Special Event – Summer Series; More Than a Slave: A Study of Philemon: Dr. Todd D. Still, 06/28/26

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[00:00:00] I'm so honored to be here, uh, with you this morning. Uh, Mark has become a, a friend of mine, even as he is of yours. Uh, I fully recognize that, uh, I will not do what Mark does in here. Uh, he's one of a kind, and he allows us to have an extension center of Truett Seminary in a one of a kind library and learning center.

So when Mark was going to be away for a few weeks, he asked a few of us to come and sub, and we fully recognize that we're that. We're pinch hitters. I would, uh, simply say Are we okay? We were [00:01:00] okay Just so you will know, uh, this time it's not an operator error. It does show green. That's not a problem for me, but it is a problem for those who are trying to watch online.

So, so maybe we'll just, um

Maybe we'll just continue, and then if it comes back on, it comes back on. I'll use my outside voice, uh, as my mother might say. So, um, a few of us are going to be with this class on Biblical Literacy. I love it. Uh, substance, scripture, spiritual passion. Uh, what could be more fitting for a Bible study class, or as we used to call it in the old-fashioned days, a Sunday school class?

I actually have a history with this church, and it's a good one to my mind. So I married a Carolyn [00:02:00] Christian, uh, who grew up in Champion Forest Baptist Church. Uh, she grew up on Moccasin Bend. Uh, Father Dennis, uh, Mother Ray Dean, they've been out of the church for many years. Probably no one here or very few here who would have a connection with them.

Uh, moreover, uh, for 1987, I'm going back a bit, 1988, 1989, when Champion Forest was still on Champion Forest, I was the college and career minister for three consecutive summers. This was when DeMon Shook was pastor, this was before Brother David was pastor, and before Brother Jarrett, uh, became pastor. But Scott Reiling is a name that you would know.

Yes. Uh, see if he'll claim me as a friend. Then, uh, John Wills is a name that you would know. Yes. [00:03:00] Uh, so if there's anything that is good, give John the credit, and for things that still need to improve, well, I'm still learning from John. He's the one who hired me, uh, for those summers way back in the day. So I give God thanks.

Thanks for Mark, thanks for you, thanks for this class, and thanks for this church that's been offering a winsome witness, whether on Champion Forest or Stuebner Airline or at the other extensions, uh, for a good long while now. So could we pray, and then we'll begin. Sorry about the mic Our Lord and our God, we pause to give you praise for this day, the day that you've made.

We lean into it. We rejoice in it. We're glad for it. So Lord, here's our prayer, that you would allow [00:04:00] us to have eyes to see and ears to hear, and that our roots might grow deep in the soil of your Word. May it fall on fertile soil, even here, even now. Through Christ our Lord we pray. Amen. The subject for Mark's vacation speakers is This, familiar texts, new site.

Familiar text, new site. Well, today I have chosen one of the most unfamiliar texts in the whole of scripture, certainly in the New Testament. Have you ever thought to yourself, what are the one-chapter books contained within scripture? Probably not. [00:05:00] That's something esoteric that we tend not to think about.

But if you wanted to win in Bible trivia, you would be able to name Obadiah, 2 and 3 John, and the topic of our time today, Philemon. On the screen, you will see not only the title for our lesson, More Than a Slave, a Study of Philemon, a 335-word Greek document, which is about, well, four times longer than an ancient Greek letter typically was.

And we know that because we've discovered a number from the sands of Egypt which have been preserved. This little fragment, that is [00:06:00] to say, a preserved portion of a copy of Philemon, which is known as a, uh, papyrus or as a manuscript. Uh, it is called Papyrus 87. Uh, they number the documents upon which they work.

Uh, this one contains Philemon verses 14 and 15, and 24 and 25. So this is the topic of our study, Philemon, and this is an example of a 3rd-century manuscript, early 3rd century, that is here early 200s, of the letter to Philemon I want us today to look at Philemon taking three steps together. [00:07:00] I want us first of all to look at the world behind the text.

