Such a Beautiful Mess
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Philemon 1:1-21
September 7, 2025
You all know after two years of standing up here as a liturgist, I enjoy
sharing my thoughts on the scriptures – the history, the authors; the
relevance the Word has in our lives. I was thrilled when I saw that
Philemon was offered in the lectionary calendar this week. I first read
this scripture about 11 years ago, and go back to it a few times every
year. It is a Book in the New Testament, one book, one chapter, a
single letter from the Apostle Paul. He is a masterful writer and this is
beautifully written. It’s a letter that involves 3 men who all need to
make a decision; a moral decision that will affect their lives, their faith,
and their relationship with each other.
Dr. Holly Hearon, a Lutheran Professor, summarizes Philemon as a
“messy” scripture that no one should attempt to write a sermon on.
She continues with she has tried a couple of times and cannot find the
message. I like the scripture and the message, so with Professor
Hearon’s thoughts in mind let’s see if we can straighten out this mess
and find a sermon.
Philemon is our first character to look at. He is a very wealthy man
with more than 3000 slaves, live stock, vineyards, and stores of
treasures. He also is a follower of the Lord and leads worship in his
own home. He has been a close friend of Paul for years. Onesimus is
our next man we will discuss. He is a slave of Philemon who has fled
from his earthly master in Colossae and travelled to Rome. Paul is our
last character who is writing the letter to Philemon to appeal on behalf
of Onesimus, who has stolen or betrayed his master. We do not know
what transgression he has committed, but even escaping and running is
a severe violation of the law. We do learn from the letter that
Onesimus is not much of a worker, he’s lazy and may not be worth
much as a slave. While on the run he arrives in Rome and finds Paul
under house arrest and writing to several churches and continuing to
worship. The slave offers his service to the Apostle and Paul finds him
to be useful and dedicated to his tasks. He also becomes a follower of
Christ while serving with Paul. So we look at Paul’s moral question;
does he tell Philemon that Onesimus is with him or does he omit that
fact? Paul finds him to be useful in his work, so why not just keep him
in Rome and say nothing. Being an Apostle, he even has the power to
decree the slave’s master to release him. Paul chooses none of those.
He ask Philemon to first forgive his slave of whatever the transgression
was, then he ask Philemon to release Onesimus from his bondage, and
lastly, he must embrace his new found brother in Christ. The words are
“love him as a brother”. That’s an extremely high bar to clear.
Next, we will look at the moral issue that Onesimus faces. He must
deliver the letter to his earthly master and wait for his response. Does
Philemon’s long term and close friendship with Paul carry enough
weight for the most Christian response, or will he punish the slave, or
have him put to death? I am sure Onesimus would gladly have
someone else deliver the letter while he waits in the comfort of Rome
for Philemon’s response. To buffer the possible negative response Paul
offers to accept responsibility for whatever Onesimus has done,
“charge it to my account” is what Paul says. He also asks Philemon to
welcome him as he would welcome Paul.
Lastly, there is Philemon’s moral questions; to forgive, release, and
show brotherly love to a man that has been his enslaved property for
years. A slave who has sinned against him. A side note, the letter is
addressed to not only Philemon, the other two names Apphia and
Archippus; his wife and son. Common culture would put all three
together as the letter is read. This increases Paul’s chances of having
Philemon to respond favorably to all three requests. As the head of the
Christian house, Philemon would always need to make the right and
moral choice.
Paul raves on the type of man Philemon is; Christian, wealthy, a
leader in his home town of Colossae, offering worship in his home.
Philemon has the toughest decisions to make. But this is where I find
the sermon. I have written two papers on the Lord’s Prayer, and even
my TRE class sermon reflected its words. Midway through that prayer,
we ask God for forgiveness- forgive us our debts, our trespasses, our
sins. And with our next breath we say, “As we have forgiven those who
have sinned against us”. It is a beautiful two sided coin; we need to
forgive others as we are forgiven. That’s why the specific sin of
Onesimus is not important to know. Philemon needs to follow the
Word of the Lord and forgive his slave for all of his sins against him,
since Philemon himself has been forgiven for all of his. This is one of
the most beautiful statements in our faith. C.S. Lewis wrote this level
of forgiveness is incredibly hard to perform, but needs to be achieved
by all faithful Christians. For it is one of the cornerstones of our belief
and faith.
So that’s the end of Paul’s letter and the scripture, but not the end of
our story. Paul finishes the letter and gives it to Onesimus to carry 130
miles from Rome to Colossae. Paul also asks Tychicus to accompany
him; travelling alone back then could be dangerous. Philemon does
find the forgiveness the Apostle has asked for. He also releases his
slave and accepts him as a brother in Faith. Onesimus and Tychicus
then return to Rome and go back into the service of Paul. They are all
involved in the ministry of the Church, and this continues till the
Apostle’s death. Onesimus worships, writes, and preaches in Rome for
years. He even returns to his hometown of Colossae to preach and
serve churches there. He is elevated to a Bishop in the Church. Upon
returning to Rome, he is arrested and jailed. After 18 days he is
brought before the court and told all he has to do is renounce his faith
and he will be released. He does not and is put back in prison; and
tortured day and night for another 18 days. He then is returned back to
the court, with one last chance to renounce his faith in God or be put to
death. He was stoned to death later that day.
So I do believe there is a wonderful message of forgiveness in this letter
and maybe you will refer back to it from time to time.
Thanks be to God.
David Carter, TRE