Friday Faithfuls: Philemon

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Week two of the 'out of order' posts...saving 2 Timothy until next week.  So this week ,we're looking at Philemon in our weekly 'skim through a book looking to see what jumps'.

Philemon is probably the most personal letter of Paul's we have in the New Testament.  Written to a friend,  with an entirely personal appeal, I doubt Paul ever imagined folks would be still be studying it two thousand years in the future.  He probably thought no one other than Philemon would read it.  But apparently Holy Spirit had other ideas and there are principles in this letter that apply to more than just the specific situation Paul was addressing.

Written during Paul's first imprisonment in Rome, likely at the same time as the letters to the Ephesians and Colossians, as the same folks are mentioned and Onesimus is mentioned as accompanying Tychius as he carried the letters back to those congregations...and also probably the letter to Philemon.  A pretty gutsy thing; Onesimus had one time been enslaved, and property of Philemon, and had run away...and now, was returning with a letter from Paul asking Philemon to welcome Onesimus as a brother, not a runaway slave.

Of course, the verse that is, to me, the high point of this letter is verse 18, but I used that the last time I did this little exercise, so by my restrictions on this, the second go round, I have to look at a different verse.

The next verse that catches my attention is verse 21:

Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

Paul didn't specifically ask Philemon to officially free Onesimus...he just asked that Onesimus be received as a friend and a brother, which implies that he would not be punished in any way for his actions, which likely included theft of property to support himself once he fled. But Paul, without specifically saying it, clearly expects Philemon to release Onesimus from servitude as well.

And, as it turns out, ancient church tradition has it that a fellow named Onesimus became the leader of the church in Ephesus after Timothy.  Was it the same guy?  If it was...then it appears that Philemon honored both Paul's spoken and implied requests and gave Onesimus full pardon and freedom.

And the whole body in that region benefitted from his actions.

And here's what struck me from that...me forgiving an individual, extending grace to go beyond, maybe even aiding/ assisting that person in his/her own personal growth, doesn't just affect me, but potentially everyone that person can then influence for Christ. What's my personal little hurt...or even big hurt...in comparison to what a truly repentant person can do in the Kingdom?