Sunday, September 08, 2019 - 11 AM

I’ve Got A Letter - Philemon Bascomb UMC / September 8, 2019 / 9AM Focus: The act of redeeming grace in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that Paul reveals in the life of Philemon and Oniesimus. Function: To celebrate redemption at the altar table as we reaffirm that we each have a letter of freedom written by Jesus to God the Father. 5 Purpose Outcomes of the Church: Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Evangelism, Service Introduction I want to tell you a story about three real life people who lived centuries ago and came from three different worlds (not planets – but cultures so different from one another that they may as well have been different planets). The first person was a Jewish man steeped in the Hebrew culture but also unique in his day because he was also a Roman citizen. He held dual citizenship. He was a preacher – but not just a preacher, a zealot! Passionate, uncompromising, completely sold out to his beliefs. We call him SAUL – Saul of Tarsus. By the time he was 15 Saul was already being recruited by some of the top Pharisees and Rabbis of his day - he sat at the feet Gamaliel – the renowned Rabbi. But we remember Saul was also present the day Stephen was stoned to death. Our young Pharisee held the cloaks of the men throwing the stones and following that, He began a passionate crusade against anyone who would call upon the name of Christ. He was the “Darth Vader” of the 1st century. His name struck fear into the hearts of the Christian community. Saul was not making an empty threat! He had papers in hand as he traveled to Damascus because there was a great, growing community of Christ’s followers there. He was going to decimate ‘em! As he drew near to the city, he says in his own words: "While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light (brighter than the noonday sun) from heaven suddenly shone about me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' (and Saul heard the words that pierced him through to the core of his being) 'I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.' Acts 22:6-8 (NRSV) So this Jesus, the focus of this movement called “The Way,” was, in reality, Saul’s long awaited Messiah – Yeshua – God’s salvation. The next guy was a pagan. He was a businessman, an enterprising entrepreneur. He had a sharp wit and big plans. He was successful and his holdings grew quite large. He was the “J.R. Ewing” of his part of the world – he had a dynasty! We’ll call him PHIL. The Third guy was a blue-collar guy – salt of the earth, meat and potatoes. He was also a bit of an outlaw. He became a robber, a thief, a man on the run. He was born into a world that labeled him and put him at the very bottom rung of the ladder. He was marked for life as a slave. He felt the injustice of that world and became angry and bitter. So he became a bandit. We’ll call him by his nickname “Onie.” Now the chance that these three men’s lives would ever intersect would be remote enough, but the odds of them becoming friends were almost impossible. But that’s exactly what happened – and it happened for us in such a way that it became an incredible story. Let’s name them once again – 1st there’s SAUL, then PHIL, and there’s “ONIE.” CONCERNS & PRAISES MORNING PRAYER OFFERTORY ANNOUNCEMENT: (Sonny) – Amazing Grace Offering OFFERTORY: Rooftops A TIME for Children (children are then invited to Children’s Church) Sermon Conclusion We started with Saul! His experience with the living Christ so affected young Saul that he changed his name! He took on the Roman version of his name: Paul ----- Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ – Paul, the first and foremost author of the texts we now call the New Testament – Paul, the evangelist who brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to a gentile world. You might say that Saul died that day. He died that he might be raised anew. It was this new Paul who wrote: …if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 2 Cor 5: 17 (NRSV) This was a personal experience for Paul. So Paul sets out on his quest to obey the words of Jesus that ring in his ears: …. “Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.” Acts 22:21 (NRSV) This is his calling; and in his journeys he comes to the great city Ephesus. Ephesus in that day was very much like Las Vegas is for us today. It was a conglomeration of great diversity. Anything you wanted to find you could find in Ephesus. There was the temple to the great goddess Diana. It was a wanton, lustful, and extremely prosperous locale. It mirrors our American culture in an odd sort of way. God leads Paul to Ephesus and he sets up shop at the “school of Tyrannus,” which, for us, would be like Harvard or Yale. Paul has great success teaching here. He became the Plato, the Socrates, the Aristotle of the area. His fame began to spread out and one day, while on a business trip, Phil ends up in Ephesus and he and Paul have a “chance meeting.” Now Phil lived in a town called Colossae. The town was built with great hopes and big dreams. Colossae, it was going to be the colossal city of the great empire. Now it never quite measured up to it – but Phil built a large hacienda there and is on business trips all the time and on this occasion, he arrives in Ephesus and meets the apostle Paul. It was a divine appointment because Phil sees in Paul the thing that is missing in his own life. “What is it about this guy,” he wonders. And Paul say: “One day I was riding a donkey on my way to Damascus when a light brighter than the noonday sun shone round about me,” and he tells Phil his story. As Phil hears this story, his hungry heart responds because even though