Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
and Philemon
We have a wonderful pairing of
lectionary texts this morning. One, the
Psalm for the day, is familiar for many of us and a theme that we often return
to. The other, our letter from Paul, is
definitely a minor text in the scriptures and this may be the first time some
of you have ever read or studied it.
Both of these texts speak to the value of all life. The Psalm speaks of our value in God’s eyes,
and the letter tells us how that knowledge must inform our behavior with each
other.
We begin in familiar territory with
the Psalm. Many of us know and love this
Psalm. It is a beautifully poetic
rendition of God’s love for God’s people.
Rather than focusing on God’s relationship with the nation of Israel,
like our Psalm from last week, this is a discussion of God’s relationship with
one person, an individual.
God is described as ever present in
the Psalmist’s life. God is behind every
corner and around every turn. There is
nowhere the Psalmist can go to escape the gaze of the divine. God is also present internally, in every
thought and emotion. God searches me,
God knows me, from my words and actions to the very thoughts in my head and the
feelings in my heart. God is ever
present in my world.
In wonderful language the Psalmist
describes their loving creation at the hands of the divine. “It was you who formed my inward parts; you
knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
God made us, God knows us, and God values us as a unique and intricate
part of creation. We matter, because God
made us and knows us and loves us.
Of course, we as individuals are not
the only people that matter. That is
where our letter from Paul to Philemon comes in. Modern
scholars have come to determine that not every Pauline letter was actually
written by Paul. But this letter to
Philemon is a Paul original. What makes
this letter so unique is that it is a personal letter. As you know, the majority of letters from
Paul that are in our Bible were written to groups of people, like the church in
Rome or the church in Corinth
As
with many of Paul’s letters, we get only one side of the conversation and so we
are a little sketchy on the details.
Philemon appears to be a leader in his Christian community. In the letter we get a sense that he may have
been converted by Paul at one point in the past, as Paul mentions that Philemon
“owes him even his own self.” Philemon
appears to be a man of wealth as he is clearly the head of a household. He owns slaves, he seems to be a financial
benefactor of Paul’s, and a church meets in his home.
In the
letter, Paul is writing to make an appeal to Philemon. While he has been in prison, Paul has been
served by Onesimus, an old slave of Philemon’s that ran away. We need a little historical background at
this point. First, about being in
prison; in the ancient Roman culture, prison was not a punishment itself but
was where you would wait for a trial. If
you were convicted of a crime, your punishment would be physical, like a
beating or death. While in prison, the
prisoner needs to rely on friends or family to take care of them. Apparently, Onesimus had been fulfilling this
role for Paul.
And, we a
need a little background on slavery. In
our modern imaginations, when we hear the world slavery we think of the slavery
of African Americans in the history of our own country. But in the ancient Roman culture, slavery was
not based on race; instead it was all about economics. People from poor families were born into
slavery, or people who were captured in other countries were made to be slaves. Although the background was different, the
basics are the same as they once were in America, a slave is a human who is
treated like property.
It seems that
at some point, the slave Onesimus ran away from his master Philemon. We don’t know why he ran away; perhaps
Philemon was a cruel master, perhaps Onesimus had gotten into trouble, or
perhaps he simply didn’t want to be a slave anymore. Regardless of why he left, Onesimus ended up
in Rome
In the
letter, Paul seems quite fond of Onesimus.
Onesimus has been converted by Paul and is now a fellow Christian. Onesimus has been useful to Paul and as Paul
says, he has become “my own heart.” Paul
makes clear his desire to keep Onesimus by his side, and yet, Onesimus is a
runaway slave so Paul knows that the right thing to do is to send him back to
his master.
So, this is
the appeal that Paul makes. Paul is
asking Philemon to accept Onesimus back into his household. It’s not clear to us whether or not Paul is
asking Philemon to release Onesimus from slavery, (which is what I would hope)
or if he is simply asking him to take Onesimus back without punishment. In the letter, Paul says that he would like
Philemon to take Onesimus back “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a
beloved brother.” This sentence
continues to be open to interpretation regarding what exactly Paul meant.
This week I
found this letter from Paul to Philemon to be a wonderful connection to the
idea of the value of the individual we find in the Psalm. The Psalmist claims I was created with love
by God, I am valued and known. Logically
it follows that other people were created by God, that they too are valued and
known. Paul is asking Philemon to treat
Onesimus recognizing that value. No longer
as a slave or as property to be owned, Paul is encouraging Philemon to welcome
Onesimus as a brother in Christ.
If we imagine
the situation we realize that this is a lot to ask. Technically and culturally, Onesimus is the
property of Philemon. Philemon has a
right to punish Onesimus, even to the point of killing him. That would be expected behavior for the
time. But Paul is asking Philemon to
resist the trend of society. Paul is
asking Philemon to give up his rights, and that is asking a lot of the leader
in a community. At the heart of the
letter is Paul’s appeal to Philemon to accept back one who has wronged him, not
as one who has wronged him, but as a brother in Christ. Paul is writing about the transforming power
of the gospel, and the gospel’s power to bring reconciliation to the Christian
community.
I believe we
have two issues in play here; the value of other people as beloved children of
God, and the requirement that places on us when we are in conflict. These things are as relevant today as they
were in Paul’s time. How do we respond
to those who have wronged us in some form or another? It is my experience that when people have treated
us unjustly, we are eager to get on our high horse and give them what they
deserve. There is nothing like righteous
anger and self-justification to really make us feel alive. I know I am tempted to fall into that trap. In this letter, Paul is asking Philemon to do
something different. Philemon had a
right to do whatever he wanted to Onesimus; but Paul is asking him to recognize
the value in another Christian and in their relationship in the faith. Paul is asking him to welcome him back
without punishment, as a brother in Christ.
Paul
frequently writes about being lifted up or being brought low by the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Paul speaks of himself as
being brought low. Once a Pharisee of
high standing, Paul is now a prisoner for Jesus Christ and he rejoices at his
loss of stature. At the same time, Paul
writes about others being lifted up in Christ.
In Christ there is new freedom and previously marginalized groups like
foreigners, slaves, and women are lifted up by the gospel. In this letter to Philemon, Paul is asking
Philemon to willingly give up his rights as a slave owner and to be brought
down by the gospel. And Paul is asking
that Onesimus would be given freedom in Christ and lifted up. It’s a great image and it plays right into
that idea of the value of all people. If
every life is of value then all should be treated equally. Naturally that will lead to some being
brought low and some being lifted up.
That is the transformative power of the gospel.
As we look
around our world today it is interesting to consider who might be lifted up by
the gospel of Christ and who might be made low.
In any given situation we may find ourselves moving in either
direction. Regardless of our social
standing though, all of us are lifted up by the love of God. Our texts this morning remind us that God
made us, God loves us, God knows us, and God values us. Just so, God made our neighbor, God loves our
neighbor, God knows our neighbor, and God values our neighbor. Let us work toward reconciliation in our
world, celebrating all people and all lives as being of value. Amen.
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