WEBVTT 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:04.240 Thanks for listening to the His Hands Church podcast. 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:12.800 If you're using the His Hands Church mobile app, please turn off the auto lock on your phone's general settings so that you can listen to the message uninterrupted. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:16.079 And thank you for being part of what God is doing at His Hands. 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:20.000 Well, good morning. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:22.879 Well, thanks for responding there. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:30.480 So, since we're talking back and forth here, um, here's the general biblical outline of the story I want to talk about this morning. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:35.359 I want to want you to see if you can guess uh the story I might have in mind here. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:47.920 So, a young man comes into a certain wealth, selfishly, and he runs off to a far country, and in this far country, he has this dramatic personal experience. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:49.520 Uh, he's a changed man. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:52.399 So in repentance, he comes back home. 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:54.399 He's making this long journey. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:56.719 It's a father type figure in the story. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:05.200 This father very much desires that this young son, so to speak, would be reconciled with this older brother who didn't leave home. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:15.280 And he specifically desires, the father does, that the younger son would be accepted by the older son, not as a slave, but as a brother and a co-heir. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:17.280 He really desires for this to happen. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:22.480 The father already has this perspective, but he wants his sons to have this also. 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:25.840 But the story kind of ends as a cliffhanger. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:31.439 We don't really know exactly what happened with the two brothers if they reconciled, but we hope for the best. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:36.079 So, if I give that outline, what Bible story do you think I have in mind? 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:39.920 Now, before you say it out loud, I should tell you it is a trick question. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:42.400 So you're you're probably gonna get it wrong. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:48.319 And I'm gonna belittle you in front of 1300 people, but it's more fun than it sounds. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:50.239 So, what what story do I have in mind? 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:51.680 Some brave person? 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:53.760 Prodigal son. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:54.400 Exactly. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:55.519 Thank you very much. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:57.680 You're absolutely wrong. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:01:59.359 How dare you? 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:01.120 What an awful answer. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:03.200 No, I'm just kidding. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:08.879 That's that's absolutely the story that you would have in mind, the perfect answer to that biblical outline. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:16.319 So I guess this morning we're gonna be looking at the second most famous story in the Bible that has that kind of structure to it. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:20.639 And this story is is infinitely less famous, but it's still really cool. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:24.879 Uh, the story that's more well, let me give you a couple more clues in case you still want to guess. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:30.560 Uh the father figure in this story, he's not really a biological father. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:32.719 So I was intentionally trying to throw you off there. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:42.400 The person in the story represents themselves and verbally calls themselves a father to these two, but it's not really a biological father kind of relationship. 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:51.120 And the second clue is like in the prodigal son, Jesus made up that story to teach, you know, some some great truths. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:55.360 But this story I have in mind is an actual historical story. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:58.240 I mean, it's it's real Bible characters. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:00.800 Any final guesses there? 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:02.800 Story I might have in mind? 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:05.439 I would not have guessed this at all a couple months ago. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:08.719 If nobody knows, then I guess the worship team can come back up. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:12.560 So we'll all get to lunch early. 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:16.240 No, this story this morning is about a guy named Onesimus. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:23.680 And Anesimus is a central character in the short uh letter in the New Testament called Philemon. 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:27.360 And he's also mentioned one other time in the book of Colossians. 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:30.639 Philemon and Colossians, those two letters kind of go together. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:32.159 They're companion books. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:34.879 And we're going to talk more about Colossians next week. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:41.120 But Onesimus was from this small town in Asia Minor called Colossae. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:45.120 Colossae, small town, very small church there. 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:49.599 So when you think Asia Minor, think modern-day Turkey. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:54.719 So this small church actually was not planted by Paul directly. 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.680 Paul was this famous uh missionary apostle in the New Testament. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:04.159 But Paul was in the town of Ephesus for a couple years. