His Word is a Lamp: Philemon

5/29/2024

Dear NewLife Family,

Paul sure packed a lot of punch into his short letter to Philemon! In his letter, we saw Paul as he was seeking to encourage Philemon, praying for him and his family, greeting the church that met in Phil’s home, and sharing that he was sending Onesimus back to Phil. Most of all, we see that Paul was asking a big request of Phil to reconcile with Onesimus. And, all of this was in 25 verses!

Furthermore, the elements that are needed in order to reconcile with someone are in this letter. I’m about to make a list of these elements, but please remember that they are not life hacks nor are they an exact pattern to follow but important elements in the process. Let’s not let the bullet points lull us into thinking that making things right with someone is as easy as 1-2-3.

Here are some of these elements that we can observe in Philemon:

Don’t powerhouse or flaunt authority (real or perceived): That just adds gas to the fire. Paul could have commanded Phil in all these things but chose to appeal to him (v. 8,10,14).
Come on the basis of love: That makes the process more genuine and authentic (v. 9).
Honor the person and the relationship: Paul appeals to Philemon and doesn’t want him to be under compulsion to follow the request (14).
Acknowledge the wrong: Paul doesn’t shy away from acknowledging that what Onesimus did was wrong. When we’re unable or unwilling to admit when/what we’ve done, the process of reconciliation gets stuck (v. 18).
Ask God to work, and give Him space to do that: We see the Lord at work in this situation in a couple of ways. We see Him leading Onesimus to Himself & changing him through Paul’s ministry (v. 10-11); we see Paul noting that perhaps that’s why the two were separated to begin with (15); and Paul shows how Jesus transformed the relationship of all three of them moving them from Apostle, Slave Owner, and Slave to them being brothers in the Lord (v. 16).
Absorption of the wrong: Someone has to absorb the wrongdoing and rectify it in order for forgiveness and reconciliation to occur. Paul offers to pay Onesimus’ debt and to credit it to his account (v. 18-19).

A perfect example of absorbing and covering wrongdoing is Jesus. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him (Is. 53:5). The only way to receive His payment of our debt is by placing our faith in Him (Rom. 5:1). He not only graciously forgives us of our sins but He credits His righteousness to our account. Now that’s graceful reconciliation!

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with our spirits (v. 25)!!

Pastor Andy

Questions for reflection and conversation: