At some point during its history the church decided a short
personal correspondence was worth including in the collection that would become
the New Testament. Maybe even a laundry list signed by the apostle Paul would
have made the cut. Who knows? Its inclusion in the lectionary means that people
in the pew rediscover it every three years. Onesimus, the runaway slave, will
be put to death unless Paul can persuade Philemon to pardon him. He uses all
his powers of persuasion, including some that border on the manipulative, but
in the end appeals to his relationship with Philemon. Paul loves Onesimus as a
child and Philemon as a brother and does not want to lose either one. The happy
ending is that Philemon forgives Onesimus and welcomes him into his household as
a brother and Paul breathes a sigh of relief. But it is more than just an
interesting story with a happy ending. Lives were hanging in the balance.
Onesimus will be put to death. Philemon will lose a relationship with Paul
whose ministry changed Philemon’s life. Paul will lose a child and a brother.
It is the stuff of our stories where one family member pleads for the sake of
another that a relationship restored might bring refreshment. It is the stuff
of God’s story where the Son is sent to bring back all who have run away that
the family circle be unbroken in the here and now and in the forever home.
Maybe Philemon is where the Bible’s rubber hits the road and the master
forgiving the slave because he loves Jesus as much as he owes the apostle is
why the little letter belongs in the Book.
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