Full Transcript

Welcome to Share the Word. In this short epistle that Paul wrote to Philemon, it talks about what happens when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, even as a slave. How is that possible? Well, listen carefully, and you’ll see. Let’s get started. Paul.

The letter to Philemon. The big ask. I’ve been thinking about an interesting question while preparing this podcast and our last one too, really. That is, would slavery have disappeared from societies in the Western world if not for the rise of Christianity? We know that slavery was a very ingrained part of societies in every ancient country and civilization as far back as we have written history, and even, as I noted last time, in Old Testament Israel, although it was practiced differently there and more humanely there because it was regulated by the law of Moses. And slavery was certainly a huge part of the Greek and then Roman societies in New Testament times and beyond, which historians think of as the most advanced civilizations up to their time.

But as Christianity grew and the Roman Empire collapsed, slavery actually diminished in Europe almost to the point of extinction during the so-called Dark Ages. And, and this seems odd, it didn’t make a comeback until the so-called Age of Enlightenment hundreds of years later. Hmm, why would that have happened? Well, that was the age of exploration of the New World too, the Americas, and when Western Europeans wanted to benefit from all the resources in the New World. They needed manpower, and lots of it. That is what led to the enslavement of Native Americans first, and when their numbers became inadequate, the African slave trade became the source of the cheapest labor, and human beings began to be kidnapped and sold as slaves in very large numbers.

So, you might have thought that what historians like to label the Age of Enlightenment was what finally ended slavery, but actually that coincided with it reaching a new peak, with a number of human beings enslaved rivaling that of ancient Rome. No, slavery was not ended by applying the thinking of the Enlightenment period by people who claimed to be motivated only by reason. In fact, many of the leading figures of that period of time, like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, and so on, supported slavery, opposed abolition. This made me realize worldviews based on human reasoning alone, and later partnered with evolutionary theory, did not lead to abolition. They actually lent themselves to theories about the superiority of one race over another. Darwinian evolution, a scientific offshoot of the Enlightenment, taught as one of its core principles survival of the fittest.

That is, that it’s only natural for the stronger to do what they can to survive and thrive. If that’s what drives the evolution of the species, that means it’s only natural and reasonable for the stronger to exploit the weaker and more vulnerable in order to get ahead and stay ahead. Slavery makes perfect sense in that context. After thinking about this, it seems to me that any worldview that denies human beings are created in God’s image will not have adequate reasons or incentives to do something as revolutionary as free the slaves, something that’s been going on from time immemorial. What do I mean by that? Well, to free slaves, men had to go against self-interest.

When Britain finally outlawed slavery in the early 19th century, they paid a huge sum to compensate slaveholders. Some reports say as much as half of their nation’s reserves. It doesn’t come naturally to put the rights and needs of others above our own interests. That’s a Christian concept. And it was largely Christians who became convinced that enslaving people and exploiting people to enrich yourself was too contrary to what the Bible teaches about all human beings being created in God’s image and of equal dignity and value. That’s why as many as two-thirds of abolition leaders in the States were Christian pastors.

That according to Alvin Schmidt, the author of How Christianity Changed the World. I just read today, in fact, about an archivist who recently found a letter, kind of a petition actually, signed by 16 Baptist pastors asking other Baptist leaders to not approve anyone for mission work representing their churches if they were slaveholders. It was dated 1847, 15 years before the start of the Civil War. Truth is, most of the leading figures who pushed for the abolition of slavery in England and America were motivated by things we are going to see in Paul’s letter to Philemon, preserved in the Bible’s New Testament. Philemon, as we call it, was a brief personal letter the Apostle Paul wrote from his first Roman imprisonment. It was written to a Christian man he knew who lived in Colossi.

In fact, the man who hosted the Colossian church fellowship at his home. So it’s safe to say Philemon was somewhat well-to-do. Must have had a big house, big enough to hold the whole church, which tracks with the fact that he was also a slave owner. This letter was carried to Colossi at the same time as the letter to the whole church there, which we were just looking through over the last several episodes. It was the actions of one of Philemon’s slaves that prompted this personal letter. We don’t know for sure how it came about, or for how long Paul had known Philemon, but he addresses him in the opening lines as our dear friend and fellow worker, and also sends greetings to his wife, Apphia, and their son, Archippus.

It’s likely that Paul had come to know Philemon during the three years he spent in Ephesus, almost a decade prior now. Ephesus was the capital of the province of Roman Asia, of which Colossae is a part, although they are about a hundred miles away from each other. As we’ve already noted, Paul had never been to Colossae personally. One of his associates named Epaphras was responsible for planting that church there, it seems, but he writes near the end of his letter to Philemon, One more thing. Prepare a guest room for me because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. Prepare a guest room for me?

In other words, if I’m released from my imprisonment here, I expect to come to Colossae. That’s not just Paul inviting himself over either. It’s actually a final verbal prod for Philemon to heed a special request, the big ask, which had prompted his writing. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves a little bit. Let’s back up and understand the context of this letter. Philemon had a slave named Onesimus who was now with Paul in Rome.

