Sermon: Seeing People Differently (Philemon)

(Preached at Waitara Gospel Chapel on 6/11/2022) 

When I was asked to preach here on Philemon today, I was excited to say yes. Partly that's because I haven't been to Waitara Gospel Chapel for a while, and it's lovely to catch up with you all. I can sincerely echo Paul's sentiments to Philemon as a supporter of his ministry and say, "Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brothers and sisters, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people."

 

And just as Paul did in his letter to Philemon, I also pray "that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ." As I tell stories about my ministry with SIM in Namibia, and my ministry here in Australia with Horizons Family Law Centre, I hope that the partnership you as a church have with me and Horizons deepens your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

 

I'm also excited to preach because in the little letter of Philemon, Paul writes to a fellow Christian about one of his slaves. And I am very passionate on the topic of slavery.  At the end of 2019 I accepted a position with For Freedom - SIM's ministry division focused on combatting human trafficking, the trade in modern day slaves. The idea was for me to serve in SIM's anti-human trafficking work in Namibia and southern Africa.

 

Human trafficking is a big problem in Namibia. Let me try and give an example of how bad. Between 2011 and 2017 Australia had 31 prosecutions for human trafficking. Namibia also had 31 prosecutions for human trafficking during that same period. But Australia's population is 10 times bigger than Namibia. Why is it ten times worse in Namibia? Well, Namibia has higher levels of poverty and desperation. Australia has a highly functioning law enforcement system! Namibia didn't even have proper anti-human trafficking legislation until 2018.  

 

But another problem Namibia has is a culture that is more accepting of some forms of trafficking. Let me give you an example. I worked with a lady, Sarah, who started a church based anti-trafficking ministry in Namibia. Sarah was visiting a Herero village to teach the people there about human trafficking. There's no word for "human trafficking" in Otjiherero, so Sarah had to explain that we're talking about using fraud, force, coercion or abuse of power to to exploit a vulnerable person.

 

Now a woman in that village had a boy looking after her livestock. He was scruffy, thin, poorly clothed, didn't go to school. She said that this boy's parents had died, and he had no other family. She fed him. But she didn't send him to school or look after him like one of her own children. This boy was not adopted. Instead, she sent him off after her livestock to shepherd them, take them water, find them grazing land. But she didn't pay him like a hired farm worker. 

 

This boy was a slave. He wasn't chained up. He was "free" to leave anytime he wanted. But he had nowhere to go. He was vulnerable, and she was exploiting his vunerability through coercion and abuse of power. And that's human trafficking. It's not the kind of sophisticated modern slavery undertaken by organised crime syndicates across the world, but it's still slavery.  

 

The woman was not happy to be told this. She said, "If I didn't do this, the boy would starve and die." This argument made what she was doing acceptable to everyone in her village, and would have been agreed to in many villages. This scenario plays out again and again across Namibia. 20 years ago 1 in 3 Namibian adults had HIV - today that number is about 1 in 10; so there are lots of orphaned kids. Looking after orphans is great. But exploiting their vulnerability for your personal gain is not okay. Her response to this was, "Well, if you think what I am doing is wrong, you adopt him. You feed him, you send him to school." If she couldn't exploit this boy, she didn't want anything to do with him.

 

How would you get this woman to treat her boy slave differently? Maybe you'd call the police. But the police might not do anything - even in Australia, many identified cases of human trafficking aren't dealt with by police. Plus calling the cops pretty much ruins your relationship with the whole village - you'll never do ministry there again.  This wasn't Sarah's home village, but it was part of her clan group, so burning her relationship with them was not ideal.

 

Would you talk to the woman's church pastor or her tribal chief and get them to force her to look after the boy? That might work, but do you think the woman's relationship with the boy would really improve if she was feeling resentment about being forced to care for him?

 

Would you adopt the boy? Sarah was a single woman living very simply in the settlements in Windhoek. It would have been hard, but she probably could have sought another care arrangement for the boy. But does that really solve the problem for the woman who enslaved him, or the village who condoned it?

 

Maybe you're simply thankful you don't have to deal with this problem. We don't have this kind of problem here in Australia. So this just isn't relevant - and neither, you may think,  is Paul's letter to Philemon. Not because we don't have slaves in Australia - last year it was estimated there are around 15,000 modern day slaves in Australia. But we don't have the kind of culture Namibia has where even one kind of slavery is acceptable. You'd never have to try to convince someone to free a slave in Australia. So why bother thinking about it?

