july 4_2010 sermon_fort stocktontx_first christian church

8/8/2019 July 4_2010 Sermon_Fort StocktonTX_First Christian Church

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Appeal for Reconciliation

Danny Andr Dixon Sermon on Philemon

July 4, 2010

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Introduction

Would you open your Bibles to the book of Philemon. This season of theyear has special significance to me, particularly as I think about the celebrations

associated with the beginning of our country. We think about the Declaration of

Independence, that magnificent document which begins with the recognition that

all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain

unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And

I cant help but smile as I think about the boldness of that document and the

resolve that stood behind it as it enumerated no less than 27 major headings of

wrongs that had been brought upon the American Colonies by the King of

England, with several times that many subheadings justifying the idea that since

governments are granted their ruling power by the people, the people have the right

to alter or to abolish the government over them. It is a document that says, Things

have gotten so bad and have gone so wrongly for so long a period of time that its

just time that we called it quits and went our separate ways. And they were

willing to die to see just that done.

And then I cast my mind back to a former time; a time when the biblical

perspective was not quite the humanistic one that served as a motivating force to

defy the king and begin a new country. I think of Daniels observation in chapter 2

verse 21 of his book in which he notes that God changes the times and theseasons and removes kings and set up kingsand that includes the good ones

as well as the bad onesbut all for his ultimate purposes on the earth. I think of

that comment made during the days of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon,

dethroned by the Medes and the Persians under Darius, conquered by Alexander


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the Great of Greece, whose empire fell to that of the Romans under Pompey. I

think of that Roman empire, a republic governed for a short time under the firstamong Senators Julius Caesar, his assassination and the dynasty that began with

his nephew Octavius, better known to us as Augustus, the emperor on the Roman

throne when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It was the time of the succeeding

emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius in the earliest days of the Christian Church

and finally the time of Nero, the first Roman Emperor to exercise a local but

vicious persecution upon Christians in and around Rome for a brief timea time

that included the latter ministry of Paul, who writes the letter to Philemon while in

prison for the first time in Rome under Nero in the year 64 A.D. He would be

released briefly, three years later, before Nero would arrest him again and

decapitate him after a second imprisonment as part of that Christian persecution in

67 A.D.

But it was indeed a different timea time when slavery was the norm.

There were thousands and thousands of slaves brought into Rome because of war.

Slaves were the teachers and doctors, they were the accountants and clerks, they

were they were the household servants and the field laborers (Arthur Mayer

Wolfson, Essentials in Ancient History [New York, NY: American Book Co.,

1902], pp. 432-433).

Under Hebrew law, a slave was the money or property of his master and

could be beaten to within an inch of his life, according to Exodus 21. UnderRoman law, if slaves tried to run away, they were whipped, burned with iron, and

sometimes even killed (I. Akatsa [03-21-2000], Slavery in Ancient Rome.

History and Thought of Western Man. Rich East High School. Park Forest, IL.


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Retrieved 07-04-2010 from http://www.richeast.org/htwm/Greeks/Romans/

slavery/slavery2.html). Well come back to that in a little while.

If youre wanting to take notes on our lesson this morning, you might want to

begin with the idea of

1. The Church Leaders Remembered1-9If youve ever followed the chronology of the book of Acts, youll find that

Paul was obsessed, or maybe I should say led by Gods spirit to make his way to

Rome to preach there. All of this begins in Romans chapter 23 after Paul makes a

speech to an assembled crowd of Jews who end up wanting to tear him apart for

challenging them on their hypocrisy. You could start reading about this in Acts

23:11 where the Lord tells Paul that he must be a witness for him in Rome. We

wont read this material. But its enough to say that it takes him five chapters of

adventures to finally get to Rome in chapter 28:14 where he is put under guard in

prison chained to a Roman soldier.

Its from here that Paul writes his epistle to the Colossians on the supremacy of

Christ; the epistle to the Ephesians on the glory of the Church in Gods eternal

plan; and to the Philippians, which is a letter on looking to Jesus as the ultimate

pattern of service and humility within the Church as Christians live in harmony

with one another. He also writes the letter to Philemon, who was probably the

owner of a large home, which served as a house church where he served as anelder. Notice verses 1-3 of the letter:

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our

dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia oursister, to Archippus our fellow


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soldier, and to the church that meets in your home.Grace to you and peace

from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.One of the first things that youll notice here is how personal and

affectionate this letter is. He considers Philemon his dear friend. Some scholars

suggest that Apphia our sisterPauls Christian sisteris Philemons wife, and

Archippus is their son whom Paul calls his fellow soldier.

In verses 4-5 he mentions their reputation of love and faith toward the Lord

Jesus and toward all the saints, which is another word for the Christians. And he

says he remembers them in his prayers. I thought the wording here was very

interesting, because the New International Version words it your love and faith in

the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.

