Extraordinary Courage!

Extraordinary Courage to go the whole way!

Graeme

Somebody once wrote that ‘it wasn’t the bits of the Bible they didn’t understand that troubled Him; it was the bits he did understand.’

Many Christians want to follow Christ because they really believe his teachings bring a life worth living. We want to follow Jesus all the way. But then we come up against that teaching which is just too hard…

For many it is this; forgive as you have been forgiven.

But we can’t let go of that hurt that we feel when that person (usually a trusted friend on loved one) did that to us.

The letter to Philemon is all about that sort of situation. Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, ran away. In Roman times this was punishable by death or by being beaten within an inch of your life. If they didn’t do this then all slaves would run away and the Roman economy would collapse for lack of cheap labour.

But Onesimus had run away to the only good person he knew, Paul. Paul had been the one who helped Philemon become a Christian and must have made a big impression on the pagan Onesimus too. We don’t know why he ran away but it obviously doesn’t matter to Paul, because while sorting out his life with Paul a 100 km away in Ephesus, he decided to give his life to Jesus.

This changed everything!

This changed his relationship to Philemon. Before the most important relationship they shared was Master/Slave, now the most important relationship is brother/brother in Christ.

“It may be that Onesimus was away from you for a short time so that you might have him back for all time.

And now he is not just a slave, but much more than a slave: he is a dear brother in Christ. How much he means to me! And how much more he will mean to you, both as a slave and as a brother in the Lord!

So, if you think of me as your partner, welcome him back just as you would welcome me.

If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to my account.”

Philemon

How can he have Onesimus put to death or beaten if he shares in Jesus’ rich salvation with Philemon? How can he love him and harm him? Paul insists that Philemon must officially and formally forgive Onesimus. Not only that, he must grant him his freedom! (Bear in mind that slaves costs the modern equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars!) Bear in mind that all Philemon’s neighbours would pressure him to do the ‘right thing’, the legal thing, and have him executed.

So Onesimus returned to Philemon with nothing but the letter in his hand, an apology on his lips and waited to see if he would be killed or reconciled.

That’s courage. The courage of his convictions taken all the way.

How many of us return to apologise when we have done serious harm to another person’s life- knowing that they have every right to ‘tear strips off us’. Most people choose avoidance over reconciliation any day! But Jesus expects us to seek to make our wrongs right. How hard to be in Onesimus’ shoes.

And how many of us try to be reconciled when it is we who have been wronged? How hard it is to forgive when the hurt really matters to us. How hard to be in Philemon’s shoes.

Do you have the courage to go the whole way with Jesus?

If you do, you are going to need the power of the Holy Spirit to help you because some things were never meant to be attempted on our own without God’s strength.

As for Philemon and Onesimus? I wonder what happened next…?