That is to say, context. Mark time and again undoubtedly has said, "A text without a text, uh, a text without a context is a pretext for whatever you want it to mean." So we have to ground the text in history. That's the first step. Then we'll look at the world of the text. That is to say, we will do a cursory study of the 25 verses, the 335 words that comprise Philemon.

Then we're going to look at the world in front of the text. That is to say, how has the text been appropriated? And watch this. How might this text to [00:08:00] a first century slave owner regarding a slave be applied to our own lives today? All right. On your marks, get set. Colossae Colossae is an ancient city located in contemporary Western Turkey.

In Paul's day, it was a part of Asia. You've heard of Laodicea, right? Uh, one of the seven letters to the churches was written to Laodicea. Remember, I wish that you were hot or cold since you're lukewarm. We've in fact now have a term in the Oxford Unabridged, it's an adjective, Laodicean. It means lukewarm.

Along with Hierapolis, Colossae [00:09:00] lay with Laodicea in the so-called Lycus, L-Y-C-U-S, River Valley. It lay about 100 miles to the east of Ephesus, that major seaport city, the third largest city in Greek and Roman antiquity. Paul had never visited Colossae, but he writes a letter to the Colossians, and we learn from Colossians that Onesimus was, quote, "Out of them."

One of them. So we are able to link Philemon to Colossae because of Onesimus on the one hand, and the spiritual father and minister of the church in Colossae, Epaphras, [00:10:00] on the other, who's also mentioned in Colossians. So Colossae presently lay in ruins. More about that in a moment The author of this letter, we will see as we're trying to contextualize it, was Paul the Apostle.

Paul is the author of 13 letters that bear his name. Hebrews is sometimes given to Paul because of the authorized version, the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, but that title is added later. Likely Paul would have had to have had a lobotomy to have written Hebrews. We can talk about that over coffee. Uh, but, uh, we discover that this is the sho- the shortest [00:11:00] preserved letter of Paul.

Now note I said the shortest preserved letter. Remember in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul said, "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral people, not meaning the immoral of the world, for then you would have to go out of the world." Well, where is that letter? Nowhere to be found. So Paul wrote letters that we no longer have.

Would that we had, but we haven't. This is his shortest preserved letter. Certainly, over the course of his far-flunged, protracted ministry, he wrote any num- Who is called the sister. You have adelphos. I know Mark does this to you. Adelphos, which is brother. Adelphe, [00:12:00] which is sister. Some have suggested that she is the wife of Philemon, but she is called a Christ follower on her own account.

Then we also have Archippus. Archippus is described by Paul here as a fellow soldier. Not literally, Paul was not in the Roman army, but figuratively, uh, that is one who, quote, "Wages war, engages in spiritual battle for Christ." So these are the so-called addressees. So you have the location, Colossae. Location, location, location.

Then you have the author, Paul. You have the addressees, Philemon, [00:13:00] Archippus. Uh, excuse me, Apphia and Archippus. Then you have the subject, Onesimus, or you might prefer to say it another way. And by the way, you might prefer to say Philemon, Philemon or Philemon. You say tomato, I say tomato. Let's call the whole thing off.

Okay? So, uh, there are different ways to pronounce different words contingent upon which syllabe you put the emphasis. Okay? So, um, f- we find here Onesimus, who is the subject and who unfortunately had been treated like an object. And Onesimus means, hold onto this, useful [00:14:00] U-S-E-F-U-L. Useful. All right? Hang on to that.

That is a lure that we're going to want to pull through the waters of Philemon. Okay. Now, there are two questions that need our attention as we start our investigation of Philemon. The first is this: where was Paul in prison? According to 1 Clement, seven times Paul wore chains. There are some early copies of Philemon that situate Paul in Rome.