How exactly that happened, we’re not told. But he was not supposed to be there. Perhaps he had been so trusted that he had been sent to Rome by Philemon on business and then decided he wasn’t going back. Or it could have been he had run away from Colossae and figured the best place he could hide would be among the masses in Rome. But in any event, at this point, he was in Rome and as a runaway. While there, somehow he connected with the Apostle Paul, probably on purpose since Paul was not exactly out and about the city.

My guess is Onesimus knew the famous Christian leader was imprisoned in Rome, found out where and sought him out. I’d love to have heard their first conversation where Onesimus explains who he is, Paul learns he’s a runaway slave and realizes his master is Philemon, a man he knew and considered a ministry partner in Colossae. Oh boy, this could get interesting. It’s apparent that Onesimus does not feel right about his situation. That’s what brought him. Perhaps he is fearful that he’s going to be caught sooner or later and came to Paul to see if he could do anything to make things right.

As we’ve discussed, in the first century world, slaves were property. The punishment for trying to escape slavery if you’re caught would be severe. If all this was not complicated enough, as a result of his times meeting with Paul in Rome, Onesimus himself had become a Christian. That’s what Paul means in verse 10 when he calls Onesimus my son begotten in my imprisonment. Paul had led Onesimus to faith in Christ there. I believe things suggest that by the time this was written, Onesimus had been among the Christians in Rome close to Paul for a while now.

In other words, Paul didn’t fire this letter off the next day after learning who Onesimus was. Why would I say that? Because in verse 11 and following, Paul writes, formerly Onesimus was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. I am sending him, who is my very heart, spoiler alert, back to you. Although I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. Sending him back?

Does that disappoint you? By the way, there’s an interesting play on words there by Paul. The name Onesimus actually means useful. Don’t you imagine that whenever Onesimus’ name came up at the Philemon household back in Colossae, he was now that useless slave Onesimus. But my point is, I think Paul personally struggled some and for some time in deciding how to handle this situation. Now a Christian, Onesimus had become close to him and very useful, assisting with his ministry work, one of several assistants keeping the Christian movement moving forward in the West while Paul was confined in prison.

As I’ve already revealed, Paul did in time decide to send Onesimus back to Philemon and sent him back along with his representative Tychicus, who carried the letter we call Colossians to the entire church family. I think Paul wrestled over that decision, as I said, but how could he not send him back? Hadn’t he just written to the Colossian church and also to the Ephesians that slaves should honor and obey their earthly masters? So he sent him back, but not without this powerful letter from an apostle of Christ in his hand. The letter is clearly very personal, and some may wonder why it ever became a part of the New Testament. The answer is that it’s the same for every other piece of Scripture.

The epistle to Philemon is, to use Paul’s own terms, profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. It illustrates, through this very personal story, the intersection of slavery with Christianity, and humanizes what Paul has written in his letters to both slaves and masters. But it also speaks to more truths as well. In the first place, listen to what Paul wrote in Philemon in verses 8 to 11. Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. Just as Paul, an old man and now a prisoner of Jesus Christ, I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was here in chains.

Jesus had given to his apostles, including Paul, real spiritual authority to lay the foundation of the Christian church. I don’t believe anyone since that time has been given that kind of authority to be able to order people around. Beware of religious leaders who claim they have it. And Paul says here, as an apostle, I could order you to release Philemon, but instead I am, out of love, appealing to you on his behalf. Paul decided to use personal and moral suasion rather than heavy-handed authority. He’s not saying, This is what you must do, Philemon.

He’s saying, This is what you ought to do, and what I would like you to do. We’ve already discussed the fact that Christianity, especially at this early stage, could not afford to be branded as a movement about freeing slaves, which would have been tantamount to trying to overthrow the social and economic order of the Roman Empire. Paul was very sensitive to that. As much as he personally wanted Onesimus freed, he was not going to make that kind of demand. I could be off in my historical analysis, but hear me out for a moment. I was thinking, in England, Wilberforce and others who were able over time to use moral suasion effectively, gained a consensus and abolished slavery through legal means.

In America, Christians in and out of government did not accomplish that. And then things got heavy-handed, and a civil war erupted where 750,000 Americans were killed and hundreds of thousands more maimed, people all over the place displaced from their homes, and so on. The outcome of the Civil War was horrific. I’ve wondered if, given a little more time, whether the Christian leaders in and out of government in the U.S. may not have been able to legally bring about an end to slavery by continually shining that light on the fact it was inconsistent with Christian teaching and values, continuing to change hearts and minds. I mean, how much longer, with the introduction of the machine age, was it even going to be economically feasible to have thousands of slaves on plantations doing manual labor? Machines were capable of doing much, much more cheaply.

I don’t know. Just a thought. But Paul wrote, I do not want to do anything without your consent. So any favor you do to me doesn’t seem forced, but would be voluntary. Using personal and moral suasion is the better route than getting heavy-handed if at all possible. Paul believed that to be the case even in this very touchy situation, and he very likely succeeded in achieving the goal he was looking for without risking a lot of very negative repercussions.

