Video Transcript: Philemon - The back story
Hello. My name is Steve Elzinga, and we're in this management course, and we've looked at several principles and topics. The next several teachings are really going to come out of the book of Philemon. It's one of the smallest books of the Bible. I wrote a book, and you can download it, or you can actually order it from CLI It's called How to influence friends and tactfully get along with people. And perhaps you sort of recognize that title because Dale Carnegie wrote a famous book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. And you might think I'm sort of stealing from him, but it's interesting. A few years ago, Rich DeVos wanted someone at CLI to go to the Dale Carnegie course he went to it. All his kids went to it. It's a course that's been going on for 50 60, years, and it's all about people and dealing with people and so on. And so I took it, it was a 12 week thing, and what in the middle of taking that at my church, I started preaching out of the book, Philemon, which is only one chapter long. And as I was preaching from that book and reading that book and studying all that Paul had to say, I started realizing that a lot of the things that I was learning at the Dale Carnegie course actually were in the book of Philemon. So in some ways, perhaps he borrowed from Paul from this letter so long ago, and all the different principles of how to deal with people just leapt off the page. And so what we're going to do, I'm going to in this session, just sort of give the background. We only have this book. It's a few verses long. It deals with Paul and Philemon and Onesimus, who's a runaway slave, and all we know is what we see in this book. And so what I'm going to do is sort of extrapolate a story based on the things that were happening in those days. So I'm going to do that, and then in the next several sessions, we're going to pull out all kinds of principles that will help us deal with people, tactically deal with people, and how to, how to make friends, not not so much, how to, how to take win friends. You're not trying to win anything, but how to have good relationships. And that's what management really is all about. It's about leading in such a way that you preserve relationships rather than destroy them. So I'm going to spend a little time just sort of giving you a first person account. I'll start with Philemon, then I'll go to Onesimus, and then Paul's actual words, so we're going to start out with Philemon. We had no idea he was coming until the knock on the door, how he dared to come back at all was beyond me. At first, I didn't see him because he was standing behind the man who escorted him to my house. This man, I knew. His name was Tychicus. He was a good friend of Epiphras, who was a student of the great Apostle Paul it was Epiphras that exposed me to the new religion called the Christian as Tychicus introduced himself to me, I finally noticed the man standing behind him. It was Onesimus my runaway slave. I had expected that the next time I would see him, he would be in chains, but here he was unbound and dressed as any free man. He said nothing behind his hiding behind his escort. I said nothing as well, patiently letting Tychicus explain how the two of them travel. Traveled several weeks from the capital city of Rome as
they recounted their journey, I carefully observed on this he was thin, but he's always been thin. His eyes flitted back and forth, not focusing on anything in particular. His hands were behind his back, as if in shackles, though they were not he rocked hesitantly back and forth. You can see that he was nervous as well you should be. I felt a resentment rising to anger within me. He deserved the death penalty that would be justice for his crime. Tychicus finally broke the tension in this unlikely turn of events, he reached out his hand, and in his hand was a letter, a letter, apparently written by the Apostle Paul. My name is Philemon. I grew up in the once thriving city of Colossi, built on the important east west trade route leading from the Aegean Sea port of Ephesus to the Euphrates River, which brought goods all the way to Babylon. But that was 200 years ago. Now, Laodicea and its neighbor city Hierapolis, with its healing hot springs dominate the area, though, from Colossi, I spent most of my life away from it as a Roman commander. I lived wherever Rome sent me as a military man, I had but two allegiances, the Emperor and the soldiers that I commanded. The former called himself a god, but no one believed that if he were a god, then he would have to get in line with all the other gods that people felt an obligation to honor. It seemed each city had its own. I never found the gods of any particular use, but I honored them just the same as did everybody else. What harm could there be? I busied myself doing my job and doing it better than anyone else. I had no time or inclination to worry about anything else. But then my job ended. I moved to my hometown, Colossi, to be with my wife and my grown children, and began to live what I thought would be the good life. But what was good about my new life? I had no men to lead. I had no emperor to follow. What was I to do? What was my purpose? What was the meaning of my life and death? When a soldier, I