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:10.639 Ephesus was about a hundred miles to the west, closer to the sea, and he was there for a while. 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:14.479 And while in Ephesus, Paul mentored a man named Epiphras. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:26.480 And Epiphras is the one that actually traveled around to a lot of these cities in Asia Minor and planted these churches, like in uh Colossae and Philippi and Laodicea and Heropolis. 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:35.120 And he would travel back and forth, and meanwhile, Paul would uh kind of keep tabs on what was going on in the churches and supervise that way. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:40.800 It's not that he wouldn't want to travel, I don't think, but he's in and out of prison, and Paul does that kind of thing. 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:43.759 So he's making himself useful like that. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:51.680 So it's this small church, when you hear church in this story, you know, think this meant in a house, the house of a man named Archipus. 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:54.560 So think small group when you hear that. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:58.639 So all this, by the way, it makes for a really good tongue twister. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:04.399 So it because Anesimus knew Epiphers and Epiphras meant Paul in Ephesus. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:07.439 Anesimus knew Epiphers and Epiphrius meant Paul in Ephesus. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:08.879 So say that five times fast. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:09.759 You'll have it down. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:13.279 Anesimus knew Epiphers and Epiphers meant Paul in Ephesus. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:18.879 I was actually typing that out in the message, and I was, and I thought, wow, this is like uh a Dr. 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:20.319 Seuss message. 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:20.959 Okay. 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:25.439 So back to the small town of Colossae. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:28.079 This is gonna be a long setup, but it'll make sense. 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:33.680 Back in Colossae, uh, one of the central leaders in the church was a man named Philemon. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:39.040 And Philemon, we think, was probably married to Afia, who was also a prominent leader in the church. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:44.079 So the two of them, and they meet in the house of a man that I mentioned earlier, Archipus. 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:49.600 So Philemon, we think, probably a fairly wealthy guy, and he would travel on business. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:56.480 And so one of his business trips, apparently in the past, some point in the past, he journeyed to Ephesus. 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:01.600 Ephesus, closer to the sea, had a lot of trade, makes sense that he would be there for a while. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:06.160 While Philemon is in Ephesus, he happens to meet Paul. 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:10.800 And through that relationship with Paul, Philemon becomes a believer. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:15.839 And so Paul and Philemon have this kind of spiritual dad relationship. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:25.680 So Philemon returns to Colossae, a changed man, and uh he's a leader in the community, leader in his church, along with his wife Afia. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:34.959 So, but the one important detail that I've met I've left out about Philemon is that Philemon was also still a slave owner. 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:43.519 Uh had at least one slave, and that's Philemon's connection to this main character, Onesimus, in this story this morning. 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.480 Onesimus was Philemon's slave. 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:51.920 So back in Colossae, there Onesimus, finally a plot point here. 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:55.279 Onesimus finds a way to escape from Philemon. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:07:02.000 So he flees from Colossae, but on his way out of town, Onesimus robs Philemon. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:06.319 He takes some traveling money or some possessions or something, and he bolts. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:10.879 So he's trying to get as far away as he can from Colossae. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:17.040 He's free for the first time, but he's also now a thief and a fugitive. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:25.920 So Onesimus is on the run, and as he's fleeing, miraculously, Onesimus also meets Paul. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:28.079 I mean, what are the odds? 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:30.480 But one way this might have happened. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:32.879 I'm just totally guessing here from what I've read. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:50.079 But Onesimus might have known Epiphras a bit, from Epiphhrus having planted the church in Colossae, and maybe as Onesimus was bolting town, Epiphers was also leaving back on his way to see Paul, and maybe Onesimus sought out Epiphers' advice. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:54.720 And Epiphhrus probably said, You know, I don't know what to tell you. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:58.319 You just robbed this guy in my church, but you're free now, and that's great. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:07:59.759 Probably wouldn't work too well. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:01.120 You going right back. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:03.279 I'm already on my way to see Paul. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:08.560 I can make this introduction, and it'll be a long journey, but we'll see what Paul says. 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:09.600 We don't really know. 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:15.920 But either way, we just know from the Bible that Onesimus meets Paul while he's in prison. 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:18.240 He's under house arrest. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:23.519 So we don't even really know if Paul was in Ephesus at the time in prison. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:30.000 That's, I think, is likely, but if it wasn't in Ephesus, then Paul was probably in prison in Rome. 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:36.720 So the journey from Colossae to Ephesus, if that's where Paul was, it's about a hundred miles. 