Another idea that jumps out at me from this letter comes at verses 15 and 16, where he writes, Perhaps the reason Onesimus 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. Perhaps the reason Onesimus was separated you for a little while sounds a lot better than, Perhaps the reason Onesimus ran away. But Paul is suggesting to Philemon that if he could step back from the situation and view it through a spiritual lens rather than through a personal, emotional lens, isn’t it likely that it was God’s providence that led your rebellious slave to me? Because as a result, now he’s a believer and a changed man and someone who can live up to that name Onesimus.

How that part strikes me is that when something negative and upsetting happens, as Christians, shouldn’t we always step back and allow that maybe it’s God’s providence at work in a way that we would have never foreseen? That God is working out something in His plan that may need to touch on us negatively for a while in order to get something greater accomplished. That’s what Paul was asking Philemon to consider. But without a doubt, the biggest idea in this letter is that Paul is challenging Philemon to look at this man Onesimus, who he had only known as a slave, in a completely new way, as something much more, as his brother in Christ now, as his spiritual equal now, as their partner in the work of the ministry now. That’s his purpose in verse 16. He’s appealing to Philemon to welcome this man back.

Listen. No longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me, and he’s even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. Early in the letter, Paul had greeted Philemon, who hosted the Colossian church, as his partner in ministry. And now he’s saying, essentially, the firm has just taken on another partner, meet Onesimus.

Give him the same kind of welcome as you’d have given me if I had shown up on your doorstep today. Not, please don’t beat the living daylights out of Onesimus. No, welcome him back as a dear brother, as a fellow man, which means as your equal, and as a ministry partner with both of us. Wow, that’s a very big ask, isn’t it? But how could Philemon say no? At verse 21, Paul adds, I write to you confident of your obedience, knowing you will do even more than I am asking.

Can you imagine when Tychicus showed up in Colossi with Onesimus in tow, and they get to Philemon’s house or place of business or wherever it was they met up. We don’t know how long it’s been exactly since Philemon last saw his slave, but can you even imagine his surprise? What would he have been thinking? Was he angry at first? I’m sure he was shocked. He had to be bewildered at this turn of events.

I can hear Tychicus say, Before you do anything, Philemon, I have a letter here for you from Paul. We’ve just come from him in Rome, and the letter he hands that first-century slave master is the original of this letter in our New Testaments. Philemon at first incredulous reads through it. It’s short, would have only taken him a couple minutes. But by the time he gets to the line, I am confident that you’re going to do the right thing here, I feel sure the Holy Spirit had gripped that man’s heart. After all, this was the inspired Word of God, as well as heartfelt request from someone he greatly respected.

There are several lines in this letter that would have gotten to me had I been in Philemon’s sandals, but none more than when Paul offered, If Onesimus has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay you back. I am sure Philemon had felt that Onesimus owed him a lot. From his perspective, he had betrayed his trust. He had been a bad example to other slaves.

He had abandoned his responsibilities, probably for a long time. He may have well stolen from him on his way out the door. From his perspective, he had a lot against this man and had no doubt stewed over it many times. But now Paul was offering, in writing, Whatever he owes you, I will make it right. I will pay for it myself. Since Paul had mentioned that he’d prefer to have Onesimus back with him because he saw him now as his spiritual son and valued him as a helper in his ministry, some believe, reasonably, Paul was offering to pay Philemon for Onesimus’ freedom, to redeem him out of slavery.

He loved him that much. If so, that is just what Jesus has done for us, isn’t it? He paid all that was necessary to set us free from sin and death because of his great love for us. So, Paul was demonstrating the gospel, literally. And how could Philemon not have been moved by that? We don’t know for sure the outcome of this situation.

The New Testament leaves it somewhat up in the air. Maybe it does so because God wants us to ask ourselves, everyone who ever reads this part of Scripture, What would I do if I was in Philemon’s shoes? He certainly had the legal authority to return Onesimus to slavery and to punish him harshly or even worse. But hearing God’s word through Paul’s pen, what should he do? That’s not even a hard question, is it? The answer is obvious.

And maybe that’s the point. Tell me Christians should not be in the slave business without telling me Christians should not be in the slave business. And that’s the role Philemon has been able to play in the canon of Scripture all throughout history. This is Paul. Thanks for listening to Share the Word. Slavery has certainly changed throughout history.

And when we look at slavery through the lens of Christ rather than as chattel, we see that our lives should be dedicated to serving and following Christ’s will. We should recognize that as believers, we are not our own but are bought at a price. Look at your workplace. If we are truly leading like Jesus, then even in our workplace, we work for God. Although this epistle deals with forgiveness and reconciliation, Paul incites a thought for me, and here it is. If you were the CEO of a very large company and Onesimus, who worked in the mailroom, married your daughter, how would your point of view towards him change?

When we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, we are changed. When we become brothers, our attitudes must change. Who do you work for, and how is your attitude to those around you? Simplified, perhaps, but the gospel is so clear in this story and podcast. Thanks, Paul.