A Letter from Jail - Philemon
September 9, 2007
Ralph DiBiasio-Snyder

We had a wonderful service here yesterday, celebrating the life of Jim Unger. These flowers, and those in the narthex were part of that time of remembrance and worship. It was a good time as the community gathered, with stirring music, and the celebration of a long life, well-lived. Jim will certainly be missed here, and in the community.

A former student of Jim's who later became a teaching colleague of his gave a great tribute to his teacher and friend. And he made an astounding statement. He said that in the fifty years that he knew Jim, not once did he hear Jim say an unkind word about another person. Not once, he said. Wow. Raise your hand if anyone could say that at your memorial service! Not me!

Jim would be the first, I'm sure, to protest that he was not perfect by any means. And we all do fall short - sometimes far short - of the ideals we profess. You know, taking on religion - taking the name ?Christian' or ?Muslim' or ?Jew,' on oneself - has at least one serious drawback. For being a Jew, or a Muslim, or in our case a Christian implies certain obligations and expectations; certain standards of conduct that we say (just by being part of that religion) we will live out. Like being truthful and kind and merciful and forgiving and caring and giving. You can't say you're going to be a Christian or any other seriously religious person and say you'll live any old way you want. No, when you adopt a faith, and, say, join a church, you're signing up for some high ideals, and challenging standards of behavior, that people just might hold you to!

There always comes a time, we know, when we don't live out the ideals we have taken upon ourselves. Hypocrite is what they call you if say you believe in justice but then cheat the poor; or if you say you believe God cares for all people, but you care only for those you like; or if you say God's will is that we treat others, even enemies, with respect and dignity, but you don't. Aligning what we say we believe and what we end up doing in real life - that's the challenge of a growing faith. It's always been that way, from the earliest days of the Christian church to this very moment.

We have in the New Testament a very short piece of writing called the Letter to Philemon. It's very old, of course; nearly 2,000 years old (it's amazing it survived); and very brief too - just 25 verses, about a page long. And it's a personal letter - from one man, Paul, to a friend named Philemon. There's nothing else like that in the Bible.

This Letter to Philemon affords a wonderful glimpse into the life of the earliest followers of Jesus. It shows, first, the great love that was between Paul and his co-workers. And it shows the great struggles that went on in that little community of new faith as they tried to figure out and then live out just what they believed about God, and about being a church.

You see, those first Christians were working out a radical faith. Theirs was not some wimpy "Be a good citizen and be nice to your friends and make a pledge to the church" kind of plain vanilla faith. No, they had been gripped by a faith that announced that all people were beloved of God, bearers of grace, children of God. All people: not just Jews, but the Gentiles too. Not just men, but women too. Not just those who kept all the rules, but those hadn't even heard of some of the rules were equal before God in Christ. All people are God's people, and therefore all people are welcome. The church proclaimed a "new creation" as the anthem said. The call of Christ was to see the world anew, to have a new vision of what society can be, to live in the world in a new way, relating to one another with respect, in love.

And in Paul's Letter to Philemon we see the struggle to live out that Gospel ideal very personally, and tangibly.

Here's the story. Paul is in prison, perhaps in Rome, for preaching this new religion about Jesus, and about the new creation. Somehow while there in Rome he has met a man named Onesimus. And this Onesiumus has come to faith - he has joined the Christian movement. In fact, he has proven himself to be a great help to Paul there, and Paul values him as a beloved friend and co-worker.

Somewhere along the way Paul learns that Onesimus is a runaway slave. That wouldn't surprise Paul. He was preaching that "in Christ there is neither Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or free." [Galatians 3:28] Those categories that separated people no longer meant anything in Christ, and so there were lots of slaves in the churches, some of them no doubt fleeing from their owners. Ah, but Onesimus is a special case.

Onesimus, you see, is from a city called Colossae. And Paul had been to Colossae; he knew people in Colossae; he had founded the church there, bringing many to faith. Including, as luck would have it, a man who is now the leader of that church in Colossae, a man named Philemon, who just happened to own slaves. Or at least he used to own at least one slave, a man named Onesimus, who had run away, perhaps taking some of Philemon's money with him! You see the dilemma for Paul.

Now back to the story! Paul has a problem. He has two beloved friends, both of whom have come to faith through him. Philemon a free man, leader of the church - and a slave owner. And Onesimus the slave, new in the faith, but a great helper and dear to Paul. What is he to do? Let's listen in on his letter to Philemon.

He begins with greetings, ending with the familiar,

I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints; . . . I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

Philemon is a caring person, and faithful leader, a courageous leader of a growing church. And remember that he and all those first believers were just beginning to understand what this faith in Christ is all about. Paul has been telling the churches that all people, no matter their race, or class, or gender are one, are equally loved and gifted. Rich and poor are welcome; Jews and Gentiles; men and women both have gifts of leadership. This is all new!

And Paul has taught Philemon that slaves too - not just free men - slaves too are welcome at the Table of the Lord, equal partners in the church. As one who had slaves in his household, who would have related to those slaves in the prevailing manner - not as full persons, but as possessions to be used - Philemon must have struggled with this new, radical teaching. And now he is being challenged to live out that teaching not just in theory, but in life, his life.

Paul goes on to say that he doesn't want to dictate what Philemon must do; he doesn't want to issue an edict.

But he does want to challenge Philemon to live out his faith:

Paul is sending Onesimus back to Philemon, armed only with this letter, with this appeal to Philemon's conscience. But Paul wants him to know what sort of person Onesimus has become:

And he offers another argument for Philemon's compassion toward his slave:

Paul doesn't directly say to Philemon that he should free his slave, even though that may well have been his hope. "No longer as a slave, but more than a slave - a beloved brother." Perhaps Paul believed that if you start to see your slave as "a beloved brother" - fully human, beloved of God, equal in God's eyes, even part of one's family - "a brother" - you wouldn't be a slave owner for long. But the letter adds another direct appeal:

               So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would    welcome me.

"Welcome Onesimus as you would welcome me."

The letter ends with these words:

The church of the 21^st century is not all that different from the church of the 1^st century, at least in this: We too have taken on for ourselves by our faith in Christ radically new views, high ideals, a vision of a "new creation," a new way of relating to one another. When we say here, No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here we are setting a high standard for ourselves, but no higher than those that Philemon and the church in Colossae were trying to live out.

And like that church, sometimes we succeed, and other times we fall short. We seek to be a welcoming church, and we are for many, but not for all. We seek to be an inclusive church, respecting differences of tradition and viewpoints, and we are in many ways, but still our diversity is limited. We seek to be a caring congregation, loving one another with compassion and joy, and so we are, but not perfectly.

Our theme for this fall in on the bulletin cover: We are grateful for who we are - for the gifts on this congregation, for its ministries to each other and to the world, for the vision we have for what a Christian community ought to be. At the same time, knowing that we have a long way to go toward that vision, we embrace who we are yet to be: more welcoming, more caring; more faithful to the leading of Christ. Like Philemon, we are challenged to make our faith real, to act on the ideals we profess, even when there may be a cost to that faith. We continue this year on that journey toward being all that God is calling us to become.

By the way, we don't know what happened when Onesimus showed up at Philemon's door one day, Paul's letter in hand. We do know that some fifty years later there was a Bishop of Ephesus - much praised and honored. A great man, apparently. And the bishop's name?  Onesimus.