Focus Texts: Psalms 139:1-6; Jeremiah 18:1-11; Philemon 1-25
This is a good day, a great day! Welcome back from Summer, welcome back from vacations, welcome back to worship. And welcome home! Today, this very day, there is someone here visiting for the first time! How wonderful to have you with us! Do you know who that person is? Today, this very day, someone has come back to worship with us for the first time in a long time. It is great to see you again! Today, this very day, one of us here is smiling, just because we’re all here together! Look around, see who is here. Look at all the faces. This is a place where God’s visions and dreams become visible and real in our lives. That’s why we come, and why we come back.
It’s Rally Day! And it’s good to see you here.
Today, we are going to hear a story. As I said at the time with children, I’ll need your help. We have just heard one complete book of the Bible. We’re 1/66th done! How exciting is that? Now, we’ve got the rest of the year to finish the book!
It is an epistle, a message written by Paul of Tarsus (an early Christian teacher) for someone to help him make peace with someone he use to know (someone he used to work for). We may remember that in the times when the Bible was written, many people served and labored as servants or slaves of others. This is a story about someone who was a servant, Onesimus, and the person he served, Philemon.
You see, both of these people had heard the teachings of Paul, and had come to join the church of Jesus Christ. Philemon was probably a wealthy man. When he joined the church, his whole family probably joined with him, had been baptized and welcomed into the church. Maybe they joined on a New Member’s Sunday (like the ones we have at Rock Spring).
Onesimus, though, he wasn’t rich. No, he was a servant in the house of Philemon. I don’t know how he came to hear the stories of Jesus, but I can guess. Maybe one day, he was helping serve dinner to his master and the guests. He might have heard Paul say something like:
Or maybe, one of Paul’s other epistles were being read to the congregation gathered in worship. Maybe Onesimus heard:
What a message of hope! What a message of freedom! There was a place where everyone was accepted, regardless of all the names and labels that get placed on people. It did not matter that Onesimus was clumsy sometimes, and dropped things. It did not matter that he had little money. It did not matter—not to Christ, not to the church. It meant that Onesimus and Philemon, and each and every person in the church, was equal. The roles that their society placed on them (master and servant).
Truly, we all need that reminder from time to time. God made us special, unique and wonderful. God charged us with a purpose. We are here to show God’s love for us, and share it with each and every person, animal, plant, bug, and fish. We are here to love!
Back to our story. One day, Paul left the house of Philemon to continue on his mission of teaching about Jesus. Philemon wished him well, and asked for God’s blessings for the journey. Onesimus had made a decision—one that would change his life. He decided to sneak away, and follow Paul. He decided to join in the work of the church, and learn how to help others hear this message of extravagant welcome. All are One in Christ! John 17:21
But, Onesimus did not tell Philemon he was leaving, or ask his permission to leave. With all of the excitement happening around Paul’s departure, Onesimus left without anyone seeing him, and blended in with the group. He didn’t even leave a note or a Letter (Y), telling his master where he was going. “Why?” you may ask. Maybe he was afraid that if he asked, he would be told no.
Oh, if he had only left a Letter (o), maybe Philemon would have understood. Remember, he too had heard the teachings of Paul, and chosen to follow the way of Christ. Philemon had heard the words, “That they may all be one.” Now, this one who he felt he had treated fairly, even though people joked about him being useless, had ran away without even a “Please, may I?”
If You Letter (u) are like me, I would be wondering how Philemon felt when a messenger arrived from Paul. Philemon knew that his teacher had been put in jail for teaching people about Christ. He knew that Paul was in Rome, and being helped by the churches there. Philemon might have expected a letter like the one Paul wrote to his students at Colossae.
In that Letter (A), Paul told the church to keep the faith, for they were doing good things. I wonder how this letter made Philemon feel.
Maybe the arrival of Paul’s Letter (r) was a relief to Philemon. Maybe He was a caring person. The teachings of Paul changed his life, as he chose to join in the mission and ministry of the church.
This Letter (e) might have made him say, “Thanks be to God! I have been so worried; I didn’t know what had happened to him. Onesimus was my responsibility, and when he left, I did not know what to do. I sent my other workers looking for him, but no one found him.
“I even sent Letters (W) to all my friends and neighbors. I would not have thought to ask Paul if Onesimus was with him. I wonder why he left. I will have to ask him when he returns.
“This Letter (e) has eased my worried heart!”
Maybe, though, Philemon was not happy when he broke the seal on the scroll. Maybe he was angry. When he opened this epistle from Paul, Philemon could have even begun shouting, “Are you kidding me? Paul has got to be kidding me in this Letter (l)!”
“This Onesimus, He thinks this Letter (c) will make things good between us. He ran off, and I think he might of even taken some of my belongings! Now, I am supposed to take him back into my house, and forgive him, and treat him like an equal.
“What does Paul want me to do with this runaway servant of mine, this Onesimus? What should I do with this Letter (o)? Does he want me to treat him like an equal??”
Maybe, though, the person we need to think about is Onesimus. This Letter (m) was written in his name. It must have taken a lot of courage for him to ask Paul to write on his behalf. And if I were he, I would have been rather scared to ask for this Letter (e) of reference. How hard it is to ask someone to stand by our side when we have hurt someone, when we need to ask forgiveness.
Or maybe we should think about Paul. This Letter (H) could have been his idea, a way to mend the broken relationship that stood between the former master and servant, now brothers in Christ.
Or maybe, we should read this epistle as a Letter (e) to ourselves. It is in the moments like this, when we are confronted with the one who we cannot forgive, who has insulted us, or ignored our needs, or put us down, that our light must shine.
We could see this as duty, as the result of the covenant promises we made when we chose to follow in Christ’s teachings. But Paul reminds us in his Letter (r) to the church at Colossae, that it is not because of duty, but in love that we are made to act. For, Paul says to us this day:
…And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God... Colossians 3:17
This Letter
So it comes down to this.
First-time visitor, long-tenured friend, child and senior, youth and parent. In what voice do you hear this letter (e) being read?
For it does not matter by what path you came here, or in which direction you are heading. Some day, you might just receive a letter like this one, and need to ask yourself how will you respond.
When someone asks you to forgive them, to welcome them back home, what will your heart say? What will it say to the questions that come:
What can I say to him?
This one who left, who is returning, who I must love like a friend?
What should I say to him?
Letter spell out : You Are Welcome Here
Welcome home! This is the word of our still-speaking God. Thanks be to God.
Amen.