rich’s blog

So if I were a teacher, I’d fail myself for the references you see here below.  NIB refers to New Interpreter’s Bible, a commentary series.  SSC refers to the Social-Science commentary on the letters of Paul, published by Fortress Press.  If you want more info, write me. Peace!

The Story of Phil & Onesy

 

Preface:  

So we’re starting a new series today.

 

It’s a small series–it won’t last long–and we’re doing what feels like quick surveys over a few smaller new testament books.  So everything about this series is quick & small.  Like a Jockey.

 

So today we’ll look at the letter Paul has written to Philemon and his church. We’ll notice the way Paul uses words, uses his status, his relationship with Philemon–all sorts of things–in order to get his not-too-subtle point across.

 

And hopefully we’ll do more than just admire Paul, but maybe even learn some way we can bring this small letter into our lives so that we’re changed by it.

 

But first: Let us pray.

 

Prayer:

Oh Jesus, we are in the season of Easter, the season of your resurrection, and we ask that you would fill us with power, with presence of mind to see your hand at work in the world around us and in our lives.  Let this time be a part of that.  Take away my voice if I mislead us, and help our hearts to attend to you.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

 

Rhetoric:

And before we go on to review Philemon, I want to lay the groundwork for today’s discussion by mentioning rhetoric.  You’ve all heard the term, right? And it gets used in a couple of ways in our society.  Sometimes we’ll talk about “rhetorical questions,” by which we basically mean questions that we don’t want someone to answer.  Another thing we’ll do is talk about the way a speech someone delivers is all rhetoric–and we mean basically that it’s just empty fluff, there’s not substance. It’s dismissive.

 

This gives rhetoric a bad name.  But back before Jesus was born, ages ago, rhetoric was studied in schools, people were trained in rhetoric and it was a standard part of the higher classes’ education.  Teacher’s taught rhetoric, and some of the most famous names that I could drop–Aristotle, Plato, Cicero–were students of rhetoric as much as they were politicians or philosophers.

 

And rhetoric wasn’t simply fluff or questions that didn’t need answered: it was the art of persuasion.  Rhetoric was the art of persuasion.  And masters of rhetoric were celebrities, because this was a public art form.  It was practiced in public amphitheaters, rhetorical speeches were written down & mass produced & distributed.  Everyone loved this stuff: professional sports, Hollywood, Web-kinz, all rolled into one.  When Luke talks in Acts 17 about the way people in Athens did nothing but discuss ideas, this is what he’s talking about.

 

And like all art, Rhetoric had rules, it had standards, it was able to be judged.  Some people’s arguments flubbed, you know: they just couldn’t persuade well. Some people were amazing, and are still studied today as master’s of rhetoric.

 

And the rules to rhetoric are interesting if you’re into that sort of thing.  But Paul knows them.  Paul was clearly familiar with, and likely trained in, rhetoric.  And over the past decade or two, studying the rhetoric that we see in Paul’s writing–a thing called “Rhetorical Criticism”–has become a standard tool that people can use as they study their Bibles.

 

And you know, you can persuade people by appealing to all sorts of things.  You can appeal to their reason, you can appeal to their emotion, you can appeal to something outside of them–law, the state, their communities.  And rhetoric is judged like figure skating, you know: the more clever you are, the more brief you are, the more literary you are: all these things count towards how persuasive your communication actually is.

 

Pastors normally don’t talk about this, because we’re scared that someone will actually start rating us, holding up numbers, just like figure skating.  And we generally look terrible in leotards, so we don’t want to go there.

 

But we have got to understand Paul’s rhetorical power, his ability to communicate persuasively, through all sorts of different means.  So keep rhetoric–as the honorable art of persuasion–in mind as we go through this passage now.

 

Feel free to follow along in your Bibles; Philemon is a tiny little book after Titus & before Hebrews.

 

Entering In: 

 

   Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker—also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:

    Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (vv1-3)

 

Paul is writing to Philemon, an individual who hosts a house church, who he calls his dear friend, his fellow worker: I mean Paul is drawing Philemon close, right.  And he gives a shout out to a couple of other friends of his, probably leaders in the church who are also part of Philemon’s household (cf. ssc, 323), and to the church itself. So this letter is to Philemon…but it’s also to everyone else in his church, and it will be read to everybody.

 

   I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people. (vv4-7)

 

Then Paul goes on to just talk about how great Philemon is. And you can imagine this first read through, right.  Philemon is just feeling great.  There is a rumor going around about how loving he is, how full of faith he is, etc, and it’s reached Paul, the apostle to the gentiles, to his church, one who has seen Jesus, this is amazing.  And my faith, my faith, Philemon is thinking,–because Paul has switched from the plural, “you all” he used at the start of this letter to the “you, Philemon, you singular” here–Paul’s heard about how great it is.  Philemon is supposed to be thinking about how he’s Paul’s brother, he’s the one bringing Paul joy & encouragement.  He’s refreshing, gives the church a fresh comfort.  I want to meet Philemon after reading this, you know? Paul is thankful for Philemon. This is like the perfect grave-stone. But the tone changes, quickly.

