I guess this comes under the category of "Flattery will get
you everywhere." Or "You get more flies with honey than with
vinegar."
As you Bible scholars know, this is the shortest letter from
Paul in the entire New Testament - not much more than a post
card, really. It is unquestionably bold in this attempt to get
involved in a situation that could easily have provoked a
response that this is none of his business - this is between
master and slave, nothing more. Butt out! But on this one, Paul
WAS in the middle. He almost had no choice to say something.
A bit of background. Philemon is a wealthy Christian of the
city of either the city of Colossae or Laodicia, depending on
which commentator you read. The Apphia mentioned is probably
Philemon's wife. Archippus is perhaps the leader of the "house
church" that met in Philemon's home. Onesimus is Philemon's
property - a slave (and probably a thief) who has run away to
lose himself in the epicenter of the empire, Rome. Paul has
become friends of both having been instrumental in their
conversions to Christ. And that is why he is caught in the
middle.
There are two things to note at the outset. One is that
Paul does not condemn the institution of slavery. We might wish
he had because human slavery is a horror that has caused untold
human misery through the centuries, not to mention the bloodiest
war in our own nation's history. The other is that Philemon had
every right to do with Onesimus as he chose. A master had
absolute power over his slaves. Pliny tells how Vedius Pollio
treated a slave who was carrying a tray of crystal goblets into
the courtyard. He dropped one, it broke. Instantly Pollio
ordered him thrown into the fishpond in the middle of the court,
where the savage lampreys tore him to pieces. Juvenal draws the
picture of the mistress who will beat her maidservant at her
caprice and the master who "delights in the sound of a cruel
flogging, deeming it sweeter than any siren's song," who is never
happy "until he has summoned a torturer and he can brand someone
with a hot iron for stealing a couple of towels."(1)
Paul is on the horns of a dilemma. He is not only harboring
a runaway slave; he is a party to a wrong done against one of his
own converts, a leader of the church. We have no idea, of
course, what sort of a master Philemon had been, what kind of
life Onesimus had had as a slave. In this case, the ancient
world would presume the guilt of the slave; we presume the guilt
of the master. Most of our great moral dilemmas are like that.(2)
The answer, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
So Paul sends his note. I love the way he begins:
To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to
Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and
to the church that meets in your home: Grace to you
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. I always thank my God as I remember you in my
prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord
Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that
you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you
will have a full understanding of every good thing we
have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and
encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the
hearts of the saints.
Yep. Flattery will get you everywhere. The hook has been
baited. Now to the heart of the matter. Paul is asking a favor,
not something he does very often. Somehow, the runaway Onesimus
has come to the apostle who is under house arrest in Rome (we surmise)
awaiting execution, and the encounter has proven to be a life-changing experience for both of them. Onesimus has become a
Christian; Paul has found a valued and beloved companion and
helper in the young fugitive. He even makes a pun out of
Onesimus' name. "Onesimus" in Greek literally means
"profitable." Once Onesimus was a useless fellow, but he is
wonderfully useful now. So Paul takes this rather remarkable
step of asking Philemon to graciously accept Onesimus back to his
household. Not only does Paul expect Philemon not to kill the
lad or brand him on the forehead as a captured runaway, he
expects Philemon to welcome him back as family, as a brother in
the Lord. Paul says, "welcome him as you would welcome me."
Bold request. Not just a sour shrug of the shoulders and an
agreement not to press charges. Full reconciliation. Wow!
Of course, reconciliation is a two-way street, and we,
unfortunately, have only one side of the story. We have Paul's
note to Philemon, but we do not have Paul's conversation with
Onesimus, convincing him to return to Colossae. That must have
been a humdinger. Can you imagine being Onesimus and being
encouraged to go back to a master who had the legal right to kill
you without batting an eye if he chose? In going back, Onesimus
was literally taking his life in his hands. Reconciliation does
take real courage sometimes. It would take courage on Philemon's
part too because the expectation of the empire would be for a
master to deal harshly with a runaway slave as an example to keep
others in line. Courage.
No different today. Issues of reconciliation are at the
heart of so many of our problems, whether on the grand scale,
between blacks and whites, Jews and Arabs, Christians and
Muslims, third world and first world, or on the smaller scale,
between estranged husbands and wives, children and parents,
colleagues and friends, even in the church, not so much over
issues of ministry and mission, but over the color of the carpet
or how to decorate the nursery. Paul's little note to Philemon
lets us know how important it is.
Mahatma Gandhi, in his autobiography wrote that during his
student days in London he read the Gospels seriously and
considered converting to Christianity. He believed that in the
teachings of Jesus he could find the solution to the caste system
that was dividing the people of India. So one Sunday he decided
to attend services at a nearby church and talk to a minister
about becoming a Christian. When he entered the sanctuary,
however, the usher refused to give him a seat and suggested that
he go worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and
never returned. "If Christians have caste differences also," he
said, "I might as well remain a Hindu."(3) How sad.
No, we do not have caste differences. As Paul himself noted
Christians are one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free.(4) In fact, he would go so far as to say that, "In Christ
there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor
female."(5) All barriers are broken down. A grand equality.
Almost a Christian precursor to King Arthur's mythical Round
Table where everyone had a place and it was one for all and all
for one.
Did Paul's request of Philemon work? Move forward about
fifty years. Ignatius, one of the early Christian martyrs, is
being taken to execution from Antioch to Rome. As he goes, he
writes letters to the Churches of Asia Minor which still survive.
He stops at Smyrna, writes to the Church at Ephesus, and has some
lovely things to say about their wonderful bishop. The bishop's
name? Onesimus.(6) Hmm.
Now we gather again. Family. Philemon, Onesimus, Paul,
you, me. For each of us, there IS a place at the table, no matter what.
Welcome.
Amen!
1. William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible, CD-ROM edition (Liguori, MO: Liguori
Faithware, 1996) used by permission of Westminster/John Knox Press
2. N. T. Wright, "Philemon Then and Now," 9/9/01,
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/voice/sermon/archives/010912_sermon.htm
3. Daphne Deng, "Accepting One Another,"
http://www.ascension.org.sg/Articles/accepting_one_another.htm
4. I Corinthians 12:13
5. Galatians 3:28
6. William Barclay, ibid.
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