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Twinbrook Baptist Church Rockville, MD Ordinary Time September 09, 2007 Pastor: Kip Ingram Kip@TwinbrookBaptist.com |
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Philemon is the shortest letter in the New Testament, but it reveals one of the best stories in all the Bible. And although Bible scholars disagree over some of the finer points in the background, the general story remains credible and good. Here it is. Philemon was a leader of the Colossian church, someone who knew of the apostle Paul, since Paul was the missionary founder of that church. Philemon owed his faith and that of his church to the efforts of Paul to share the good news. In a sense, Philemon was in Paul's debt. Philemon, like others in that ancient world, was also a slave owner. One of his slaves, by the name of Onesimus, had evidently stolen from him and run away. Such an act was punishable by death under Roman law. Whether it was something that Philemon harbored as a bitter event in his life, or whether it was simply something he chalked up to bad luck or experience, it remained part of his history. Now, it just so happens that in running away, Onesimus wound up meeting Paul. Paul wrote this letter from prison, and it is possible that this is where Paul met Onesimus. Nevertheless, Onesimus becomes a Christian through Paul's ministry. So at some point Paul and Onesimus decide that Onesimus will go back to the Colossian church to confront Philemon with the new circumstances. The letter to Philemon in our scriptures represents the note Onesimus carried with him when he made that anxious journey, a note intended for Philemon on his behalf. In short, it was a slave's letter, but it was more than that. Can you imagine this scene as Philemon is hopeful for a word from Paul, his father in the faith, to the believers who make up his church in Colossae? He anticipates that it will be brought by one of Paul's partners in ministry, one of the Christian faithful. Instead, who shows up at his door but the slave that had wronged him previously, claiming not only to know Paul, but to be one of his partners in the work of Christ. It must have been shocking and a little disorienting for Philemon. And then there is Paul's letter to him. Paul begins with the usual greetings, mentioning the names of several friends in the faith whom he is addressing. After this he expresses his thankfulness for the faith and love of Philemon which he has heard about from others. As he does this, he makes one important statement in verse 6 which will set the tone for his whole letter: ”I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ.” ”Perceiving the good” is an important theme and principle which we will come back to in a moment. For now, in this opening section of his letter, Paul gives praise to Philemon and shares that Philemon's faith and love are a source of joy and gratitude for him. Then Paul gets to the heart of his appeal. He writes that although he could command Philemon to do his duty in doing the right thing, he would rather appeal to him on the basis of love. ”You see,” says Paul, ”I am appealing to you about Onesimus, who has become my child in the faith.” And then Paul offers a word play on the name of Onesimus, which means ”useful” or ”beneficial.” Paul writes: ”Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me.” Onesimus has come to inhabit his name in a new way, his very name carries a new possibility. Then, knowing that Philemon must be rehearsing the events of the past with Onesimus, how he stole from him and ran away, how he wound up with Paul and became part of his ministry, knowing this must surely be going through Philemon's mind, Paul writes of a different way of looking at things. He says: ”Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for awhile, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother.” In saying this, Paul is offering Philemon an alternative way of looking at the events in his life surrounding Onesimus. Paul is inviting him to perceive the possible good in what has happened. Instead of Philemon seeing what had happened to him as all bad when Onesimus ran away, Paul invites him to see some good in it. Instead of Philemon punishing Onesimus with death according to the expectations of law, Paul invites him to find a way to work it out in the spirit of love and forgiveness. Instead of Philemon seeing Onesimus as a slave, Paul invites him to see Onesimus now as a beloved brother. In short, Paul asks Philemon to focus on the good that can be found in this situation. By the way, even though some slavery in history has been justified by appealing to Paul's writings in other places, what Paul says here is part of what ultimately undoes the thinking behind slavery. For here Paul offers the insight that even slaves are children of God and can be our brothers and sisters in faith. That insight will lead centuries later to the radical idea of equality and dignity for all people, the basis of civil rights for all in this country and in other places. So Paul offers the principle to Philemon of perceiving the good in that situation. And he could do this because of the conviction that God is at work in every situation in our lives, bringing good out of even the most difficult of circumstances. With this conviction, we also are challenged to perceive the good in the differing experiences of our lives. Let me ask you a question: how do you tend to perceive and interpret things? Are you a person who tends to see the glass half full or half empty? Interpretation styles, how and what we focus on, can make a difference, both in the possibilities we will see and in our persistence and in our overall well-being. Several years ago, an amazing study of longevity was published. Back on the early 1930s, 178 nuns, about to enter into their careers, were interviewed and asked to write reflections about themselves and their feelings about the future. Researchers divided up the reflections of the nuns, separating the obviously positive ones from those that were less so or even negative. What they found is that of the most positive quarter (1/4) of the nuns, 90 percent were still alive at the age of 85. Of the least positive quarter (1/4) of the nuns, only 34 percent were still alive at 85. That is amazing, because with nuns there is not much variance roughly in the diet, they have the same reproductive and marital histories, the same basic levels of economic and social class, the same access to medical care. What the researchers found is that longevity was not due to place or wealth