Philemon 15-16, sometimes we need to be separated, to keep from having a slave, and ensure we gain a brother. God's gift in our forgiveness.
Philemon 15-16: Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever - no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me, but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.
Philemon is a curious book. It is very short, one of the shortest. And it is really about Onesimus, a runaway slave that Paul encountered during his first imprisonment in Rome. Clearly, Paul had some kind of deep and detailed relationship with Onesimus, and came to care very deeply for him. It is not without irony that Onesimus means "useful". And Paul probably saw that irony most acutely.
Paul writes this letter to a member of the church in Collossae, Philemon. Philemon is a slave owner, the owner Onesimus ran away from. He also is clearly someone that Paul had deeply known in Collossae. It is clearly implied in the letter that Philemon is well known to Paul and that Paul played a key role in Philemon coming to Christ. This means that one of the pillars of our church, the great church planter and builder, had a very deep and abiding relationship with Philemon, and that was before he came to know Onesimus intimately in Rome.
In our day and time, we pretend not to comprehend a Philemon. "We don't have slavery, we fought and defeated that evil years ago," we claim with some pride. We look very cautiously at these situations, and parse them very specifically. We struggle with how anyone could own a slave and still be someone that was loved by an Apostle, one of the chosen of Christ. It confuses us because slavery is wrong and we think we have beaten it. It jangles against our self understanding, because none of us want to be considered something like a slave owner, that is such a terrible and dangerous term in our uber racially charged society. It is a "throwback", we decide, another one of those passages that was great for the time but means nothing to us today. Because we can't admit in ourselves that it is directly pertinent today.
But, God's Word is not written only for Jews, nor only for First Century Christians. And slavery is still very much alive in our spiritual lives. That will get lots of raised eyebrows, but how many people do you make a slave in your spiritual life? How many people are required to worship and believe exactly as you do, or be ejected from your spiritual life, or scorned, or ridiculed? How many people must behave in a very specific way, to earn your love, to be "Christian" in your eyes? How many people do you have in your life that must do something for you or with you, the exact way you wish it to be done, or you don't have time or love for them? How many people serve you randomly each day, coffee, clean rest room, empty trash cans, that earn more of your frustration than your compassion?
Slavery is a charged word. And, the slavery that Onesimus was subject to is wrong. All slavery is. But, as that is far from the only slavery we see in this world, we must decide how to deal with an approach it. Addicts are slaves to their addictions. Type A personalities are slaves to their pursuits. Show parents are slaves to their kids' activities. Church folk are slaves to dogma and denomination. All of us reading this are probably slaves to our technology in some way. Slavery is very much alive and active in the world we inhabit in 2016. And Philemon is a very fitting example of us. There is a good man, a man worth the love and concern of one of the greatest church leaders in history, who has an issue not different from any we have. That is what Paul sees, and speaks to.
In the time period of this letter, a runaway slave was subject to any punishment the owner decided, up to and including death. Philemon was not restricted in how he could handle Onesimus returning. Paul knew this, and crafted a short but powerful letter of reference for Onesimus. Paul loved them both, as brothers in Christ. Paul knew that Philemon was no more important to Christ than Onesimus, any more than Paul was more important to Christ than Philemon. Paul job was to bridge the estrangement, the pain, the fear, and the divide that was created in the relationship, and do it with the light and love of Christ. And Paul also had the job of ensuring that he encouraged Philemon to handle all things with the heart of Christ. Murder is a sin, however justified in law.
So, Paul, in these two verses quoted, posed the key essence of our lives. Perhaps we are all separated for a little while (different denomination, different clothes, different tattoos, different interests) so that we can come together, forever, forming a more complete family of Christ. Perhaps it is exactly so that we come back together, not as slaves or owners, but as brothers and sisters in the Lord. It is an interesting question, after all, we are all of us, every single, individual soul, loved by Christ. Not just liked, we are pale copies of God; not just amused by, we are not comical to God; not just tolerated, we are sinful completely; but LOVED, treasured, cherished, desired, important, a true child of God.
When we accept that role, that we are loved, treasured, a child of God, it becomes harder and harder to possess slaves. It becomes harder to just receive from others, we see and feel the need to connect back, to give more than we receive. Perhaps that is why we are as aggravating, stubborn, opinionated and touchy, as we are. Perhaps, perhaps we are all always working on that Philemon moment. When what was separated from us painfully, shows back up, and we are fully responsible and accountable for what we do then.
I have not spoken of Onesimus, but here is the key fact about him. He humbled himself enough to God's love, not just to come to be Paul's great helper. He was humble and obedient enough to go back to Philemon, who he had wronged. While he was aware of the risk he faced, in love, he came back again. It seems a strange word to use for a SLAVE returning after fleeing, but LOVE is the only thing that can solve the issue. As true as that is for Philemon and Onesimus, it is true for us.
Because, the wonderful undercurrent in this story, in what is here, is that we transition daily, multiple times, from being Philemon, to being Onesimus. We pray and hope for forgiveness and communion when we return after being separated for a little while, of our own doing; but struggle to realize how we are dealing with others that return in our life after their dealings.
Slavery is a terrible thing that we all are subject to. The single antidote is the love of Christ. We become not his slaves, but his loved children. When we do, we see all the other children, through the eyes of love. At least in my experience, I have never loved an ugly thing. Nothing I have ever loved was ugly when I looked at it. Love is the only thing that allows us to overcome slavery. When we struggle, instead of trying to deal with our Onesimus, maybe we try instead to deal with ourselves.
GLYASDI
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