the slave, or tired of his attitude, he could execute them if he wanted as an example to others without penalty under the law.
If a slave owner couldn’t afford the loss of executing a runaway slave, they might brand the letter “F” for fugitive in the Latin on the forehead of a captured runaway slave, so that if they were ever in the future to attempt escape, all who had contact with them would know of their status.
So, again, Onesimus would have been in a really bad spot as a slave having run away from his owner, and in addition to that, it appears that it was more than just an escape, but also an offense, probably theft. Had his owner been a normal slave owner, Onesimus would basically have been a dead man walking. We know however that Philemon was not a normal slave owner, at least at the point this letter was written, he had come to Christ and was now a Christian.
Again, slavery was very, very common in the Roman empire, some estimates reach as high as 60 million slaves. There was a variety of means by which one might become a slave. For example, if you acquired a significant amount of debt, you couldn’t just claim bankruptcy like many do today, and rather than be imprisoned, you might sell yourself into slavery for a period of time.
Also, if you were from a defeated nation, meaning if the Roman army defeated you, all that you had that they wanted was absorbed into the Roman empire, including the people, they would make them into slaves for themselves, or sell them as slaves. Over time, people were also born into slavery. When I speak of slavery being something for the wealthy, we need to look at the average cost of a slave. Some were much, much more, if they were a highly skilled slave that had been trained as maybe an accountant, or as a physician, but the average cost of a slave was around 500 denarius.
A denarius was the cost of a common laborer’s daily wage. So if you figure the amount of money an average worker might make after working for 500 days, or around a year and a half, many people figure that in today’s wages to be around 50-75 thousand dollars. Again, some highly skilled slaves would go for far more, some as much as 50,000 denarius. There are records of slave owners at the time having between 10 and 10,000 slaves. The bible doesn’t tell us where Philemon fell within that range, but at either end of that scale a runaway was a big deal. On the low end, because a significant portion of your labor force was gone, at the high end, the necessity to set an example so other’s didn’t think that they too should try to make a run for it. The feeling was this brutality was a deterrent to a mass exodus of other slaves trying to escape.
Now imagine Onesimus in our story, and we will get to the story in a minute, we know from other places in the Bible that trying to run away from God, never really works out. You could ask Jonah about that, or even some of you in this room. But consider Onesimus running away from a man, Philemon. Not knowing what the future would hold, but knowing that whatever the unknown ahead of him was, it had to be better than a life lived in bondage, so he escapes and tries to get lost in the crowd. Where he is an unknown and doesn’t expect to see anyone that is known by him.
Have you ever gone on a vacation, and this wasn’t a vacation for Onesimus, but perhaps you have gone on vacation, desiring to just get way and you go to a place like Disney World, or even a few weeks ago when Nicole and I went down to the sight and sound theater in PA and low and behold you run into someone that you know, and you realize, this is kinda a small world that we live in.
That wasn’t exactly the situation for Onesimus, but I really wish that we did have a little more of the details. He runs away from bondage, seeking freedom. Ends up in one of his modern day equivalents of sin city. And I can only imagine came to the realization that he wasn’t really free. Perhaps living a life without rules, and without responsibility brought him to the conclusion that he simply left one type of bondage for another.
I mean Paul was a prisoner. It wasn’t like they ran into each other at a water park. Or Paul was street witnessing at the city market and Onesimus overheard him talking about Jesus. The clues we pick up in Acts 28 might shed some light on Onesimus’ situation. Acts 28 tells us about Paul’s shipwreck, being bitten by a venomous viper and shaking it off into the fire and those that observed it were standing there watching and waiting for him to swell up like a pumpkin and die but he didn’t. After about three months on this island a ship then takes them to Syracuse on their way to Rome.
16 Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
Now he had appealed his custody to Caesar, skipping down to verse 23 we read…Acts 28:23
23 So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.
24 And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.
Down to verse 30, Acts 28:30-31
30 Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,
31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.
So I wish I knew what brought Onesimus to Paul. He was running for freedom, but something caused him to realize that he wasn’t free. And by the grace of God,... it had to be the grace of God, for it is by grace that we are saved. By the grace of God he must have heard about this man named Paul, that had something that he didn’t have. This prisoner had something that this man who thought he was free did not posses. Onesimus somehow became one of these that came to Paul at his lodging and became persuaded by the things that were spoken concerning Jesus, and believed, and finally, finally, became free.