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:42.720 So think like Woodstock to Macon by foot or by camel or whatever that is. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:46.320 It's a long trip, several days of grueling travel. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:52.799 But if Paul currently is in prison in Rome, then that's like 1,200 miles. 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:56.639 That's weeks of travel with you know big boat trips. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:01.919 That's like Woodstock to San Antonio, Texas, or a little further. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:08.720 So a long journey, Onesimus finally meets with Paul and meets him in prison. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:13.919 And thankfully, through this relationship, Onesimus also becomes a believer. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:20.000 And he stays there with Paul for a certain amount of time, helping Paul while he's in prison. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:23.279 He's a great blessing and a help to him there. 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:26.320 So, you know, kind of pause where we are. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:32.480 You've got Paul knows Onesimus, and Onesimus has been a great blessing to Paul there in the present tense. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:47.600 Paul knows Philemon, and Philemon and Paul, they've had this great relationship in the past, and Onesimus knows Philemon, because they're the master slave kind of dynamic there, but the three of them never been in the same room together. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:53.679 Philemon's probably a little bit older, leader in the community in the church, but a slave owner. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:10:07.279 And Onesimus probably a little bit younger, and he's been a great blessing to Paul, really helped him in prison, but he's also a fugitive, and from Philemon's perspective, a thief. 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:15.519 And then, standing in the middle, you've got this loving father type in Paul, who's currently incarcerated. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:17.360 So, what's he gonna do? 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:20.000 So that's the setup. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:23.759 Paul does what really the only thing he can do from prison. 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:24.879 He writes a letter. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:26.000 He's in chains. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:37.440 So he gets out his pen and he writes this short, one-page, very personal letter to Philemon on the behalf of Onesimus, commending him. 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:42.000 And that's the letter to Philemon that we have in the New Testament. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:46.080 And so as we're gonna read this uh together in a second. 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:47.519 Don't be worried here. 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:50.879 We're gonna read the whole book, but it's only uh 25 verses long. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:52.960 You can read it in less than two minutes. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:11:05.759 So as we read this letter that Paul wrote to Philemon on the behalf of Onesimus, I want you to remind yourself as you listen to this that I think it's really addressed to two different people. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:10.799 Um in structure, the letter is addressed to Philemon. 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:16.080 So it's real easy to kind of put yourself in Philemon's shoes when you listen to this. 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:30.879 So as you listen as Philemon, I want you to imagine the irony of maybe the person that you resent most in life showing up at your doorstep holding a letter from the one person you respect most in life. 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:35.759 And your convenient life category is just starting to disintegrate there. 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:42.639 But for a different perspective, you could also listen to this letter as if you are Onesimus. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:55.519 And when you listen as Onesimus, I want you to imagine, you I'm I'm guessing that Onesimus probably read this letter dozens of times as he's traveling, you know, a hundred or a thousand miles all the way back. 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.000 It only takes two minutes to read. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.639 How difficult is it to break into a scroll? 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:04.159 Or Paul probably talked through all this before he even left. 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:17.679 So as you listen as Onesimus, I want you to imagine you're probably still struggling with feeling useless and lost, but then you're inspired when you hear the way Paul commends you before Philemon. 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:19.600 So here this is. 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:25.519 This is the uh the book of Philemon in the Bible, and this is from the message version. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:35.039 I, Paul, am a prisoner for the sake of Christ, here with my brother Timothy. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:46.159 And I write this letter to you, Philemon, my good friend and companion in this work, also to our sister Afia, to Archipis, a real trooper, and to the church that meets in your house. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:50.000 God's best to you, Christ's blessings on you. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:55.840 Every time I your name comes up in my prayers, I say, Oh, thank you, God. 00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:01.759 I keep hearing of the love and faith you have for the Master Jesus, which brims over to other believers. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:10.240 And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things that we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:18.159 Friend, you have no idea how good your love makes me feel, doubly so when I see your hospitality to fellow believers. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.360 In line with all this, I have a favor to ask of you. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:30.720 As Christ's ambassador and now prisoner for him, I wouldn't hesitate to command this if I thought it was necessary, but I'd rather make it a personal request. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:38.960 While here in jail, I fathered a child, so to speak, and here he is, hand carrying this letter, Onesimus. 