Sermon Tone Analysis

I’ve been a part of the Church my entire life.

Throughout the course of my nearly 34 years, I’ve been a member and/or pastor of six different churches; from Greensburg Christian Church to University Christian Church in Manhattan to Barnes Christian Church to Grace Community Church in Overbrook to Fellowship Bible Church in Gardner and now, for the last almost 7 years, Rich Hill Christian Church.

Every church I’ve been part of is different and yet the same.

Half of the churches have been very traditional, the other half very contemporary.

Half of the churches have been small (ranging anywhere from 30-130), the other half have been large (ranging anywhere from 500-2,000).

Half of the churches have been rural, the other half suburban.

I could go on and on.

Every church I’ve been part of is different and yet the same.

This is true for you, no doubt.

If you’ve been part of more than one local church, you’ve experienced the similarities and the differences between them.

Every church is radically different, and yet oddly similar.

What makes every church similar?

The people.

People—no matter where you are; no matter how big or how small the church—people are people.

Granted, there are differences depending upon where you’re located; but its people who make up the Church.

The Church is not a building; the Church is people:

The Church is people; and people make every church similar.

I’ve heard several pastors, including some of my pastor friends say: “Boy, church would be great if it wasn’t for the people.”

My thought is always: “It isn’t church without people.

Without people, it’s just a funny-looking building.”

I know what they’re saying.

Honestly, I understand the sentiment.

People, no matter the church, are at times difficult; people are always imperfect, sinful, selfish.

I love you all very much, but I can say without hesitation: “Ya’ll ain’t perfect!”

We are, all of us, broken and sinful.

And that makes for an interesting dynamic within the church.

Church is messy: if a church is full of people who are neat and clean and tidy, all polished and new, happy all the time, and there’s never any conflict, I’m guessing one of three things has happened:

People are pretending, putting on a front, play-acting, or

It’s ceased being a church and it’s become a country club, or

Jesus has returned, has set all things right, and has made all things new.

The Church, you see, in its truest sense is a gathering of converted scumbags with each scumbag bringing their scummy baggage and scummy preferences and scummy opinions to the table.

It’s bound to be messy (if this isn’t already clear to you, it will be at the end of our study in Philemon).

In the book of Philemon, a wealthy Christian has had a slave run away, and is now being encouraged to welcome this runaway slave home, not merely as a slave, but as a brother, as part of the Christian community.

Church is messy.

Not much, if anything, has changed since the inception of the Church.

Paul is writing to an individual within a particular church (and to the church there) about a conflict within the church.

There is a situation a’brewin’ within the church, and this is why we have the letter to Philemon.

This is written to one person in particular (Philemon) and to the people surrounding him.

In some ways, the church in that day is much, much different than ours; in other ways, it’s very much the same because it’s chalk-full of people—selfish, sinful, broken, miraculously redeemed people.

>The apostle Paul is writing from a prison in Rome (around 60 A.D.; this is one of the so-called “prison epistles”: letters written by Paul from prison—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon).

Paul is writing to a wealthy Christian man named Philemon who lives in Colossae; he’s writing to Philemon concerning Philemon’s runaway slave, Onesimus.

These are the main characters:

Paul, the imprisoned apostle

Philemon, a wealthy Christian

Onesimus, the runaway slave

Paul addresses three others in the opening of this letter, the supporting cast:

Apphia: possibly Philemon’s wife

Archippus: the probable minister of the Colossian church which met in Philemon’s house

The church that meets in Philemon’s house

Throughout most of the letter, Paul is addressing Philemon personally.

There’s an issue that concerns Philemon and Onesimus directly; but the church—all those who meet in Philemon’s house to worship Jesus—are privy to this conversation.

Seemingly, this letter was addressed to:

The Colossian Church

120 East Colossae Ave

Colossae, Asia Minor 90210

Attn: Philemon

This situation involves Philemon and Onesimus, certainly.

But it involves the whole; it involves the entire church.

As my friend, Ty Cross, says, “what affects one of us directly affects all of us indirectly.”

The Biblical authors use various terminology for the Church.

They refer to the gathered people of God as “a family”, “an army”, “a body”, “a house”.

We’re in this together.

There’s one word that really seems to encompass all of this: κοινωνία

We’re going to be talking about this word--κοινωνία—a lot over the next few weeks.

κοινωνία is one of those words that’s difficult to define or capture the full meaning of.

In the ancient world, κοινωνία defined a whole community of people who had something in common.

As Paul uses it, the community is a κοινωνία because it shares a common faith and a missionary practice.

Christians, as a κοινωνία, not only belong to one another but we are actually mutually identified; we are identified as one.

Have you ever run into someone out of town, out of their normal setting, and have a hard time placing them?

Or maybe you’ve bumped into someone who is without their spouse and you think: “That sure looks like them, but I’m not sure.”

???

For instance, not long after I moved here, I ran into Alma Talbott at the store, but because Dean wasn’t with her, I couldn’t quite place her.

I had never seen Alma without Dean.

“That can’t be Alma…Dean’s not with her.”

So it is with the church.

We are best known, we are most easily identified with one another.

Christian κοινωνία, Christian fellowship means we belong to one another; we are best known together.

At stake in this situation between Philemon and Onesimus is the κοινωνία: the fellowship of God’s people.

We are called by the Holy Spirit into fellowship with one another.

Now, when we hear the word “fellowship” what word immediately follows?

Every single church I’ve ever been to has had a large room next to the kitchen called the fellowship hall.

That is, every church except this one.

We call our “fellowship hall” “the annex” instead.

We might think fellowship hall or fellowship dinner, but really, fellowship is much more.

It’s not limited to the second Sunday of the month from 11:45-12:30.

It’s not only activities that take place in the room that bears the name fellowship.

Fellowship—true Christian fellowship—is that which the Holy Spirit uses to move us from a mere social club to a spiritual community: one that cares for, prays for, looks after the other as one would their own family.

In fact, fellowship—true Christian fellowship—is thicker than blood.

I love my family and friends, but the people on earth I’m most deeply tied to are the people who make up the Church.

The same goes for you, Christian.

Once the Lord called us to Himself, at the moment we believed in Christ as our Savior, we became part of this fellowship:

Answer me this: has Christian fellowship—κοινωνία, belonging to a church family, being part of a church body—had an impact on you?

Has it changed you?

Has it made you a better person, a better friend, a better neighbor, a better spouse, a better parent?

Authentic Christian κοινωνία, authentic Christian fellowship should have an impact on those involved.

Paul and Philemon and Onesimus and Apphia and Archippus and the church in Colossae are more than just the sum of their parts, more than just a club—they are a fellowship, a church; and that means they relate to one another differently than they would if they weren’t part of a church family.

Onesimus is going to have to go to Philemon and seek reconciliation.

Philemon is going to have to receive Onesimus and offer forgiveness.

In their fellowship, we hear overtones of the Gospel: forgiveness, reconciliation, repentance, grace, love.

Philemon illustrates “the transforming power of the gospel to impact human relationships.”

The gospel changes people and changes how they relate to one another.