Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from Paul’s Epistle to Philemon:
So if you consider me your partner, receive [Onesimus] 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.
Thus far the text.
Dear friends in Christ,
Admittedly, the sermon text this morning is a little strange for our modern ears. We don’t know much of slavery, and that which we do know is really centered around the atrocious behavior of certain Christians and non-Christians in America’s history, where, on the basis of race and white supremacy, they enslaved those who were differently colored and forced them into abusive and destructive service. It was wrong, it wasn’t Christian love at all, it spoke nothing of the vocation that each of us have to our neighbor, to love and to care for and protect them.
But, the slavery in the passage from today, the slavery of the ancient world, cannot be judged by our modern view and judgment of slavery. It was very different. It was a slavery, not based on race, but based on contractual agreements. The slave owner was just as responsible for his actions as the slaves were responsible for theirs. Slaves were more like family members who didn’t have the choice of running away, unlike some bad-tempered 6-year olds in some of our families. I’m not saying slavery back then was necessarily right, it just was very different.
In the text, Paul is writing to Philemon, a slave owner and Christian pastor in Colossae. Philemon had a church that met in his home, and his wife, Apphia, and another friend, Archipus worked with him. The household of Philemon likely was quite large, many kids, and many slaves. But something happened once upon a time. We don’t know all the details behind it, but somehow, for some reason, one day, Onesimus, a slave, ran away. On his way out the door, knowing that if he was ever caught he could be beaten, or killed, he made sure to steal enough so that he could run away and away and never be seen again. As it happens, Onesimus ended up in Rome.
Rome was the cultural hub of the day. It was the entire seat of the empire. It was where you went if you wanted women, or power, politics, money, or slaves. It might even have been that Onesimus was hoping to sell himself to the highest bidder and be taken even further away. Who knows?
What we do know is that instead Onesimus met Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, who was imprisoned in Rome after the events that happened in the end of Acts. In Acts, we find that Paul essentially got himself arrested so that he might have an audience before Caesar to tell him of the Good News of Jesus Christ. People from all over Rome flocked to hear the words of Paul, the apparent prophet, the man who believed what he did so strongly that he was paying for himself to be imprisoned. He paid his own rent, he paid for his own food, and yet he was never allowed to leave his house. He was in chains. And so, too, was Onesimus.
Onesimus likely found a kindred spirit, seeing an imprisoned Paul in this place. Onesimus who once had sold himself into slavery, yet chafed under its yoke, saw Paul, who gave himself up completely for the sake of Jesus Christ, and now was in literal chains for His sake, and yet Paul did not run away from His Master as Onesimus had done; Paul stayed put and suffered.
I wonder of their conversations, Paul and Onesimus. They must have gone well, for Paul converted the pagan Onesimus to Christ, the one who became a salve to humanity in order that we might be saved, and Onesimus became dearer to Paul than a son could be to a father. Onesimus poured his heart and soul out to Paul. Paul heard the man’s sins. He heard of the slavery, the running away, the theft, the grief that Onesimus caused to Philemon and his family. And Paul knew he needed to do something. There was sin here, and sin had to be accounted for, it needed to be set right.
Now, do not think to yourself here that your sin must somehow be weighed against the good things you do in your life. It is not as if we are a religion of the Egyptians, where your heart is weighed against a feather and if it is heavier, it means you are evil, and must go to hell. No, our sins all deserve hell, but Christ has atoned for them. Our sin must be confessed, and it must be forgiven. And sometimes, perhaps even most times, we must make compensation for our sin. Not eternally, but here and now, with other people. Christ has forgiven the sins, but there are consequences still. If you drive drunk, you lose your license, or at least you should. If you murder someone, you go to prison. If you yell at your spouse, you must spend time with them begging their forgiveness and proving to them that it will never happen again. These are consequences.