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:44.320 He was useless to you before, but now he's useful to both of us. 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:49.279 I'm sending him back to you, but it feels like I'm cutting off my right arm in doing so. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:55.120 I wanted in the worst way to keep him here as your stand-in to help out while I'm in jail for the message. 00:13:55.360 --> 00:13:57.919 But I didn't want to do anything behind your back. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:02.000 Make you do a good deed that you hadn't willingly agreed to. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:05.360 Maybe it's all for the best that you lost him for a while. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:07.440 You're getting him back now for good. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:11.759 And no mere slave this time, but a true Christian brother. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:15.679 That's what he was to me, and he'll be even more than that to you. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:21.519 So if you still consider me a comrade in arms, welcome him back as you would me. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:26.159 If he damaged anything or owes you anything, chalk it up to my account. 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:30.320 This is my personal signature, Paul, and I stand behind it. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:34.960 I don't need to remind you, do I, that you owe your very life to me. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.039 That's like a classic debating strategy. 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:41.200 I'm not gonna say this, but I just did. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:42.639 I love that. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:44.720 That's not just the message translation either. 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:45.440 Paul did that. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:47.360 Do me this big favor, friend. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:51.279 You'll be doing it for Christ, but it will also do my heart good. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:53.519 I know you well enough to know that you will. 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:56.159 You'll probably go far beyond what I've written. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:58.879 And by the way, get a room ready for me. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:02.320 Because of your prayers, I fully expect to be your guest again. 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:03.440 Dun-da-da. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:05.200 I'm gonna check in. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:08.320 Epiphrus, my cellmate in the cause of Christ, says hello. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:15.120 Also, my co-workers Mark, Aristarchus, Dimas, and Luke, all the best to you from the Master Jesus Christ. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.240 So that's we studied the entire book of the Bible this morning. 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:20.240 So isn't that a great letter? 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:26.399 My my first response when I read something like that is it makes me really like Paul. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:30.799 You know, such a big heart, and it's it's really positive. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:40.960 But my objection when I read that, you know, or my trouble with it, at first, at least, is I don't really know what that teaches me. 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:43.600 You know, it's it's so specific. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:45.279 What's the rule there? 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:47.600 You know, I tend to think in those terms. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:52.320 I mean, you take a couple steps back, and Philemon's a slave owner. 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:56.559 So how is that being completely dealt with? 00:15:56.799 --> 00:16:04.559 Or from the other perspective, I mean, is Philemon really gonna charge Paul for whatever Onesimus has stolen? 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:06.080 Probably not gonna happen. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:08.399 I mean, nobody's gonna pay. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:11.200 It's like it's like the prodigal son. 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:16.960 We listen to that and it's a great story, and it's heartwarming, but it feels maybe a bit reckless. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:23.919 And you read that story, my heart loves what Paul's saying, and that's that's a world I want to live in. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:29.440 But my head keeps saying, yeah, but that would probably never work in most cases. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:33.600 And that's what concerns me when I read a letter like this. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:39.600 It's that, but that probably wouldn't work in most cases, attitude in me. 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:41.600 And where did that come from? 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:43.840 And what if I'm wrong? 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:57.519 So said a different way, um, what gives Paul the right or even the idea, you know, to advocate so strongly for reconciliation between these two guys? 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:04.799 This is not just forgiveness, this is not just a legal release from slavery, you know, manumission. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:06.720 This is reconciliation. 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:15.119 That's why Paul says, I'm not gonna make this a command, because if he did, that would fall far short of his goal, which is reconciliation. 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:23.279 So that's that's an entirely new, healthy relationship built from the ground up from the two most unlikely people. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:25.599 And it's where does that come from? 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:30.000 And and what if this letter had been delivered to me? 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:32.880 What would my response be? 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:39.599 Would I have had my enemy arrested on site, thrown his letter away before it was ever even read? 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.319 Would I have hopped right on Facebook? 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:46.480 You're not gonna believe the bozo that just showed up in my doorstep. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:53.440 Smile and SMS, kick, kick, hashtag I got no use for you. