The Slave is our brother

Letter delivered at the same time as the letter to the Colossian church (and probably Ephesians as well). The Colossian church, or at least part of it, met at Philemon’s house. Philemon was brought to Christ through Paul’s ministry. His slave, Onesimus, ran away and probably stole from him as he did so. Eventually Onesimus also found Christ through Paul’s ministry, and this is where we see Paul writing this letter largely for the purpose of reconciling Onesimus and Philemon, and his goal was not merely to restore a slave to his owner, but to reconcile brothers in Christ.

Philemon 1–25 ESV

Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

The Slave is our brother

Greeting: From Paul and Timothy to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker, and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier: It ay be that this letter, then, was written to a family. Apphia was probably Philemon’s wife, and Archippus their son. The greeting also includes the church in their house. This means that the letter was not only for personal use, but had an instructive purpose for the whole church in mind. And certainly Paul wanted Onesimus accepted as a brother, not only by Philemon, but by the church as well.

Grace to you and peace, a familiar greeting.

Philemon 4–7 ESV

I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

He is thankful for their love and faith. So they are relationally united with Christ in love and faith, as well as with all the saints. He prays that their faith would become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing in Christ. Paul has heard reports about Philemon and his family and has found much comfort and joy in these reports. They had refreshed the hearts of the saints. This indicates that this family was ministry focused.

Philemon 8–9 ESV

Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus—

Paul fully recognizes that he has authority in the church. As an apostle, as one commissioned by Christ himself, he certainly would have been able to order Philemon to do what he is asking. Instead, he appeals to love. Just as we are commanded in other scriptures to love one another as Christ has loved us, so Paul here appeals to love. Paul is a prisoner himself, and an old man. So he was appealing not just for Philemon to show love to Onesimus, but this would be a demonstration of love to Paul himself. So he appeals to Philemon for love’s sake. Certainly Paul also was appealing from a position of love as well. Love for Onesimus, sure, but love for Philemon as well, since Philemon would have the chance to exercise the grace he had been given through Christ.

Philemon 10 ESV

I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment.

Paul has used this language before. Sometimes he uses childbirth as an analogy of someone coming to Christ, other times he refers to spiritual fathers, something that elders should be to younger men and new Christians. By calling Onesimus his child, he seems to be indicating that he had been the one who had proclaimed the gospel to Philemon, who responded with a saving faith. This happened while Paul was imprisoned. How this exactly came about would be nice to know, but Paul doesn’t spell it out here.

Onesimus was a runaway slave and a thief. Both of these offenses carried the death penalty in the Roman Empire. Even if a runaway slave was forgiven by their master, they would still probably be branded, literally, with marks indicating they had run away. Bounty hunters were prevalent. Just like in some Western movies, bounty hunters in the Roman days would track down wanted men, and most often this meant going after runaway slaves. They would have descriptions of their targets, so the runaway slave would probably try to disguise himself. Perhaps he even took the money he stole from Philemon and bought clothes to disguise himself. Onesimus seems to have made his way to Rome, and somehow heard about Paul and must have gone to see him and heard the gospel.

Philemon 11 ESV

(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)

What does this mean? He was either lazy or incompetent or something. He was useless, or worthless, but now he is useful. He has apparently been serving Paul in some capacity, perhaps in a personal service or in a ministry context, but Paul values him greatly. But most likely in the course of learning about Onesimus, and in Onesimus’ process of sanctification, it has come out that he has some wrongs to right. And the connection has now been made. This same Paul who helped Onesimus in the gospel was well aware of the ministry Philemon was doing in Colossae. So he sends Onesimus home, but not simply to fend for himself in returning in repentance to Philemon. He sends him with Tychicus along with the letters.

Now, Paul says, Onesimus will be valuable to you

Philemon 12 ESV

I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.

This shows how close of a relationship had developed between Paul and Onesimus.

Philemon 13 ESV

I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel,

Not only were they close, Paul would have been glad to just keep him around. Had he asserted apostolic authority in this situation, perhaps he could have written the letter but kept Onesimus with him. But he wants reconciliation to be voluntary, not compelled. So Paul could have used Onesimus, but he wanted this reconciliation to happen. Perhaps he felt it would be a powerful example to the church of how the gospel itself provides a ministry of reconciliation; we are reconciled through Christ to God, and we are reconciled through Christ one to another.

