The book of Philemon is the briefest and most personal of Paul’s letters. Paul, inspired by God, is writing to a friend to ask a favor of him – a big favor, for a person’s life depends on the outcome. Like most respectable citizens of the day, Philemon owned slaves (historians estimate that as many as 60 million slaves served the Roman empire). One of Philemon’s slaves, a fellow by the name of Onesimus, has run away to Rome. There he has met Paul and become a Christian.
Onesimus means “useful”, and Paul playfully makes a pun from the Greek name. A runaway slave is useless, but a converted slave can prove very useful – provided Philemon receives him in the right spirit. Accept him back, urges Paul, “no longer as a slave, but… as a dear brother.” Though Roman society imposes a huge social distance between slaves and masters, in Christ there is no distinction (Galatians 3:26-28). There are many lessons we can take from this short one-chapter book (it is only 25 verses long). This Sunday we will look at a few of those lessons.
Praying everyone has a blessed week,
In Christ,
Gary T.