he had great wealth, great acclaim, and much success, he was a desperate, empty man. Phil became more than just friends with Paul, they became brothers because Paul led Phil to faith in Jesus Christ. Now Phil goes home and has he got a story! Wow! He rushes home to tell his wife Ophra, no that’s not right, it’s Apphia and his son Archippus. And as he tells the story, they are amazed to hear about this Jesus and they accept and believe in Christ. Phil makes another trip, and another trip, and he becomes quite bonded with this Paul guy. On one of these trips an unexpected curveball is thrown his way. While Phil is away from his house, one of his servants, a guy we nicknamed Onie – who is bitter and angry by the injustice that the rich always get richer and poor get poorer - the “haves” keep on having and the “have nots” never had it in the first place and never will – the guy “rips Phil off!” He doesn’t just rob him, he destroys some of the interior of the home and trashes some of his estate. You know, stick the knife in and turn it, and then he goes on the run. Phil comes home and is confronted with this choice: prosecution or forgiveness. He’s torn by this quandary and he goes back to Paul and asks: “What should I do?” And Paul says: “Let’s just pray. Let’s pray and see what God does, let’s turn this matter over to God.” And that’s what Phil does! We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NRSV) Now people thought Phil was “ ‘gonna go ape” when he came home and they saw instead he handled it with grace and mercy. They realized that something had changed about this man and they want to know more! A small group of people begin to gather at the hacienda to learn more about Phil’s faith in Jesus. That group begins to grow, and grow, and grow. It numbers in the hundreds and then several hundred people are showing up. That hacienda church became the Colossian church. Paul wrote them a letter that is in the New Testament. So Phil has left the matter of Onie in God’s hands and forgives as best he can watching to see what God will do. And that brings us to the third piece of this story. The greatest story never told. Onie steals all this stuff from Phil and goes on the run. But he can’t really do anything – stolen goods, in reality, are a rip off for the thief – they never realize a value equal to the risk. Onie just ends up with other thieves as a lost, guilt-ridden soul. He eventually makes his way to Rome where he hides in the underbelly and does what night crawlers do; living life on petty theft in a gang-like society. Meanwhile Paul wakes up one morning and realizes he is done in Ephesus. God sends Paul from Ephesus to Jerusalem. Now everywhere Paul went one of two things happened - either a revival or a riot! A mob of Jewish Zealots see him and realize he’s now a turncoat. Their intention is to take him through a mock trail and stone him. But Paul outsmarts them by calling out in Greek to the Jailer: “Is it lawful to treat a Roman citizen this way? I appeal to Caesar!” which was a Roman citizen’s right. He understood the significance of holding a dual citizenship. He began a journey to Rome. That journey included a shipwreck and other trials until, arriving at Rome; he was put under house arrest. There he begins to write letters over the next eighteen months until, one evening the jailer moves Paul back to the common cells right before his trial. And as God would have it, the jailer herds in a rag-tag group of prisoners, gang members and petty thieves gathered from the streets of Rome. Who was in that company? Onie! Onie walks in, his eyes adjusting to the light, and at some point he asks Paul, “What are you in here for?” And Paul says: “One day I was riding a donkey on my way to Damascus when a light brighter than the noonday sun shone round about me,” and he tells Onie his story. Onie listens and as he listens his face grows softer as his eyes grow hopeful. Tears begin to run down his ruddy cheek and Paul can see the longing in his heart. Paul asks Onie, “Would you like to know this Jesus?” “Would Jesus take anybody like me?” “You couldn’t have done anything any worse than I? By the way, what are you in here for?” “Oh I robbed a guy.” “Really, well where are you from?” “This place called Colossae.” “Colossae, one of my best friends lives in Colossae. You wouldn’t happen to know a guy named Phil would you?” “Phil! Surely you don’t mean Philemon the great business man and property owner – you know him?” “That’s him; he’s now a fellow brother in Christ.” “Well that’s the guy I robbed!” Paul looks dumbfounded, “you’re the guy that robbed Philemon?” “Oh what a mighty God we serve!” “He knows Jesus like you know Jesus – that makes you brothers together in Christ.” “You gotta make this right!” Now for reasons that shall remain unknown to history, Onie (his full name is Oniesimus) is released. Maybe the courts were bogged down or the soldiers didn’t read him his rights, who knows? But on the day that Oniesimus is released Paul comes to him and again he says, “Onie, you’ve got to make this right - you’ve got to go back and look Philemon in the eye.” “Ohhh, hold on now, just hold on. When I walk out that door I’ll be a free man! If I go back, I risk everything. I am still a runaway slave.” Paul said, “Look I’ll write him a letter and this will be me talking to my best friend. I assure you that when he reads this letter, everything will be OK. But you ‘gotta carry him the letter.” And Paul sits down and writes this letter, rolls it up, seals it and hands it to Oniesimus and says: “I want you to deliver this yourself to Philemon and say Paul sent me.” Oniesimus agrees. He’s with a guy named Tichicus… now if you have ever though that