never worried about dying. If I died, it was for a cause, it was for the Emperor, it was for my men. I felt that there would be some kind of glory in it among men and the gods, but now I had nothing to die for, and I soon realized nothing to live for. Either my mind would turn these thoughts over and over, and I became anxious. So the first so for the first time in my life, I studied my options. The Roman gods held little meaning to me. So I turned to philosophy, not really a religion per se, but at least philosophers were asking the questions that I wanted to ask, what is true, what is real, what is life about? Where is it all going, and what's my place in it. Of the many philosophies of the day two were the most popular, stoicism and Epicureanism. Life, according to the stoic is determined. All the particles and material of this world are following a predetermined path. So what's going to happen is going to happen? Worrying about anything is pointless. And since all life is determined, there is a certain logic to it all. Finding out what that logic is is how one should spend their time, and somehow being good and doing good are the ways to happiness, but happiness, according to the stoic, is not an emotion. Emotions are distractions, false realities. The pursuit of goodness and reason and logic is what life is all
about. For the stoic, I had many stoic friends who did a lot of good and never seemed to be bothered by the negative circumstances of their lives. They seemed content. They seemed strong, and they, unlike me, slept like babies. But and this is what soured me on this philosophy, if all the material of this world is following a particular predetermined pattern. Where did that pattern come from, or from whom and to what purpose? So I turn to the other great philosophy of the day, Epicureanism, if stoics shunned the material world, Epicureans embraced it. Life to their way of thinking was first and foremost about pleasure, one's own pleasure. At first, I thought this was a young man's philosophy. You have to be young to truly take advantage of it. But as my. Friends following this philosophy explain pleasure only comes to those who limit their wants too much of a good thing is not always good. In fact, most things in life are better more enjoyable the harder they come by and the longer we have to wait for them. I thought I had finally found the answer to live a simple life and enjoy simple pleasures, all the while achieving tranquility. But my new philosophy did not quiet my troubled mind. In the end, I found no purpose in pursuing my own pleasures. It just didn't work. I got bored with myself. My little life, as it happens, was, I'm afraid to say, not purposeful enough. That's when a friend of mine introduced me to a friend of his Epiphras, who was a great disciple of the apostle Paul, the great missionary of the new religion called Christian. He tried to tell me about this new religion, and at first I laughed it off. Why would anyone be crazy enough to adopt a religion that worshiped a man we Romans killed on a cross, but one night, I listened to Epiphras what he had to say. He explained how the foundation of the Christian faith was Judaism. At this I laughed out loud and told him that you're making it harder for me to believe. But I listened, and I was intrigued. Unlike the Roman Pantheon, of many gods, seemingly chosen for political reasons, Judaism had only one God, and he supposedly created everything out of nothing, this God cannot be made into an image of gold and silver by a man, but men and women were made and shaped by him. Epiphras explained to me about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Paradise God had provided them. He told how sin came into the world through a lie spoken by a fallen angel, a lie that promised that mere men and women could become gods. Of course, that's what we Romans believed that mere men and women could become gods. When Epiphras described how Adam and Eve believed the lie and then, as a result, felt a need to hide, not only from each other in their newly discovered nakedness, but also from God. I felt convicted. I've been hiding behind my uniform most of my life. I've been hiding behind the importance I felt when people did what I said. I'd been hiding behind my wealth that allowed me to control the people arEound me. I'd been hiding behind the connection I had to the Emperor of Rome, the so called god. All of it was a lie. All of it was a cover up for an insecure man trying desperately to be significant, to be somebody, this lie, a lie I could not hide from anymore, caused me great shame. So I listened