I don’t want to read too far into it. But can you imagine as Onesimus began to share his story, and to confess to Paul that he was a runaway slave that ran from his master. And not only that, but he was also a thief, who had stolen from him, or committed some offense upon his departure against his master Philemon. Now imagine his surprise, as he is sitting in this rented house with a prisoner, a man himself in a type of bondage, guarded by soldier, as this man Paul tells him, I know your master. Not only do I know him, but just like with you, the Lord used me in his life, to make him a new creation in Jesus.
We need to try to make this right. What a small world huh? And of course I have no idea if Paul said we have to make this right or if in Onesimus’ true repentance and surrender to the Lord he probably asked Paul, what do I do about my situation. I’ve sinned against my brother. SO that is the back ground.
Paul writes the letter and along with the letter sends Onesimus back to Philemon. Again it is a short letter, the greeting takes up the first 7 verses, and then Paul gets to his request, his farewell is the last few verses. So the hello and goodbye comprise about 36% of it. Verse 1 Philemon 1:1
1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer,
Paul, uses the common format of a letter and begins with who it was from, along with a greeting, gets to the meat and ends with a farewell. I’m always fascinated and challenged by Paul’s perspective... and there is much for us to learn from him in that. It is easy for us to take a look around at our physical circumstances and make an assessment and declaration of our predicament. Paul’s perspective however, was never just limited to the physical or circumstantial. Paul could have said I’m being held by those jackbooted, or spear pointing thug, Roman soldiers.
Or the stupid laws of Roman have stripped away my freedom and are holding me prisoner, all of that would have been true. But Paul’s perspective always went beyond the physical and considered the eternal. He declared himself to be a prisoner of Christ Jesus. If Jesus didn’t want him to be a prisoner, the walls could begin shaking, the doors could open by themselves, remember, Paul had some previous experience with that kind of thing.
So a prisoner of Jesus, and therefore for a purpose, whether he knew that reason or not,…now we know...the salvation of Onesimus being one, the letters to Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians, for another. Paul would have never slowed down enough from his missionary work to sit and write these letters that continue to be instruction to the church today! Had he not been a prisoner of Christ Jesus.
It says he was with Timothy, our brother. This greeting shows how relational ministry was for Paul. He is writing to Philemon and says I’m with our brother Timothy. These guys aren’t related by blood, or I should say the blood of man, DNA. These guys are connected by the blood of the Lamb. Brother’s in Christ. Some of you guys have learned that often times our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ can become stronger, and deeper, than those that we are biologically connected to.
He says that Philemon is their beloved, friend is added there by the editors, beloved means deeply loved, or close to the heart. Many of us never really knew what is was to be loved, or what unconditional love was, until we became part of the family of Christ. They are relationally connected as fellow laborers. We that as brothers and sisters in Christ we are not to just be hearers of the Word, but doers also. As we talked about last week, we are not saved by works, but are saved for good works, we are all to be active in our faith and in ministry in some way. We labor together in this. Verse 2 says…Phile 1:2
2 to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
Apphia - probably his wife, and would have certainly been included in this letter as it was commonly the wife that was the direct overseer of the slaves.
Archippus - possibly his son, and we know from Colossians probably a leader in that church as he is called out to take heed of the ministry he received in the Lord. But look at this other identifier in which Paul includes all of them. A fellow soldier. SO Brothers, beloved, laborers, and soldiers. Soldiers is a fitting description and a good reminder to us in America that we are engaged in a battle of spiritual warfare, or we should be.
As soldiers we don’t always get to do the things we might want to do, when and how we want to do them. We are under authority and there are rules to follow. And although this letter was personally written to Philemon, it is also for those in the church that meet in his home. verse 3 Phile 1:3
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The two common greetings of the day. The Greek Charis, or grace. You wouldn’t just say good morning, or what’s up, it would be Charis, or may you have a day better than you deserve, and then the Hebrew greeting of shalom or peace. Always in that order, why? Because you can’t know the peace of God, until you first know the grace of God. Now some of you have been with us for years and have probably heard that maybe dozens of times, maybe you’re sick of it, now that you can repeat it back to me.