your name was bad – I don’t like Walter or Leon. But nobody’s name can top Tichicus. You either call him “Tic” for short or you call out “Hey “Cuss” come over here!” Tichicus is the worst name ever! But he also has a letter – a letter to the church in Colossae. That’s what he’s carrying while Oniesimus carries the letter to Philemon. Look ‘em up, they’re both in your New Testament. They both go down the same road together. Isn’t it just like God to give you someone to go on your journey with ‘ya? ‘Cause God knows they’ll be days when you just can’t make it by yourself. We don’t know how long it took Oniesimus to travel from Rome back to Colossae, but it had to take several weeks. How many dark nights do you think he despaired and thought about throwing that letter away? He could just take off in the night and not have to face the consequences that await him. It could have happened that way, but it didn’t. You know how I know that? Because we’ve got the letter! (pick up your Bible) We’ve got the letter. He delivered it! The day comes when Oniesimus tops the hill, walks down the hillside, through Main Street, turns left to the main gate of the estate and he sees ….the gates open - he hears singing. It’s Sunday - there’s a church here worshipping and Philemon himself was at the front door - it was his Sunday to usher. Their eyes meet and there’s one pause of powerful silence before Oniesimus yells “PAUL SENT ME!” and he holds out the parchment. Philemon hears the name Paul and looks at the parchment Oniesimus offers. He opens the scroll and he sees Paul’s signature – it’s true – he has a letter from Paul. Can I read just a bit of it to you? Can I? Alright? OK…(reading ) This letter is from Paul… (…now you know Oniesimus is watching every sign he can read on Philemon’s face, right? So you be Oniesimus and I’ll be Philemon for a minute). (This letter is from) Paul, a prisoner (prisoner? I didn’t know he was in prison) of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, (that was Philemon’s wife – how many of you know that if you want to flatter someone you say something nice about his wife?) …and to Archippus our fellow soldier (that’s his son – if you’re ‘gonna ask a rich guy for anything tell him how pretty his wife is and how strong his son is) and to the church that meets in your home: (that’s the Colossian church) I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because of you, brother…. (now Philemon knows very well … this guy is really sugar coating it, he’s getting’ ready to ask me for something. And that’s when a smile comes on his face and Oniesimus has his first ray of hope) …Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul — (over act here) an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus (did I tell you I was in prison? – now you know ol’ Philemon had to go “Man he’s good!) I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. I am sending him--who is my very heart--back to you. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back….(Oh and I don’t want to mention that you owe me your very soul). Paul closes off with some personal requests and the letter ends. Philemon rolls it up and cherishes it to this day, we know he did because it was preserved for us. He looks at Oniesimus who is shaking in his boots. And he goes “My brother.” These two men embrace and began what was one of the most famous friendships of the ages. Church history tells us that Oniesimus actually became the pastor of the Colossian church and served so faithfully there that he became the Bishop of the church in Ephesus before he died. We don’t know what happened to Philemon, but we know he served the Lord until his dying day and we know that Paul was not released, he was executed. Now I said I was ‘gonna tell you the greatest story never told – this wasn’t it because I just told it to ‘ya. This would have been the greatest story never told if Oniesimus had not delivered that letter. We would have never known this story. So the greatest story never told is not about Paul and Philemon, and Oniesimus. No, that story reflects a greater story, the story of Jesus who, in his bonds on Calvary, purchased your redemption and gave you pardon before a holy God, whose palace you had defiled as you took the goods of heaven and expended them on your own selfish desires. And now you in your darkened, fallen state have been incarcerated in a Roman dungeon. And Christ, who knew no sin, became sin and in that dungeon fellowship with you wrote you a letter in his own precious blood. A letter addressed to his father saying “receive him as though it were me. If he owes you or has wronged you of anything, put that on my account and I will pay it.” But you’ve got to deliver the letter! You’re the only one who can deliver the letter and the greatest story never told will be the story of your life if you say no to Jesus. You have no idea the enormous potential your life holds no matter how far you’ve fallen, no matter how dark you’ve become, no matter how desperate things are, you’ve got a letter! It is your one guarantee; it is your one hope of a better today and a glorious tomorrow. It’s a letter of intercession written by Jesus himself and his final words “It is finished.” He did it for you and if you will, by faith, take a hold of that letter and press your way to the door of heaven and knock. The moment God answers say “JESUS SENT ME.” “Jesus sent me.” God the father will read that letter and embrace you as one of his own. But you’ve got to deliver the letter - you’ve got to deliver the letter! So here’s what we’re ‘gonna do. All over this room I know you now realize that you have a letter, that you are ready to deliver it to God. Let us pray……...