The Greek is a bit more awkward, but more precise. It literally reads: your

love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus Christ and to all the saints.

Its easy enough to think about think about showing love and faith to the Lord.

Thats sort of expected. We want to be committed to him. We want to be devoted

deeply to him. We want to have affection for him. Its a little different to use those

prepositions in describing our relationship with one another as members of the

Christian Church. Paul here says we have love and faith toward Christ.

But he also says we have love and faith toward the people whom God has set

apart for his purposes. We can say that we want to show love toward people, and

there is often no limit to the amount of love that we can pour out toward those inneed, and not only that, just out of the kindness that we want to show people who

are in the faith so to speak. Its a slightly more difficult thing to be so effulgent,

so prodigal, so outpouring in showing faith toward other believers. Why? Faith in a

context like this is showing reliability toward someone else regardless of that


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persons response. And its right here that we begin to get a hint at the genius of

Pauls letter. This is an epistle about relationship and of how far you will bewilling to go out on a limb on someone elses behalf. What love and what faith you

want to show to Christ, we should want to show to fellow Christians. Does this

mean that we put other people on a pedestal as high as Christ is? No. But it does

mean that there is a degree of focus on and toward other believers that is devoted

simply because they happen to be in Christ.

There is a consequence of this faith. Again we have a difficult phrase in the

Greek. Literally it is, the fellowship of your faith. Admittedly the NIV sort of

makes this verse sound like a verse on evangelism with a consequence that results

if we share our faith. I mean I wish it were that simple: I wish that by just

bustling up my courage and by sheer force of will I get out theremaybe in a brief

case and a suit and look like a door to door insurance manand hump it and share

my faith with other people Id get the result mentioned in verse 6: that I might

have a full understanding of every good thing in Christ. Now wouldnt that be

neat?

But again we have to keep in mind what Paul is doing and where he is going

with this. I am convinced that he is working Philemon. Hes not being dishonest.

But he is definitely trying to bring out in Philemon a quality that is in Christ that

ought to be seen demonstrated toward other believers.

And its not because he hasnt already seen this in Philemon. I mean, look atverse seven. He says, Your love has given me great joy and encouragement,

because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. Now If weve ever

been a part of the process of selecting elders or overseers in the church we know

that one quality that we look for, according to 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:8 is that


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an elder is supposed to be hospitable. That means willing to be open-hearted

with his possessions and property to be seen as a welcoming and kind individual.But lets look at point number 2, which Ill call

2. A Slaves RebirthPaul is done messing around. He now wants to get to the point of his letter.

He begins verse 8 with the word, Therefore. The word that he chooses is the

Greek word spelled in the English letters D-I-O, dio. This is a very strong Greek

conjunction which means for this precise reason. Because I know you are other-

person centered. Because I know you to have a reputation for being a man who has

faith toward Christ AND toward the brothers and sisters in the Lord. Because I

know that you want to share the sort of faith that you have in the context of the

Christian familyagain, for this precise reason, although in Christ I could be

bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of

love. I then, asPaulan old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus . . .

Okay, we have seen that Paul wants something. He has been buttering up

Philemon from the very start. Addressing him and his family as if they were some

really central part of the church there as hosts of the church that meets in their

home; as people that he personally remembers in his prayers because of their love

and faith toward Jesus (1) his authority as an apostle, which he says he wont use;

and (2) because hes an old man.

You know Ive observed something that I want to use as an illustration ofthis point, and that is the intense sense of familial respect in the Mexican culture

for grandparents. But it is VERY prominent in the Mexican culture. Explain. I also

observed it in Russia for the Bbushka or grandmother in the culture. The word

Bbushka is a term of beauty and respect. It means butterfly in Russian). He


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adds as a basis of his appeal his old age. (Animate: Look, Philemon, Im an old

man. I dont have a lot of time left on this earth, [which was literally true!]. Do thisfor me as a favor to an old man. I want you to consider that this young man is now

a believer. He has been born again. He is my son in the faith through the gospel.

Lets read a bit further and let him get it out:

I appeal to you for my son Onesimus , who became my son while I was in

chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both

to you and to me. I am sending himwho is my very heartback to you. I

would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in

helping me while I am in chains for the gos pel. But I did not want to do

anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous

and not forced. Perhaps the reason he wasseparated from you for a little

while was that you might have him back for goodno longer as a slave, but

better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer

to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

Now thats a mouthful:

a. He appeals to spiritual PARENTHOOD. He says Onesimus became hisson. In the book of first Corinthians, Paul deals with a number of

problems. One of them was that they were allowing some very influential

teachers to trump the authority of the apostles as if those people had

some sort of parental status over them. He writes, correctively, in 1Corinthians 4:15b-16: Even though you have 10,000 guardians in

Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your

father through the gos pel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. When

you sit down and teach someone the gospel. IF you do, and you instruct


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that person in what is necessary to become obedient to the faith, Acts 6:7,

when that person responds, you become, in effect, that persons spiritualfather or mother. And you should want to feel some sense of

responsibility to nurture the person and grow him or her up in the Lord.

