One of the issues that many people face when it comes to reading scripture is that, for the most part, it can be rather intimidating to read one, even one, of its books or letters from the beginning to the end. Depending on the translation that you read, the language can be archaic, the context is completely foreign, literally, and the overall meaning can be tough to get your head around.
Because of these facts, and many others like them, people often end up giving up reading the Bible before they even give it a real try. This morning is not one of those times. This morning, all of us are going to read, in totality, one of the letters of Paul, Philemon. Admittedly, it’s a very short letter but now you can head home and impress your friends and neighbors by saying that you have read one whole book of the bible. If you need help finding it, it’s on page 215 of the New Testament (right after Titus) and then concludes on the following page.
Philemon is different than almost all of Paul’s letters because it deals exclusively with one topic. This topic revolves around a person who is actually accompanying the deliver of the letter itself: Onesimus. Onesimus is a slave who has run away from his owner, Philemon, and somehow got himself connected with Paul. During his time with Paul, Onesimus becomes a Christian. But Paul knows that what the law says, and more importantly, what is right, and that is that Onesimus must return to Philemon. Paul is not advocating that Onesimus return into slavery, but he does recognize that this may end up being the option the Philemon chooses. It is because of this fact that Paul implores, in Christian love, that this former slave be welcomed as a brother in Christ: that this person, who was once bound and ‘useless’, has become freed and ‘useful’ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Once again, the
letter to Philemon is found on page 215 of the New Testament and it reads this
way. Read Philemon
1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, 2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God 5 because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. 7 I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.
8 For this reason,
though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, 9 yet
I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an
old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. 10 I am
appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my
imprisonment. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is
indeed useful both to you and to me. 12 I am sending him, that is,
my own heart, back to you. 13 I wanted to keep him with me, so that
he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the
gospel; 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in
order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. 15 Perhaps
this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might
have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a
slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the
flesh and in the Lord.
17 So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
22 One thing more—prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you.
23 Epaphras, my
fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so
do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
“A
Use-Filled Life”
Well, first off, congratulations, because you are now one book closer to completing the reading of the whole Bible. I hope that you feel some level of achievement, because even though it may be a small step, it is still a step toward discovering just how useful this collection of books, that we call the Word of God, can be.
However, as we are able to pick up from Paul’s letter to Philemon, the sense of achievement that you were able to feel was something that was quite foreign to the slave of Philemon named Onesimus. We do not know what his responsibilities were or how he may have served Philemon, but whatever he did and however it was done was extremely strained. The reason that we know this is twofold.
First, the fact that the letter is being sent means that Onesimus just flat out took off without telling his master where he was going. He ran away. As strange as it may sound, especially considering that he was a slave, running away from your master was not something that you did, especially if you wanted to live. So, the fact that Onesimus was on the run is indication of just how bad he felt things were in his master’s house. The reason that scholars believe the responsibility for this negativity lies at the feet of Onesimus is also the second way that we know that he did not experience the positive side of life all that much.
The other reason we know that achievement was almost never seen by Onesimus is because Paul’s tells us so in the passage. He says to Philemon, “Formerly he was useless to you”. Again, we do not know the context of what this statement means but its blunt fashion leaves very little room for theoretical maneuvering; Onesimus was considered useless, so much so that even Paul, who is writing from jail, knows it to be true. That is how bad it is.
And yet, in his time spent with Paul, Onesimus has experienced an amazing turnaround. This is so much so that Paul says to Philemon, “I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment.”
Translation: Onesimus has become a Christian because of the work of the Holy Spirit through Paul. This transformation is so complete that Paul says, in two places, “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me.” And then, “I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel”. Paul wants Onesimus to work for him. Very simply, because of the work of God in Onesimus’ life, he has been transformed from someone who was viewed as useless to someone who is understood as working hard, achieving much, and showing to all just how use-filled his life now is.
One of the families that I have been visiting regularly over the last few months is Bruce and Joanne Hoffman. As most of you know, back in the late winter, Bruce was diagnosed with have an aggressive and malignant brain tumor. He went through several forms of treatment trying to fight back this illness that literally came from out of the blue. None of them produced the desired result. Several weeks ago he was given the choice of facing even more invasive forms of treatment (which only had a small likelihood of succeeding), or ending treatment. He chose the latter.
The last month has been hard for Bruce because, as he said to me from his bed, ‘I thought that I could do so much more. I planned on living until I was 90 and doing everything that I could to serve God, but that is clearly not God’s plan for my life.’ He looked so sad, and so frustrated, because as much he knows that he, and Joanne, and his whole family will be cared for by the loving embrace of God (and that was something else that he spoke of in an extremely impassioned way), he wants to do more, he wants to serve, he wants to live. In his face and in his words you could feel the look of someone who viewed himself as becoming, if not already become, useless: confined to his home, needing help to do almost everything.
And yet, and while I am speaking for myself, I know that I speak for many of you as well, Bruce Hoffman is anything but useless. Through the ways that the Spirit of God has worked, is working, and will continue to work, Bruce has become an amazing example of living a life of faith, even as the days of this stage of life are drawing ever closer to an end. I asked him a few days ago, ‘are you scared?’ And he looked at me with those strong eyes and said, ‘not in the least: I know to whom I belong.’ Bruce is dying and yet he is so alive in Christ!
I
cannot fully express how inspirational his presence and his faith have been to
me. His faith inspires me to keep on
working through all of the stuff that causes me to feel burdened. Even in these days that are now before him,
Bruce’s life is anything but useless.
The way that God is able to work through him, even in these difficult
days, causes his life to be a use-filled life, and even though he may not
recognize that because it is not in the ways that he wants to serve, it is no
less true.
I
asked Joanne if it would be okay if I spoke about Bruce this morning (to which
she obviously said yes). The reason that
I mention this is because of what she wrote back. Joanne said to me about Bruce, “I know he will be blessed to know that his life is still
useful. I don't think he shared with you, but after your installation, he
got quite teary as he told me how hard it was to be there and realize that he
could no longer do what he was called to do.
I have told him numerous times that as he has always tried to
teach people, and show people, how to live, now he is showing them how to
die.” Bruce Hoffman, as has been the
case throughout his life, and now in these days that are before him, is so
use-filled: use-filled because he is alive in Christ.
The message that we hear from the scripture this morning is that for an extended period of time Onesimus was considered, essentially, dead wood, just floating along, of no real use to anyone.
However, because of his contact with God through Paul, we are able to have the letter that we read today that declares him to be more then just useful, but use-filled. How do we know this to be true: yes, because Paul stated so in the letter, but amazingly enough, that is not the only evidence. Onesimus actually is mentioned in the letter to the Colossians, the fourth chapter, as, “the faithful and beloved brother”, who is, once again, working for Paul in service to the Lord.
The other piece of evidence is more a Christian myth. It is said that Onesimus, this slave of Philemon who was once considered useless, later became the bishop of Ephesus. Whether or not this last point is fact or fiction really doesn’t matter, because it is obvious that Onesimus became an individual who was use-filled. His transformation, and as we talked about in regards to Bruce and the strength of faith that he is able to show, declares to us that no matter who we are, no matter where we are in our journey of life, and no matter how we may view ourselves or the world views us, with God working through us we can all have use-filled lives.
No one is useless for when God works in and through them, they become use-filled.
God, as we have heard in the example of Onesimus, when we turn over who we are to You, we can be transformed from individuals who appear to be useless into people who are use-filled. God, we pray that we might be able to show this transformation in our own lives and, with your Holy Spirit leading us, guide others so that they might discover use-filled their lives can actually be. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.