This letter, along with other letters, namely Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians, are known as the Prison Epistles or the [00:15:00] Captivity Epistles. There are also other places where Paul was imprisoned that we know. Philippi was one of them. Caesarea is one of them. And our friend Tom Wright, who's been in this class on a number of occasions, I understand, places Paul's imprisonment when writing Philemon in Ephesus.

Although we know of no recorded imprisonment in Ephesus, we do know that Paul was there for three years according to Acts 20. And according to 2 Corinthians 1, Paul suffered a great amount right up to the point of death in Ephesus. So based upon that, aha, I think I have ... Do I have some amplification? I do.[00:16:00]

Ah. Well done, you all. I don't know how that happened, but let's give our friends back there a hand.

I'm technologically challenged. Uh, I think they call me a Luddite. Uh, I can assure you I'm not a digital native. So, um, we, we discover that Paul was in prison. He describes himself as a prisoner, and in this little letter, he will also describe himself as an old man. Now, he's not very old. I'm 60. Some of you are older than that.

Some of you are younger than that. But in the ancient world, uh, at 60, really frankly at 55, uh, I'm grateful for those institutions that give me a discount now, uh, uh, from 55. But, um, uh, at 60, [00:17:00] you are considered an old man. The truth of the matter is, is that in this little letter, which some have hailed as a masterpiece of church diplomacy, Paul will want to butter before basting.

And so what we discover is that Paul is going to lay it on rather thick as the letter gets going because he has a, quote, "big ask" of Philemon in this letter. So Paul was in prison. Where, we're not entirely sure. Tradition goes with Rome. Location makes Ephesus more likely. Not certain, but more likely. As Raymond Brown once said, "Biblical studies does no good to be certain about the things that are not."

Okay? As Michael Card once sang in a song, could it [00:18:00] be our questions tell us more than answers ever do? I'm not sure that's true, but questions are important, and sometimes we have to leave loose ends untied. So where was Paul in prison? Somewhere. How did Onesimus come to be with Paul? Well, frequently, Onesimus is said to be a runaway slave, and this is the way that church tradition often interpreted it.

There is nothing in the text that demands it. So if Mark is asking me, uh, the question, which he is, familiar text, which this is to me, uh, new, uh, new light? Well, my new light is I now [00:19:00] hold lightly the proposal that Paul was, uh, that, excuse me, Onesimus was a runaway slave. I think he might well have been what is known in the ancient world as a friend of the master.

Watch this Oneimus learns of Paul's whereabouts. He and Philemon have had a falling out. We don't know what it's about. Paul says, "If he owes you, uh, or, uh, if, if, if he owes you or, uh, if he is in your debt in any way." He doesn't say that he did owe him or that he was in his debt. Paul just says, "Charge this to my account."

So it could be that Onesimus learns where's, uh, Paul is, and he seeks Paul out to [00:20:00] intervene on his behalf between him and his master, Philemon. By the way, there are ancient parallels that make this possible. All right? Some say that he was a commissioned slave, that he was sent by the church in Colossae to Paul.

I don't think that's likely, particularly if, uh, Paul is useless to you. And then it has sometimes been suggested in the ancient world there are wandering slaves. Technically, they fall into the same category as runaway slaves. They're called E-R-R-O, erro slaves. Uh, that is, he was away on leave, but it wasn't approved leave.

Okay? So this then is, uh, the background that gives rise to [00:21:00] this really remarkable letter. Time will not allow us to go through this carefully, but we will be able to make our way, uh, through this, uh, letter. Yeah. Uh, we're, we're out by noon, right? Uh, or, uh, you're out by noon whether I'm still talking or not, right?

So I'm sensitive to when class ends. All right? So, uh, over the years, what have I done now? I set my phone down too hard You kind of need this bit, you all

They're rebooting. They're rebooting. Okay. Sorry. Uh, I was just trying to make sure that I wasn't going over time[00:22:00]

This letter unfurls like a typical Pauline letter does. It commences with address and greeting. If you have a copy of Philemon, you'll find it after, uh, Titus, right? You know how the Paul... Ah. You know how the Pauline letter corpus is arranged, right? From longest to shortest, nine letters to congregations, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians.

