September 5th, 2010 “The Letter to Philemon” Rev. Heather Jepsen
Philemon 1-25
Philemon, now there is a book of the Bible that we don’t read that often. Or should I say a page? Short and sweet, Philemon is just a blip on the screen of our sacred text. It’s something that we might not ever notice; tucked away in the back of our Bibles, Philemon is easy to miss. But today, little Philemon takes center stage, and with good reason, for if we examine this story we will find that even Philemon has something to say in our modern world.
Philemon is actually a great little book to study because in one page we get a whole letter from Paul, start to finish. Modern scholars have come to determine that not every Pauline letter was actually written by Paul. But this letter to Philemon is a Paul original, and it has everything a letter from Paul should have; an opening greeting, prayer of thanksgiving, the appeal, a closing greeting, and a benediction.
What makes this letter so wonderful is that it is a personal letter. As you know, the majority of letters from Paul that are in our Bible were written to groups of people, like the church in Rome or the church in Corinth. Paul was writing letters to whole communities, letters that were meant to be passed around and shared. But this letter was written to an individual, Philemon, and it deals with a personal situation, his relationship with his slave Onesimus.
As with many of Paul’s letters, we get only one side of the conversation and so we are a little sketchy on the details. Philemon appears to be a leader in his Christian community. In the letter we get a sense that he may have been converted by Paul at one point in the past, as Paul mentions that Philemon “owes him even his own self.” Philemon appears to be a man of wealth as he is clearly the head of a household. He owns slaves, he seems to be a financial benefactor of Paul’s, and a church meets in his home. Philemon was probably a pretty important guy.
In the letter, Paul is writing to make an appeal to Philemon. While he has been in prison, Paul has been served by Onesimus, an old slave of Philemon’s that ran away. We need a little historical background at this point. First, about being in prison; in the ancient Roman culture, prison was not a punishment itself but was where you would wait for a trial. If you were convicted of a crime, your punishment would be physical, like a beating or death. While in prison, the prisoner needs to rely on friends or family to take care of them. Apparently, Onesimus had been fulfilling this role for Paul.
And, we a need a little background on slavery. In our modern imaginations, when we hear the world slavery we think of the slavery of African Americans in the history of our own country. But in the ancient Roman culture, slavery was not based on race; instead it was all about economics. People from poor families were born into slavery, or people who were captured in other countries were made to be slaves. Although the background was different, the basics are the same as they once were in America, a slave is a human who is treated like property by another human, and every slave longs for their freedom.
So, at some point, the slave Onesimus ran away from his master Philemon. We don’t know why he ran away; perhaps Philemon was a cruel master, perhaps Onesimus had gotten into trouble, or perhaps he simply didn’t want to be a slave anymore. Regardless of why he left, Onesimus ended up in Rome helping out Paul who was in prison.
In the letter, Paul seems quite fond of Onesimus. Clearly Onesimus has been converted by Paul and is now a fellow Christian. Onesimus has been useful to Paul and as Paul says, he has become “my own heart.” Paul makes clear his desire to keep Onesimus by his side, and yet, Onesimus is a runaway slave so Paul knows that the right thing to do is to send him back to his master.
So, this is the appeal that Paul makes. Paul is asking Philemon to accept Onesimus back into his household. It’s not clear to us whether or not Paul is asking Philemon to release Onesimus from slavery, or if he is simply asking him to take Onesimus back without punishment. In the letter, Paul says that he would like Philemon to take Onesimus back “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother.” This sentence continues to be open to interpretation regarding what exactly Paul meant.
Paul closes the letter by mentioning that he is hoping to stop by Philemon’s’ house when he is released from prison. It’s almost like he is planning to check up on Philemon to see how things went with Onesimus. Paul then ends with greetings from others in prison as well as his traditional benediction.
So, that’s the letter to Philemon and at first, it doesn’t seem like much. In fact, it seems sort of boring and strange. What does this letter have to do with you or me in the modern world? Well, we have to go back and imagine the situation. Presumably, Paul is sending this letter in the hand of the slave Onesimus. Philemon was probably furious that Onesimus had run away and now suddenly his runaway slave is on his doorstep. At this point, Philemon is in a position to punish Onesimus. Onesimus is property who has fled and Philemon has a legal right to torture or even kill him. When he sees Onesimus return, Philemon has the right and the power to put him to death.
