Re-formed

Philemon 1-21   Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

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Sometimes a theme surprises you.  Just recently two new novels have been published – one called Underground Railroad and the other called Underground Airlines.  Both of these stories address the heritage of slavery in our country by re-imagining the underground railroad, the road to freedom for slaves.  Underground Airlines tells a story in which slavery still exists in America in the present time.  Underground Railroad follows a runaway slave as she travels through one state after another, in which she encounters a variety of different ways in which white people relate to black people. 

Both stories are more than just a historical note.  Both stories have something timeless to say about how it is when we regard some people as less than human, as chattel.  And I imagine both authors would say that there are vestiges of this systemic problem affecting our culture today.  It is extremely hard work to change such deeply ingrained beliefs.

Paul’s letter to Philemon is a very short one – short for Paul, anyway.  It is unusual for Paul because it is not written to a church but rather to a person – Philemon.  And it is written for only one purpose.  Paul wants Philemon to grant freedom to his slave Onesimus. 

Slavery was a part of the culture in which Paul was living. It was part of the culture in which Jesus lived, it was a part of all of the cultures in which all of the books of the Bible were written.  In the ancient world, slavery was normal.  It was not restricted to the people of one particular race or tribe.  Slavery was what the powerful people did to people who were powerless. 

We know that the people of Israel were enslaved by the Egyptians for hundreds of years before they were led out of slavery by Moses.  And we know that the people of Israel, once they were established in their own land, also practiced slavery.  We know this because the law of Israel addressed it – not the question of “if” it was acceptable, but the questions of “how” it was acceptable. 

We know that in the Roman Empire slavery was normal.  Some of the stories in the book of Acts tell about slaves, such as the woman who had a spirit of divination and was used by her owners quite profitably.  Some of the epistles have instructions pertaining to how slaves should behave, and from this we see that at least some Christian households owned slaves.  All of this seems far away and strange to us.  And that is why it seems odd to us that Paul treads so delicately around the question.

The fact is this: there was no conventional wisdom at the time in which the enslavement of human beings was considered to be unethical or unchristian.  That is hard for us to get our heads around, and I am glad that it is.  But it’s worth remembering that it is hard to get our heads around only because there were individuals who suggested, sometimes gently and sometimes boldly, that this is not the way things ought to be.

That is just what Paul was doing in this letter to Philemon.  Look at the way he does it and admire.

He is artful in his choice of words.  He is complimentary, he is encouraging, and at the same time he is threatening.  Paul is definitely using whatever he has at his disposal to bring about the result he wants.  This is clearly a reform that is important to him. 

Onesimus has come to be with Paul, who is in prison. But we don’t know under what conditions he arrived there.  He might have been sent there by his master, to be of some service to Paul.  But it is also quite possible that Onesimus ran away from his master and now finds himself in a particularly difficult position.  But he has found an advocate in Paul, who regards Onesimus now as a son.  “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me,” he writes to Philemon.  Useless, perhaps, because he has run away from his master; useful now because as he appeals for forgiveness and liberation, he offers both Paul and Philemon a chance to practice extravagant love.

Paul wrote the words, “for freedom Christ has set us free,” and, “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” 

If Paul has discerned these truths through Jesus Christ, then it is fitting for Paul to be the one who says to Philemon that Jesus Christ brings this transformation to our world, that no longer should we accept or participate in the enslavement of our fellow human beings.  It is time to face this truth – although it would take many hundreds of years, nearly two thousand years, for the church to fully embrace that.

Being reformed takes time.  But the scriptures we hear today tell us it is God’s work. 

We see it in the story from Jeremiah.  “Go down to the potter’s house and I will let you hear my word,” the Lord says to Jeremiah.  And there he sees the potter working at his wheel.  The potter’s work was important to a community.  He created pots and bowls and cups – vessels of all sorts for everyday use.  For carrying water, for cooking and eating, these craftsmen were an essential part of a community. 

Jeremiah watches the potter working a lump of clay into a vessel.  The vessel, once formed, will be fired, hardened and ready to use.  But the clay becomes ruined in the potter’s hands.  It became misshapen or torn, somehow not salvageable, the potter knows.  And so he picks up the clay and begins the process again.  A shapeless lump will be formed into a useful vessel.

“Can I not do with you just what this potter has done with the clay?”  says the Lord to Jeremiah.  The people of Israel, though created good, have become misshapen, useless to God, ruined.  Too many times they had turned away from God’s desire for them to be a just and loving community.  Too many times they had failed to care for the poor, the weak, and the alien in their midst.  They had ignored God’s commands for the sake of their own gain, power and riches. 

They are no longer a people who are useful to God.  But there is hope.  God had not finished with them yet.  As the potter picks up the clay from the wheel and begins again, reforming it into a good and useful vessel, so may God do with Israel.  What God has created good, God can reform into goodness once again.

Being reformed is God’s work.  And it is, therefore, our work as well.

Our Presbyterian heritage has a motto:  that we are reformed and always being reformed.  The work of reformation, re-formation, is never finished, because God’s work is not finished.

How will God reform us?  Where are the blind spots, the flaws which make us less than useful?  Each one of us may answer that for him or herself; each of us may offer our personal prayer to God, to reshape us closer to God’s image, closer to God’s original intent for humankind.  But let us pray also, for the church, that God will reform us into the church that Christ desires: a place where sinners may come just as they are to be healed, a place where the saints are sanctified, a place where all may give and receive God’s love and forgiveness. 

May you be blessed with the love of God in this place. 

May you bless others in the sharing and the caring of Christian community. 

And may you seek to be ever useful to the Lord our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.