 

But we know that God speaks to us through the scriptures, so we can trust that there is something true and something valuable for us in this letter. And in my reflections on Philemon, I've certainly seen truth and value relating to my own life and our work at Horizons Family Law Centre. 

 

So let's take a look at what was happening when Paul wrote this letter. Paul is in prison. He's writing to Philemon and his family, a wealthy family who seem to be important members of the church in Collosae. We know they're wealthy because Paul is writing to them about Onesimus. Onesimus is Philemon's slave. That much is obvious, because he's got what at the time was a slave name. Onesimus literally means "useful". 

 

Onesimus has run away. Philemon may have mistreated him; Onesimus may have stolen from his master. Certainly Paul is concerned, because the punishment for a slave fleeing their master can be anything up to and including death, and Paul doesn't want Philemon to exact such a harsh punishment. 

 

Onesimus somehow found his way to Paul. He heard the gospel, became a Christian, and served Paul's needs so well that Paul describes Onesimus as a son; just like he says about Timothy. And now, despite how useful Onesimus has become to Paul and to the gospel, Paul wants to send him back to his master, Philemon. Because Paul sees that there's a relationship here that's in trouble, and he wants to help both of these Christian brothers reconcile. And he thinks the best way to resolve this tension is for Onesimus to return to Philemon, for Philemon to free Onesimus from slavery and accept him as a brother in Christ, and then to send Onesimus back to Paul to serve him and the gospel once again. 

 

Now Paul could have solved this very directly. He says in verse 8  "in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do".  This is Paul the apostle to the gentiles we're talking about here. He could just throw his weight around and order Philemon to free his slave.

 

And imagine if he had done that. Imagine if the letter to Philemon we had in scripture had a spirited, powerful rebuke of Christians who owned slaves, banning Christians from participating in slavery and clearly stating how sinful it is. Imagine how different the world might look! 

 

The latest global estimates say that in today's world there are over 50 million people living in modern day slavery. 50 million men, women and children, found in every single country of the world, being trafficked as though they were just another commodity - cheap labour, sex objects, mail-order brides, even a source of organs for transplant. In the world's history, there has never been more humans living in slavery than there are today.

 

And yet although there are more people in slavery today than ever before, they represent the smallest percentage of the world's population that has been in slavery than ever before in recorded history. Today it's thought about one in every 200 people are modern slaves. Back in Jesus' time, it's estimated that up to 25 percent of the population of the Roman empire were slaves. One in four! The impact of slavery in the ancient world was huge. 

 

But if Paul had simply penned the words "I do not permit a Christian to own a slave", centuries of misery may have been avoided. The ascension of the church into Europe's dominant religion could have been followed by a downturn in slavery.  Black slavery in America may never have arisen. Apartheid in southern Africa may never have happened. Or even if those things still happened - the evil of the human heart is deep - I think it's reasonable to say that a clear statement against slavery as sinful by Paul in the New Testament could have reduced a lot of suffering for a lot of people. 

 

Did Paul know that he held that power in his pen? Did he know he was writing scripture that would last thousands of years? I don't know. But I do that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul's words. God could have worked in Paul's heart to be more forthright to Philemon in his letter. But that's not the message we read here. Instead, it seems that even though God leads Paul to care about Onesimus's welfare, he also leads Paul to care about Philemon's heart attitude, and about the ongoing relationship between a slave and his master.

 

God is not in the business of blind enforced obedience. So Paul doesn't order Philemon to free his slave Onesimus, even though he could. Instead, he appeals to Philemon on the basis of love. God cares about people's hearts, not just their actions. God wants us to have a relationship with him, to do the right thing because we love him. He wants us to act because we love one another, because we love our neighbour, because we love the weak, because we love our enemies.

 

As I've said, we don't live in a country where there is a cultural acceptance of slavery. But there are many other actions and attitudes that are culturally acceptable in Australia but are not in line with loving God and loving our neighbour. In our work with families in crisis at Horizons, we see an understandable but unfortunate attitude between many parents who are in conflict. In our most recent newsletter you can read about one of our clients, who we'll call Alan. He and his ex-partner had a messy break-up, and because she felt hurt, she stopped their children from seeing their dad for months. When he first came to us, Alan wanted to take his ex-partner to court, to force her to let the kids spend time with him again. Court is a slow, expensive and painful process for everyone, but Alan didn't care. He was already feeling hurt.