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.200 That's still the world we live in, right? 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:03.680 Or would I have at least stopped and prayed, Jesus, what are you doing here? 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:04.960 Are you in this? 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:06.640 Is there something for me? 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:09.759 Are you trying to bless me in a way that I can't understand? 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:13.519 And this is uncomfortable, but where are you going with this? 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:24.960 To me, this letter only really begins to make sense when you just go all the way and substitute Jesus in the place of Paul in this story. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:32.079 Because ultimately, you know, how do how did Paul get this idea that these two guys should get back in the same room? 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:33.920 Who in their right mind would do that? 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:40.160 Surely Paul was praying through this, and the spirit of Jesus told him, that's exactly how this should go. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:42.480 And so that's what he commends. 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:47.680 But having that attitude, you know, just puts the blame right back where it should be on Jesus. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:54.559 Like, would I really want to serve a God that might walk me down that type of direction? 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:58.799 And something inside me just kind of wells up like, you have no right. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:05.599 We have rules here, and you know, I know my place, this is not how things should go. 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:11.279 But Jesus, of course, has the right to say such bold things because he made us. 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:25.599 And only Jesus really knows who we are and the purpose that he's made us for, and only he knows how he wants to fit us together and what happens when different ones get in certain relationships. 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:40.960 You might have noticed in the middle of this letter, uh Paul tells Philemon that in the past Onesimus has been useless to you, but now he's useful to me, and he will be even more useful to you in the future. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:50.240 All of that is a play on words, because uh Onesimus' name in Greek, the Greek name, it means useful. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:55.680 So he's saying, in the past, Onesimus has not been Onesimus. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:03.759 He has not been useful, but now I know the true Onesimus, and that's who I'm sending back to you, and that's who I want you to know. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:05.279 The true you. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:12.400 This name kind of thing, um it reminds me of the Old Testament book of Jonah. 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:13.920 I really love that book. 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:16.799 I have two boys, my youngest son is named Jonah. 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:20.880 Uh, if you don't know the story offhand, uh it's a short book, too. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:26.720 God instructs Jonah, a prophet, to go and preach to the town of Nineveh. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:29.920 And Nineveh is the sworn enemy of Israel. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:39.599 So Jonah says, No way, not gonna do it, and he flees the opposite direction, gets swallowed by a fish, and he eventually repents and goes and preaches to Nineveh. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:43.119 The Nineveh respond gloriously. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:46.799 They repent before God, and it's wonderful, right? 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:51.599 No, actually, not from the perspective of Jonah. 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:53.359 Jonah is ticked off. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:21:00.880 He did the preaching part like God wanted him to do, but he really wanted God to just be vengeful. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:02.559 That's the God that he needed. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:04.559 He needed God to be that for him. 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:09.200 He's so upset he goes and sulks on a hill overlooking Nineveh. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:14.640 I guess hoping God's gonna change his mind and rain down fire on Nineveh. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:17.440 And if this happens, I don't want to miss it. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:19.200 This is what I'm waiting for. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:26.960 And so he sits there and and God eventually comes to him and explains that God has different plans. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:30.000 God has plans for life. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:31.920 God loves Nineveh. 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:40.079 And so God's confession of love for Nineveh, the sworn enemy of Israel, ends the book of Jonah. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:44.240 But in the end, we know that Jonah gets it. 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:50.720 And the reason we know that Jonah gets it in the end is because Jonah wrote the book of Jonah. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:55.359 And so his story was redeemed for great purpose. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.839 Because the book of Jonah reminds us that God loves all nations and all nations. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:00.960 People. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:09.519 And so Jonah, through his story, he learns his true identity and who God really is in the process. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:15.839 The name Jonah in Hebrew means peace or dove. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:20.400 So Jonah starts the story and he's not acting like who he really is. 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:22.240 He is war. 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:25.359 I really need God to be vengeance. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:32.720 But in the end, he becomes who he really is, and he learns peace, a much better reflection of who God is. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:36.480 So that kind of thing, that dynamic is going on in this story. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:39.599 This is redemption on the grandest possible level. