Risk & Transformation
Philemon 1-25
Roger Lynn
September 27, 2020

Why is this book even in the Bible? Who decided to include this one chapter, 25 verse long letter? It is very different from anything else we find in the New Testament – a personal letter from Paul to an individual, about a personal matter, with hardly any “theology” at all. There were almost certainly other similar letters from Paul which have not survived. Why is this one still with us? We will probably never know the answer for certain, but there is an intriguing possibility if we view it as one piece out of the middle of a story.

Once upon a time there lived a man named Paul. Over the years the stories about this man have been told and re-told, until he has grown much larger than life. People love him and people hate him. But once, before the storytellers and the scholars and the faithful believers and the skeptical critics all had their way with him, Paul was just a man, trying to live his life the best way he could.

It should be noted that one of the reasons why Paul’s life has become so expanded and expounded is because there was much about his life which really was extraordinary. He was a man of passion and faith, who lived life on the edge and challenged others to do the same. Such living often placed him in less than ideal circumstances. Over the course of his life he was beaten, arrested, thrown in jail, run out of town, shipwrecked, and on and on the list could go. And it is in one of these moments that this story begins.

House arrest was a strange sort of experience. It wasn’t jail, because you were still surrounded by many of the comforts of home. But it wasn’t freedom either. You couldn’t decide to visit friends or live somewhere else. You were confined. Except that Paul didn’t really feel confined – not since his life had been transformed by the freeing grace of Jesus Christ. How could mere circumstances ever hope to imprison him after such an experience? Nonetheless, he was under house arrest and thus found himself limited in his ability to attend to the business of being God’s apostle. He could write letters – which, of course, he did. But that as not the same as personal contact, which was what he missed the most.

And then an amazing thing happened. Amazing things always seemed to find their way into Paul’s life. In the midst of this house arrest he becomes re-acquainted with Onesimus, the slave of Philemon from Colossae. Paul had last seen him in the house of Philemon, but he had not been a Christian then. Much had happened since that time. Over the course of the next several days the story began to emerge. Onesimus had run away, finally being unable to live as a slave any longer. He longed to be free and free he would be. He made his way to Rome, where he eventually became associated with one of the groups of Christians who were living in the city. His life was forever changed when he opened himself to the presence of God through Jesus Christ. And it was that change which led him finally to Paul’s door. He remembered Paul from the days he spent visiting Philemon, and now he needed Paul’s advice.

It was many days before Onesimus could bring himself to tell Paul the real reason why he had come, but in the mean time they talked and shared and opened themselves to each other until a deep and lasting bond had grown between them. He proved useful on a practical level, because he could come and go from Paul’s house, running errands which Paul could not do himself. He proved useful on a personal level because they so obviously connected in such a deep and significant way.

All of which made it even more difficult when he finally decided to confide in Paul the real reason why he had first come to see him. But he might have saved himself the worry, because Paul had been thinking almost the same thoughts. When Onesimus had run away, he was just a slave in search of freedom. Now he was a Christian, and life was different. Philemon, his old master, was also a Christian. Onesimus had to bring some resolution to this situation – but he was afraid. When Paul spoke almost the same thoughts, however, he knew what he must do. He must return to Philemon and face him. But he would not go alone. He would go surrounded by the presence of Christ. And he would go with Paul’s friendship and his support, which was symbolized in the letter he would carry from Paul to Philemon.

And so the day came when the letter was drafted, the good-byes were said, and Onesimus was on his way. It is worth reflecting on the risk which would have been involved in delivering such a letter. Paul was risking the loss of a friend and colleague in ministry. What if the letter didn’t help? There was much at stake for Paul, both in terms of personal loss and the responsibility he would have felt for this one who had come into his life with such trust. The risk for Philemon was also great. To reject Paul’s appeal would have been very acceptable within the cultural context of his day, but would have been at odds with the faith which he was learning to live and to share. To accept Paul’s appeal, however, would have carried its own complications. To receive his wayward slave as a slave no longer, but rather as a brother in Christ, would certainly be in keeping with his faith, but would have left him at odds with his culture and the other slave owners who would disapprove of such precedence being set. But neither the risk for Paul or for Philemon was anything compared with the risk for Onesimus. If Philemon risked losing respect within his community, Onesimus risked losing his freedom. If Paul risked losing a friend, Onesimus risked losing his life. And still he chose to take the risk. They all chose to take the risk. And the results were far greater than they could have imagined.

It is at this point when speculation must take over, because we simply do not know for certain what happened next. There is evidence, however, that what happened was nothing short of miraculous. To begin with, Philemon almost certainly did as Paul had asked. Had anything else taken place, then this letter would not have been preserved. Reminders of failure are not often saved. And just that much would have been the beginning of a remarkable transformation. For Philemon it would have meant a whole new way of relating with the people in his life. For Onesimus it would have meant literally experiencing the freedom of Christ in new and powerful ways.

But the story may not end there. Early in the second century, a man named Ignatius was bishop of Antioch in Syria. In a letter he wrote, we find a reference to the bishop of Ephesus – whose name was Onesimus. Among the reasons why it seems at least plausible that this could be the same Onesimus has to do with the Church in Ephesus. It is here, late in the first century, when Onesimus could easily have been bishop, that a collection of Paul’s letters was assembled and published. It is to the publication of this collection of letters that we trace the beginning of the formation of what eventually became the New Testament which we use today.

In the letter to Philemon, Paul says that Onesimus had been useful to him. If the rest of this story is true, then Paul could not have dreamed just how useful this runaway slave would eventually prove to be. This is a story of risk and transformation which can take place, both personally and in the world, when such risk is taken in the name and by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

What risks are you being challenged to face in your life and in the world? Will you step out in faith and take the risk? Who can say what transformation will result? May we be so faithful!