 

Alan could have gone to court and got the court to force their mum to let the kids spend time with him. His kids should grow up knowing their dad. But there's an old saying: "Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still." Even if Alan went to court and even if he convinced the court to make orders forcing the other parent to let the kids see him, she would still be of the same opinion about him. She would resent him. She might resent having to do something she didn't want to do. Even if she never said it, her kids might grow up knowing that their mum hated their dad, and that can sour a child's relationship with their parent forever.

 

Thankfully, our lawyer, Jono, encouraged Alan to give mediation a real crack. Mediation is a compulsory step before court, but so many people just see it as a speed bump, an obstacle to overcome before getting to court and forcing the other parent to do what they want. But the truth is for parents who are able to put their conflict aside and seek to come to an agreement about what's best for their kids, the results are faster, cheaper, less painful, and most importantly more likely to succeed. 

 

Mediation works because when two people come to an agreement about the way to move forward, it's not just their actions that change, but their heart attitude changes too. Why break the terms of a plan that you helped make, that you agreed to? Alan's kids are still young, and these two will continue to be their parents their whole lives. Because Alan was able to show how he had changed for the better, and convince his ex-partner that he really did love their kids and want what was best for them, because he was prepared to make concessions, she was also able to make an agreement, and their agreement is very likely to work.

 

Now it's true that such agreements are not always capable of being reached. It's true that sometimes people feel pressured into making agreements they don't really agree with. It's true that sometimes people must be forced to do what is in the best interests of a child's welfare or safety, or more broadly force needs to be used to protect people or society from harm. That's why we have police. But the message we're seeing here in Philemon is that God doesn't want us to escalate straight to force if we can avoid it. We should avoid going straight to the logical conclusion of, "Well, I'm in the right and I've got the power here, so why bother talking about it when I can just force them in the end anyway?"

 

There are a lot of things in Australian culture that we in the church might not agree with, and yet that we might see seeping into the lives of those around us. How should we deal with one another in such situations? I would hope we could find the grace and love that Paul finds in his letter to Philemon. We need to remember that God wants us to focus not just on doing what's right, but wanting to do what's right out of love. 

 

How might we help someone to not just change their actions, but their heart attitude? Here's a few things I think we see in Paul's approach to Philemon, which guide us in our interactions with our clients at Horizons.

 

First of all, Paul's approach is made in the context of relationship. Paul starts the letter acknowledging Philemon's love and faith, and the partnership they have in the work of the gospel. And even though Paul doesn't leverage his authority as an apostle against Philemon, he still mentions it in terms of reminding Philemon of how close they are: in verse 19 he says that Philemon owes him his very self, which I think is a reference to Paul being the one who led Philemon to faith. Paul is able to have this conversation with Philemon because they share a close relationship of faith.

 

In our work at Horizons, we accomplish this by listening to our clients, understanding how hard and painful their situation is, and showing them not only that we can help, but that we actually care. 

 

And it's not always easy to find that level of understanding. I don't have kids that I haven't seen for months. I don't have a marriage marked by conflict and hurt. I don't have a substance abuse problem, or a string of run-ins with the police. But that's not really what understanding is about.  The understanding Paul shows us here is being able to see people differently.

 

Paul doesn't see Philemon just as a slave master who has treated a slave so harshly they have risked death to flee. He sees a Christian church leader who he led to faith and who wants to serve God more. And so as Paul talks with Philemon, he seeks to help Philemon see his slave as something more as well: as a fellow man in verse 16, as a brother in Christ (vs 15 you might have him back forever— no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother), as a beloved son of Paul (vs 10 Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains), even as an apostle himself (vs 17 welcome him as you would welcome me.). 

 

At Horizons, we seek to help clients like Alan see themselves not as an aggrieved husband, but rather as a loving father; to see their ex-partner not as an enemy, but rather a co-worker; and to see their children not as pawns in a battle of passions, or symbols of injustice, or reminders of past pain, but as kids in need of love and care. 

 

This is the gospel: that God transforms people into who they are meant to be, into their best selves. The closer we get to Jesus, the more he changes us to be like him. 

 

Look at Paul in this letter: he denies himself the title of apostle in dealing with Philemon, eschews giving orders, and instead takes the name "a prisoner of Christ Jesus", to help a slave by seeking to free him, but also to help this slave master by encouraging his escaped slave to return to him, and encouraging the master to show him mercy by not punishing him and by actually freeing him out of love for Christ. 

