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Philemon is one of those letters in the Bible we rarely flip open.
But since we have just finished a series on the letter of Titus, it seems like a good transition to keep moving to the next letter and look at Philemon.
This is not because Philemon follows Titus as the next book of the Bible.
It is because the theme of godly living which Paul writes about in Titus shows up with a real-world example in Philemon.
Faith and regular life intersect in the example of Philemon and Onesimus.
If Titus is the textbook instruction for living a godly life of faith, then Philemon is the case study for living a godly life of faith.
Here is how this is going to go today.
Normally you are used to me putting a few themes in front of you in your outline.
Today we are going to deal with the letter of Philemon in an expository way.
That means instead of working our way through themes, we are going to work our way verse-by-verse through the letter.
To make it a little easier, I am not actually going to move verse-by-verse.
Rather, we are going to move section-by-section.
So, it might be helpful today to keep the letter open in front of you.
There are Bibles placed under the chairs if you would like to follow along.
Intersection of Faith and Love
opening of letter - Paul does not refer to himself as an apostle, but as a prisoner; appeal to Philemon is not based on authority
In the opening of the letter Paul addresses the letter in a way that is typical of most formal letters of the first century Roman empire.
It identifies the author and the recipients.
And as is usual for Paul, he tips his hand and shows his cards in the way he addresses letters.
Often Paul begins a letter by identifying himself as an apostle.
It is a way of declaring his authority to the recipients so that the words coming in the letter have some teeth.
This time the only thing Paul chooses to put beside his name is that he is a prisoner for Jesus, and he co-writes this letter along with Timothy.
In this letter, he is not appealing to the authority he has been given as a basis for his instruction.
addressed to Philemon, but also entire church that meets in his home; this is an open letter for all to see
The recipient of the letter is Philemon, and by extension a few others.
It is also addressed to a woman named Apphia – this is likely Philemon’s wife.
It mentions someone named Archippus.
It is unclear if this might be a son of Philemon or someone else of high standing in his household.
And then Paul makes it something of an open letter by including the entire house-church congregation that meets in Philemon’s home.
Even so, most of the second person pronouns in the letter are singular.
Paul’s message is really meant just for Philemon, but it includes an audience.
verses 4-7, thanksgiving prayer; ties quality of faith in Jesus together with quality of love for others
In verses 4-7 there is a thanksgiving prayer.
This, again, is typical of first century letters.
And again it serves as a way for Paul to lay the groundwork for his coming instructions.
Verse five in particular has a unique construction in the original Greek language.
In our English Bibles it seems to denote two qualities that Paul is exemplifying in Philemon: love and faith.
To be more precise, it is a love for all of God’s people, and a faith in the Lord Jesus.
But the way this sentence comes in Greek mixes the word order in a way that would not make much sense in English.
It would literally read: the love and the faith which you have for the Lord and unto all God’s people.
verse 5 (literal): the love and the faith which you have for the Lord and unto all God’s people
Paul ties these two qualities together in a way that cannot be pulled apart.
He is commending Philemon for being a man of faith in Jesus, which is expressed in the form of love for the people of God.
These two qualities of faith and love inseparably intersect one another.
Paul’s prayer of thanks for Philemon notes the way in which the quality of faith in Christ is affirmed and supported by the quality of love for others.
And at the same time, the quality of love for others is affirmed and supported by the quality of faith in Christ.
Verses six and seven further illustrate the way Paul sees faith in Jesus and love for others woven together.
This is all groundwork for what is coming next.
Verses 8-21 are the main body of the letter.
This is where Paul makes his request of Philemon with all his supporting arguments.
Leveling the Playing Field
verse 10, Paul writes to his friend Philemon on behalf of Philemon’s runaway slave, Onesimus
Verse 10 gives us the reason that Paul is writing this letter to his friend Philemon.
He is making a plea on behalf of Onesimus.
