Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul - an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus - I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. I am sending him - who is my very heart - back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favour you do will be spontaneous and not forced. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good - no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back - not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. And one thing more: prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. (Philemon 1:1-25)

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The 19^th century British preacher Alexander Maclaren wrote, “as a sick man owes his life to the doctor who cured him, as a drowning man owes his life to his rescuer … so we owe our lives to Jesus Christ.” As we did this morning, Maclaren had clearly read Paul's Letter to Philemon - one of the shortest but also most interesting books of the Bible – because Paul essentially makes the same point to his apparently wealthy friend. Again echoing Paul to Philemon, Maclaren went on to argue that Jesus never directly uses His leverage over us to demand repayment of the debt, Instead, wrote Maclaren, “He gently reminds us of it, making His commandment sweeter and easier to obey.” Sometimes those gentle reminders have the greatest impact in the world! The words of Paul to Philemon can be interpreted as similar to the words Maclaren suggests that Jesus addresses to us today as we grapple with the challenge of putting the ethical standards of the gospel into practice in our own lives. How easy it is for us to forget to do the things we should do, and how valuable are the reminders we receive from those who love us – whether a friend, our spouse or our God. Philemon was reminded (although not quite ordered) by Paul to accept back a slave named Onesimus, but not as a slave – instead, to regard Onesimus as an equal, and even as a brother. Christians today are often compared to Onesimus in the sense that as Paul pleaded for his freedom, so does Christ plead for us to be freed from whatever enslaves us. If we look at the letter from an ethical perspective, Paul's instructions remind us to accept others as equals (just as Jesus did) even if their social status in the secular world puts them into a lower station. The world has social classes; the church does not, or at least it shouldn't. Just as one Christian shouldn't hold a brother Christian in slavery – as Paul instructed Philemon – neither can we as Christians consider any of our fellow Christians as less worthy than ourselves. So there are a couple of ways we can use this letter to bring greater meaning to our lives. Rather than Onesimus or Philemon, though (and even aside from the specific ethical issues found in the Letter) I want to think about Paul, and how he tried to encourage the living out of the gospel by his friend Philemon.

Short and seemingly insignificant though this letter may be, it's actually quite important as an example of the practical application of the gospel to a particular situation. Throughout the letter, Paul used what I'm calling gentle reminders and nudges to convince Philemon that he should – as a straightforward outcome of his faith – accept Onesimus as his brother. As he noted, he could have commanded Philemon to release Onesimus from slavery - to “do [his] duty” - which suggests that it's not acceptable for Philemon to hold a brother Christian in slavery, and therefore his “duty” was to release Onesimus from his chains. Instead, he appeals to Philemon “on the basis of love.” In other words, Philemon shouldn't release Onesimus because he has to, but because he wants to. Recognizing, however, that love – even Christian love – is not always perfect, it's interesting to see the gentle nudges and reminders that Paul includes throughout the letter – gentle nudges and reminders that seem to increase in force and power as the letter progresses. Let me just quickly summarize them. First he says that Onesimus is more useful to Philemon as a free man than he could ever be as a slave: “... now he has become useful both to you and to me.” Will Philemon keep in slavery one whom Paul has declared to be “useful” to both of them? Second, Paul demonstrates that he's not above using the old reliable tool of the guilt trip to influence Philemon. “I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. ” In other words, “Philemon, how come you're back in Colossae in comfort, while I'm in jail?” Then Paul said, “But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favour you do will be spontaneous and not forced.” Paul's words imply that he considers the doing of the “favour” (the release of Onesimus from slavery) as a given; for Philemon not to free him would be to defy Paul's expectation and to call into question their friendship, not to mention the fact that Paul reminds Philemon that he could “force” the issue, suggesting that Philemon knows very well that holding Onesimus as a slave is a violation of the basic principles of the gospel Paul taught him. Paul then equates himself with Onesimus: “... if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.” To put this in the negative, Paul is implicitly saying that if you don't welcome Onesimus as a brother, you must no longer consider me as a brother. Paul then makes an apparently generous offer to repay anything that Onesimus might owe to Philemon (Onesimus may have stolen something, or he may simply owe his own value as a slave) although after this generous offer he adds the reminder that “I will pay it back - not to mention that you owe me your very self.” That's my favourite nudge in the entire letter, since by saying “nothing” about this Paul actually said something very powerful, didn't he! In other words, “you owe me everything, Philemon, and don't you forget it as you think about whether you're going to do this for me or not!” Paul is willing to butter Philemon up a little bit in v.21, “Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.” Philemon, Paul says, is such a good and faithful Christian that he will go above and beyond the call of duty here, but – just in case he's tempted not to – there's a gentle reminder that although the appeal is being made “on the basis of love,” if by chance love should happen to fail Philemon there's still a matter of obedience involved. Finally, there's the clincher to the whole appeal in v.22. “And one thing more” (words that seem to have a bit of an ominous sound) - 'prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. ” A friendly visit from Paul to Philemon is in the offing – or, perhaps, we might interpret the verse as “by the way, I'm planning to come and check up on this!” I love this letter! As well as packing an ethical punch, I personally find it one of the funniest books of the Bible.

We don't know for sure what happened in the relationship between Philemon and Onesimus, but it seems unlikely that the letter would have been preserved if Philemon had rejected the advice. So, we seem to be on relatively safe ground in assuming that Philemon and Onesimus were eventually reconciled, and that all was forgiven. In this sense, as the theologian N.T. Wright points out,

the reconciliation of Philemon and Onesimus becomes an acted parable of the gospel itself, which breaks into the world of sin, suspicion and anger, of pride and fear, with the good news that Jesus Christ has revealed God's purposes of salvation, of human wholeness, of loving and forgiving fellowship.

In that sense, then, the figures of Onesimus and Philemon serve as patterns for our own Christian lives. Martin Luther once said that “we are all God's Onesimus.” In other words, we have all been freed from that which enslaves us and transformed into God's children. But I would suggest that we are all also equally God's Philemon, sometimes having to struggle with the ethical demands of our faith and sometimes having to be reminded of the responsibilities that Christian faith places upon us.

What gentle reminders and nudges does God use with us? Perhaps the abundant flow of daily gifts that are so easy for us to miss because in many ways they seem so common that we take them for granted. Perhaps the tingling warmth of the Holy Spirit we all sometimes feel when we're especially close to God. Perhaps the comfort and joy we feel as we read the Scriptures. Perhaps the faithfulness of God we can sense as we pray. Perhaps the new hope that comes to us after times of despair. Perhaps the conscience that God instills in each of us that reminds us when we're about to do something that we shouldn't do. Perhaps, after we know we've done that thing we shouldn't have done anyway, to have the words of Jesus come to us, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” These are all gentle reminders of what Jesus has done for us, and as we feel them reminding us and nudging us today let's respond by praising God for His goodness to us, and let's seek to commit ourselves to following God's ways more fully day by day in all that we do.