Philemon 14 ESV

but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.

He hopes Philemon will do this willingly

Philemon 15–16 ESV

For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

One of my favorite lines of my favorite Christmas song is “Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease.”

How else could a slave and master find themselves beloved brothers, other than by the sovereign work of God Almighty? In His name all oppression shall cease.

This is a huge thing for paul to ask. He could have merely said, here is your slave back, take him back and don’t be too hard on him. Or he could have said, take him back, and let him have more grace from you. No, Paul says, embrace him as a brother. Not only as an equal person, not only as an employer to employee, but as brother.

Galatians 3:23–29 ESV

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, and in his name, all oppression shall cease.

Philemon 17 ESV

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

No Paul says, if you are one with me in Christ, you must also be one with Onesimus, receive him as you would receive me. In other words, treat him just as you would treat me if I were personally there. Put out the good food, the good plates, invite the people over, celebrate together, just as if Paul himself were there visiting. And this reminds us of so many other lessons in scripture. The prodigal son, for whom a feast was prepared. The saying of Jesus that whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done it for me.

Philemon 18–19 ESV

If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self.

Paul is taking personal responsibility for whatever Onesimus owes. But really, whatever Onesimus owes to Philemon is nothing compared to what Philemon “owes” to Paul. Paul brought the gospel of salvation, and whatever is owed him in the material world is dwarfed by the value of the gospel. The one who is forgiven much loves much. The debt of the servant who owed a little pales in comparison to the debt of sin we all owe, the debt paid by Christ for those who put saving faith in Him.

Philemon 20 ESV

Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

Is it ok for someone to expect a fellow believer to do something for them? While we never want to be presumptuous about what others should do for us, calling upon someone to do something for the sake of the Kingdom is acceptable.

Philemon 21–22 ESV

Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.

Paul expects that Philemon will be compelled to do this; remember, not compelled because Paul bullied him, but because al Paul is really calling him to do is what is right for him to do.

Onesimus: From slave to...

There are many things to learn from this short letter. Lessons that apply to us today, even though we do not relate to each other as slaves and masters. But if Paul can properly expect such reconciliation between a runaway slave and thief and his master, simply because they are now united through their mutual faith in Christ, how much more should we be able to reconcile to other believers who have not stolen from us?

I have observed that many of you have spoken of people, who, over the years, have left the fellowship of the church. You long for those relationships to be restored. You miss those who once had a place at your table, and still have a place in your heart. And sadly, it is probably likely that someone who moved on to another fellowship may not ever come back. Of course we would like that to happen, but if we consider that they left for a reason, and they perhaps joined another congregation for a reason, and have now established themselves there, it may not be that they return to regular fellowship. So what do we do with that?

First, and most important, is to remember that regardless of what local church someone goes to, if they share a saving faith in Jesus Christ, they are brothers and sisters. If they once attended here, and now attend elsewhere, your functional relationship with them may have changed, but your relationship in Christ need not change. You see, when someone moves on, we may feel abandoned, or even betrayed. Yet, in Christ, if we are in Christ, our common factor is still there. The common factor is not the congregation we are part of, the common factor is Jesus!

People leave for many reasons. They may leave because they don’t like the preaching, or the music, or the programs available. But usually when people leave who were part of the church for a long time, it is because a relationship became strained, and rather than doing the difficult work of restoration, they simply move on to the next congregation. Sadly, some people move again and again, from church to church. And while sometimes there may be a valid reason to leave a congregation, I think most of the time it isn’t about core issues, it is about personalities and relationships. IF a church is not preaching the word, or if there is immoral leadership, by all means, these may be good reasons to leave, but if it is because you say you simply cannot be around someone because you have an unresolved issue with them, that is not the right reason.

Of course, we do not always hear the real reason people break off fellowship. But we all play a part. Either we are oblivious to others and what they are going through, or feeling about something, or we willingly push for our own agenda at the expense of the community. Maybe someone left because of you, maybe they left because of me. BUt if we are truly in Christ, our relationship with them still exists.