Four letters to persons, uh, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, in descending order of length, right? They took great care. Now, there is one exception. The one exception is this. [00:23:00] Actually, Galatians is 251 words shorter than Ephesians, but it gets pride of place for a variety of possible reasons. So the smallest letter, as we've said, begins like many other letters do.

Paul self-identifies, describes himself as a prisoner. Note his son in the ministry, Timothy, who's here called a brother, is with him. Additionally, we saw the addressees. Philemon, he's here addressed as the beloved one Also as our coworker and Apphia the sister, Archippus the fellow soldier. And watch this, to the church that meets in your home.

So you'll remember that we didn't have [00:24:00] church structures per se into the early 300s. So earliest Christ followers, they met in homes. Not all were detached homes, so-called homes that would have been villas. Sometimes early believers met in workshops. Sometimes they met in apartments. Sometimes, like in Ephesus, they met in rented halls.

Sometimes they would have met outside. Uh, there was a certain teacher called Jesus that addressed people outside. His earliest followers would have done likewise. But this is a church that's meeting in the home of one called Philemon. Then the familiar grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace are [00:25:00] more than throwaway lines for Paul. Grace is a play on the Greek charis. Uh, uh, it, it, and it is the Greek charis. Uh, it is the typical greeting. Uh, for example, James says to the 12 tribes of the dispersion, "Charin." So grace to you and peace. It's the Greek eirene, but it's the Hebrew shalom.

This is the typical Hebraic greeting. So you conflate the Greek and the Hebrew greeting, which are also freighted New Testament terms. Grace, God's riches at Christ expense, his unmerited mercy. Peace that results from a reconciled relation with God through Christ [00:26:00] that has repercussions, implications for the way that we relate one to another And so grace and peace are extended.

That then is the address and the greeting of Philemon. On the heels of this then, we get thanksgiving even as we do a statement of appreciation for Philemon. You're reading along, I trust, where Paul says, "I always thank my God." Isn't this interesting? It's not just your God, his God, her God, our God. It's always for Paul also my God "I thank my God always as I remember you in my prayers."

Whether Paul continued the pattern of praying [00:27:00] three times daily or not, he can say to the Thessalonians, and by way of extension to us, "Rejoice always." What? "Pray without ceasing." So as Paul continues to pray, he says that he thanks God because he has heard. There are these Christian news networks. They are informal perhaps, but they're fast.

Word travels because in the ancient word, world, people did. Uh, we have remarkable ease of travel, but in the first century, due to Roman roads and to safer seas brought on by the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome, people could get around more quickly than they could in the past. And as Christians went from [00:28:00] place to place, they found one another.

And so Paul has been told about Philemon, who he has more than a passing interest in. And he's been told about Philemon's love for all of the saints, those in Christ Jesus. And his prayer is that his partnership with, with Paul, with Timothy, with others in the faith might be effective as you continue to grow in understanding of all the good that we share in Christ Jesus.

And then he says that, "Your love has given me great joy and encouragement because you have," watch this, "refreshed the hearts [00:29:00] of the saints." The word rendered heart is rather blandly translated. It is the Greek word which means guts, entrails. Uh, I'll teach you a new Greek word, just like Mark does, I'm sure.

Splagchna. Can you say it with me? Splagchna. It's, uh, because you've refreshed the splagchna, the entrails, the very being of the saints. Hold onto that word, would you? Have the address and the greeting. We have thanksgiving and appreciation for Philemon, not least because of the hospitality that he has shown, the way that he's refreshed the hearts of the saints.

