Philemon & Luke 14:25-33
We don’t often read Paul’s letter to Philemon, which is buried near the end of our Bibles. It’s written on behalf of the slave Onesimus who has been working with Paul and helping him while he’s imprisoned in Rome. We don’t know how Onesimus came to be with Paul, but it seems like he’s escaped from Philemon’s household, where he came to know Paul through the Christian community which met there. Perhaps when he could no longer tolerate his enslavement he ran away and sought out Paul as a person who might help him. If that’s the case, after spending time with Paul, the two men seem to have determined that it would be right for Onesimus to return and Paul sends him with a letter of commendation.
It takes a lot of trust for Onesimus to go back to Philemon, who had the right to take his life because of his actions. Maybe he and Paul are counting on Philemon’s faith in Jesus to soften the punishment he inflicts. In Christ they are not just owner and slave but brothers in faith. Paul certainly plays all the right chords in his attempt to make this situation positive. If Paul has brought the message of Jesus to Philemon’s household, then surely the folks there owe Paul their lives. In comparison to all of life, a little leniency to a slave is a small request to ask. And after all, Onesimus has been caring for Paul (on Philemon’s behalf!). (One thing this letter tells us is that Paul isn’t shy about calling in all the favors he can.) We don’t know “the rest of the story” but perhaps the fact that this letter has survived to become scripture is a sign that it was successful in reuniting these two men into a new relationship.
There’s nothing in Paul’s persuasive letter that suggests that Philemon should be lenient with Onesimus because slavery is wrong. Even though they are now brothers in faith, they are still owner and slave. Paul isn’t asking for that to change. He sends Onesimus back to serve Philemon. In the first century imagining an end to slavery was beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. Some changes are so huge that even the Jesus followers who were rethinking the world couldn’t get there. But to experience slavery in a kinder way was possible so that’s what they did. There’s good evidence that both enslaved people and owners of people met together as equals within Christian communities.
Over the centuries the fact that neither Jesus nor Paul called for an end to slavery has been used to justify the owning of human beings. In our own country, in South Africa and elsewhere people pointed to the practice of slavery in scripture as condoning the practice for themselves. We believe this to be a great distortion of Jesus’ view of life. It’s a good example of the fact that the meaning of scripture changes over time. When we read the Bible we aren’t just looking for timeless truths and trying to duplicate life thousands of years ago. We’re applying principles from one age to our own. That means our understanding of God and Jesus and a holy life is different from just copying ancient practices. The Reformed part of our heritage tells us that we are “reformed, always being reformed.” In other words, we change and our faith changes with us. I think it’s Maya Angelou who said,
“Do the best you can. When you know better, do better.”
Over the years and certainly over our lifetimes we learn and grow in faith and our practice grows with us.
Each one of us hopes to be a better person because of our faith. We follow Jesus not just to earn a reward for ourselves, but to live a more just and moral life and to be more helpful to others. Our church’s emphasis on justice and mercy, on compassion and acts of kindness, is how we live out our hope for a better world – a world God envisions as possible. That means we’re constantly trying to know and do better for our community.
I wonder if that’s what Jesus had in mind when he talks about hating family and even our own lives in order to follow Jesus. In the first century to become a disciple or to take Jesus’ teaching to heart would certainly have been divisive. In many cases it would have endangered people who challenged the status quo like Jesus did. It cost Jesus his life. It’s not that Jesus encouraged people to cause trouble in their families or communities. That wasn’t the point. The trouble was the result of living life in a new way – a way that challenged rules for the benefit of people. The result of that is a challenge to power and a challenge to power is dangerous. You are risking your life because of your commitment to God’s way.
The stories about counting the cost are interesting. They accurately describe how folks plan for big projects. You don’t start out to remodel your house unless you can finance the work. Is Jesus telling us not to bother with following him unless we’re willing to die for the cause? Does he mean that we literally might die? Many of his followers did, although that’s not a 21st century experience for most folks. Or is he talking about “dying” to an old way of life to adopt a new one? Paul asked Philemon to “die” to the old way of being an owner of people to live in a new relationship with Onesimus.
Too often we think of Christianity as a “finished product” given to us by Jesus and then to be followed in exactly the same way forever. Today’s stories are reminding us that to be a follower of Jesus is always a work in progress. In our time Paul would have told Philemon to free Onesimus. Jesus tells us that following his way of life may lead to conflict, but not because we’re “right” and we have to leave behind all those folks who don’t agree with us. The conflict comes when we grow into a newer understanding of how to live out Jesus’ values and some folks just can’t come along with us yet. It takes courage to notice when the way we’ve always thought about things is hurting others and to make changes to correct that. We count that cost and we take the risk.
In our moment in time we’re learning that the privilege we’ve never even noticed we have has harmed others and we’re trying to become more understanding. We’re trying to leave behind racism and injustice – even as we’re learning that that even means. Our lives are changing as a result. This week we’re apologizing to our native friends for the remains found at UND. We didn’t take them or store them, but we’re still sorry for the hurt their existence is causing others. We’re learning about that hurt and we’re changing. President Biden is asking us to consider that we can’t uphold a democracy when we focus on who should be excluded – making voting harder, immigration more difficult, poverty a judgment and not a problem to be solved. How do we count the cost of building a just and equitable community in our nation? What do we have to give up – and what will we gain?
Science tells us that life that isn’t evolving is dying. Faith that isn’t evolving is dying. We aren’t the same people we were when we first believed in the message of Jesus. Hopefully, we understand better now. And when we understand more, we do better too. Life is about change and so is faith. I think that’s not a sacrifice but a joy. It’s not something we lose it’s what we all gain. We are invited to create the kingdom of God and we do that by learning more and doing better - together.