Day 359: When love controls - Philemon vs 1-11, 17.
1-2 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: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4-6 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy 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. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.
8-11 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. (And vs 17) So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. Philemon vs 1-11,17 New International Version.
At the end of Colossians (which we went through in these posts) we saw how that letter was sent via a man named Tychicus, and accompanied by a man named Onesimus. Onesimus is no doubt the same man mentioned in this letter and, as the letter unfolds, we discover that he was a runaway slave who had belonged to Philemon. He ended up in the same prison as Paul and, through hearing the gospel from Paul, he became a Christian. How amazing was that! It's also possible that Philemon, Apphia and Archippus may have been related and living in the same house where Onesimus used to work. What do we learn from vs 1-2 about where those first Christians used to meet?
They used their homes. Church buildings are no more 'spiritual' than other places where Christians may gather to praise God and be taught in His word. In vs 4-6 Paul expressed his gratefulness for their love for God's people, and how they thought of the needs of others and had opened their home. What had this open hearted sharing done for others? (vs 7)
Oh let us never, never under estimate the value of what Paul says there! We are not all preachers and we may not have all the knowledge that some other Christians have. But through sharing whatever God has blessed us with we can be instrumental in refreshing other believers. It may be accommodating a visiting missionary, or inviting some new folk in the Church to a meal, or making meals for a family with illness in the home or a new born baby. Putting love into action is something that refreshes the Lord's people.
Then, in verses 8-11, and also in vs 17, Paul asks Philemon to do something for him. What does he ask, and what is significant about the way he makes his request?
He wanted Philemon to overlook the wrong Onesimus had done by running away and ((as we will see when we look at the rest of this chapter) possibly having stolen some stuff on the way out! Onesimus had since been converted and would have been deeply sorry for what he had done. Paul tells Philemon that Onesimus had truly changed from being a worthless fellow to someone who had now become useful. That's what true conversion does in the lives of people.
As someone much older than Philemon, and as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul could have ordered Philemon to welcome Onesimus back. Instead he appeals to Philemon to do the right thing because of love. Not only love for Paul, but love for Christ. That should be true of us in our relationship to Jesus. As our Lord He is entitled to order us to do the things He wants us to do. But I'm sure He too delights to see us eagerly go about doing the things He taught because of our love for Him, and our love for His followers. May we always 'do what we ought to do' (vs 8) because of our love for the One who forgave and freed us from slavery to sin.