 

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. (vv8-11)

 

v8: Hunh? I mean this is out of leftfield, right? Paul has our attention now.  If we’re Philemon.

 

And he keeps going.  He talks about love again, right, that sounds familiar & then get’s Philemon’s sympathy.  I’m just an Old Man…oh, and a Prisoner because of my faith.  And Philemon sets down his starbucks & shifts awkwardly in his comfortable chair.  And then Paul gets to the point, the reason for the appeal.  He has buttered Philemon up, he’s surprised him & gotten his attention: and now he lays it out there.  “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.”

 

We don’t know much about him, Onesimus.  He was a slave, we’ll learn in a second.  His name means something like “useful,” (ssc 326); and Paul cleverly plays on his name, here. (ibid.)  And he’s now a “prisoner” with Paul.  It may be that he was marked as a slave somehow, and caught.  It’s most likely that he ran away to Paul specifically, in the hope that Paul could somehow help him no longer be a slave. (cf. ssc 326-327). But we don’t know for certain how he ended up where he ended up. What we do know is that he has become a believer.  Most people think that Paul has led Onesimus to Christ.

 

In a moment we’ll read how Onesimus was “separated from Philemon for a little while” which may be Paul’s gloss over the fact that Philemon is run away property, as far as the rules of the day went. But Paul claims Philemon here as his son in the faith. Literally, he says that he’s “given birth to Onesimus” while he’s in prison (ssc 326). And he sends Onesimus back to Philemon.

 

    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. (vv12-16)

 

Paul is probably playing up his chains here, speaking more than a little metaphorically.  He is a prisoner, but apparently has the power to send Onesimus back to where he should live; some people think it’s likely that he’s writing from Rome under house imprisonment, and he’s being given some freedoms as a citizen (cf. the discussion in nib 903ff.) But again, he’s working Philemon, right?   He’s using every tool in his rhetoric tool box.  We see this, right?

 

My favorite is v14: “But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced by would be voluntary.”  Yeah, right.  “He is very dear to me”–we know, Paul, you just called Onesimus “your very heart,”–”but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.”  Paul is basically telling Philemon how he, Philemon, feels about Onesimus. It’s nice to be told how you feel about someone.

 

Let’s keep reading, because if this paragraph pushes Philemon into a corner, the next one forces him out of the room.

 

     So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. (vv17-21)

 

Bam! What else can Philemon do but exactly what Paul asks of him.  What would you do?  But it’s not over. Just in case Philemon wants to get angry that Paul has put him in this situation, said all this stuff to him in front of the whole church, Paul mentions, you know, casually:

 

    And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. (v22)

 

Because of course Philemon has been praying for Paul’s release…and this letter won’t change that, Paul’s sure of it.

 

    Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.

 

    The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. (vv23-25)

 

And we have some conclusion stuff, that reminds Philemon again of Paul’s situation verses his own, and lets Philemon know that some of the most important movers & shakers in the early greek church say hello, and are probably privy to the whole situation going on here. They may ask Philemon how he & Onesimus are doing sometime.

 

Entering In: Conclusion

Let me, before we do anything else, ask this: Do we see Paul pushing & pushing on Philemon. Do we see his efforts to persuade in full force here? This is persuasive speech, rhetoric really at its finest.

 

At the end of this letter, Philemon is left with one option, which is to welcome his ex-slave as he would welcome Paul, honor Onesimus, bring Onesimus into the church, into his house, as an equal, a fellow man and a brother in the Lord.  It’s the only option Philemon is left with.

 

Oh, my! The Community: 

And this letter would have been read before the whole church, remember.  It begins & ends with a plural “you all,” not just “you Philemon.”  And you know, everyone in the church would have sat around and watched Philemon the entire time this letter is being read, watched his face & his reactions while they sit on his furniture in his house, and they wouldn’t have pretended not to hear.  They didn’t have a “live & let live,” “it’s between Philemon & the Lord” perspective.

 

As far as the church was concerned, Philemon was accountable to Paul, and to them; and they would have expected Philemon to listen to Paul.  Paul knows this, right? He is counting on this peer pressure to be an added force in his efforts to persuade Philemon. But he also believes this; if we are a church, we are accountable to one another.

 

Transitioning:  

And we could read this letter of Paul’s as just an example of incredibly persuasive speech, right?  Oh isn’t he a clever, talented apostle.  So glad he’s on our team.  Christians win again!