This is what Paul was feeling. And maybe he had a little of that in mind.

When he talks to Philemon about Onesimus

b. He argues on the basis of PRACTICALITY. He says that Onesimus wasuseless, now hes useful. Well get a hint of it down in verse 18, but you

get the impression that there was some sort of financial impropriety when

Onesimus ran away from Philemon. In Luke 16:1-10 we have the parable

of the unjust steward. Its a bit different since this fellow was an

employee and the owner wanted to fire him. In Onesimus case may have

stolen something or embezelled funds. Under Roman law, he could be

beaten, branded with a hot iron, or even put to death. Paul knew

Philemons rights under Roman law.

c. He argues on the basis of PETITION. He says, I dont want to bullyyou and I want you to act spontaneously. Im asking you to do this.

And isnt that the way Jesus wants things done in the church. He says in

Luke 22:-26, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who

exercise authority are given the title Benefactor. But you are not to be,

like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest,and the one who rulesshould be like the one who serves.

d. He argues on the basis of PROVIDENCE. He says that, maybe God wasat work all along (Comment on why I dont believe God causes


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everything to happen. But, as per Romans 8:28, he uses everything that

does happen).e. He argues on the basis of PARTNERSHIP. He says, If you consider ME

a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.

I think it would be foolish to think that every wrong that has ever been done

against us by someone else is manageable. There are some biblical principles that

seem to trump other principles in a given situation. I mean, what do you do if

someone refuses to change. Jesus also said in Luke 17:3, So watch yourselves. If

your brothersins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgiven him. So its not a blank

check disregarding any misbehavior that someone wants to continually be in. Even

Peter on the day of Pentecost said to those who heard his message about Jesus

status as Lord and Messiah in Acts 2:37-38, REPENT and be baptized everyone of

you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of yoursins. Not everything is

unconditional. But from every indication in this letter, Onesimus was someone

whom Paul now had complete confidence, regardless of what he had done to

Philemon in the past. He had truly been born again. He was a new man in Christ.

Paul wanted Philemon to see it and to cut the man some slack.

3. A Brothers Recommendation 18-22As our final point in this lessons outline, lets think about A Brothers

Recommendation. You know, near the end of the school year, I get a lot of

requests from seniors to write them recommendations for scholarships to college.Those requests come from the biggest knotheads to the kids who receive some of

the highest honors at the school. Is one kid really any better than another?

Occasionally Ive come to find out that the smarter kids can be just a bit more


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evasive of the authorities, or know how to talk their way out of a disciplinary

situation than one of their less ingenious classmates.Sometimes the comment on the recommendation for some of the bad kids

just doesnt mention the bad but says, somewhat creatively, This student was

always present in class (Sometimes you wish he wasnt). Or This student always

turned her work in on time (Even if there obviously wasnt the best effort that

could have been made, or was an almost unreadable scribbling of an essay that you

know was written between Algebra problems or in Math class the hour before it

was due in mine).

Paul doesnt deny that Onesimus had done wrong. But he also doesnt deny

that Philemon had suffered loss because of this slave. He says, Look, let me take

personal responsibility for any inconvenience that you have suffered. If he has

done you any wrong, or owes you anything, charge it to me. IPaul am writing this

with my own hand. I will pay it backnot to mention that you owe me your very

self. Dont you just love those not-to-mention statements. They have a name in

Greek rhetoric. Its called pretaritio, a Latin figure of speech meaning to

overlook, to pass over, to disregard.On the basis of their relationship in Christ,

Paul asks Philemon, without asking him, to think of all that he owes Paul. Im not

gonna mention that you owe me everything, but you do. So DO this for me,

buddy.

The last few sentences, verses 20-21 are both touching and noble. Paul feltthat he would be released from his imprisonment and that he would be able to see

the members of the church at Colossae again. But they new the situation as well as

anyone could. Nero was a crazy man. Church history does seem to suggest that

Paul was released for a short time about the time Peter had been taken into custody


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in Rome. But just before hed gotten too far outside the city, he was arrested again.

Peter would be crucified upside down. Paul, because he was a Roman citizen,could not be crucified, but he was beheaded with a sword. Maybe he knew that was

going to happen, maybe not. But he appeals to Philemon on the basis of the

possibility that maybe he would see him again. Prepare a guest room for me. He

says in verse 22. I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers, he tells

the congregation.

Conclusion

july 4_2010 sermon_fort stocktontx_first christian church

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