This gives Paul joy and encouragement, even, watch this, in the [00:30:00] face of his imprisonment, because joy isn't contingent upon circumstances. Joy, what's the junior high definition? Is the flag flown from the castle of our heart when the king is in residence. Joy is that which we have and hold in Christ, and encouragement also comes Paul's way through Philemon.

Now, let's continue to see how Paul appeals to Philemon for Onesimus as we situate ourselves in the world of the text. Paul begins by saying that he, because he's bold in Christ, could tell [00:31:00] Philemon what he ought to do. Paul sometimes could give commands, could he not? But here he says, "I could do, but I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love."

What's love got to do with it, the song asks The apostle Paul says, "Love is the theme. Love is supreme. Sweeter it grows, glory bestows, bright as the sun, ever it flows. Love is the theme, eternal theme." Sorry, I like the old hymns. I like the new hymns. Paul says to the Colossians, "Sing to one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs."

So he says, "I prefer to appeal to you on the [00:32:00] basis of love." It is as none other than Paul, and then he says, "An old geezerd." "An, an old man," still getting more sound, which is better and better. Thank you. "And a prisoner of Christ Jesus." Now, isn't this interesting? He does not say that he's a prisoner of this municipality, or of this prefect, or of Rome, or of Rome Caesar.

Paul says that he is chained in Christ. Amen. And although he is bound, the gospel isn't. Amen. And it has a way of [00:33:00] weaseling its way into the most unexpected places. So in verse 10, will you note with me that Paul is over one-third through this letter, and we still haven't the foggiest notion why he's writing it.

He has yet to introduce the subject. He has yet to drop the Onesimus bomb, but he does in verse 10, and watch the way he does it He says, "I could tell you what to do. I'm an old fella now. I once was young." Remember at the time that Stephen was being stoned, Luke says that Paul was a young man. [00:34:00] "I once was young.

Now I'm old. I've never seen the righteous forsaken their seed begging for bread." Paul says, "I appeal to you as an old man and a prisoner for my son Onesimus." Isn't this fascinating? Not for your slave, but for my son. And then he's going to show us what he means by his son. "Who became my son, who literally I begot while I was in chains."

Translated, who I led to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ "Formerly he was useless to [00:35:00] you." What does Onesimus' name mean? Useful. Formerly, he was not living up to his name, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. You all, one of the reasons that we demand our students take Greek is because you can see a few things that you can't in English translation.

May I? Yes. Formerly, he was, uh, the, the word is here achrēston, useless to you. Now he is chréston, useful. And it may even be a double pun, because formerly he was without Christ, now he is in Christ. And so here's [00:36:00] what I'm doing. I'm sending him back to you, because to harbor a slave in Greco-Roman antiquity is tantamount to criminal activity.

So Paul says, "I'm sending him back to you, and as I do, I'm sending you," watch this, "I'm sending you my splagchna, my very heart. If you leave me now, you'll take away the biggest part of me." But he's sending him back. Now, Paul said, "Had I my druthers, I would have kept him with me. Yet I wanted to make sure that I did not do anything without your consent," hint, hint, "so that any favor you would do," [00:37:00] would, hint, hint, uh, "would be done not without force, but would be voluntary."

Then Paul ponders the possibility, "Perhaps he was separated for you for an hour," literally, for a short amount of time. Notice the passive voice. He was separated so as not to make Onesimus culpable and to give God a place in the play. Perhaps God orchestrated the whole of this so that You might have him back forever, but note the title of the lesson.

No longer as a slave, but more than a slave, [00:38:00] but as a beloved brother. Do you remember Galatians 3:28? "In Christ there is neither," help me, "Jew or Greek," what? "Slave or free, male and female." So we discover as O Holy Night reminds that the slave is the brother So that you might have him back forever. No longer as a slave, but more than a slave, as a bl- brother, if to me, so much more so to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

Because in Christ, there is a new creation, old things passed away, new [00:39:00] things have come. As Wayne Watson once sang, Wayne used to be a member of this church back when the earth's crust was still cooling, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away "New lives for old, warm hearts for cold." So I'm now on verse 17, still watching my watch, but I'm not gonna throw it on the table So if you consider me a partner, have you ever heard of the word koinonia?

