Philippians 4:2 (New International Version
2I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.
Ephesians 4:3-5 (New International Version)
3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
Christianity applied…
This is it! This is where the rubber meets the road… isn’t it? Philemon and Onesimus have a problem, a serious problem. The tone of Paul’s letter intimates that fact. The easy thing to do here is to make Philemon the bad guy and make this two cent’s worth about the evils of slavery and classism, but there is another lesson here. Onesimus has some repenting to do here too. Clearly, he has wronged Philemon in some way and needs to make amends. Wait.. Onesimus is the victim right? Not entirely. Not according to Paul. No, Onesimus needs to go to Philemon and throw himself at Philemon’s mercy.. and be prepared to suffer the consequences… I appreciate this lesson. You see… this is the hard stuff. This is the stuff we leave churches over… broken relationships. This is how families are broken.. I have my own story about such a rift. I recently (very recently) took time to reconcile a relationship with an aunt that kept us separated for about 15 years. That’s a long time isn’t it? She’s 83 years old and I can say that I am truly thankful and grateful that I had the opportunity on this side of Heavan to reconcile. I’ll also confess that it was my foolish pride that was at the root of the problem (Remember Dwight?). I’ll always regret the time we’ve lost, but I am grateful that I have had a chance to start to make it right. What about you? Do you have something that you need to make right. Remember! Tomorrow’s not promised to you. What about Onesimus and Philemon? Well the scripture doesn’t provide a lot of illumination, but Church history tells us that a servant of Christ named Onesimus became the second Bishop of the Church of Ephesus after Timothy. From runaway slave to Leader of the largest church of its era. All made possible because he went to Philemon and made amends. He might have disobeyed Paul and went on about his way… saved, but still bound. Through his obedience to the Apostle, God was able to establish him as a pillar in the church and as a lasting example to us of real church.. the hard stuff.
Be Blessed!!
p.s. Feel free to ask me about the details of the story about my aunt. I won’t mind telling it if time permits…J
1 Peter 5:6 (King James Version)
6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
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