September 4-5, 2010
15th Sunday after Pentecost
Philemon 1-21
Salem Lutheran Church
I had an out of the ordinary experience at a funeral recently which comes to mind as we approach Paul's letter to Philemon today. Let me set the scene.
The one who died was clearly a person of deep faith… the Bible that was with her in the casket was well worn and her prayer list --- which her family said guided her conversation with God every morning was there as well --- written in her own hand. She had been a part of this congregation a very long time ago --- but from what I could tell her faith experience had led her and her family to worship in ways a little different than what I am accustomed to. This came home to me especially at the end of the funeral… when her grieving husband stood and gathered the attention of everyone in the room.
"There's one prayer that has not yet been answered, " he said, looking at me. And then he said it again, "There's one prayer that hasn't been answered." Then he proceeded to call forward two family members and insist that they forgiven each other then and there and that they seal that forgiveness with a hug --- for this had been her prayer for a very long time. Well they did --- hug each other, that is. To the tears and the applause of everyone in the room. Then Ron proceeded to play the postlude and the crowd --- mostly family --- made their way out and to the cemetery.
It was a wonderful sentiment, to be sure… to want to see his beloved wife's prayers answered then and there. And while it may have worked: I surely can't see into the hearts of the two who were so publicly urged to bury the hatchet --- still it struck me as entirely different from the tone of Paul's letter to Philemon today. For Paul may well have wanted to simply tell Philemon he had to receive Onesimus back as a brother in the faith --- and he surely could have, for he had to the authority in the early church to do just that --- still he did not. For Paul knew that faith is always an invitation. And that responding in faith is always an invitation… that when it's forced, it's hardly authentic, and it seldom lasts.
Let me set the stage though for Paul's letter to Philemon.
The most important piece is this. As reprehensible as it seems to us today, slavery was an accepted part of the economic system of the Roman Empire. Onesimus, by birth or other unexplained circumstance, owed his life, his livelihood, his existence, to Philemon, the recipient of this letter today. He was his slave. Only somehow he had escaped. And somehow had found his way to Paul and while there his life had been changed and he became a follower of Jesus. More than that, Onesimus and Paul had formed some kind of special connection --- a friendship or a partnership of sorts.
We are not told how long Onesimus was with Paul before Paul decided it was time to tend to the unfinished business with Philemon. For regardless of Onesimus having claimed the Christian faith, still by all rights in that time and place, Onesimus still was Philemon's slave. And if Philemon should get Onesimus back he could lawfully add years to the length of his bondage, he could physically punish him, he could even have him executed. Only, as we've heard, Paul doesn't see Onesimus as a slave anymore, but rather as a child, as a brother in the faith… and as we hear in his pleading words today, Paul wants nothing more than for Philemon to see Onesimus, to regard him, to treat him in the same way.
Only as we know Paul doesn't tell Philemon he has to do anything. Instead, what he does is remind Philemon of the relationship the two of them share. He does speak of the gift of Christ's love --- the wonder it has been for him and how we are called then to share that love in real ways. Paul does put his own self on the line, offering to repay anything that Onesimus may owe Philemon. He encourages and suggests and invites, to be sure, but he doesn't tell him what to do.
Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus lived in a tough world. One where their faith called them to make hard choices --- decisions which had real consequences in terms of relationships and economics alike.
And so do we. So do we.
One more story. Again, let me set the background for you. I read a while back that Clinton Rosette Middle School in DeKalb has a backpack program. They work in cooperation with the Northern Illinois Food Bank and what happens is that especially needy families are able to take advantage of this program where on Friday afternoon the middle schooler picks up a backpack full of food for the week-end and on Monday returns the backpack empty, only to pick it up again the next Friday. So we got to wondering if there was a such a need here in Sycamore and I contacted the principal at our Junior High to ask him. He was interested, and suggested that once the school year was underway, I meet with their school counselors to asses whether there is a need.
So on Tuesday I did... sitting down with four hard working people. People who clearly care about kids. People who put their hearts and souls into tending the learning needs and the overall well-being needs of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who are our children and grandchildren, neighbors and friends. I showed up to push them to think deeper about the needs of those kids even beyond the hours they are in contact with them from Monday to Friday. Especially on week-ends when reduced and free lunches and breakfasts are not available.
Now I say this without judgment, for I can think of a dozen times and more that I've felt the same way --- but here's what I saw when I sat with these four dedicated educators. I saw the struggle in their eyes. For they already have too much to do. And here I was asking them to begin to sort out the extent of such a need. To be in yet one more conversation with up to 200 kids and their families. To think with us about how such a need could be met. I was asking them to love those kids as whole human beings in a real and concrete way --- in ways that would take time and energy and wisdom.
For Philemon, loving Onesimus as a brother in the faith ---- and not just tending to his physical needs as a slave --- it comes at a cost. For a group of Junior High Counselors --- taking the next step in loving those kids as whole human beings --- for the sake of their lives beyond the regular school hours --- it comes at a cost. And for all of us, too. To look beyond what we're obligated to do, what the law or normal rules of conduct tell us we should do, and to treat the world with Christ's own love --- it comes at a cost.
What did Philemon do? We are never told. How will that forced reconciliation at a recent funeral turn out? Time will tell. How will our Jr. High staff respond to my request? That also remains to be told. What shall we do in our work and in our homes and in our neighborhoods with those we know and those we don't know and those we've just met? That story is still being told as well. Whatever else is true, there is no turning back now for we also have heard Jesus' call as our own. We've heard that call to move beyond what we have to do and to respond in faith to love the world as Jesus does. So may God bless our efforts as we seek to live and serve, to love and to give as increasingly we live in this world with the very heart of Jesus. Amen.