or other seemingly obvious factors, longevity correlated with the expression of positive perceptions and feelings when the nuns were interviewed all those years ago.i There is a growing body of research which seems to show that people who tend to perceive the good, who feel positive about their lives, are people who look for more possibilities, do more good, have more resilience, see the doctor less, and generally have a better sense of well-being. And the research shows that it's not just about DNA, about who is pre-disposed to being positive and optimistic. We all have a range we are given for positive feelings about our lives, and each of us is free within that given range to choose and work toward being more or less positive, perceiving more or less of the good around us. We are all living out the story of Philemon and Onesimus, deciding how we will interpret the events of our lives as people of Christian faith. Let me tell you something of my story. At the very of end of my freshman year in high school, two weeks to go, my family moved to a new town, which meant a new school and setting for me. It was awkward going to school for a short time without knowing anyone, and it made for a long and often lonely summer. When I graduated from high school, I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life, so I drifted, for lack of a better word, into Junior College, where my grades and my attendance were not very good. After a couple of years of Junior College, I decided to attend a small, largely unknown, Baptist college, mostly because I didn't think I could do any better, but also because my youth minister and a number of friends were going. After college, as I was attending seminary, my father died from a lengthy illness, and I felt like he was too young to die and I was too young to have my father die. It was a tough time for me in the following 18 months, as I developed panic attacks and struggled with his loss. As I attended seminary, I worked my way through the master and doctoral programs in the hopes of teaching. I worked hard and became passionate about this direction, even making the highest possible score on my oral exams, only to realize that I would never get a job in Southern Baptist life because of my theological convictions about women and other things. So a door was slammed on me before I could walk through it. Now, let me tell you the same story. At the end of my freshman year in high school, my family moved to a new town, and it was difficult for me at first. But it was in that new town that I found a church to call my home for the first time, and a faith to live by, and friends that shaped me in significant ways. I am grateful for the good that grew out of that move. When I graduated from high school, I was unsure of what I wanted to do, so I drifted in Junior College and didn't do very well. But it was during that time that I was able to sort out what I wanted to do with my life and gained a sense of calling. So I am grateful for the good in those years. After Junior College, I decided to attend a small Baptist college, mostly because I didn't think I could do any better. But it was at that college that I met my beloved Carla, and it was there that I encountered professors who challenged me and made me think and grow. So I am thankful for the good that came from going to that small college. During my time in seminary, my father died too early, for both of us, and I had a hard time with it, including panic attacks. But as I look back I can also be grateful for that time, because it forced me to look at my inner world in a focused way that I would not have. It made me more self-aware as a person, and it gave me a greater compassion and understanding for the people I minister to as a pastor. So I am thankful for the good that came out of that difficult time in my life. As I attended seminary, I worked my way through the master and doctoral programs, working toward a path of teaching, but the door was slammed in my face by the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptists. But I am grateful for the good in that time, because it provided me with an opportunity to stretch myself and bring my skills and gifts to bear in serving as pastor of a church. My theological study was not wasted because it serves to give my ministry and my preaching a theological depth that it would not have had otherwise. So I am grateful for the good in that direction change, for it has lead to many good things, not least of which is being here as your pastor. TTwo interpretations; the same events. It has been said that what we focus on becomes our reality, and in a sense, this is true. We are given the freedom to choose what we will perceive in the events of our lives, and it will affect us in a number of ways, from our behavior to our possibilities to our well-being. In Philemon's terms, will it be Onesimus the runaway slave who must be punished, or Onesimus the brother in Christ who now becomes a partner in God's work? To be sure, being positive and focusing on the good does not mean that you must close your eyes and pretend bad things never happen, or that we never get down from them. There is a freedom to be human as God's people, to be accepted no matter how we are feeling at a given moment. But in every situation God is at work, and this can give us a largely positive approach to our lives as we perceive and seek the good in what happens. In Christ, there is an untapped richness of resource and possibility in Christ. So what situations are you focusing on these days? What is troubling you or worrying you or feels like a difficult challenge? I encourage you to look for and perceive the good in such situations. About 40 years after this letter was written to Philemon, a Christian leader named Ignatius was traveling from Antioch to Rome to be executed as a martyr. Along the way, he wrote several letters to encourage the churches. One of them was to Ephesus, not far from Colossae, and in this letter, he praises the great leader of the church there, a guy named Onesimus. I like to think that Philemon welcomed Onesimus and worked things out with him, and that Onesimus became a leader in the church. It certainly echoes the way of Christ, who saw the good in people and gave them possibilities, the living Christ, who calls us to do the same. i. Danner et al, "Positive Emotions in Early Life and Longevity: Findings from the Nun Study," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2001); as discussed in Martin Seligman, Authentic Happiness, 1-5. |
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