Nothing Without Your Consent

Sermon for Proper 18 C RCL (9/5/2010), Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Jeremiah 18:1-11; Psalm 139:1-5, 13-17; Philemon 1-21; Luke 14:25-33


My sisters and brothers: we have the great privilege this morning of hearing and meditating upon this tiny little letter from Saints Paul and Timothy to Philemon and Apphia. Only 25 verses long, 335 Greek words in total, in most Bibles it occupies only a single page. And yet, what a page it is! How remarkable it is that we can find so many crucial insights into the practical meaning of the Gospel for our everyday lives here in this brief letter.

This is one of the undisputed letters by Paul. And the purpose of the letter is very clear and precise: Paul is asking Philemon to forgive his runaway slave named Onesimus and to free him. Of course the obvious question is: what is the slave’s offence? And why is Paul involved in this domestic dispute?

While we are not told exactly what happened, by inference we can piece together this backstory. As we see in the greeting, there was a church meeting in the home of Philemon and Apphia. It seems that Paul is likely to have founded this church and he may have been a frequent visitor to that congregation. Onesimus, who must have met and heard Paul in his preaching, ran away for reasons unknown, and eventually encountered Paul again in the city where Paul was being held as prisoner, most likely to be Rome. When they met and talked in the city, Onesimus professed his faith in Jesus Christ and became a regular helper for Paul. And as Paul mentored and discipled him, surely they discussed the reality that Onesimus would soon have to return to Philemon to make things right. Can you imagine the young man’s anxiety and trepidation at this prospect? But the apostle does not send him back defenseless. Rather, Onesimus returns home with this powerful and persuasive little letter in hand as his one hope to avert the severe punishment due a runaway slave under the law.

How does he do it? How does Paul approach this task of persuasion?

First of all, observe how he opens his appeal. This is the only place where Paul first identifies himself as a “prisoner of Christ Jesus”. What a small descriptive title, but what radical importance lies behind it! Do you see how the apostles were willing and able to take pride in their imprisonments and their suffering for the sake of the Gospel? Sure, Philemon is a man of wealth and influence, with a large home and slaves to manage it for him. But who is the one worthy of the most honor and respect among the believers? Not the man of wealth and privilege, but rather the poor prisoner who is willing to do what Christ spoke of in the Gospel: to “carry the cross” and follow him at all costs.

It may sound obvious to us who gather here regularly, but in fact it is a peculiar and remarkable aspect of the church that sets us apart from the world around us. You see, it is not normal, nor to be expected in any way, that we would celebrate those who are apparent failures as though they are true victors and heroes! God teaches us that it is not success that is worthy of our honor and respect, but rather commitment and devotion.

After his greetings, Paul launches directly into his appeal on behalf of Onesimus. To use a colloquial phrase, the first thing that Paul does is to “butter him up”. Just look at how generous he is with his praise of Philemon! “The hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother” (Philemon 7b).

There is wisdom here. Have you not seen in your own experience how such giving of compliments and praise opens up a door so that a difficult request can be received more positively? My wife, Erin, always tells me that my life would be much better if I could just get into the habit of giving her at least two genuine compliments every day. “Is it that hard,” she asks, “to find two simple compliments for me?” Well… actually it is! Just because my brain doesn’t work that way. But I know for a fact that “it is meet and right so to do”. Genuine praise, recognition and compliments help to open doors to improve the quality of our relationships.

After the compliments, Paul moves right into the meat of the matter. But notice here, please, how the apostle makes his request. What we see highlighted here in this request is the voluntary principle which lies squarely at the heart of the teaching of Jesus.

As St. Clement of Alexandria stated so well, “Compulsion is repugnant to God.” Rather than compulsion of any sort, within the kingdom of God everything depends upon voluntary assent, even though God has the knowledge and power and ability to coerce certain actions from us. And even though St. Paul has the consensual authority of the church to demand certain actions (“to command you to do your duty”, as he puts it), yet he prefers to lay this aside in order to ask, to seek and to knock.

Out of deference to Christ, the apostle prefers to make a humble request on the basis of mutual love and concern, “in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced” (Philemon 14). Everything within the realm of the spirit relies upon this voluntary principle. We cannot over-emphasize this fact.

But, wait! There is still more in this little letter. Paul urges Philemon to “welcome him (Onesimus) as you would welcome me” (Philemon 17b). There is a deep message here.

In many places throughout the New Testament Epistles, we can find passages which speak of the proper behavior of Christians relative to their place in society: husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves. But here in this letter, we are given a glimpse of something entirely different. Here we can see clearly that the apostle Paul was unwilling to simply validate the typical roles of Roman society as he found them.

As the slave master, Philemon had rights under Roman law over Onesimus, the runaway slave. However, under the law of Christ, within the realm of God, Onesimus is now a child of the apostle and so has become a beloved brother to Philemon in the Lord.

Here is the revolutionary message of the Gospel made real in practical life! These family relations in the church trump any of the expected roles of human-made society! Within the church, all are brothers and sisters, equal under the Gospel.

Without declaring it directly, the apostle in essence is saying, “Forget about slavery! Forget about who possesses what, who owns whom! Forget about your rights under the law or your petty grievances! Forget about all of that stuff that belongs to the old way of life, and begin to embrace this new way! Start to practice forgiveness, reconciliation, and true brotherhood and sisterhood in the kingdom of God!”

Without stating it directly, the apostle lays the groundwork right here for dismantling the entire institution of slavery. To do that work was not his calling. After all, historians estimate that nearly one-third of the entire population of the Roman Empire lived in some form of slavery. To tackle that social structure was not his task. But it was his task – and it is ours as well – to call people to a new kind of life in Jesus Christ, one where all known social boundaries are irrelevant.

It didn’t take the Church too long to figure this out. By the fourth century, the great St. John Chrysostom, then the Bishop of Constantinople, the second-highest ranking bishop at the time, could stand in his pulpit and preach these words: “Slavery is an abomination. It is quite wrong that one person should buy another, and that such a purchase has the protection of the law. A person does not even possess his own life; so how can he possess another person’s life?” (On Living Simply: The Golden Voice of John Chrysostom, p.26).

Of course, Chrysostom was sent into exile by the Emperor for his insolence. St. Paul was imprisoned and killed for his preaching. But the seeds were already sown, and by the grace of God we continue to harvest the fruit of their faithful labors.

Thanks be to God for the wisdom and remarkable vision of the apostle Paul, who can still teach us so much from a brief little letter written so long ago on behalf of a runaway slave named Onesimus. Amen.