September 4, 2016 - Proper 18C

Lectionary Readings

In the name of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            One of the challenging aspects in preaching is that we often only get a handful of verses read from each book or letter in the Bible on a Sunday. Often, we miss the larger context of the writing when we only focus in on a small section of it. Today though is different, as our second reading is the entire letter of Paul to Philemon. So let’s take this opportunity to consider a full book of the Bible.

            As the beginning of the letter states, Paul is writing from prison. Scholars generally date this letter to the year 55, making it at least 15 years earlier than any of the gospels. It was a letter written to Philemon, who we think lived in Colossae. All we know about the situation and the characters involved is contained in these 25 verses. What we can deduce from the letter is that Philemon was the leader of a house-church, which were common at that time. The idea was that an entire household, which could have included several relatives, and even some neighbors would come together for worship and Christian living.

            Like nearly every household in that time and place, slaves were a part of the household. Of course today we look down on slavery, but it was common and uncontroversial at the time. Ownership of slaves was as common as car ownership today. And just as today, if you meet someone who doesn’t own a car, you ask “How in the world do they manage?”, in that culture someone without slaves would have been seen in the same way. Slaves were the bottom rung of society, and you could become a slave by being a prisoner of war, by being in debt, or by being born to a slave.

            So then, Philemon, and his wife, Apphia, owned slaves. The one of particular interest is Onesimus. From what we can surmise from the letter, he somehow met Paul who was imprisoned. There are a few theories about how that happened. One is that Onesimus was a runaway slave. In that culture, a slave on the run could seek refuge either by fleeing to the temple for religious protection, or by fleeing to friend. It could be that Onesimus is fleeing to Paul for protection. Another possibility is that because Philemon and Paul were acquaintances, Philemon could have sent Onesimus to Paul to care for him while he was in prison. But whatever the reason, it appears that Paul gets to know Onesimus and converts him to Christianity. Paul then sends Onesimus back to Philemon, presumably with this letter.

            A question that comes up is “Why was this letter preserved and included in the New Testament?” We assume that Paul wrote many short letters like this one, which really is more like a memorandum, that were never kept. So what is so special about this one? It seems like a very specific letter written for a very specific situation. There doesn’t seem to be much doctrine contained in the letter, and it doesn’t really have any “memorable” verses in it – when was the last time you heard someone quote the book of Philemon? How does this letter hold relevance for us today?

            The reason why Philemon still holds importance for us today is that it navigates the mystery and challenge of following Jesus Christ in a world that isn’t set up for following Jesus Christ. New Testament scholars often study the genuineness of the many letters that are attributed to Paul based on linguistic and cultural clues. There are some letters that are attributed to Paul that we very much doubt that Paul wrote, there are some that could go either way, and there are a few that we’re pretty confident Paul actually wrote himself. Philemon is one of those that is almost undoubtedly written by Paul. You’ll recall that when Paul was on the road to Damascus, he had an encounter with the Risen Christ that forever changed his life. For Paul, that is what faith in Jesus is all about – radically changing your life. And the letter to Philemon is a great case study in how we navigate the conversion of our faith in the midst of a society that is not fully converted.

            Paul says, “I could command you to do this, but that’s not how faith works, so I appeal to you on the basis of love.” The way that Paul begins this letter is in the second person plural – he’s writing not just to Philemon, but to the entire house-church. And he both starts and concludes the letter with the liturgical language of “grace and peace,” meaning that it was likely read in worship. So if you detect a sense of gentle cajoling through shame, then you’re picking up on Paul’s rhetoric and logic.

Paul points out the irony that as Philemon is praying for Paul’s liberation and freedom from prison, that Philemon is holding Onesimus as a slave. By pointing out this contradiction, Paul is inviting Philemon, and us, to consider how resonant our faith is with the ways that we are living our lives. Paul writes to say that the Gospel, when it takes root in our life, necessitates that things change. The Gospel is about transformation, and this means that we conform our lives no longer to societal norms, but to the Cross of Christ.

            On this point, the gospel text from Luke is helpful. Jesus says “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple… So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” Luke obviously left out a verse when he wrote this down, because we can assume that the missing verse would read “And then Jesus’ poll numbers went down significantly and he lost many of his followers.”

