Daily Devotional for Wednesday 14th February
Radical Christianity
Having first built up a rapport with Philemon, it’s not until v10 that we begin to hear Paul’s appeal on behalf of Onesimus. One thing to point out at this point is that the meaning of the name Onesimus is ‘useful’. A bit ironic given that as far as Philemon is concerned he is useless. Paul uses wordplay on this name to keep the tone of the letter light.
Note how in verses 12-17 he starts to speak of Onesimus with similar words to those he used for Philemon earlier. Philemon - ‘our dear friend and fellow worker’ v1 and Onesimus – ‘a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord’ v16 He even suggests he was effectively taking Philemon’s place in helping Paul in prison.
Then in v16 Paul makes his radical request and asks Philemon to take back Onesimus not as a slave, but rather as an equal even suggesting that Philemon should welcome Onesimus as he would welcome Paul himself. You can judge the scale of this request by the fact that Onesimus was guilty of one of the most serious offences of his day. The penalty was severe but Paul says welcome Onesimus as a brother.
Clearly, since becoming a Christian and being with Paul, Onesimus’ life has changed and as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he is a ‘new creation’. (2 Cor. 5:17). No longer is he useless, but now the meaning of his name has been restored and he is useful again. Paul wrote to the Colossian church about forgiveness (Col. 3:13) and what he is asking Philemon to do is to put this into practice.
Time to reflect…
Paul is keen to nurture good relationships within the churches he planted. Is there anything we could do to encourage relationships with our church? How good are we at forgiving those who have wronged us?
Pause to pray…
Almighty God, thank you that ‘in Christ we are a new creation’ and also that you have sent us your Holy Spirit to help us grow in our relationship with you and with others. Help us today and every day to live our lives as a witness to you. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