We figure out from verse 16 that Onesimus was a slave in Philemon’s house.
And we can piece together from verse 18 that Onesimus must have done something wrong—such as stolen from Philemon—and then ran away trying to escape.
Somehow in a turn of events, Onesimus finds his way to Paul, and Paul convinces his to go back and make things right with Philemon.
And so Paul writes this letter to send on behalf of Onesimus in order to smooth things out between Philemon and his runaway slave.
slavery was common for many households in Colossae; Paul’s request is only for this one slave, referred to as his own son
Perhaps we should deal for a moment with the whole issue of slavery going on in this letter.
Philemon was a widely referenced book of the Bible 170 years ago when there was disagreement in America between Christians who were pro-slavery in the south and Christians who were abolitionist in the north.
They would all twist the message of Philemon as either an argument in support of God-mandated slavery, or an argument for the abolishment of slavery.
We should note here that it does not seem to be Paul’s intention to make any particular sweeping reference to the institution of slavery one way or the other.
We live in a time when we have come to realize the evil of owning and treating another human being as a piece of property.
But it was a very common practice in the time of Paul.
Not only wealthy households, but even those among the common class would typically own slaves.
Someone such as Philemon, who had a home that was significant enough to host a house church most likely would have owned several slaves.
Paul’s plea to Philemon is not looking for emancipation for all the slaves owned by Philemon, or the multitude of slaves likely owned by all the rest of the middle-class folks of the early churches.
His argument does not seem to be either for or against slavery in general.
It is just focused on one individual, Onesimus.
Onesimus is lifted from property to family (slave to son); Paul is lowered from family to property (brother to prisoner)
Paul’s treatment of Onesimus is surprising.
He refers to Onesimus as his own son, a term of dear affection.
He takes this man who is considered a piece of property who has wronged his master and then run away, and Paul elevates Onesimus up to the same level of close family as Paul.
And since Paul refers to his friend Philemon as a brother, he is really saying that the runaway thieving slave Onesimus is elevated to the same level as his master Philemon.
At the same time, we should not forget that Paul introduced himself in this letter as a prisoner in chains for the gospel.
Paul is lowering himself down to the social status of a slave.
He is rather intentionally blurring the lines between rigid social status barriers.
He is seeking to help the cause of Onesimus by leveling the playing field.
As Paul is shaping up relationships between all those with whom he comes in contact, he erases the lines of the entitled social elite from the marginalized poor and destitute.
He takes out any distinctions between the high and mighty and powerful from the lowly and weak and powerless.
Obedient but not Compelled
request, but not a command; receive Onesimus as a brother instead of a slave
The request that Paul is making to his friend Philemon is a complicated one.
He never comes right out and says it, but instead heavily implies that Philemon should free Onesimus from being a slave.
Paul says to treat him as a brother, that Philemon should welcome Onesimus as he would welcome Paul himself.
freeing a runaway slave who had stolen would ruin Philemon’s position, credibility, and standing in Colossae
But the plea made to Philemon is not an order, it is a request.
Paul is not forcing or compelling Philemon to follow any specific instructions.
Rather, Paul is advocating for Onesimus and leaving the decision up to Philemon to do what is best.
I sort of understand it; Paul is placing his good friend Philemon in a pretty tough spot with this request.
It is kind of a no-win situation for Philemon.
He lives in a culture that commonly accepts and practices slavery.
How can he set one of his slaves free without angering the rest of his slaves into bitterness?
Or is Paul insinuating that he should, in fact, free all of his household’s slaves?
But a move like this would certainly ruin his position and standing among the community and doom his family to be outcasts who will lose all their wealth and position.
He would certainly no longer be able to host a Christian church in his home or be a benefactor of Paul’s missionary activity.
Philemon’s life would be ruined by making the kind of move that Paul is asking.
forced compliance would free Onesimus, but Paul wants something else between Philemon and Onesimus — forgiveness
I’m sure Paul knows this too.
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