with real interest when Epiphras told of God's plan to bring his prized creation, the men and women that he loved out of insecurity, smallness and shame and even death itself, daddy explained to me had chosen a simple man named Abraham, and he did so with these words, I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing, and all peoples on the earth will be blessed through you. Abraham passed this promise on to his son, Isaac, and then Isaac passed it on to his son Jacob, who had 12 sons. The offspring of these sons eventually became the 12 tribes of Israel, though the promise gets passed down to the descendants of Jacob they end up as slaves in Egypt. But explained, Epiphras God heard the cries of his people in slavery, and he sent a savior named Moses to lead the people out of slavery, out of hiddenness, guilt and shame. As he talked about this part of the story, I wondered about my slaves. Were they praying for deliverance? Then Epiphras told me about Jesus, the Son of God who died at. The hands of Roman soldiers like me, but he died. Epiphras said, looking me straight in the eye, to take your place, to take your guilt so that you can come out of hiding insecurity and shame. Then piphras said something so ridiculous, but I almost choked on the piece of bread I was eating. Jesus died at the hands of Roman soldiers like you Philemon, but three days later, he was resurrected. He walked among us, and then he commissioned us to tell others about Him. Then he left for his kingdom in heaven. He is there preparing for our arrival when we die. Epiphras then challenged me to live my life as a Christian, a follower of Christ. And when I asked what a follower of Christ was, he said, one who believes in Christ lives for Christ and shares Christ with others. Well, I did believe, and I began to tell others, and with the help of Epiphras, I started a church in my own home. It changed my life. I finally had something to believe in that gave me real purpose and meaning in life, but something was missing. I believed it, and I was sharing it, but was I living it? I felt like I was still hiding behind the image I had carefully fashioned all my life. I was still wealthy and powerful. I liked these things, I had become a Christian, but I wasn't sure how to apply my Christianity to the people around me. One sign of my power and wealth were my slaves. I once managed soldiers that I paid a wage. Now I controlled slaves that I owned. Owning slaves was quite common in the Roman world. You conquer nations. They become your slaves. Slaves do what you want them to do. They serve you. They have no choice in the matter. They exist to please you. I considered myself a good master before becoming a Christian, especially to my most useful slave, Onesimus. I treated him like a son. I let him manage many of my affairs. I trusted him with money transactions. I cared for him. He lacked for nothing. After I became a Christian, I admit I did not share my newfound faith with my slaves. Slaves are slaves. They have no rights. The Master's religion is the master's religion. Slaves must find their religion. But having said that, I was a good provider, so you can understand perhaps my bewilderment when I found
Tychicus and Onesimus standing at my door with a letter from the Apostle Paul. What could this be? Okay? Now, from Onesimus point of view, I had to leave. I was not born a slave, and when I left, I never thought I would come back, at least not in my own choosing. Some 20 years ago, the mighty Roman Empire, as it expanded to the far corners of the earth, finally arrived with its legions of soldiers at my little corner of the earth. My people, a fierce, proud tribe in northern Britannia, foolishly resisted and inevitably paid a high price for its pride, death, rape, slavery. At the time, I thanked the gods of my tribe that I only had to pay the price of slavery, the rest of my family paid with their lives. I was only 10 years old, my gods, my family, my homeland, all that communicated a person's worth were gone. I had to forge new meaning from a new reality, slavery. My new god was my master, and my value as a human being was dependent on my value to his need for me. I had to be useful. I learned to serve my master. As I grew into manhood, I became the most valuable slave. He'll whatever was needed. I could make happen. That is how I got my name, Onesimus, which means useful. I was useful. My life depended on it, but being useful was enough. At first, I would have stayed a slave, content on being useful to my master. But then My master became a follower of the way. He became a Christian. Soon, many of my master's friends did the same, and they began to meet at our house. Slaves were not welcome at these meetings, but over time, I learned about the way, and I have to confess, I was intrigued. I learned that got the that the God of this new way had chosen a people long ago, but these people had become slaves like me. God then heard their cry for help and sent a savior named Moses to lead them to freedom. I learned from some letters read in meetings at our home, letters written by some teacher of the way named Paul, that all men are born slaves and must be freed by what Jesus did on the cross. I didn't understand the whole thing, but the desire for freedom and the hope that it was possible was born inside of me, but nothing came of it. Lives were being changed, supposedly, in the church, in our house, but my life as a slave stayed the same. I could no longer get my value from just being useful to my master, Philemon. The possibility of Hope created such a desire in me that I had to do something. I decided to escape having been the right hand man of my master for so many years, I was familiar with travel history, accounts, maps, the ways of the world, I decided to make my way to Rome, a place of opportunity, a place of obscurity, a place to hide, a place to make my way. The journey to Rome was not without adventure, but I made it. Upon arrival, I joined in with all the other misfits and foreigners seeking to find a better way my skills at being useful to people helped me not only survive in this chaotic, strange new city, but ultimately to thrive. But no matter how successful I became, I always slept with one eye open, one slip of the tongue, one misstep, and I could be exposed for the liar that I was. If that were to happen, it would mean death. One day, as I was doing business in the market, a most astounding thing happened. I heard
