Philemon 1-21, Radical Kindness

It used to be that people actually wrote letters.  I know it sounds arcane, but they would actually use a pen, write on something called paper, and in their own handwriting pen a message to a friend or loved one, then post it.

It is so rare these days to get a letter in the post – an actual hand written letter, in fact I can’t remember the last time I did.

Letters are rare things indeed, as they were over 2 thousand years ago, and if you received a letter you treasured it and poured over it with care and attention.

Today’s reading from Philemon is a letter too.  It’s only 5 paragraphs.  Short for the NT.  A few words squeezed onto an old letter.   But one that shakes the foundations of a society with the Gospel of Jesus.  

It’s written by Paul.  He’s in prison.  Probably in Rome.  He’s 55-60 years old now.  A lot of his work in planting churches is behind him.  And in prison, he comes somehow in contact with a slave who has likely stolen money and run away.  His name is Onesimus.  And in this letter, Paul writes from prison to this slave’s owner, Philemon, encouraging him to receive Onesimus back into his household no longer as a slave, but as a beloved brother in Christ Jesus (v.16).

Now this is a situation that should NOT be filled with gratitude, love, forgiveness or kindness.  It was not OK for a Roman slave to run away. It was not OK for other people to take them in.  Slaves could be crucified.  People who helped them could be made to pay the owner compensation.  And slave owners who acted in ways other than harshness and severity would be seen as weak, as dishonoured in their own houses and communities. So this letter, this situation that Paul finds himself in.  This is not fine.  

Quentin Tarentino released a film back in 2012 called Django Unchained.  In one scene, a group of slaves in America in the 1800s are on a forced march.  They are in chains.  They are treated terribly.  Their feet, without shoes, are bleeding.  They are thirsty.  Their owners shout insults at them and whip them.  Then a vigilante comes out of the forest and sets them free and wounds their owners. 

The slaves are then faced with the choice of how to treat their owners.  And the scene that plays out is one that is far, very far, so very far, from the kind of response and reaction Paul writes about in this letter when he says to Philemon, the owner – receive him no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother, and he writes about Onesimus, who ran away – I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. v. 12.  

It’s a radical kindness and forgiveness when there should be hate and aggression.

It’s that kind of letter, this letter to Philemon.  And it’s that kind of Gospel.   

I think the three characters in this letter have some helpful things to show us as we try to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our own lives.  

First, there’s Paul.

Paul, is a man, who is completely taken by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   He describes himself not as an apostle, or an amazing church planter, or speaker, or even a successful tent maker, which was his trade.  Paul describes himself first in this letter, as a prisoner of Christ Jesus.  He sees his life, his current situation, as completely caught up in Christ.  Even though he’s in prison.  Even though he’s not sure where his life is going to lead.  Even though he’s not in great health.  Despite and IN all these things, Paul sees his life in Jesus Christ.  Christ is not separate.   A Sunday from 10.30-11.30 kind of thing.  He is in prison in Rome but describes himself instead as a prisoner for Christ.

We are Surrey Hills people for Christ.

We are commuters down the A25 for Christ.

We are makers of ethical decisions at work, for Christ.

We are people for Christ.  Grandparents, parents, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, friends – for Christ.

We are, in poor, good, or perfect health, for Christ.

We’re invited to see no separation.  No compartments.  But Christ in every part of our lives.  

But Paul, also helps us with something else.  Paul shows us what it’s like to be an advocate.

Paul lives out the Gospel of Jesus, like this.  He advocates, he pleas on behalf of, he stands in, he helps a brother.  He takes up his pen, and puts his own self, his own reputation, his own character, his own wallet on the line.  If he owes anything, Paul writes to Philemon, if Onesimus the slave owes anything, charge it to my account.  Paul is an advocate for a man who has no rights, no standing, and is unable to do anything about it.

And as Christians, I think that’s helpful.  Living out the Gospel, we’re invited to be advocates for those who need it.

It’s hard, almost impossible, not to think of one Christian in particular who was an amazing advocate.  He gave his life to a cause.  And I want to read you part of his speech that helped to change the course of many lives and the course of history.

Spoken to the House of Commons, 12 May 1789.

“When I consider the magnitude of the subject which I am to bring before the House — a subject, in which the interests, not of this country, nor of Europe alone, but of the whole world, and of posterity, are involved: …. I must speak of the transit of the slaves in the West Indies. This I confess, in my own opinion, is the most wretched part of the whole subject. So much misery condensed in so little room, is more than the human imagination had ever before conceived…. A trade founded in iniquity, and carried on as this was, must be abolished, let the policy be what it might,—let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I would never rest till I had effected its abolition.”

William Wilberforce, a Christian.  An advocate for others. 

How is God calling us to be advocates today?  

Second, there is Philemon.

Philemon, who receives this letter is helpful to us, I think, because he is a man who practices forgiveness.  And does it when it makes no sense in the least.  Remember, He is the one owed in this situation.  He is the one wronged.  He is the one who has lost.

Here is a man, whose name actually means ‘Love of brother’.  And here is a man who, faced with this decision extends forgiveness and kindness radically, well beyond the custom of the day.  Well beyond expectations.  But does so completely.

I just picture a Christian here in Philemon who is known by love, acceptance and forgiveness. They are a force in his life.  Forgiveness and grace are a power in his household and on his street.

Could it be, that we’re being called to forgive radically, completely, when we know it is not deserved or even expected?  Are we being called, to be a Philemon?  To love our brothers and sisters anew, to show a radical kindness.  

And lastly, there is Onesimus.

He is a slave running for his life.  Imagine his journey from his home – ancient Greece – to somewhere in Rome.  Looking over his shoulder all the time.  No idea what the future might hold.  Knowing that he owes a debt he’ll never repay.  Not in control of his fate.  A sense that his options are limited to none.   And somewhere along his journey he meets a Christian, and he finds himself face to face with something he never could have imagined.  The possibility of grace.  He’s the receiver not of judgement or cruelty, which according to the law, he deserved.  He’s the receiver of forgiveness and grace.

Onesimus is someone we can remember who received radical kindness when it seemed completely impossible.  And that is helpful for us because he reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has a power we can’t imagine or predict.  All the regular stuff is transformed.  

There’s a legend about Onesimus that I like to believe.  The legend is that Paul does send him back to Greece, where his master Philemon greets him, receives him.  Onesimus gets his freedom.  Becomes a Christian leader in Greece.  Eventually becomes bishop of Ephesus, a city of a quarter million. 

I think that’s helpful, because Onesimus, whose name means, useful, reminds us that God has a use for us.  Right here and right now.  In our lives.  In our homes.  In this community.  God, the living God, has a use for us.  

We’re invited, like Paul, to be advocates for those without a voice; we’re invited like Philemon, to offer radical kindness and forgiveness in our daily lives, to be known, to be famous, for love; and we’re invited to live like Onesimus, to trust in the kindness and compassion of God in Jesus Christ.  

And like Paul writes to Philemon so long ago,

I repeat here for us, for today, for every, day in this year ahead.  

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” 

Amen.