It is almost always on our last slide as well week after week. Why is that so? Repetition is necessary and valuable because we forget. We are prone to forget that salvation is by grace. And somehow for some reason when we mess up and sin. Instead of remembering that salvation is by grace and running back to the Father for forgiveness and restoration we begin to loose our peace with God. We begin to hide and isolate. It didn’t work for Adam and Eve and it doesn’t work for us. Without grace we have no peace with God, another reminder for you. Verse 4 Philem 1:4
4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,
5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,
Paul must have had an incredibly long prayer list when he was in jail if you consider all of the people that he tells us he faithfully prayed for daily. And then he says, I am here in jail, but even over this great distance, I am hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord and towards all the saints. I won’t go real deep here, but these two words, both translated towards in our NKJV are actually two different Greek words. The first is directional and is as you would expect your love and faith directed to, or toward Jesus. The second one has more of a context of into, rather than directional. So we would think of it hearing your love and faith and how that has been acted out and spread upon, or into all the saints.
Almost sounds like a set up here. Philemon, I know you have love and faith for all real Christians, I’m going to need you to extend that. Because all now includes one more, that maybe you wish it didn’t. I want to say that I often hear people talk about the guilt, compulsion and manipulation that Paul uses in this letter. Heavy handed guilt and shaming. I think it’s a false accusation and I hope you agree with me when we are done. In verses 6-7 bible commentators often say it is extremely difficult to understand and translate in the original language.
I think we can get it if we just don’t try to make it harder than it is and we break it apart a little bit. Verse 6 Phile 6
6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
the word for sharing here is actually the Greek word that is used for fellowship, Koinonia. So this is a good translation as if we have fellowship in the Holy Spirit we are sharing a connection made in the Spirit. Today is national ice cream day, so after church we should share some fellowship and share some ice cream. But this is not sharing our faith actually like we might think of in the way of evangelism, but rather sharing or blessing with the results of our faith.
If I am truly saved in Jesus, me being a new creation in Christ is something that gets shared with my family, my wife and my kids, not that they are saved because I am saved, but the good that comes of it gets shared with them and with my employer, even my enemies really. SO Paul’s prayer is that that sharing would be effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Now Paul tells us in Romans 7:18
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
Yet here he talks about every good thing which is in you in Jesus. Both are true. Outside of Jesus, there is no good thing in me, in my flesh, but now because of Jesus, Phile 6
6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
There are some good things because of Him. Because of Jesus we have Phile 7
7 For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
this word consolation is the word that Jesus used when speaking of the Holy Spirit meaning comfort, it also has a sense of exhortation to it in that it is comfort that is uplifting, like a weight has been removed. Like when you see a bird riding the currents of air up in the sky being lifted up by the gusts. Or when your this little guy, and you just don’t quite have what it takes to get going at full speed and you cry out push me Daddy, push me. That is this word…and because of it the hearts of the saints have been refreshed.
I wish I had another hour to talk about his one piece right here. We have struggled so much as a nation in the last decade with anxiety, depression, deep, deep, darkness, panic disorders, and I know that for those experiencing those things it is very, very real, and sometimes scary at the thoughts that come with those things. The solution of the doctor’s and researchers has been to find a magic formula, a chemical we can reduce to a pill, that will alter that state. Many people in desperation have begun to self medicate with several kinds of substances. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the research and the help they provide when the issue truly is chemical.
The problem becomes when it’s not. And now we have medically made someone comfortably numb, with no change of circumstance. No change of the scars of the heart, or the circumstances that are abrasive to their soul and the chemical wares off and the only solution is another fix. If we Christians live like Philemon and share our love and faith through serving others, loving others right in the middle of their mess, we could do more than the pharmaceutical companies to refresh the hearts around us.
Ok, all of that was his warm up and greeting, finally in verse 8 we get to the ask. Phile 8
Philemon 8–11 (NKJV)
8 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting,
9 yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ—
10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains,
11 who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.
Verse 8 - This is where many say Paul is using Pastoral compulsion. Basically, I have Apostolic authority, and I could just command you to do the right thing and what I’m asking of you is the right thing. But be careful to notice the importance of verse 9...
Verse 9 - Paul says, I don’t want to order you. The greatest motivation we can have in serving Christ is doing what we do for love’s sake, even the hard things that we don’t want to do. Again, I don’t believe that this is emotional manipulation here, Paul the old man rotting in prison. Some of your translations might say ambassador rather than the aged, there is only one letter different in the original, so maybe. I think Paul is saying, remember soldier, we all have to do tough stuff. I’m the senior guy now, and I’m a prisoner.