 

Paul is holding out change to Philemon as an offer, as a different way, a better way, a Christ-like way. He is offering Philemon the chance to transform from being Onesimus's master to becoming his brother in Christ. 

 

We held out to Alan the chance to be more like Jesus by offering him the chance to transform from being a sometimes difficult, sometimes despondent man seeking conflict in a courtroom, into the loving father who recognises his ex partner as a loving mother and who works for what's best for his kids. 

 

Sometimes it looks different. My client, we can call her Amanda, had separated from her partner, and now her ex partner wants to see their kids. The problem is he has a chronic addiction to hard drugs. I was able to come alongside Amanda and encourage her - literally help her find the courage - to say no to her ex-partner until he's been able to transform his life into one that is safe and beneficial for his kids to be with him. We offered Amanda the chance to transform into someone who is courageous enough to stand up for her kids' safety, and in doing so even offer her ex-partner the chance to transform into a better father and a healthier person free from drugs.  Will he take up that chance? I don't know. But in helping Amanda see that she has a choice, and that her ex has a choice, an opportunity to change, we hold out a message of hope.

 

Truth is we can't change the world. We can't even change people. But thankfully, we don't have to. Thanks to Jesus making the path to God clear for us, and thanks to the Holy Spirit working in each of us, the message of hope that we can be transformed is available to anyone. That's our focus at Horizons: to help families in crisis remake themselves. We hold out the offer of hope that people can change. You don't need to be a solicitor to do that. You don't need to be an apostle.  You can be a struggling single mum  holding out that hope to your drug addicted ex-partner.   

 

But there is a cost.  This hope, this change, requires sacrifice. That cost was borne first and foremost by Jesus on the cross. But following this path of hope, seeing ourselves and others differently, seeking to reconcile relationships, offering people the chance to be closer to the loving person Jesus wants them to be rather than simply forcing them to do what's right, that bears its own cost. Philemon is being asked to bear a big cost - to free a slave who wronged him, to give up not just the financial investment of a slave, but the right he has to punish that slave for wrongdoing. And that's a big ask.

 

If he decides not to change, not to pay that cost,  then it costs Onesimus - he gets sent back to his master with no guarantee that Philemon will release him, no guarantee that his master won't have him killed! And that's why Paul actually holds himself out to pay the cost on Onesimus’s behalf, saying in verse 18 "If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me." In the same way Christ intercedes for us, so Paul intercedes between the slave and his master. 

 

We need to recognise that cost when we are holding out this offer of transformation to others. When clients come to us, it's because they are wanting there to be change for their families, but they can't afford to pay the cost: they can't afford a family lawyer to help them navigate the system. But if their family situation doesn't change, someone else pays the price. Quite often it's their kids. So like Paul, we seek to stand between them, offering our services for free or at low cost, so that these families in crisis have the opportunity to remake themselves.

 

Did Philemon end up freeing Onesimus? The letter doesn't tell us, but church tradition says that he did; that Onesimus did return to serve Paul in prison, and he actually ended up becoming the bishop of the church of Ephesus after Timothy, before being martyred by the emperor.

 

And did Paul's letter have a bigger impact on slavery? Yes! Today, we'd consider slavery a serious sin. The reason slavery isn't a way of life now for one quarter of the population is in no small part because of a short letter Paul wrote to one of his converts about a slave, and then the ongoing sacrifice of people to change their own ways, and then seek to help others change. Did it happen as quickly as we'd like? No. But is it clear evidence of God transforming people to loving one another enough not to countenance enslaving each other? You bet. 

 

Does our work at Horizons change the world? No. But through it God changes people to make good decisions for their families, rather than simply being forced to do something they don't value or understand. Many of our clients make real sacrifices to follow God's call to love our enemies and love our neighbours.

 

Like Paul, at Horizons we're called to make a sacrifice, to stand in the gap and hold out hope to families who really need it. No doubt you can imagine that a bunch of Christian lawyers like us could go into the marketplace and earn substantially more instead of living by faith. I recently took on another day a week at Horizons, and that has a real cost. And just like Paul, we are only able to stand in that gap with the support of churches and Christians like you. Christians like Philemon who were not forced to help but who heard the request to look at others differently and responded generously. So let me thank you for your refreshing of us in this ministry, and invite you to share with us in holding out the hope of transformation to others.