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:45.279 You've been this, you've thought you are this, but you are actually useful. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:47.200 This is who you are. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:56.559 There were actually two different scrolls that were sent down the road from the imprisoned Paul back to Colossae. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:04.720 The first one was this one-page personal letter from Paul to Philemon, commending Anesimus, the book of Philemon. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:11.839 And the second one was carried by another guy named Tychicus, and he was carrying another letter or two also. 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:17.359 But Tychicus and Anesimus journey back together from Paul to Colossae. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:22.240 And Tychicus was carrying the letter to the entire church in Colossae. 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:25.039 And we'll look at this more next week. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:31.039 But since this letter was also there, it was also pretty short, uh it's only like four chapters long. 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:43.519 I wonder if these two guys also read this letter on the way, and if these words also specifically encouraged Onesimus and knowing what was coming up. 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:49.200 So from the verse the letter to the Colossians, I'll give you a few examples. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:54.799 Imagine Onesimus reading this from chapter one in Colossians. 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:59.119 God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:09.440 He set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loved so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, and got rid of the sins that we were doomed to keep repeating. 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:22.559 And just a few verses later, talking about Jesus, so spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:39.759 Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe, people and things, animals and atoms, get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:41.759 So only Jesus can do that. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:45.119 Fit us together in vibrant harmonies. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:50.559 So it's not just my little light shining and your light shining, and we got all these dots, and we're gonna make the best. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:55.599 The greatest art there is Jesus is creating the harmonies between us. 00:24:55.759 --> 00:25:02.160 And the relationships that we have are the things that shine best, that preach the most, so to speak. 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:03.839 Not necessarily the words. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:13.279 And only Jesus can do that because only he knows who we really are, what he's made us, and what he's working in us, our true names, so to speak. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:29.200 A little bit later in Colossians, Paul says, Your old life is dead, your new life, which is your real life, even though invisible to spectators, is with Christ in God, he is your life. 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:38.000 When Christ, your real life, remember, shows up again on this earth, you'll show up to the real you, the glorious you. 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:42.319 Meanwhile, be content with obscurity like Christ. 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:59.039 But before we can, you know, experience this forgiveness or share this forgiveness with others and have reconciliation in those kind of relationships or inspire that in others, we have to first hear that spoken over us. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:05.519 We have to own that first between us and Jesus before we really have anywhere to go with that. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:08.559 And Paul had experienced that in his own life. 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:12.319 Paul started completely opposing the church. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:18.480 He was persecuting them, he would go town to town and round them up so they could be in jail or killed. 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:21.759 And he did that against Jesus specifically. 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:29.039 But Jesus shows up before Paul on the road to Damascus and forgives Paul. 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:42.480 But Jesus doesn't just forgive him, he reconciles their contentious relationship and he puts Paul to good use because he knows who he is and the real plan that he has for Paul. 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:53.519 So since Paul's been through this in the past in his own life, then he's able to speak that same kind of hope into the relationship between Onesimus and Philemon. 00:26:54.160 --> 00:27:07.839 And so that's what I think, for my money, by far the best way to read through the book of Philemon is to just cut through all that and try to relate to both guys at once. 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:11.680 Imagine yourself as being Onesimus and Philemon. 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:15.759 You know, different scenarios, different relationships, the oppressor and the oppressed. 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:17.680 Relate to both those guys at once. 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:22.960 And hear the letter as if it's spoken directly to you by Jesus. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:33.680 So first hear it, you know, in its historical context, but then just go right to the source and hear these words as if Jesus is speaking these over you. 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:37.599 So I'm gonna read a paraphrase of this now. 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:42.400 I'm not gonna put this up on the screen because this is just like a paraphrase of a paraphrase. 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:49.440 But this is reworking the same letter to Philemon as if Jesus is speaking this directly to us. 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:52.000 So here's how it might sound. 00:27:54.640 --> 00:28:06.400 I, Jesus, write this letter to you along with my Father, sent to you through the Spirit, not just to you, but to the church that meets in your city, to his hands, to the small group that meets in your home. 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:10.720 Every time your name comes up, I say thank you, Father. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:15.920 I take special note of your love and faith, how it brims over into the lives of others. 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:22.480 This faith will continue to grow in you so that those around you recognize me even more through you. 