I wish I knew what Philemon was feeling and thinking as he’s reading this letter. I’m guessing it was pretty edifying so far. Paul has written some high praise. My beloved friend, brother, soldier, laborer. Word of your love and faith is being spread all the way to me in my bondage. The good stuff Jesus has done in you has been effective and is a comfort to the hearts of your Christian family, all of them.
Yeah Paul, whatever you want brother, of course just name it, and then he does. He reads that name, that name Onesimus. The one that stole from him, ran from him. The one who he has bitterness towards. And his brother, or really rather his father in the faith, calls Onesimus his son, whom I have begotten while in my chains, look at verse 10-11..
Verse 11 - He once was unprofitable, but no longer...
12 I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
13 whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.
14 But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.
Paul knew that forced compliance was not the goal of ministry. You parents know that one of the hardest and most necessary steps is getting our children to the point that they are making the right decisions for the right reasons. The Bible is consistent about this idea of not doing things out of compulsion. 2 Corinthians 8-9 is all about that. Specifically in chapter 9 verse 7 it says God loves a cheerful giver, you can’t be cheerful about something you are being forced to do.
Paul’s end goal was not to get Onesimus back to serve him, or even the ministry was not his end goal it was to bring God glory. To bring God glory for loves sake, that those that witnessed Philemon doing the hard thing out of love, would glorify God and further lift the hearts of the Saints. Verse 15 Phile 15-17
15 For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever,
16 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.
17 If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.
Again, there is not a single word in this little letter that is here by mistake. He says if you count me as a partner, again Paul appeals to the fellowship in the Spirit, Koinonia, this word is Koinonos, a relative word to that only in the noun form denoting a person who shares and participates with another by the Spirit of God
18 But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account.
In verse 18 the original language implies an assumption of facts. SO, there is no maybe, it’s not really an “IF” here, not only did he run away, but he commited an offense as well, may have stolen from him, might have damaged property upon his escape. Whatever the sin may be, put that on my account. Now I have heard people make parallels to this with the prodigal son. And that is a beautiful picture and I think accurate comparison.
But what stood out to me this time was the model set for us by God, is exactly what Paul is asking Philemon to do, for love’s sake. John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Not by compulsion…for those that believe in Him, all of our junk has been placed on His account, by grace through faith we have peace. Wrapping this up verse 19. Philem 19-22
19 I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.
20 Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
22 But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,
24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.
25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
Demas who is with him here, but we know later leaves for his love of the world. SO what do we learn from this letter? Here is what I picked up from Paul.
Apostle Paul teaches us the importance of interceding on behalf of others who have failed or messed up. Please, give this guy another chance. You might remember a guy did that for Paul. When people feared Paul in Acts chapter 9 after his Damascus road conversion he tried to join the other disciples and they were scared of him. Barnabas was his character witness, his sponsor. When people were judging Paul on the bases of who he had been, Barnabas came alone and took the risk to say, no, this guy is no longer that guy, he is a new creation in Jesus Christ.
Paul also teaches us the importance of giving people room to make the right choice in a situation on their own. You may help them to see things clearly, or to have greater understanding of the big picture they may be missing, or the effect their choices are having on others or even their own testimony, but for the sake of love, let them choose. Let the Holy Spirit be the Holy Spirit, that His job, not ours. That’s His job Pastor Brian, not yours. When our kids were younger we often tried to let them make the right choice on their own. Explain consequences but give them room so they can enjoy the blessing for the rest of their lives to know that they chose it.
Philemon teaches us the importance of forgiveness when forgiveness is hard, when it costs us something, when we are emotionally vested. It is easy to love and overlook when there is no connection to us. But this was really, really hard, but the world is watching, and we ourselves have been forgiven much. It is interesting that we are saved by grace, but Jesus is always clear to remind us that because we have been forgiven, we must forgive others.
We are all Philemon's and Onesimus’ pretty much all the time. You or I might be known for our love, people might use you as an example when they talk about loving people, but then someone burns you, hurts you,.... and you can become bitter, or... you can set it aside, for love’s sake, like Philemon.
Nobody can force someone else to forgive.
We are all Onesimus. From him we can learn that we have all offended, we have all sinned, not just against God, but against others and when we are in the position of Onesimus and we’ve repented and asked are seeking forgiveness...we need to allow them the time and the space to do the right thing for love’s sake. We shouldn’t just kick their door in and say you have to forgive me you’re a Christian now, you could, but you shouldn’t. Be patient and wait. For love’s sake will bring glory to God, because people will see that it wasn’t by force, but God did that.
Grace and Peace!