An Appeal for the Ages

Paul’s letter to Philemon is considered one of the most powerful and eloquent examples of reconciliation in all of history. Paul writes to a friend whose slave has run away, and in his running has found Christ through Paul’s gospel message. You have to look at Paul’s approach to Philemon in asking him to not only forgive his former slave, but to release him and let him help Paul in his imprisonment. Paul doesn’t push or prod or make a demand as an apostle. Commands from authorities are often resented, so instead he makes an appeal as a friend. “Oh,” he says, “I am bold enough, or confident enough in the Lord to tell you to make good on what is required.” Up until this point in the letter, Philemon has no idea what Paul is going on about. He may be thinking, What is required? Paul…what is this? What it is, is Paul practicing wisdom that comes from above. The wisdom that reminds us that we catch more flies with a pot of honey than with a bowl of vinegar. Wisdom that has learned to lead people, not to drive them. Paul does not want Philemon to do anything from compulsion. He knows that love cannot be forced, and he wants his friend to act from love, not from duty. So, he adds, “yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you.”  
 
The word picture for “appeal” is wonderful, as it can mean to come alongside in order to exhort or entreat, to stand side by side to make a request. It’s a father putting his arm around the shoulders of his teenage son and saying, “Hey, I want you to do the right thing here because I know it will be best for you. I will not force you, but I am asking you because I love you and can see down the road that this will result in blessing for all parties involved.” Paul could have said, “And remember, Philemon, I am an apostle appointed by Christ.” But he didn’t! Instead, he said, I am an old man, and a prisoner for Christ Jesus. I think Paul is just adding credence to his humble appeal by saying, “Even if I wanted to force you into this, Philemon, I couldn’t do it from where I sit here in prison as an old man. But I am asking you to do it for the sake of Christ.” And then, Paul mentions the name. Verse 10 of the letter is the first time Paul mentions Onesimus. Some have speculated that Onesimus waited outside the house until he heard his name mentioned as the letter was read aloud, and then he stepped into Philemon’s presence. Maybe so!  
 
For a second time, Paul makes an appeal: “I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment.” Hey Philemon, good news! I have become a father in prison, and his name is Onesimus! What a shock this must have been to Philemon, that his runaway slave was not only standing before him, but that he had come to faith in Christ. Then Paul adds irony, even humor when he says that the one who was useless to you, Philemon, is now useful to me and to you. “Onesimus” means “useful.” Before he ran off, Philemon may have been known to say on occasion, “Where’s Useful?” To which someone replied, “Use-less, you mean? Haven’t seen him all day.” What names or labels have been put on you — "difficult," "screw-up," "the one who gets on people’s nerves" — that Christ wants to rename? And let’s be honest, often we put those names on ourselves. Even though we know we are in Christ, we see ourselves as a disappointment to Him and to others. We see ourselves as a burden, even a thorn in other people’s sides. Or maybe we say, “I’m nothing special; I’m just ordinary.” Consider this from C. S. Lewis. “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit.” 
 
Change that name for yourself, because God did not give it to you. Do not call yourself anything less than what God calls you: Beloved, holy, blameless…son…daughter. Onesimus didn't get a new name; he got a new reality that made his old name true for the first time. He was a changed man, useful to God and to God’s people.  
It is a beautiful picture of the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.