Yes. Yeah. This is the noun form for partner. If you consider me a koinonos, if you consider me a partner, here's what to do. This is Paul's request. [00:40:00] Welcome him. Receive him as you would me. Later in the letter, we're about to see that Paul's going to ask for Philemon to prepare for him a guest room. That's how he would've been received.

Uh, we don't know that he would've been received as the father received the prodigal , running out to greet him, saying, "Hey, kill the fatted calf. Call everyone and let's throw a party." But I'm not so sure it would've been much short of that. If you had an apostle visit your town, one who had seen the risen Jesus, one who had been commissioned by the risen Christ, and if you were a Christ follower, when one of those came to your place, this was a good day.

Receive him [00:41:00] as you would me. Now note, in the hypothetical, if he has done anything wrong, okay, we're just gonna leave this to be an open question, and if he owes you anything, here's what to do. Let's do an IOU. Charge it to my account. My credit's good. Put it on my tab, not unlike the story of the Good Samaritan, right?

Paul said, "I will repay it." Paul now, watch this, says to his scribe in verse 19... There's a fancy word for scribe, as if we needed one, [00:42:00] amanuensis. So Paul says, "I'll take the pen now- "I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand." We might say with his own shackled hand. "I will pay it back. Not to mention, just to mention, that you owe me your very self."

What in the world? Well, I gather that Onesimus wasn't the only one who was led to Jesus by Paul. So also was Philemon. You say, "No, no, no way. How could this have happened? He had never even been to Colossae." But had Philemon been to Ephesus? Paul was there for three years. It's not that far away. I've [00:43:00] just been back to Greece and Turkey, two of my favorite places in the world, and when we were in Hierapolis recently, we learned of a merchant who had been back and forth to Rome from Hierapolis, near contemporary Palmaluke.

No less than 23 times he sailed the Cape of Malea. Uh, ancient travelers used to say, "Double Malea," or, "Sail and skirt around Malea and forget your home." Treacherous. So people were on the move, and seemingly Philemon becomes a Jesus follower through Paul while in Ephesus. "I do wish, [00:44:00] brother, to have some," wait for it, "anaimon."

It's a play on words, some benefit for you in Christ. So as to say, "Please send Onesimus back," watch this, "refresh my splagchna." So Philemon had refreshed the splagchna of the saints. Onesimus had become Paul's very splagchna. "Refresh my splagchna in Christ." You say it's overly subtle. Probably had to be.

Confident of your obedience, you, you might be saying, "Well, Paul said that he wasn't gonna order him around." Well, this is obedience to Christ ultimately. "I write to you," watch this, "knowing that you will do [00:45:00] even more than I say." Even more. Do you remember Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations? I don't know if you remember William Carey, the British missionary, who used to say, "Expect great things from God.

Attempt great things for God." Paul here is saying, "Expect great things from one another. Attempt great things with one another." Knowing that you will do even more than I say, Paul says. So coming down the home stretch, Paul says, "Oh, once, once again, one more thing. Prepare a guest room for me [00:46:00] because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers."

In other words, we'll be checking up. Isn't it fascinating that although this is a personal letter, it's not a private letter? It's to Philemon, but it's also to Apphia and Archippus and the church meeting in your home, and Paul is flanked by Timothy, but not only by Timothy, Epaphras, who is the pastor of the church in Colossae.

"My fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus sends you greetings." Howdy. As does Mark, seemingly the one to whom the Gospel of Mark is attributed. Aristarchus. Demas, you know the one who having loved the present world goes to Thessalonica. And Luke, the doctor we learn in Colossians 4. My fellow workers, a simple [00:47:00] grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Well, you say that's a lot. It is a lot, even though it's a little letter. But the question is, what happened to Onesimus? You may have looked carefully at the picture that I showed you of Onesimus earlier. You will see that it is an icon, that is to say, a, an impression painted of those the church has highly regarded over the sweep of her history, sometimes known as Saint Onesimus.