That’s how it was for Onesimus. This was likely the struggle Onesimus was facing. “If I go back, I may die. But I must go back and repent to my master. Whatever comes, I deserve it.” Onesimus was now facing the consequences. Paul knew that Onesimus had to go back home and beg Philemon’s forgiveness. Onesimus knew that Philemon, though a Christian, had the right to whip him, stone him, or put him to death for running away. That was the penalty. It was what Onesimus feared and ran away from. He deserved whatever it was that was coming to him. He deserved to be beaten, to be scourged, to be killed for what he had done. He broke his contract and betrayed his master.
And he might have deserved it, but it’s not what God wanted, I’ll tell you that. It’s not what He wanted at all. What God wanted for Onesimus, what God wants for each and every person, each and every sinner, is that they would know the gift of forgiveness that exists in Jesus. What God wants is for Jesus to die for all of humanity, and so Jesus did. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, died for Onesimus. Jesus died for Ariel Castro. Jesus died for Ted Bundy. Jesus died for Nero. Jesus died for Genghis Kahn. Jesus died for Adolf Hitler. And Jesus died for you. Do you see how scandalous this is? You are no better than any of these sinners. And yet, Jesus, in His great love for all people, took your sins, all sins, upon Himself and died for you. He went to the cross, and allowed Himself to take the punishment that was meant for you.
And that’s the story here. Philemon, Paul, and Onesimus, they were real people. But, Paul acting as a loving father to Onesimus, acting in the place of Christ, acting as the mediator between God and man, writes to Philemon to say “Put it on my tab. Whatever he deserves, whatever sins he committed, whatever he owes you, I’ll repay it.” Christ send us to the Father to ask forgiveness, for He already knows the answer. Christ has already paid for your sins; the Father has no choice but to forgive you.
And these are the same words that Christ delivers to God the Father on your behalf! These are the very same words that Christ took to Himself when He went to the Cross. “They have sinned against you, Father; they are liars, and cheats, and adulterers, and gossipers, and they fail in everything they do. But whatever they owe to you, I’ll repay it.” However bad you think your sins are, when was the last time someone was allowed to kill you over them? Your problems are not worse that Onesimus’, and even he was forgiven. So, too, are you.
And Philemon, who acts as God the Father in this story, takes his slave Onesimus back and sets him free. He is no longer a slave, but a brother in Christ, a brother who would one day become the Bishop of Ephesus. This man, this man who knew great sin, had an even greater savior, Jesus Christ. And Jesus forgave him his sin. Jesus welcomed him back to the family with open arms. Jesus took Onesimus’ sin so that Onesimus no longer feared what he deserved, punishment, beatings, and death, but Jesus took all of that so that Onesimus didn’t have to. And you don’t have to either.
There is nothing we need fear from our sin. There are consequences, yes, but there should be no fear. When Philemon failed as a master, that sin was covered by Christ. When Onesimus stole and ran away from his master, that sin was covered by Christ. When Paul murdered dozens of Christians, that sin was covered by Christ. This Rally Day, when our focus is on the education of our children, and even our own education, we know that when we don’t educate our children in the love of God, this sin is covered by Christ. When we mess up our lessons in Sunday School, this sin is covered by Christ.
When we fail as parents and teachers, these sins are covered by Christ. When we say the wrong thing, when we do the wrong thing, when think the wrong thing, when we don’t live out of vocations, when we just absolutely stink at whatever it is we do, these sins are covered, they are paid for by Christ.
There are always consequences to our sins, friends. And I cannot tell you that life is easy. I cannot tell you that you won’t have to appeal to temporal and earthly authorities because of the sin you committed. And I cannot tell you that things will always go well for you and your children. I can't tell you what the consequences may be when you fail to educate them and do what Christ deserves in teaching them and bring them up in the faith. What I can tell you is there is nothing that you can do, have done, or will do that is not covered in the blood of Christ. What I can tell you is that Jesus has paid for all your sins, all your consequences, and there is nothing you can do, no sin you can commit, that He hasn’t paid for. There is no sin that isn’t on His account. There is no sin that separates you from His love. That is the story of Philemon and Onesimus, that is the story of us. We are bound together, sharing the story of Christ, the mediator between God and man, forever. In Jesus’ name.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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