Philemon

If there is one thing the Bible encourages us to have through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is great relationships. But those require various dynamics that Jesus and His Spirit encourage, many of which are found here. Certainly forgiveness is at the fore front. As Dan explains above Onesimus had done something to wrong Philemon which would be wrong for anyone but even worse a slave to a master. What struck me here is how long Paul took before mentioning his name. I wonder how it rang in Philemon’s mind as he read it, conjuring up the hurt, disappointment, anger and the just punishment if Philemon ever got his hands on that Onisemus again. But before he mentions him, Paul talks about who he is, who Philemon is and what the nature of their relationship is. He points to the higher purposes that our lives are involved in in the gospel and the church. He even reminds Philemon of his age and his condition as a prisoner, effectively priming Philemon’s heart for the challenging request he will make of him. And that brings up the importance of encouragement in our relationships, building each other up to do what God would encourage us to do, usually things that are hard or unnatural. But our relationships also involve dealing with real issues and not sweeping them under the rug. As hard as this situation is for Philemon, think how hard it was for Onesimus to return, to expose himself to the punishment and retribution that the law allowed. But that is what Christ fosters as well: honesty, confrontation, vulnerability and confronting the truth. And even though forgiveness is mentioning so is Philemnon being made whole. It is right for Philemon to make right what he had done, forgiveness doesn’t free him form that. Paul just presses his relationship with Phllemon to get it addressed.

It would be nice if there was epilogue that explains what happened, but what a nice little letter preserved for all of us to consider how we are handling all aspects of the relationships we are in.