As it happens, an early Christ follower called Ignatius wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus. On no less than three occasions, [00:48:00] he mentions the overseer, here bishop of that congregation, who bore the name- Onesimus ... Onesimus. Can you prove it? No, but you cannot not prove it I'm gonna lean into it. And it is sometimes suggested that the one that preserved this little letter is the one to whom it would have mattered most.

He carried the first copy along with Colossians, we gather, maybe Ephesians, who knows? So it is unknown what happened to Onesimus, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. The second question: How might Philemon speak to us today? [00:49:00] In all kinds of ways In my happy place, we divide into groups, we would talk one among another, but we can't do that in five minutes' time.

So a few thoughts. What does Philemon have to say to us today? Well, the first thing that it says is we should not treat people like chattel People should never be reduced to a servile state. What does the gospel do? The gospel gives dignity- Amen ... to any and to all. One of the remarkable achievements of the Reformation is be one a butcher or a baker or a candlestick maker, everyone has inherent value [00:50:00] and worth in Christ Jesus.

Why do Christ followers advocate so hard for the unborn? Because everyone is of inherent value and worth. Why do Christ followers get involved in sex trafficking? Because they want to fight against it so that people would not be bar- bought and borrowed. Every person matters to God. Amen. Secondly, in this little letter, we see the power of the gospel.

I'm presently writing a commentary on Romans, so Mark, you're in good luck per Max's invitation. Although if... when I sit down with Mark, every time I'm the one learning the more [00:51:00] Paul says in Romans that, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation through the Jew first and also to the Greek."

So we discover that the gospel has power to change us, to make us less of what, uh, we used to be and more of what we ought to be for the glory of God. What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart. So people are not chattel. The power of the gospel. Watch this.

Hospitality as a ministry. Isn't it interesting that not only is hospitality named among spiritual gifts, but here [00:52:00] we see that Philemon's ministry was the ministry of hospitality, welcoming the church into his home, and now Paul gives him the opportunity to welcome Onesimus even as he would have welcomed the apostle.

Sometimes we can't be bothered, but hospitality truly is a ministry. A ph- a cup of cold water. Amen. A piece of pie and a cup of coffee An outreach to a next door neighbor in Jesus' name. You all, the other thing about this letter is that we see Paul in Philemon as something of a bridge figure, a mediator between a slave owner [00:53:00] who frankly could have been white hot mad and a penitent slave.

And if we ponder long enough, we will ponder our own predicament. And no one wrote of this more powerfully than the reformer Martin Luther. It's right at noon. The good news is I'm finished. I have one quote that I would like to share The epistle, here Philemon, this is in Martin Luther's introduction, uh, on Philemon.

It's a preface to Philemon in his Die Bibel, his Bible. This epistle gives us a masterful and tender illustration of Christian love. For here we see how Saint Paul takes the part of poor Onesimus and to the best of his [00:54:00] ability embraces his cause with his master. He acts exactly as if though he were himself Onesimus, who had done wrong seemingly.

Yet he does this not with force or compulsion as lay within his rights, but he empties himself of his rights in order to compel Philemon to waive his rights. What Christ has done for us with God the Father, that Saint Paul does also for Onesimus with Philemon, for Christ emptied himself of his rights and overcame the Father with love and humility so that the Father had to put away his wrath and rights and receive us into his favor for the sake of Christ, who so earnestly advocates our cause and so heartedly takes our part.[00:55:00]

And now the punchline and the final line. For we are all his Onesimuses if we believe

Thanks be to God

Once again, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be with you and those online. And Mark, if you're watching from where you are in your far-flung place, we love you, and they want you back. May we pray? May we pray? May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you both now and forevermore.

Amen