There is a small book in the New Testament that tells an interesting story. It is significant for us because the implications reach to our day and time. The book is addressed to a man named Philemon who was a citizen of the city Colosse, and he was an owner of slaves. He had a slave named Onesimus. As it so happens, that slave was a thief and ran away from his master. Let us pause for a minute to recognize that the Bible does not promote slavery. In fact, many Christians were slaves and responsible for the spread of the Gospel.
At one point Paul called himself a prisoner of Jesus Christ and was actually a prisoner of Rome when he interceded for the repentant Onesimus. The standard consequence for slaves stealing from their master was to be branded with the letters “C.F” which means cave furans in Latin. It is best translated today to “beware the thief.” Besides being branded, the slave could be sent to hard labor or put to death. In the city of Athens there were only twenty-one thousand citizens and four hundred thousand slaves. Our purpose today is making a comparison of Philemon to the relationship the repentant sinner has with God.
The man writing this letter to Philemon was his friend and perhaps Paul’s convert to Christianity. Paul was a master of tactfulness and courtesy as can be seen in the writings of this letter. He was also a student of human nature. This book teaches us what it is to apply the teachings of Christianity. It is also a textbook of social service.
The guilt of the slave was unquestionable. After he became a Christian, he was repentant of his thievery followed by the issue of restitution to the master. Paul asked Philemon to trust him as a brother and as a Christian. Paul asked the master to receive the slave as if he would receive himself as a friend. This reminds us of Christ’s intersection to the Heavenly Father to see Jesus and not us as sinners. The wrath to the slave that would normally receive was to be replaced by love. On the cross Jesus bore the tide of God’s wrath and then replaced by love. It is interesting that the slave did not challenge Paul as to his guilt. The most important thing we can do in life is not to fool ourselves about our own guilt.
Philemon was the one who was wronged. He could have displayed several possible attitudes. He could have held a grudge and desired revenge. He could have ordered immediate punishment. He could have held back from his relationship with Paul. He could have insisted that Paul pay immediately for the wrong the slave did. Instead of all these things, Philemon received the slave just as Paul requested. In the same way, God has been wronged by everyone of us through our sins. We have stolen from God time, service, money, privileges, food, shelter, advantages, plus whatever else we enjoy in this life. In effect we have all become rebels and runaways from God. The Bible says we are all like sheep gone astray. We misuse the liberties and blessings that God has given us. We show little appreciation for those blessings.
All the time, Paul was imprisoned in Rome he was an old man. Even in prison he interceded for the man who should have been imprisoned as a runaway thieving slave. The work, the anxiety and stress that Paul had during his ministry sapped his youth. We could easily say that he burned himself out for God. We could also say there’s no better way to go. It takes more than just Sunday morning attendance for Christians to say he was burned out for God. Paul’s intercession is a type of Christ. He asked to be a partner with Philemon in the same way that Christ as the Son of God is a partner with his Heavenly Father. He said to Philemon if you want to be reimbursed for what Onesimus stole from you, put that on my account. In the same way that this crime needed personal attention, so must we make a personal attention to Christ who is the only one that could save and heal us and set us free from the way the world lives. Paul reminded Philemon that his slave departed only for a season, but it was worth while waiting to have him return forever like our own eternal friendships when Christ returns.
When Onesimus must return to Philemon, he needed the document (Paul’s letter) from a mutual friend to Philemon. Christ is our mutual intercessor as sinners with God. Like this letter of love, forgiveness was assured. The slave’s future was to be reinstated without punishment and to be treated as a Christian brother. We learn from this event the believers must have a new attitude toward each other. The name Onesimus can be translated as “profitable” and that’s what we become with Christ to our Heavenly Father.
Christian Writer 