But Onesimus hands him a letter, and it’s a letter from Paul. Now Philemon has stop and think. Paul has personally asked him to accept Onesimus back, not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ. As a spiritual leader, Paul could have pulled rank and demand that Philemon release Onesimus from punishment, but instead Paul appeals to him in love. Philemon is trapped. For if he treats Onesimus badly, letting Paul down, people will hear about it and it will reflect negatively on him in the community. In essence, Paul has tied his hands. Philemon has a right to punish Onesimus, but Paul is asking him not to. Paul is asking Philemon to give up his rights, and that is asking a lot of the leader in a community.
On the surface, this letter appears to be about slavery. Some, of course, have argued that Paul asks for Onesimus’ freedom, but that is not exactly clear. As modern Christians, this is the issue we get hung up on. But slavery isn’t at the heart of this letter. At the heart of the letter is Paul’s appeal to Philemon to accept back one who has wronged him, not as one who has wronged him, but as a brother in Christ. Paul is not writing about slavery. Paul is writing about the transforming power of the gospel, and the gospel’s power to bring reconciliation to the Christian community.
So, the issue of how we relate to those who have wronged us is as relevant today as it was in Paul’s time. How do we respond to those who have hurt us in the past? Do we ignore them? Do we talk about them behind their backs? Do we purposely do things to hurt them? Or do we simply carry a grudge on our shoulders all day? It is my experience that when people have wronged us, we are eager to get on our high horse and give them what they deserve. There is nothing like righteous anger and self justification to really make us feel alive. In this letter, Paul is asking Philemon to do something different. Philemon had a right to do whatever he wanted to Onesimus; but Paul is asking him to welcome him back without punishment, as a brother in Christ. It’s a tall order.
In the Christian community, we are called to model this behavior with each other. There can be no high horses here. There can be no righteous anger at those who have hurt us. Instead, we are called to welcome each other back as brothers and sisters in Christ. No matter who did what, no matter who is at fault, and no matter who deserves punishment; in the Christian community, we are called to uphold each other in forgiveness and love. It’s a tall order.
Paul frequently writes about being lifted up or being brought low by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul speaks of himself as being brought low. Once a Pharisee of high standing, Paul is now a prisoner for Jesus Christ and he rejoices at his loss of stature. At the same time, Paul writes about others being lifted up in Christ. In Christ there is new freedom and previously marginalized groups like foreigners, slaves, and women are lifted up by the gospel. In this letter to Philemon, Paul is asking Philemon to willingly give up his rights as a slave owner and to be brought down by the gospel. And Paul is asking that Onesimus would be given freedom in Christ and lifted up. It’s a great image.
And so we too, should think of those who could be humbled by the gospel and those who could be lifted up in freedom. Where in our lives or in our church do we need to be humbled? And where can the gospel release us or grant us freedom and new life? These are the questions that the Scriptures ask of us this day. In what ways do we need to be brought down and lifted up?
As I said before, we don’t really know if Paul was asking for Onesimus’ freedom or not. But we do know that Paul was one who sought equality among the Christian community. Paul asks Philemon to welcome back Onesimus as a brother in Christ, and as an equal. Some of Paul’s most famous and beautiful writing comes from his letter to the churches in Galatia where he says that “In Jesus Christ we are all children of God through faith . . . There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Jesus Christ.” This is what the church should look like, a community of equals united in faith.
And so, in his letter to Philemon, Paul teaches us that we shouldn’t keep tabs, we shouldn’t keep score, and we shouldn’t keep track of who is right and who has been wrong. Instead, Paul appeals to us, not in authority but in love. As a Christian community we are called to welcome each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. As some of us are brought low and others are lifted up, we should come together on a level plain, equal in the gospel. This was Paul’s message to the first Christians, and it is just as challenging and relevant to us today. Thanks be to God. Amen.
