The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Phil 1:25 (NIV)
Paul’s letter to Philemon addresses something we can all relate to: complicated and broken relationship.
Onesimus was a slave in Philemon's house and reportedly stole some money from him and then ran away. Onesimus ended up in Rome and visited Paul in prison, where he had a conversion experience and started to serve the Apostle.
But Paul decided to send Onesimus back to Philemon, not as a slave, but as a brother, a colleague, a man restored and set free. Paul’s letter charged Philemon with the task of forgiveness, acceptance and the hope of granting a second chance to a man once lost, now found.
Personally, I think it’s gutsy that Onesimus got away – the man was a slave and the hope of a new life would have always burned within him. However, the story here isn’t really about slavery but around healing and reconnecting – second chances, change and hope. (side note – imagine the example it would have it set in a time and culture that was accepting of slavery for a wealthy and highly respected gentleman to make peace with a man who had legally done the wrong thing, and then call him a friend when he had every legal right to enslave him again).
Although we don’t have space to go into the details of this story, it would have been difficult for Philemon to accept Onesimus back. There were so many complexities to the relationship – once slave and master, now friend and brother – a man whose debt was to be absolved and suspicion abandoned. Philemon would have written off Onesimus in his mind as a useless slave who only bought trouble with him. Onesimus name means ‘beneficial & useful one’. Paul encouraged Philemon not to look at Onesimus through his past, but through the meaning of his name – who he is now by the grace of God.
Relationships are complex – always let the work of grace be active within you; permeating your spirit, softening your heart and clarifying your vision. If it weren’t for grace, Onesimus and Philemon's relationship would have remained broken, sour and hurtful. But the grand mender of humanity – grace – can repair, heal and restore. At any given moment we are in need of it, either grace to give or the need of grace for ourselves. Let it flow freely.
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