THE LORD'S DESIRE FOR RECONCILIATION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.

Philemon 8-16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Up to this point of his letter to Philemon, Paul was setting the stage for this moment, the moment when he would get right down to the heart of why he was writing.

The buildup was very complimentary in nature as the Apostle wrote to the man he called his “dear friend and fellow worker” for the cause of the Gospel, the man who was hosting a body of Christian believers for worship in his home. Paul applauded Philemon’s love for God’s “holy people”, a love that refreshed their hearts and brought the Apostle “great joy and encouragement”. He also commended Philemon for his “faith in the Lord Jesus”, a faith that leads to a person conducting themselves in a way that would model and bring honor to the Savior, a faith that would serve as the foundation to the continued partnership Paul hoped to have with his Colossian brother in Christ for the sake of the Gospel.

And with that, we come to today’s passage and Paul’s advocacy for one of Philemon’s slaves named Onesimus who had fled Colossae, going to Rome with the hope he would escape his captivity. What Onesimus didn’t know was that God was executing a plan for him to come to salvation for as we read in our verses for today, the slave ended up in the company of the Apostle Paul and became like a son to him.

Note here that Paul is asking Philemon to accept Onesimus back with grace and no sense of retribution or penalty for in biblical times, runaway slaves would often be killed for the act. Through his words, we see that Paul feeling he had the right to boldly tell Philemon what to do but not doing so because the slave owner may have accepted Onesimus back out of sheer compulsion and not out of the loving beauty found in forgiveness and reconciliation.

To further underscore his appeal for pardon and clemency, we find Paul making two strong points to Philemon regarding Onesimus and God’s role in all that had occurred.

First, Onesimus was a different man than when he ran away from Colossae. His time spent with Paul led to him believing in Jesus as Savior which made him a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Once “useless”, code for being an unbeliever and destined for Hell, Onesimus now was as much a Christian as Paul and Philemon. He was now more than a mere slave. He was a fellow brother in Jesus Christ and this made him dear to all other believers.

And so Paul planned to send “his son” Onesimus back to Colossae to reunite with Philemon, after a separation that could have well been orchestrated by God himself as we see through these words:

Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.

In other words, Paul asserted that the main thing in the matter wasn’t that a slave to a master ran away and now must return. Rather, a slave to sin ran away, finding his true Master and Savior as well as the only freedom that really matters in the process.

My Christian brother and sisters, through this short passage we’re reminded of our own experience with divine reconciliation as we find ourselves justified (or made just as if we had never sinned) by Jesus, simply because we placed our belief and faith in Him. This amazing gift that brings us peace with the God who held the power to send us to Hell was one none of us deserved or earned. Rather, it was a gift granted solely by mercy, grace, and love.

As Christian believers, it’s our Lord’s desire that we reconcile ourselves to others, likewise through grace, mercy, and love. Maybe they have wronged us in some way that we feel is unforgivable but we need to remember that when we look to the cross, we are reminded of how even a criminal’s transgressions were reconciled and pardoned by Jesus with an assurance of paradise substituted for wrongdoing. We also can remember Jesus’ words to His Father God as He called for forgiveness over His assailants because they didn’t know what they were doing (Luke 23:34).

As we continue to ease our way into the new year, it’s my prayer that these words from Philemon will take root within us and we will find it in our hearts to release any resentment in our hearts for others, replacing it with reconciliation grounded in grace, mercy, and love, a reconciliation not only modeled but expected by our Lord.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.