 

But there are ways we can bring this letter into our lives, let the Lord speak to us through it so that we are shaped by it–I mean, do any of us really open scripture, spend time in it only so that we can appreciate rhetorical excellence? I guess it would be better than forgetting to open them, right?

 

But if we’re not going to just think good thoughts about our favorite apostle’s rhetorical skills, what should we do with this letter?

 

Guess what: I’ve got a suggestions. Let me share them, get to them, by way of a frustration that I’ve often felt when I’ve read this letter in the past.

 

Frustration:

I’ve been frustrated with Paul when I’ve read this letter in the past, because when I read this letter I jump to what seems like the main concern, because I think it should be the main concern, which is slavery.  I read this letter, and what I really want to see is Paul say that slavery is bad. Slavery is a big deal, Paul sort of almost talks about it, why doesn’t he just jump into that topic, go all the way, and say that slavery is bad, Christians–including Philemon, that’s fine–shouldn’t do it, and then I could feel better, somehow, reading this letter.  More easily affirmed in my own beliefs.  It would be nice.

 

A Small Scope: 

This is me, this has been my frustration with this letter.  For all it’s rhetorical power, it has such a small scope, and when I have read it, I have just wanted Paul to broaden that scope beyond Philemon & Onesimus & their relationship and talk about slavery generally, condemn it outright.

 

Hold onto this, my frustration, because we’re going to talk about something else for a moment.  But this is my frustration, right: that the problem Paul deals with seems so small in scope, so tiny & personal & relational, when he could if he had wanted taken on an entire evil system!  But follow me closely, for a second.

 

What Paul Does: 

What Paul does in this letter is focus on the interpersonal relationship between Philemon & Onesimus, and he challenges Philemon’s understanding of who & want Onesimus is by talking about his own relationship with Onesimus.  Paul redefines for Philemon who Onesimus is by talking about his own relationship with Onesimus.

 

We see this, right?  I mean Paul redefines who & what Onesimus is in light of himself. He has become Paul’s “own heart,” he is like a son to Paul.  And Paul claims authority over the new life Philemon has in Christ, and so demands that Philemon accept Paul’s perspective on this man, which stands against everyone else’s perspective.  Follow me?  To everyone else, Onesimus is a slave who is someplace he should not be, and deserves to be punished for it.  To Paul, Onesimus is a son, his own heart, his comfort, his brother–and he is doing all he can to show to Philemon who Onesimus truly is now that he is in Christ.

 

W/ Reference to Jesus: 

And more than this, Paul is understanding Onesimus in light of Jesus.  Paul knows that “in Christ Jesus [we] are all children of God through faith,” that “there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave of free, male or female,” that what is most basic about us is our shared, unifying faith.

 

Paul is aware in a way we can become deadened to how deeply transformative a relationship with Jesus is: it disrupts all other relationships.

 

Something that Overwhelms: 

Paul is not talking about slavery in this letter, he’s not.  He’s talking about something bigger than slavery, something that overwhelms slavery and its the fact that in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself & reconciling each of us to one another.  Paul’s talking about the basic story of what it means that Jesus was born and lived and died and rose again, a story of forgiveness and reconciliation that he has become an ambassador of.  And in fact, Paul chooses in Philemon to refer to himself with a word that can be translated “ambassador,” a word he uses elsewhere to talk about the job he has reconciling people to God. (cf. nib, 899).

 

And all this does inevitably, I think, end up destroying slavery, destroying any system by which people are made into property, commodities to be traded & sold for stuff.  Philemon, and these other passages I’ve alluded to, all are seeds that, as they spread over time, gained speed, gained momentum, and–I think inevitably–lead Christians over time to nearly universally stand against slavery.  It took ages, but these seeds grew up.

 

But Paul doesn’t make that his task in this letter; it’s just not what he’s writing about.  So what’s he writing about, right?

 

What is he writing about, then, Rich? 

He is talking to an apparently good man, Philemon, about another really good man, a new Christian, Onesimus, and working to reconcile them together.  Paul lays most of the responsibility for this on Philemon, because he’s the one with the power to change their relationship.  Onesimus has very little power; Philemon has a lot–in his household, over his slaves, in the church.  And Paul wants to see Philemon use his power to level their relationship.  And Paul wants to act as the ambassador of reconciliation that God has made him to be.

 

Suggestions, finally:

So: Here’s my suggestions.  Because one basic way to draw application out of any written think in Scripture, is to look at the effects the writing would have had in its orginal context, and act in ways that achieve the same effects today in our own contexts.  Does this make sense?  Let me say it again:

 

One basic way to draw application out of any written thing in Scripture is to look at the effects the writing would have had in its original context, if we had listened to it, and then act in our own contexts in ways that would achieve the same effects today.