This is what Paul was showing to Philemon as well as to the church. that in Christ, we are no longer in bondage to sin. That includes the sins of pride and selfishness that often interfere with the harmony of the church. Instead, we become slaves to Christ, slavers to righteousness. We are commanded to love one another, to bear with one another in love. We are to encourage one another, to not giving up meeting together, to be part of Christ’s ministry of reconciliation.

We don’s exist as a church, Oasis Church, to simply serve ourselves, we serve Christ, and we serve the larger community. And whenever we have opportunities to partner in the gospel, we do so. Think of how we partner with missions, as we celebrated last week. Think of how we partner with Samaritan’s purse and operation Christmas Child. Wyatt partnered with the walk for life, Gerard partners in Prison ministry, and today we have an opportunity to show the community around us how we can partner with another church to do something for our community. And as you join us at the Harvest Festival today, make a point to interact with the folks you know and those you don’t. It isn’t about Oasis church today. It isn’t about Calvary Grace Chapel today. It is about being part of God’s Kingdom together, untied in Christ.

I’ll let you in on a secret, which really isn’t a secret: Those folks meeting next door are no less brothers and sisters in Christ than those you are sitting with now. We partner because we see the beauty of Christ’s kingdom, whether we partner with YFC, OCC, Prison ministries, the Gideons, or any other group that desires to serve Christ. If you take the time to get to know folks from other churches, with no other motive than to expand your own sphere of fellow soldiers in the Army of god, without any motive other than to share in the love of Christ together, you will be blessed.

We don’t form these relationships so that we can bring over sheep from another corral. In fact, we don’t really create these relationships at all. The relationships between fellow believers is not something we create, because the relationship was already created by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the Head of Oasis church, He is Head of Calvary Grace Chapel, and He is head over the worldwide church.

If Paul could properly expect for Philemon and his family to welcome Onesimus, who had run away, Onesimus the thief that had stolen from them, then how much more can we welcome those who offended us because they had a different preference for a style of music, or a different idea of what children’s ministry ought to look like, or because we have different opinions on other issues? How much more can we forgive those who trespassed against us, when we realize that God has forgiven our trespasses against him?

We never know what kingdom impact someone in our midst may have. I told you there is a rest of the story. And this is the rest of the story the best we can figure it out. Part of the rest of the story is not in scripture itself, but in various writings in the early church. So what became of Onesimus? Rumor has it that Philemon did indeed embrace hiim as a brother, that he was welcomed into the local church with great joy at what Jesus had done.

Rumor has it that, being moved by Paul’s letters, and love for him, that Philemon did indeed send Onesimus back to Paul, a freed person to serve Paul and the Kingdom. Rumor has it that Onesimus sat at the feet of Paul, learning all about God’s plan of salvation, and theology, and became a great student of the Word. Rumor has it, that this Onesimus became the bishop at Ephesus: Fifty years later when Ignatius, one of the great Christian martyrs, was being transported from Antioch to Rome to be executed, he wrote letters to certain churches. In writing to Ephesus he praised their Bishop Onesimus, even making the same Pauline pun on his name! It appears likely that Onesimus, the runaway slave, had become, with the passing of years, the great Bishop of Ephesus.7 This is one of the great stories of the gospel and of the Church—a jewel in her crown.

Think of those who have disappointed you in the church. Think of how they offended you, or hurt you. Think of whether you did all you could to make peace in that situation. Think of what Christ would have you do in that situation. Think of what Jesus thinks about his church. If you love Jesus, you must love his church. And I don’t mean just Oasis church, I mean the church. How can we ever know, if we showed the grace towards one another that Philemon showed to Onesimus, how can we ever know if that person who received the grace might go on to do great things in God’s kingdom? Do we dare disobey scripture and not do all we can to make peace with one another in the church?

Romans 12:14–18 ESV

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Onesimus: From slave to…servant of the Most High

Sometimes the most difficult thing we can do in life, and including in the church, is to have the difficult conversations, where we get to the bottom of our hurts, our fears, our concerns, in a way that honors Christ and shows the world that the church truly is unique and special in this world. It is to be a haven where, unlike the world, where relationships are broken and often never mended, we in the church should show grace and compassion and the willingness to do the work of living in righteous and holy community together. If we can show this to the world around us, may God provide us the growth we all desire, because we will have been part of His plan for community.

Related Media

Related Sermons