two people talking about the way was it the same way of my former master, Philemon? I listened to them. I followed them. They led me to a house. It turned out to be the prison house of the apostle Paul, the one I had heard about at the estate of my former master, Philemon. Over the next several months, I became useful to the apostle Paul, but as I served him, I made it clear to him that he was not my master, that I was not his slave. He respond over the next several months, he responded in what I soon learned all too well would be classic Paul. He said to me, all men are slaves to whatever they serve, whether power, riches, popularity, glory or God, the only freedom one has is in choosing what or to whom one serves. So apparently, I had escaped one master only to end up serving another. I could leave any time I wanted to, but in the end, I had to serve something, and at the moment of leaving one master to serve another, I would become a slave again. Slavery is inevitable, So freedom is really about choosing one's slavery wisely. I decided to enslave myself to a God that loved me so much that He sent His only Son to die, to set me free from sin and death, I became a follower of Christ and the way, and my life was filled with meaning and purpose as I attended to the needs of perhaps the most influential Christian alive. But I was hiding something I passed one night, as I was attending to his needs, the apostle Paul said with a mischievous smile on his face, something about being a prisoner, not only of the Romans, but also of Christ. He said it like it was a good thing, and that's when I knew I had to tell him the truth about who I was. Of course, he knew somehow already, but he was waiting for me to be ready. We talked all night, and in the morning, he looked me in the eye, and he asked me what I thought I should do. I knew what he wanted me to say, but I couldn't. How could Paul know what Philemon would do if I went back? Philemon had treated me in some ways, like a son, mentoring me, giving me responsibility, trusting me with everything as his most trusted slave. And how did I reward my master for everything he had done for me betrayal. How could I be able to explain that I was thankful for all that I was given, but I did not want to be trade treated like a slave or even a surrogate son. I wanted to be treated as a brother, a brother in Christ. Paul must have known what I was thinking. And finally said, let me write a letter to Philemon explaining things. I will let you read it, and if you like it, we can send it. If not, we will. What do you say? This is the letter both Tychicus and I brought to the house of Philemon. So these are the words of the book of Philemon, Paul, a prisoner of Christ, Jesus and Timothy, our brother to Philemon, our dear friend and fellow worker, also to Apphia, our sister and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your home, Grace and peace to you from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus, I pray that the faith you share will make you understand every blessing we have in Christ, your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, Brother, have
refreshed the hearts of the Lord's people. Therefore, although in Christ, I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ, Jesus, that I appeal to you for my son, Onesimus, who has become my son while I was in chains. Formerly, he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me, I'm sending him who is my very heart back to you. I considered keeping him with me so that he might serve me in your place during my time in prison because of the gospel. However, I didn't want to do anything without your consent, so that your act of kindness would occur willingly and not under pressure. Maybe this is the reason that Onesimus was separated from you for a while so that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, that is as a dearly loved brother. He is especially a dearly loved brother to me. How much more can he become a brother to you, personally and spiritually in the Lord? So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me if he has done any if he has done you any wrong and owes you anything, charge it to me. I Paul, writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back, not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord, refresh my heart in Christ, confident of your obedience, I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I ask one more thing, prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you and answer to your prayers. Epiphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ, Jesus, sends you greetings, and so do Mark Aristicus, Demas and Luke and my fellow workers the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, be with your spirit.