 

A Terrible Example:

So if Jesus had wanted us to all own monkeys, and so he tells us to buy banana trees, because 2,000 years ago, you have a banana tree, then you got yourself a monkey.  But today, in America, if Monkeys hate bananas, and only like smoothies, we had better not buy banana trees.  We should buy blenders, right?

 

So how do we bridge the gap? How do we create the same effects that Paul sought to create by writing this letter to Philemon.  I think the simplest thing we can do is buy blenders.  I’m kidding.  It’s to realize how much we are like Paul, like Philemon, like Onesimus. And that if we can identify with any of these three, we need to act.

 

Paul: 

Some of us are Paul.  We need to persuade people around us to seek Godly things, and we must do it with all the energy, talent, and power we’ve got–but not manipulatively, just sincerely, honestly, and cleverly.  People will come to us in need, and because of the influence we have, we will be asked to act as reconcilers between people.

 

So we need to persuade one another of the truth that Jesus died for each one of us, and all of us, and we have got to accept Jesus’ opinion & perspective on those around us, let that define those around us, instead of defining others by frustrated they make us or how offensive they have been to us.

 

You see what I’m getting at here, right?

 

Some of us are Pauls, with great power to speak persuasively into the lives of others around us.  And we must use that power to persuade others to receive with thankful joy those who they would rather be mad at.  We must use our influence to reconcile people.  And that takes work, and it takes creativity, but we need to not put it off.

 

Philemon: 

Some of us are Philemon.  Maybe we feel we have been wronged.  Maybe we have missed something owned by us, or something we felt was owed to us–honor, appreciation, popularity.

 

And we Philemons, we have power in our relationships–power at least, to bring ourselves and those around us to the same level.  Sometimes this means pulling others up to us, sometimes this means stepping down to where they are.  But when we think we have a right to be angry with someone, or a right to feel hurt, we had first better check ourselves, and remember that the only “right” we have towards another person is the “right” to love them like Jesus loves them.

 

You see what I’m getting at here, right?

 

If you can use the power you hold in a relationship for the good of another person, especially a person who you feel has wronged you, or who owes you, then, knowing what we know about those who are “in Christ” with us, we need to act as agents of unity, not as accusers of the faithful.  That’s the devil’s job.

 

Onesimus: 

Some of us are Onesimus.

 

Some of us find ourselves in difficult situations.  And we need to do what it seems like Onesimus has done; go to those who can help us, as he went to Paul.

 

We don’t know Onesimus’ back story; we don’t know if he sold himself into slavery to cover debts, if he was a spoil of war, we don’t know why he was a slave; anyone could end up a slave in ancient Rome; it wasn’t limited to one ethnicity or people group or class. We don’t know what sort of owner Philemon was.  We only know that he has told his story to someone who can help him.  And some of us need to tell our stories to those who can help us, because we are in great need, and don’t quite know what to do–even if we’ve got ourselves into this mess.

 

You see what I’m getting at here, right? If we need help, we must seek help.  And we should seek help from those who we have heard can help us.  And that will probably mean that we end up a little more converted than we were before; because the ultimate agent of help in every sort of need is Jesus.

 

Conclusion:

And all of us will find ourselves sometimes Paul, sometimes Philemon, sometimes Onesimus.  These are not unchanging roles; these are phases of life.

 

But this little letter is not just an art show, a great example of ancient rhetoric.  It’s a window into a real situation, with real people of faith, Christians who were figuring out what to do in their particular situations.  And this letter–it’s only an introduction, an introduction to a reconciling story that we never really get to keep reading.  We don’t know what it was like when Philemon & Onesimus were rejoined by Paul’s hand.  I pray it was wonderful, a picture of what life will be like when all relationships are fixed, that Philemon brought Onesimus to the head of the table, gave him the comfy chair, and honored him every day after that.  We don’t know.

 

But I do know that if we can remember this letter, take it seriously, we can allow it to be an introduction for us, an introduction to our own stories of reconciliation, of troubled relationships being made complete through Jesus’ power and love…and a little persuasion.

 

Prayer:

Father.  Persuade us this morning of your care for us, of your love for us.  Grant us a deeper faith, a more strongly rooted understanding that we are defined by your love for us, and it breaks down all walls of division, all hurts we hold, all slights we feel–anything that separates us from you and one another.  Help us, when we need to act as Paul to really act with grace & persuasion, as ambassadors of your reconciling love.  When we need to be Philemon, help us to raise others up, and teach us what it means to forgive and draw another person close no matter what.  And when we identify with Onesimus, and find ourselves in need, help us to turn to those who can aid us, and use them to draw us closer to you.  Protect us again from the enemy, and sustain us.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.