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:27.359 You have no idea how encouraged I am to see your love for others. 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:30.720 In line with this, I have a favor to ask. 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:40.720 I wouldn't hesitate to command this if I thought it was needed, but I'd rather that you're motivated simply by love instead, the strongest possible motivation. 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:45.519 I have become a father to you, the best possible father. 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:53.359 And not just to you, I'm working in the lives of thousands of people all around you every day as their loving father. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:59.680 I want you to understand how I see them, and I deeply want them to understand how I see you. 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:05.200 Think of the grace and joy that I have for you, and let that be your example. 00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:07.839 Treat other people in the same way. 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:13.359 I know in the past that you've thought of yourself as useless, but you are not. 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:16.160 That nickname did not come from me. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:20.400 My name for you is your true name, useful. 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:22.240 You have great purpose. 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:26.960 When I speak of you to others and before the Father, I say no less. 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:30.559 Hear me, you are not a slave any longer. 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:43.440 You are a brother, a daughter, an heir, and I know there has been damage, and I know there's been debts, but please know, whatever was damaged or owed, I've chalked it up to my account. 00:29:43.680 --> 00:29:46.160 And I am the one that is paying your debt. 00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:51.039 I'm the one that is making everything new because I'm the only one that can. 00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:54.880 So finally, please do me this big favor. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:56.640 It will do my heart good. 00:29:56.960 --> 00:30:00.799 Forgive those around you in the same way that I've forgiven you. 00:30:01.119 --> 00:30:09.920 There's someone very special to me who will be arriving before you soon, holding the same kind of personal letter from me that I'm now writing to you. 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:14.000 Remember my forgiveness to you, and go and do the same. 00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:17.039 Receive them as you would receive me. 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:19.200 I know you're gonna do this. 00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:21.759 This will be such an encouragement to me. 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:25.359 I won't remind you that you owe me your very life. 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:30.720 And by the way, get ready, because I'm coming to see you in person soon. 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:35.039 All the best to you, your dear friend, Jesus. 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:39.359 Worship team, if you want to start coming back up. 00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:49.200 So, whatever happened to this fugitive slave Onesimus? 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:50.960 We don't really know. 00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:56.400 Uh the only potential clue comes uh decades later. 00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:03.599 A guy named Ignatius wrote a letter to the church in Ephesus, and not a biblical letter, but uh a historical letter. 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:12.640 And in that, he makes reference to a bishop of Ephesus, sorry, named Onesimus. 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:32.000 So maybe, maybe Philemon reconciled with Onesimus and took Paul's suggestion to heart and allowed and maybe even financed Onesimus' journey back to Ephesus, maybe to see Paul again and to be an encouragement to him, and then eventually he settles into his own work there. 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:34.319 And we don't really know if it's the same guy. 00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:38.319 Honestly, it was a it was a pretty common name, so the odds aren't high. 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:49.680 But if it was the same Onesimus, then that's an important detail because it is that Bishop Onesimus that was the first collector of Paul's letters. 00:31:49.920 --> 00:32:01.519 He's the guy that went around to all the different cities, collected all the letters, so that years later they would be available in one place to be codified into the Bible that we read today. 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:05.440 That's what Bishop Onesimus did with his freedom. 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:12.640 So maybe that's how this short, very personal, one-page letter makes it into the Bible. 00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:19.440 Because Onesimus adds his letter, or at least a letter bearing his namesake. 00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:23.759 And so that's the short lesson in all of this. 00:32:23.920 --> 00:32:38.079 That if we want to experience forgiveness in our relationships and reconciliation, or try to inspire that in others, the first step, absolutely essential, is you gotta hold your own scroll tight. 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:41.759 And you gotta walk at home, whatever that means. 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:51.599 You have to hear for yourself how Jesus thinks of you and how he commends you into your perfect place in his kingdom. 00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:53.920 And then go live in freedom. 00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:56.160 Let's pray. 00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:02.240 God, I thank you for this book that you gave us, for how you love us and care for us. 00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:11.599 God, I pray that you would just give us ears to hear what you have for us, the name that you have for us, what you want us to do. 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:18.240 Lord, just give us ears to hear the relationships we're in now, or the relationships that you want to start in us. 00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:27.759 And how can the same forgiveness that we've been given from you, how can that be shown in the relationships that we have now? 00:33:28.319 --> 00:33:30.319 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:31.440 Amen.