Philemon
Paul’s letter to Philemon is one of those odd books where I wonder why it was included. It’s a personal letter of encouragement send with one of Philemon’s slaves who stole from him and ran away. It is an excellent example of the grace we need to show to all who ask for forgiveness.
Forgiveness is something that is a difficult subject and something Christians are criticized on all the time. Need I remind you that the Lord’s Prayer says we need to forgive others as we want God to forgive us? There is one detail that we rarely talk about and that is God requires a heartfelt confession. Should we? Let’s say you cheated on your taxes, it wasn’t big but you felt it was ok since the government is not spending the money in a Godly way. You “confess” it, but honestly feel you did nothing wrong. Is that a confession, would you forgive someone who stole from you and confessed in the same way? Reread the Lord’s Prayer and answer that.
Verse 10 is Paul’s appeal to Philemon to forgive Onesimus:
I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in the faith while here in prison.
It’s unclear if Paul actually met Onesimus in prison as a prisoner or if this was more figurative as being in prison in the world and his duties. He mentions it more than once and knowing Paul’s history of being jailed for his beliefs, he most likely was detained. The thing Paul wishes to impress on Philemon is Onesimus is a changed man and should be truly forgiven.
Verse 21 is something I wish could be said about me:
I am confident as I write this letter that you will do what I ask and even more!
More often than not, when asked to do something I figure out what is the least I can do to meet that request. I have been blessed with the ability to do things quickly so although it may seem ok, it’s fall less than what I could have done in most cases. I think as a nation we have all become that way, I look at the number of people who surf the web on their phones in the office and have critical thoughts, but when I have frequent down time I surf also. So hypocrisy runs rampant with me!!
My point with the web is where I am convicted on my usage, I have talked to some big offenders who do not even try to cover the fact they are playing with their phones and they honestly don’t see a problem. The idea that the mountains of work that need to be done are on hold while this bug gets fixed does not bother them or even cross their mind. We have raised a culture that is slowly missing the “and even more” concept of work. Every task we are handed should be looked at with the “and even more” idea and not the just enough.
As I say this the other problem you cross is doing more often leads to overruns on projects. So often times the minimum is the right business decision. The companies who do “even more” tend to get priced out of existence. This gets me to the concept of fair pay for employers and customers alike. We cannot expect to pay a minimum for goods and services and at the same time expect the product to exceed your expectations. There comes a point where the economy crushes the do “even more” concept.
Verse 23 has a final greeting:
Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings.
I guess this confirms Paul is in prison at the time he wrote this letter.