            Jesus is saying to all of us who seek to follow him – sit down and count the cost of discipleship. Just as someone beginning a building project should make sure they have enough building materials to finish, so too, if we want to follow Jesus, we need to really think about whether or not we’re up to the task. Following Jesus isn’t about getting easy and comforting answers, but rather faith is about being faced with tough questions. Questions like “Are you ready to change everything about your life?” and “Are you ready to disown whatever pulls you away from the love of God?” One preacher that I know often says that if you want to follow Jesus, you better be prepared to look good on wood, as Jesus says “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Following Jesus is not convenient nor is it easy, because Jesus is subversive and radical.

            Paul knows this, and is writing to convey the transformative nature of faith to Philemon. If Paul had access to Luke’s writing, he might have put it this way: For which of you, intending to follow Christ and proclaim the Good News does not first consider what changes will need to be made in your life? Philemon will have to make a decision – Paul seems to suggest that a Christian cannot, in good faith, own another Christian. So which will it be, choosing Christ or choosing convenience?

            Onesimus’ name also serves as a metaphor in this letter. “Onesimus,” in Greek, means “useful.” But we all know that a slave who isn’t in the household isn’t useful at all. This is why Paul writes “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me.” He has become useful in a new way, as a symbol of what happens when relationships are changed by the Good News of the Gospel. Onesimus, if he is accepted by Philemon as a brother in Christ and no longer a slave, becomes a living example of the transformation and reconciliation of the Gospel. In another letter, Paul writes “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Paul is issuing a challenge to all of us who are Baptized: if your Baptism into Christ means anything, then it’s going to disrupt your world. And as a final twist of the arm, Paul ends with “One thing more—prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you.” In other words, I’m going to check in on you and will know whether or not you take this advice.

            You can see why this letter is so subversive – it claims that our Baptism disrupts cultural norms, redefines relationships, usurps the foundations of the economy, and undermines the Empire. We all know that humanity, both as individuals and as a group, doesn’t like change. So when we are faced with making difficult changes, we do all we can to wiggle out of it, and Christianity has not been exempted from this. You may know that the letter to Philemon was widely cited by the proslavery side before the Civil War. Though the faith that Paul seeks to share is about conversion, we often push back against it and the faith becomes more regressive than transformative.

            It’s been argued that the way culture, and specifically the Roman Empire, undermines the Gospel isn’t by warfare or oppression, but rather domestication. The fact that being a Christian is not only culturally acceptable for us, but actually culturally advantageous is a clear sign of the domestication of the Gospel. We even see this shift starting to take place in the New Testament. I’ve already quoted Galatians, which says “there is no longer slave or free; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” This is generally accepted to be an authentic saying of Paul. But as we get letters that are less and less likely to be written by Paul, you can hear the regression. From Colossians: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters.” In Ephesians we have the same, with the addition that masters are to treat their slaves kindly. And we see an even fuller domestication by the time we get to Titus, which says: “Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters.”

Remember, this all started with Jesus who comes and washes his disciples’ feet, as a slave would. Jesus once said that “Whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” Paul writes about the radical equality of our Baptism and in Philemon writes that Onesimus is to be “no longer as a slave but as more than a slave, a beloved brother.” And within just a few decades that has regressed into “slaves be submissive to your masters.” The sort of Jewish Christianity that was preached by Jesus and Paul have devolved into the Roman Christianity that we have inherited and has morphed into American Christianity. And so this letter is also important and instructive because it has become a sort of prophecy against the taming of our faith.

What would happen if we took Jesus’ words and made them our welcome statement? How about if we put out a sign on the front lawn that said “All are welcome who are willing to hate father and mother, ready to sell all of their possessions, and prepared to take up their cross.” How many people do you think would show up next Sunday?

            It’s tempting to think Jesus is the answer to our problems, that he makes our life easier, and makes nice people even nicer. But if you’ve encountered the Risen Lord, as Paul has, you know that Jesus is the beginning of problems that you didn’t know you had before you met Jesus. Following Jesus means being transformed, maybe even means taking up a cross. But still, the disciples followed Jesus, despite the demanding words and tough sermons. Sure, some disciples disappointed him, some were confused by him, some had their doubts about his mission, some may have even twisted Jesus’ words to make them seem easier than they are supposed to be, but they still followed him; and so did Philemon and Onesimus – and so do you, because you are here today.
            You might not have all the answers, you may have fears and doubts, but here you are. You’re here on a vacation weekend or are reading or listening to this online. You’ve stuck with Jesus, and you haven’t run away from his radical demands yet. And chances are, you’re going to be back next Sunday because even though following Jesus is demanding and hard, you know that in Jesus we find fullness of life, joy, and peace. So I’ll see you next Sunday.