A Reconciled Runaway

The book of Philemon is incredibly short. It is only one chapter! It's a super cool story too. The overall purpose of this letter written to Philemon was to convince Philemon to forgive his runaway salve, Onesimus, and to accept him as a brother in faith. There are many powerful lessons that come from this story and I hope that I can clearly present them in a way that makes sense to you so that you can be encouraged.

Paul wrote this letter when he was on house arrest. Onesimus was a runaway slave that belonged to Philemon and he had made his way to Rome. In Rome, it is said that Paul helped lead him to Christ. Which there aren't many details about, and I wish that there were. Paul convinced Onesimus that running from his problems wouldn't solve them, and he persuaded him to return to his master. This letter was written in hope that Philemon would reconcile his runaway slave.

Now just imagine being in the shoes of Onesimus. He had just ran away from his owner and had no idea what to do next. Slave owners had the power to kill any slave that had runaway, so Onesimus feared for his life.

One of the things that I really like about this story is how Paul made it known how thankful he was for his brother in Christ, Philemon.

"because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be affected in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord's people." (Philemon 1:5-7)

That is refreshing encouragement. Philemon knew how to be refreshing. He was able to revive and restore his brothers and sisters in the faith. His love and generosity had replenished and stimulated them. Philemon was also able to encourage Paul by his love and loyalty. Can you think of those people who are refreshing to you? For me when I think of those people, I think of them being unbreakable. Nothing kills their moods. Whether they have a good day or bad day they are uplifting, encouraging, and refreshing. Are you spiritually refreshing towards other believers?

When Paul began to appeal for Onesimus, he makes it known that he could be bold and order him to do what he was supposed to do and that was return to Philemon. But Paul made his appeal on the basis of love and Philemon's Christian commitment. Are you making decisions based on how you should make them? Or how Jesus would make them?

Throughout the bible it seems like when God finds runaways, he often sends them back to the very places and people from which they ran in the first place. As God has become real in your life, how has your past come into new perspectives? For me, I look back at decisions I have made in the past. It's easy to say that now that I look back at it, I never would've made those decisions, but those decisions that I made led to me growing in ways that I never thought I would. You can't really runaway from the decisions and choices that you have made. God has a way of bringing those back for an even greater purpose. Don't get me wrong, you are still made brand new in the eyes of Christ. Christ gives new opportunities and resources for you that you may have used to run from. God must have a special heart for runaways, and we have all ran way from something at some point in time in our lives and God loves us!

When Onesimus became a Christian, he became a brother to Philemon. When we become brothers we are both members of God's family-equals in Christ. A Christian's commitment to being a member of God's family transcends all other distinctions among believers. We can't ever look down on other believers. It's too easy to do that sometimes. We are all members of one big family and need to start living that way. It's a hard thing to do because of the world that we live in.

In verse, 17 Paul refers to Philemon as a "partner." He didn't mean partner in the business world but a partner in grace. Paul and Philemon shared the same experience in Jesus Christ of being saved; in the sense, they were equals. Too often our relationships reflect a tolerance for one another other than a true partnership. This encourages me and is convicting at the same time. I am encouraged to develop true partnerships with other believers rather than just having a tolerance for them. It's way too easy to just tolerate other believers and I don't want to tolerate anymore. A tolerant relationship is a mile wide and an inch deep.

The last part of this story that is admirable is how Paul helps takeaway some of the fear that Onesimus has in returning to Philemon. Paul offers to repay Philemon for anything that was stolen or any wrong doings for which Onesimus might be responsible for. Paul's investment in the life of this new believer certainly was encouraging and uplifting and really made me think. Are there young believers out there right now who need me to demonstrate such self-sacrifice toward them? Most certainly! There are so many ways out there in which believers can invest into other believers. Are you making that investment?

That's the story of Philemon. I hope you were able to to pick out some things from this post and be encouraged by them. It's amazing how much you can learn from one story.